.hack//SIGN

Definately great music.

An overall good story, a little confusing at times. I was also stuck on online RPGs (Meridian 59 and EQ) for many years, so I loved the online game part of it, and I thought that part was well done.

The main disapointment I had with this series was the lack of fighting (or for the most part, lack of actually showing us the fight, usually when it came time for a fight, they'd jump to another scene) and the lack of magic. The main character was supposed to be a powerful mage, we almost never ever see him cast a single thing, except teleport. I feel some more magic and fighting would have balanced this series out to make it one of the better series.

My Rating: 8/10

[Basilm]

I think Im gonna watch this!^^

I am surprised how many people dislike .hack//SIGN... Personally, I think this anime is great. It has nice soundtracks, good visual, and deep story. Too deep that some people get confused and bored when they see it. Okay, it doesn't have that much actions, but the whole thing is just amazing, I think. How they can make those kind of mysteries and we are forced to think about it. I watched it, and couldn't wait to see what would happen next. And you'll never find out what's really going on until the last episode.
I, however, still a bit confused about its story, but that is exactly what I like about .hack//SIGN . Here's a suggestion, watch all of the episodes, from the first to the last, and you'll undestand the story. Then, maybe, you will fall in love with it

[Karatedog]

.hack//SIGN is not a "never ending" kinda series... You feel that you can watch the series again, right when it is finishes. And you will surely notice a lot of tiny details that you haven't noticed on the first watch...

i really liked .hack//SIGN the animation ,music, and charicters were great but i think it was way too talky (needed more action)

i liked .hack//sign..although it was reaaaaly weird and disturbing...

last time i was so disturbed by an anime was neon genesis evangelion, so if you guys liked evangelion, you should try .hack

[CorvusX]

Originally Posted by motohayaku

i liked .hack//sign..although it was reaaaaly weird and disturbing...

last time i was so disturbed by an anime was neon genesis evangelion, so if you guys liked evangelion, you should try .hack

Aww gee, if you thought .hack was disturbing then NEVER watch NaruTaru or Alien 9.

I love .hack//sign and the .hack//AI Buster novels.

[v16]

I think the problem of .hack//SIGN is that it's often misunderstood from the very beginning and people expect anything except what it really is.
First of all, the name suggests advanced cyberpunk due to its special formatting understandable only to computer-based scene and more certain communities. Inside there is nothing even barely connected.

Then, when people see the description, a certain part thinks: "Cool! It's about a MMORPG (as everyone knows, RPG stands for Ripping Players Guts). It must be a light quick watch about fighting, levelups, clan wars and so on". This is even more wrong impression. SIGN belongs to a different genre, loosely described as drama. No one promised action, in fact. And, actually, the MMORPG here is as different from the real MMORPGs as Nausicaa from Pokemon - here it's a virtual reality where one can live and not just kill.

Viewed not as an action, amount of dialogue is just what it should be. However, this really somewhat lacks visial dynamics. Maybe it was cutting budget; SIGN creators surely saved cels and backs wherever possible. It does not hurt the impression much, though, and the pictures are quite good, they are just not dynamic. But what it lacks in graphics, it compensates for with music, and especially its appropriate use.

I would rather compare .hack//SIGN with theater rather than cinema. Scenes don't change often, characters on some occurences just stand and talk for a few minutes; and the music always plays when needed, often speaking instead of the characters. It's not just background soundtrack as usually, here songs are as essential part as video or speech, not only creating mood but at times explaining thoughts and feelings of the characters. This makes SIGN one of the more immersive series, but at the same time not hard to watch, due to being much less depressive than other series of similar emotional depth and realism.
However, the slow pace surely does not appeal to everyone. It is not the most slow of all, but really far slower than average, both in scenes and global storyline. It's best to have a lot of free time when starting to watch it, because an episode or two don't tell much and can hardly stand on their own.

[Velusion]

Moderator Note:
This review is linked in the thread header. If you'd like to discuss it, please do so here. Thanks!

[Sovietace]

.hack//SIGN was great, the mood it casts lets you just sink into the story not like those that are always changing the mood from comedy to drama. (even thow .hack//SIGN isnt a comedy or drama i geuss u could say it just has that potential to be a drama) its an anime that's really deep and holds alot of emotion.

ps. not saying i dont like it when there is a little comedy in a drama >_<