.hack//Legend of the Twilight

After. Hack/Sign, the next anime is called Legend of the Twilight. I thought some of the story gaps from would be filled up by this series. Hack/Sign, yet they were only partially realized. I've never played the game, so I have no idea why Kite and Blackrose are so well-known. Still, Twilight makes a passable stand-alone novel.

Compared to. Hack/Sign, the characters grow and the plot advances far more swiftly. Shugo and Rena are twin brothers/sisters who are sprung from Kite and Blackrose. They act like teenagers since they are in reality about 14 years old. Twilight doesn't have a lot of philosophical dialogue because its two main heroes are still young. For each spectator, this may be a good or negative thing.

Shugo is bold and compassionate. Rena's constant cries of "Onii-Chan!" for the entire 80% of the series is why I didn't like her. I was going to use a hammer to bash someone after she tormented me for five episodes, cries only limited to "Onii-Chan!"

The animation was excellent. Ideally, even more so than in. Hack/Activate. Overload of cuteness. Adorable! I had to pause and re-examine certain shots to fully realize how lovely everything was, especially the tinier, widdle Grunty. This was nothing special, merely mediocre in comparison to the anime's visuals, as much of the music and sound effects were lifted from the first series.

I saw LOTT, hated it, then watched SIGN after a impulse buy, highly enjoyed it, then watched LOTT again, and enjoyed it more than I previously had. SIGN is by far better, even though I have only seen the first 5 episodes of it, and I'm disappointed to see that there is no page for it on IMDb, or maybe I haven't looked hard enough yet... Anyway, the thing I hate above all else on LOTT is the voice of Shugo. I cannot stand that voice after a while; it just infuriates me! Anyway, watch it, but don't expect perfection of it, unless you're a die-hard fan.

6 out of 10

This show really doesn't live up to the darkness and mystery of .hack//SIGN. I have to say that I am disappointed. The character voices, I found rather annoying. The Animation was good, but again, lacks what SIGN had. It wasn't dark, it wasn't chilling, it was too light and comical. I don't care if it had more action or not, action alonedoesn't make for better story telling. They made some interesting choices, but still, they really really lack on the suspense of it. It is rather predictable. Not to mention the "What will happen next time" Highlight Videos at the end of every episode. That kind of spoils it in my opinion. This show was good but not good enough. If I had to choose Sign, or this I would chose SIGN. I'm fairly disappointed.

Not to say that .hack//LOTB isn't good, which it is. But it is not what you would expect from the dark world of .hack. In this series there are only 12 episodes, so it cuts right to the chase and dispenses with the lengthy conversations from SIGN and Liminality. But it isn't as suspenseful as the two previous series. The soundtrack does a good job setting the tone for a more light hearted adventure as it seems that is a bit more goofy than SIGN or Liminality. But the characters aren't as mature as they were in SIGN, so neither will be the music. The animation, is as usual darn near perfect. The voices were alright, but they could've done better with Shugo and Rena. And even though I said the series isn't as suspenseful, that doesn't mean it lacks it's moments. But with a short series, you can't do as much like SIGN, or with out the right mix and right story like the games or Liminality. Have fun looking for all the references to the previous series especially when a character returns to defend justice! Still a good show, but watch it, read the manga, and make your own decisions. There is a great difference between the two.