Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This series is excelent. Just Plain excelent. As it has been said before this is not a series for action fans, or those who desire a quick paced story. For those willing to take the time for this show, they will be treated to some of the best written charaters to come a long in a while. I don't know if it has been said but i beleive there is a glareing error in many of the reviews. This series is not based on the game. The game, anime, OVA's (included with the games), and the manga (not yet released in the US)are a continual and intertwined story line. This is based on my understanding of an interview and artical apearing in Newtype(tm)
Rating: 
Summary: Boring...
Review: Nice concept, but why is it stretched so much? This 3 hour DVD should have been shorted to half-an-hour. It would have made it a much tighter, more captivating viewing. But with the story all strecthed out, you end up going to sleep instead of experiencing enjoyment.
Rating:
Summary: Enrapturing and Inspiring...
Review: When people think anime, they think violence, curse words, sometimes nudity, and sometimes even worse things. Dot Hack Sign, however, is a step above all of them. The Dot Hack Sign story is fantastic, and considering that Dot Hack Sign relies wholly upon its story to keep its viewers interested, that's saying quite a lot. People who have become hooked on anime for its violence, action, destruction, and adult content should avoid Dot Hack Sign. There is very, very little action in the series (I've seen all of it, so I know), and it is liable to bore people who are more interested in flashy animation. Dot Hack Sign's story, however, is enthralling. The characters are developed so well, and the story executed so wonderfully, that you find yourself actually caring about what goes on. After watching all of the series, I even found myself caught up in it for several days afterward. It is that sort of story that endears itself to you, so that you'll never forget it. As mentioned before, the story progresses slowly, but you can easily get caught up into it and don't notice. Normal 25-minute episodes seem to stretch for an hour, which is only a bad thing if you have to go to the bathroom. The story spans itself across all of the episodes, and there aren't any "breather" episodes that provide a pause in the story (instead, the writers cleverly wrote an episode or two like that into the story). This provides a very solid story, though you're in trouble if you miss an episode. Overall, this is my favorite anime series out of all that I have seen (and I have seen many), and that is not to disparage anime. In fact, I can safely say that this is my most favorite series of any genre, anime or otherwise.Recommended to: People who love character development and long, elaborate, and great stories. People who want a great story that catches them and makes them actually care about it and its characters. Not recommended to: People who like action and violence, and lots of it, people who are looking for traditional Western stories, or people who dislike stories that develop slowly.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing, but sluggish anime aimed for the videogame crowd
Review: .hack//SIGN is an very pointed anime. It is obviously aimed for the video game/fantasy crowd since it was/is a famous video game for the PS2. The skilled character designs off Yoshiyuki Sadamoto are combined with other top talent in the anime biz to create this spin off of their work in video games. And it will ensare some viewers (myself) and bore others to death because of its slow plot and lacking direction. The STORY has all the makings of a really great Hollywood style film, however it is stretched across 26 half hours when it could easily have filled about 100 minutes on screen. But, to me, the time spent pondering the character's motives and situations is comforting and pleasantly ponderous. Similar to 'The Dark City', the main character Tsukasa wakes up from a blackened, amnesiac history to find himself inside a cave and covered with a sticky goo (birth symbolism). He is a character within a virtual reality game called 'The World' which is a dungeons & dragons themed environment drawing in millions of virtual participants from across the globe. Strangely, Tsukasa finds he can't log out, and doesn't seem to exist on the other side of this computer-human interactive event. The first players he meets become intrigued with his odd behavior