.hack//SIGN

.hack//SIGN is definitely a unique experience. It's been a long time since I watched an anime that relies so heavily on dialogue. Dialogue is what moves the plot forward, fleshes out the characters, and builds the atmosphere – I wonder if there's a scene in the entire series longer than two minutes without anyone speaking. It sure demands a lot of attention from the viewer. In addition to answering all sorts of burning questions, there is a lot of wisdom and many details in the dialogue that give the whole story a lot more depth and help you get to know the characters better. The characters are what it's all about. They are very well written and despite being avatars in a computer game, you can guess who they are in real life from their behavior well before it’s revealed in the story. I also had no trouble understanding them and their motivations, including what made them decide to play the game in the first place. As for the story, it's not as complicated and complex as the authors are trying to present it through all the extensive dialogue. The important things are clearly stated, sometimes even repeatedly, so if you pay attention, you shouldn't have a problem following everything. If you are not paying attention so carefully, you should at least understand the gist. Although, to fully grasp the final epilogue (Episode 28) you probably need to know the game series as well. I didn't recognize half of the characters. What’s definitely worth mentioning is the music. I don't mean the opening and ending - in fact, the opening was the most boring part in terms of music. What I mean is Yuki Kajiura’s score. You can’t help but notice it right from the first episode, it literally steals a large part of your attention in many shots, it's always there, it sounds incredible, and alternates a lot of interesting and memorable motifs. Even when a single motif is repeated, it is arranged differently to evoke a slightly different mood and feel unique again. I don't know if I've ever heard such a powerful, intense, and amazing score before. It's been a long time since felt the need to listen to the entire soundtrack after just a few episodes. On the other hand, it was so musically intense that it sometimes distracted me from the dialogue, which can be a problem in a series where dialogue plays such an important role. Plus, there were moments when the music didn’t fully match the mood of what was happening on screen. For example, the cheerful banjo music doesn’t go very well with the moment when Sora has just killed two adventurers and goes to ask the third one for some information. The cheerfulness feels completely out of place here. Anyway, .hack//SIGN is a real treat, and, judging by people’s reviews of other series from this universe, it is probably unrepeatable. The premise of a player trapped in an MMORPG game is not an original concept. It’s been already done in SAO, yet I probably wouldn't recommend .hack//SIGN to SAO fans. This just isn't a series for everyone. It's very chatty, and if you're not paying attention, you might even feel like there's not much going on because the pacing is a little slow (to put it mildly). As for me, I was patient enough, I got hooked by the mystery, found all the questions intriguing, and needed to find answers to them + I discovered an amazing OST that I’ll be listening to while working for another few weeks. 8/10 P.S. My favorite characters are Bear, Crim, BT, Mimiru - in that order, and the best track from the OST is Key of the Twilight. (24/04/2023) (moins) (plus)