I know a post just came out before this (like 10 minutes ago), but this post is a special post which I’m publishing immediately unlike others which are published according to a schedule. This is because the .hack series in its whole is very dear to me. This, of course, means I will be very biased in my judgement. But ain’t I always biased? That’s the kind of blog this is… right?
Sora Yuuki (CV: Nanami Sakuraba) is one of the very few who isn’t playing the game called The World, even though she is curious about it when all her friends are playing it. When she learns her grandfather Takefu (CV: Kenichi Ogata) nothing is really holding her back to try the game out, so hesitantly she does. After walking around for a while, she sees a ghost-like character and something black which attacks her. The ghost character gives Sora something before disappearing. It doesn’t really affect Sora in any way, except it’s a little weird and as her friends teaches her about the game, she eventually asks her two friends Tomohiko Okano (CV: Kei Tanaka) and Kakeru Tanaka (CV: Toori Matsuzaka) about it.
I’m a huge fan of .hack. I just can’t hate it. This uses the same concept that has been used a lot throughout the franchises, so there’s not really anything new to it. It starts out very light-hearted and gets darker and darker, until Kakeru loses consciousness and Sora and Tomohiko seeks out a suspicious person who originally contacted Sora because she’s Kite. He tells them what they need to do and they make up a plan to save THE WORLD and Kakeru.
During most of the film, Sora thinks the Balmung-looking character called Balder is Kakeru and the Orca-like character called Godou is Tomohiko, although it’s reversed. This is because early into her gaming time, she is asked to tell Tomohiko that the girls he was going to meet (classmates to Sora and Tomohiko) had to go, and Kakeru came in his stead because Tomohiko couldn’t come. Only at the end she realizes her mistake, when Tomohiko confesses his love for her a second time (the first time was in-game and the second after THE WORLD was temporarily shut down).
Aura also have a re-appearance. She for some reason changes form between adult and child, which makes no sense whatsoever. And of course we have several re-used characters in it, like Balmung and Orca, which I already mentioned. Sora is Kite, which is also mentioned. It feels a bit off, to be honest, but what can I say? I’d think they would have changed the designs over time. I mean, it made sense Bear and Orca looked alike, because the amount of character designs would be limited (that’s how I see it anyway), but after all the parts of the franchise…? I don’t know. That’s the only thing that makes me a little hesitant.
The animation is good. I don’t like that kind of animation though, but I can say I was happily surprised most of the time. It really worked in this film. I lol’d a little when I saw Sora wearing Adidas shoes though. Nothing wrong with that, since they sponsored the film, but still. Other than that… The music was great as it always is in .hack.
So to sum up my thought, I find it great. But I’m probably 90% biased in my opinion here and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone hated it. So, I won’t recommend it. Just, as a .hack fan I loved it to bits.
Now… I think I’ll go play some .hack. Who can blame me for that though?
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