and set about trying to unlock the mystery surrounding Tsukasa and his uncharacteristicly adept control of 'The World'. What remains of the series becomes an odd 'whodunnit' dealing with people coming into 'The World' trying to break down and define Tsukasa and his enigmatic abilities and odd existence. Perhaps the most enticing part of the writing is how subtext is created by the character's words and behavior, and trying to figure out WHO these people are behind their virtual guises. The ART is nice, but not incredible. Sadamoto's wonderful designs are adequately translated, but not enhanced or even matched by the animation crew. The film work is rather placid, but not insipid. Decent composition elevates .hack//SIGN above average anime but not so far to declare it amazing. The animation and layout wanders in quality, yet is never horrific. Perhaps the worst side of the art is the color, which seems garish at points. Similar to LAIN, characters don't match the background light source most times and the brilliant Sadamoto colorings from promo and videogame art are tossed aside for abject, neon amateurism and mismatched light properties. The MUSIC is something people can get rather wildly enthusiastic over in these reviews, but in reality it is nothing incredible. It is usually odd and sorely placed; perhaps like a video game. But, because it is adequate in a limited form of entertainment doesn't mean it applies in a realm where greater skill can elevate the art. In general, the music is better then the average anime, but it isn't placed well and it isn't amazing. .hack//SIGN is a great anime to let play in the background of your life, and indulge in when you have time. If you have the cash to dole out, take a chance. For the average viewer it is an expensive outlay for a possibly slothlike experience lacking hook via action, humor or plot. Hopefully this review will help make your decision a wise one.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable so far
Review: I found the premise for .//hack very interesting, I have never played on-line games this this but I use to work with people who played the microsoft one fanaticly so I can relate well and find it amusing. I can't wait to see where this cartoon will go, this first DVD brings up lots of questions and answers none of them, like is our lead a boy or a girl in the REAL World, why can't he log off, who is this woman who talks to him and gives him the guardian. Is that sleeping girl/woman using the lead or helping him excape a terrible reality? Questions, Questions, but if you liked the idea of the matrix, not the action, you should enjoy the questions that .//hack raises.
Rating:
Summary: .hack review
Review: I dont really have much to say besides .Hack, in my opinyon is a great series. There has been lots of complaints about .Hack's slow moving pace and how there is not as much "action" as in most other anime. But personlly i think this is all part of .Hacks unique charm. The DVD exras arnt much to be impressed by, there about whats on almost every Anime DVD i own. (and im teling you thats alot) with the exception of some. But this is all i have to complane about.. and im not complaning! Also, the Music of .Hack//Sign is awsome! and the soundtrack(s)are definatly worth adding to your collection! (but of coarse this is my opinyon) And as far as charaters go, i was extreamly pleased, each charater is developed in such a way that you could relate to them... And I was glad to see a strong willed Female charater (mimiru) instead of the whiney girl who cant take care of herself. Ok.. now we come to Tsukasa..... Tsukasa .... there are mixed feelings about Tsukasa, some people like him... others cant stand him. I do have to admit he is not a very "motivated charater" he is always depressed and he just wants people to leave him alone, so hes not exactally pushing the story along. Tsukasa can also be kind of selfish and perhaps a little spoiled. Sure hes a little whiney and would rather sit in a dark corner and mope in his own misery all day then acctally get out and do something.... I found that Tsukasa was growing on me... to tell you the truth hes grown to be my favorite charater in the whole serise. And after all, he's got pleanty of things to be sad about.
Rating:
Summary: A visual masterpiece.
Review: I loved this anime through and through cant wait to watch the rest of it as soon as I can I even recommend this to non anime watchers. It is truly a man amongst boys in its genre of DVD's.
