.Hack//Legend of the Twilight

Alternate Titles: .hack//DUSK

Original Japanese Release Date: January 8th, 2003

Episode Length/Run-time: 13 Episodes

Summary:

Shugo and Rena are siblings who get separated when their parents divorce. Shugo and Rena decide to spend time together playing the online MMO “The World”.  They end up winning a contest which allows them to use the limited edition character designs of the legendary heros, Blackrose and Kite. Their adventure in The World kicks off when they, much like their predecessors, meet Aura.

Review:

This .hack series is much like the prior ones except this one is much more lighthearted.  It has more of a carefree, fun feel compared to the prior series.  Of course, underneath there are always the dark undertones that are associated with the .hack series.  It starts out with the characters just performing simple RPGesque dungeon crawling activities but before long the characters are going up again the CC corporation and dealing with friends falling into comas, etc… It’s basically what we expect from the series at this point.

The pacing is the show is good.  It doesn’t take long for Shugo and Rena to encounter damage regenerating monsters which tend to peak the viewers interest about what exactly is happening in the world.  This deteriorate as the show progresses, gradually increasing the intensity level of the show.

The characters are your typical RPG classes that you’ll find in the other .hack shows.  There is the twin-blade, the heavy blade, the caster, etc…  Even Balmung of the Asure Sky makes an appearance in this show and is a main character throughout.  This time though he works for the company as in game employee. Other characters such as Sanjuro appear in the show as well and there are of course still grunties which give the show a familiar nostalgic feel.

The bad things about this series are that first of all, there are a lot of wasteful episodes in the series.  Episodes where not much of importance happens and makes you wonder if this show really needed to be 13 episodes.  It could have just as easily have been a 6 episode OVA.  Also, compared to the other .hack shows, the music in this one is very poor.  It is bland and unmemorable, especially the background music.

All in all the show isn’t terrible.  None of the .hack shows are especially good so I guess it’s to be expected by this time.  Still, if you like the .hack series I’d of course recommend that you check this one out.  Otherwise, I don’t think I’d really encourage you to watch this over many other shows.

[starrater]