Rating: 
Summary: You can do better
Review: This title is weak. It feels as if a marketing consulting group was the impetus for the creation, characters and storyline. And the target audience is the American male age 12-15. The artwork is uninspired, in fact so are the characters, soundtrack and story. While it can provide entertainment, of the saturday-morning-mindless variety, .hack//sign is in my opinion one of the least interesting titles to have come out in a long time. There is a lot more out there more worthy of your time and money.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow
Review: It's hard to make sense of the series (especially in the beginning) without knowing some context from the PS2 games. Once you can figure out what's going on, it's easy to get into the show. This is a great show, but please, do some research first or you'll probably hate it.
Rating:
Summary: A .Hack Fan Must Have
Review: This Box Set is one of the best I have ever seen. Fan of .Hack will love all the stuff that comes with it. The soundtrack is awsome! It's better to buy this set, the soundtrack alone is about $[...]! If your a person who loves non-stop fighting then .Hack isn't for you. If your a person who loves good stories and great characters then check .Hack//Sign out. ;)
Rating: 
Summary: BO-RING
Review: .hack is nothing but hype. The animation and the game are sub-par; the story just makes me yawn. I have never been so bored in my life. I have been indulging in anime for years, but few have provoked this type of response from me. Honestly, it is laughable how marketing and advertising can push something. This is not a ground breaking title, in fact, nothing about the animation, style, music or plot stands out in my mind. Save yourself some time and money and avoid this travesty at all costs. Besides, Phantasy Star Online came first and would have made a much more interesting property. Get a modem and play an online game with REAL people.
Rating: 
Summary: Forget about the videogame!
Review: I say that because, despite having its own release on Playstation 2, .hack//Sign is really based on those other addictive games, Everquest and Ultima Online. The plot involves a "What if?" question about someone's consciousness, brought totally into the virtual world. While this concept has been explored before, in movies as far back as Disney's TRON. It takes on a much different form here. Consequently, we can almost emphasize with the predicament, and problems of the central character. People love a mystery, and that's a big part of these types of video games. It's easy to believe the people represented, would want to find out more about this person. Even to the point where some of them, start to explore this in the outside (real) world. In this case, the real world is the real world of the anime setting, and not actually the real world. Confusing? Yes, but that's what a good thought piece is all about. The anime explores video game obsession in detail, and the various characters that populate a game world like this. One of the great things is how the series can reveal so much about a real character, when all we see is their game persona. Less than one percent of its total running time is devoted to little glimpses of the real world. Yet, knowing about each character from the game, that small glimpse reveals their innermost motivations. The moment we see who the character is in real life, we know the answers. Those answers we've been seeking, to questions we have been asking ourselves, questions about that character we met in the virtual world. I think this is very close to the way things go on in these games. The representative characters are all there, the player killer (PK), the rule enforcers, the warrior heroes, the magic users, the strategists, and others just tying to find their own way. We are not shown much about the characters behind the computer. We see the game character. That character emotes with verbal, and non-verbal expressions, which illustrate the emotions of the actual player. That's good, because it would be pretty boring, if they acted exactly like characters in these games. My rating loses one star, because the series is a little too slow for some fans. It would have benefited from a little more screen time on the reality side. Once those characters are revealed, we just want to know more about the real person. Like a lot of anime series, this one leaves a lot of holes in the ending, loose ends not neatly tied up. They did make a 27th episode after the first ending to try and clarify some of that.