Rating:
Summary: Anime as Music Video
Review: I'm going to cover a number of topics here, including story and extras, but I want to start on what some have mentioned briefly, and that's the music of this series. Like most TV shows, much good anime treats music as little more than appropriate background sound (Love Hina, Cowboy Beebop). Others give the music a full supporting role in portraying the mood, and is serious music that stands on its own (Evangelion). .hack actually takes the music to another level. When I first saw the series during an anime symposium, the story enticed me, but the music grabbed me, enhancing the story and filling in gaps in my perception of what was going on during the somewhat (intentionally, I think) sketchy series of events. The music does more than just fill in the background or match the mood of what's happening. It actually leads the viewer to feel and understand more of what's going on in the story. In real life, much of what we perceive going on around us is not sensed overtly but is intuitive and contextual in nature. We can't always verbalize logically why we conclude or view things as we do; we just do. The soundtrack to .hack provides this kind of context to a degree like no other anime I've seen (disclosure: I am by no means a long-time or deep 'otaku' type that has seen hundreds of anime, so feel free to take my expansiveness with a grain of salt). Many don't pay such attention to the soundtrack, but unless you're totally unaffected by music, you'll be drawn into The World further and faster than you might expect. I've been waiting for the U.S. release of .hack as much for the music as for the story. False Wings, which seems to play whenever Subaru is on-screen, is a compelling, mournful Spanish lullaby/love song with simple acoustic guitar and mandolin accompaniment. Key of the Twilight has a new-age rock beat with Spanish and Celtic influences that could have come from Riverdance. The vocals on these songs are the same female voice doing duet or quartet work, and is receded into the instrumentation so as to sound as one of the instruments themselves. Many of the latter tracks are piano works like those found on Narada or Windham Hill disks, but without the minimalist ( 'piano tuner') arrangements. STORY - Some complain about .hack's slow pacing. This perception may be justified, but I think it's a matter of style preference. Anime is usually formated faster than presented here. The opposite end of the spectrum is Furi Kuri's frenetic pace, exceeding Robin Williams on speed; so much goes by so fast that you have to watch frame-by-frame to catch everything that's going on. Valium is recommended after the closing credits (ritalin for the younger crowd...). .hack will not interest those who require such sensory overload. But it will find a home with those who like watching a good story in the same manner as curling up in a comfortable chair with a good book. I think this is deliberate. .hack is a bit of a thought piece. The writers want us to take the time to understand The World, the players and their concerns. There's something deeper going on than just the surface action, and a fast pace wouldn't allow us the reflection, observation, and synthesis of events needed to understand the story. Evangelion would not have worked if done in Furi Kuri speed. Neither would .hack. Those who have been involved with role-playing games (RPGs) realize that difficulties involving thought, motivation and problem solving are slower (and often more satisfying) than the hack-and-slash variety. And this makes sense. RPGs all have basic rules that everyone knows when they first start play, but it takes awhile to understand how those rules interweave into the game and how characters dance on and around them. Over time, indecipherable rules become clear. After that, we can understand the characters better. Because of this, it's my impression that .hack has to be approached from a slightly different viewpoint; we have to realize that what we're seeing is a virtual world. In part, we're like the characters we're watching, observing others, trying to figure out The World, its inhabitants, and how it all works. The characters may or may not resemble anything like their real-world counterparts. We get some occasional reminders of this, like Bear referring to himself as an 'old man' while Mimiru suggests that you can be anything with a little editing. This is reminiscent of Japanese Theater where 'clappers' roam the audience making noise to remind them that what's on stage is not real. So we have to think on two levels at once; the actions in the virtual world, and how they affected the real world. The characters do interact outside the game, and we wish that we could meet with them as well, because we're curious about who they really are. EXTRAS - This is where I find the DVD to be quite weak. There are textless opening and closing themes, and promos for the associated video game and three other anime. Last, and certainly least, is character information; eight frames of sketches, four of Tsukasa, four of Mimiru. That's it. No text, nothing. While the jewal case insert does have some information, it would have made great sense to talk about The World, it's ground rules, a few things every player knows and reads before entering it. What is a Wavemaster? How many character classes are there? What are their attributes and abilities? Why does Subaru have totally useless looking wings? SUMMARY - The severe shortcomings in the 'extras' department would be enough to drop a star from the rating, but the story and music are strong enough that they overshadow this defect. The DVD is a 'must own' in my book. If you can get the boxed edition (which includes the soundtrack, T-shirt, and other extras in a nifty-looking hexagonal box) it's well worth the extra cost.
Rating:
Summary: Massive Online RPG
Review: For any fan of any online games, everquest online, Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galixies, etc. should feel a twinge of "I've done this." :) As players become more involved in the online personas some feel like Tsukasa and the other chrs. Ive gotten the DVD and it does have a slow start but this doesnt detract from the enjoyment of the show.
Rating:
Summary: One of the premier anime titles
Review: .hack has one of the most interesting storylines in the anime world. Even if you do not like anime that much you should definetly check this out. In the episodes it is so hard to figure out what is going to happen next. Usualy you won't realize something till the end of the episode. I am not going to give away anything away but I will say that there is some wierd stuff going on in this online game..........
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