.hack//LIMINALITY Review

story 7/10

Ahh, .hack. A very strange and interesting story, which unfortunately was stretched out over too many genres and mediums. In this case, the story takes place after the .hack//SIGN universe, and in the middle of a bit of a crisis: people are becoming comatose from their gameplay in The World. The problem with the story in this OVA is that you HAVE to have prior knowledge of the .hack world, and probably the games before it will make sense. There really is no lead in, or at least, not a good one. You are suddenly thrown into events already occuring and have to catch up, which makes this OVA not good for a first time .hack viewer. In addition, over the four episodes, the plot doesn't really have a good flow, making it choppy to watch. Granted, I've only played the first two games, so maybe I am missing a whole hell of a lot. But I'd like to think I'm fairly versed on the .hack universe, and I still was very confused by the end. Too many names and places not explained, and a not so great conclusion.

So I gave it a 7 for an interesting idea (just like the other .hack series), but not that great of a follow through. In general, this series focused the most on the things going on behind the scenes that make The World tick and operate, and corruption in the ranks, as opposed to a different focus in the other series.

animation 6.5/10

The animation was decent like the other .hack series, but looked a bit generic anyways. Characters looked the most odd, with strange jagged lines for hair and facial features, and a fairly poor use of shading. The faces in general seemed a bit skewed and not life-like in any way, and were a bit oddly shaped.

I felt the contrast between the dark and light colors was fairly high, and there wasn't a great deal of detail. Colors used were a typical mix, but tended to be on the dark side. Basically none of The World was shown, just real life. Interesting perhaps, but nothing special, especially when measured up to the other .hack series. The only part about the animation that interested me was the devices the kids would wear to connect to the world, and the depiction of the computer screens with the static or game loaded onto it. This gave a nice sci fi feel to the otherwise very normal looking OVA, but still, it could have been better.

sound 8/10

Anything .hack is able to boast an impressive musical score, given the fact that it's a Beetrain work. Beautiful singing voices and synthy tracks dominate the OVA, making it a very pleasant listen. Unfortunately for most Beetrain works, the music is about as far as it goes for goodness, and I don't feel like .hack//LIMINALITY was an exception. Beautiful music, not so beautiful rest of it.

characters 6/10

We are introduced to a bunch of characters whose backgrounds are explained, but not a lot of character development happens. Besides knowing who they are, you don't really feel any empathy towards any of them. Not to mention, all the random character names thrown at you that you don't know or understand. The characters were definitely on the back burner for the idea of the plot, as well as the music. Fans of the games will be happy to know that the characters within it are mentioned quite frequently, though because of the seperation between game and OVA, we don't actually see these characters.

overall 6/10

In general, this OVA didn't impress me. Too hooked to the other series to enjoy as a standalone, this short OVA manages to confuse you while assaulting you with pretty music and imagery. The flow is not spectacular, which leaves a disjointed feeling between episodes. The lack of a good conclusion also leaves a bad taste in the mouth. All in all, probably not a recommended watch, unless you really want to see everything in the .hack universe. Definitely explains more than SIGN, though.