Rating:
Summary: A Cliffhanger...That Pushes You Over The Edge
Review: Luckily, ".hack" starts off beautifully and intrigues the viewer right away. Unfortunately, by the time the entire series finishes, you'll be left with a plot with more holes than Afghan, in addition to having had the rug pulled out from under you. A four star Vol. 1 indeed, but a three star series because of the ending. Like the first 3/4 of this series, Vol. 1 opens in mid-action: young Tsukasa wakes up sprawled face down on the ground in a cave next to a staff. A young girl named Mimiru happens upon the cave and Tsukasa, who abruptly transports out in a column of golden rings. Mimiru and her friends--an older man named Bear and a shady blonde woman named B.T.--soon find out that Tsukasa isn't quite like anyone else in their world. Their world is "The World," an online gaming community accessed by goggles on the user end, allowing for a much fuller experience of a dimension with millions upon millions of users. Users gain points in wisdom, fighting and defense by going through "events" or missions that the game offers, such as solving puzzles or defeating monsters. People can "die" in The World; they must simply re-log on if they are killed in the game, but lose the entire day's worth of experience points. None of this is explicitly stated in the anime; you're well off reading the back of the DVD or reviews that tell you what is going on. Also, a reasonable amount of knowledge concerning computer terms are needed (talk of servers, illegal and backed up data, and message boards, etc.). Just imagine The World as a gigantic online community with numerous chat rooms; no one is who they seem--women can sign on as men, adults as children, etc. This is also true with Tsukasa--it's good to watch the series keeping in mind that he could very well be a she or the other way around. Tsukasa differs from all the other players in that he cannot log out of the world. He can also do many things that others cannot--move throughout The World without using the usual gateways, and access areas that others cannot or do not even know exist. One particular place he returns to holds a sleeping child floating above a bed, with a floating Teddy bear, and a voice that tells him to stay and that it will protect him. Many people soon begin looking for Tsukasa, who is armed with a powerful guardian/monster, for both good and bad reasons. The Crimson Knights search for him to stop his non-conformity; their leader, Lady Subaru, searches for him out of curiosity. A powerful villain and player killer named Sora, also wants to ally with Tsukasa, who, unfortunately, is extremely shy. The series goes on following the quest to find out who Tsukasa is, why he/she is trapped in The World, and what is the Key of the Twighlight, if it does exist. The art is beautiful, in the new style manifesting itself in series like Gasaraki and Full Metal Panic: smooth, non-liney art, cleanly integrated with CG effects. The music is...different. It's a mix between techno-pop and Celtic choir music, with a touch of Olde England minstrels thrown in. It's not bad, actually, but the timing and use is pretty bad. Sometimes, the music plays and plays and plays, too loudly at times, even during conversations or moments where no music, or sadder music would be appropriate. The English version doesn't differ too much from the Japanese version, except that the Japanese translations are a lot "deeper" than the English versions. As many have said, it moves at an extremely slow pace, with plenty of talking and philosophizing, and the occassional fight and flashes of the characters functioning in the real world. The slow pace does allow the characters to develop much more than in most series. Nearly all of the characters presented have deep, strong personalities. Negatives? Also has to do with character development. By the time you crack to the last half to 1/4 of the series, so many questions are posed that aren't answered. Similarly, characters are introduced but not fleshed out: Maho, a silent cat that follows and helps Tsukasa; the two legendary master heavy swordsmen, one of whom makes a singular appearance in the series; and even the main villain isn't fully fleshed out. Maybe this goes along with the fact that the video game it's based on continues on into more series. The ending? Your thought process will go: ah, okay, sweet, good, nice...what the? Keep watching during the credits and you will be pleased and disappointed all in the span of one minute. Depending on when and how a continuation to this series takes place (if it does), it could be great. If it stops here, then it's pretty nasty. Still, I highly recommend watching it, better with the expectation that the ending provides as much closure as it creates questions. Know that, know some computer terminology, and have an open mind, and ".hack" can be a pleasurable experience. If they finish it right.
Rating:
Summary: Slow. Original. Relaxing. Excellent. Addicting.
Review: A friend told me to watch .Hack because I love online roleplaying games and enjoy anime style art which pretty much sums .Hack up. You watch characters in a roleplaying fantasy game interact with a mysterous new character Tsukasa who can't logout. It's a slow, and relaxing, beautifully drawn anime without the normal violence, adult stuff, and heavy action that you usually expect however, be warned that if you NEED action, you most likely will not enjoy this. It has a very nice soundtrack and the DVD offers you the option of watching the shows in English, Japanese, or just music with no words. It is a very very slow moving plot..but somehow that's alright with me even though im not a soap-opera person. Somehow the slowness and beautiful drawings grabbed my attention..it's a show about character development and a mystery inside the game...i love it and recommend it to people with a love for anime artwork!
Rating:
Summary: Good stuff
Review: .hack//SIGN was a little confusing anime but it was really good. Hey it was some good stuff and it's worth the buy.
Rating:
Summary: The World has come!
Review: Yay, I've been watching .hack on Cartoon Network and couldn't wait to buy the dvd. Though I've seen the episodes on it already it's still awesome. The story is slow, but building to what I hope is a very cool, heart warming, end. I recommend this to anyone. The games is good as well, though being cut up into 4 parts in annoying. So get the anime, the music is wonderful, and I'm going to have to get the soundtracks eventually but for now the anime will do just fine!
Rating:
Summary: Multimedia experience
Review: .hack//sign is part of a multimedia experience that includes this anime, 4 volumes of a video game, and a manga.(in that order). .hack//sign sets up things you see in the game, and explains somethings in the game as well(such as an area you see early on in .hack/infection). If you want an action anime, this in not for you, but if you like lots of character development and plot twists, you will enjoy this.
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