.Hack//Roots

Type: Anime
Status: Complete (26 episodes)

Premise: Haseo is a new player to "The World R:2" which is a reboot to the original world after it had a catastrophic error and was permanently lost. Playing as an "Adept Rogue" (a rogue capable of using multiple varieties of weapons) he is attacked by a Player Killer (PK) almost immediately. A strange man named Ovan revives him inviting him to join his guild in their search for "The Key of the Twilight", a legendary item which used to exist on the old version of "The World".

Thoughts: This anime has a vary interesting plot that gets rather dark after a certain point in the story, once this tipping point is reached the plot truly starts to come alive with Haseo finally becoming interesting (and twisted). While this shift is a long time in coming it is quite satisfying once it arrives. Sadly this series is actually the lead up the the .hack//G.U. video games and fails to present a completed plot making it somewhat pointless unless you play the game or watch it online (warning that game is LONG).

Prose: Nice animation and plot development, character interaction and sweet twist to the characters. Watch this in order to understand the progression of the G.U. games or in preparation to watch them online as it explains what has lead up to the game.

Cons: The anime itself is almost completely useless as a stand alone show. While it does present some interesting points it fails to bring the story to a conclusion and is rely intended to be viewed with the game.

-Notes: Fully dubbed. I actually watched this series out of order by mistake, this is actually the 3rd installment into the .hack// franchise and YOU SHOULD WATCH "Legend of the Twilight" before this if you are concerned with continuity. While it is not rely noticeable and never affects the viewing it is meant to be viewed after.

7.5/10          (Names to run away from: The Terror of Death)

.Hack//Sign

Type: Anime

Status: Complete (28 episodes)

Premise: In fictional 2005 "The World" is a MMORPG were through virtual reality you dive into the game playing a character through the various stages and interacting with others. Tsukasa is a player that is now unable to log out of "The World" and is slowly losing his identity to the game, but a few players take note of him and decide to unravel the mystery in order to help Tsukasa.

Thoughts: This show is rather bland when you consider that it is based on an MMORPG. There is little action and most of the story is developed through diologue and "Floating Heads". There is an interesting mystery inherent to the plot which does help in the second half of the series, but it is a slog in the beggining.

Prose: Good animation with great dialogue and character development rely makes the series. Also the plot once it engages is rather good.

Cons: Slow plot near the begging. Also the fact that this story is based on characters playing a video game results in some awkward dialogue at times were you just wish they would choose a way of thinking and speaking and stick to it.

-Notes: Fully dubbed. This anime as well as all the subsequent .hack// series are meant to be supplements to video games, in this case it is not noticeable as this series is meant to be a base for all the rest but the game follows directly after.

7.5/10          (Can you be any more antisocial?)

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Type: Anime & Movie Version

Status:     Anime - Complete (26 episodes and a movie)     Movie - Ongoing

Premise: After a cataclysmic event known as 2nd impact melted Antarctica and shifted the worlds axis, flooding kills half of the earths population. Humanity has taken 15 years to reorganized and now have restored itself to the dominant species on the planet once more. But the truth is that 2nd impact was not a natural occurrence, it was in reality humanities first contact with another form of life; they were named Angels. Angels are titanic beings of unimaginable destructive power and threaten the remaining population with total extinction, the only way humanity has to fight back is the organisation known as N.E.R.V. and their weapons known as the E.V.A. which are gigantic fighting robots developed after 2nd impact. Shinji Ikari a 14 year old student is selected to pilot the first fully functional E.V.A. in the defense of Tokyo-3 one of the last strongholds of humanity and the headquarters of N.E.R.V.

Thoughts: Now my opinion varies dramatically depending on which version you ask me about; the anime was decent but suffered from enormous plot holes and completely ridiculous mentality to the writing. The movies were short and to the point, retelling the majority of what you received in the anime but removing many of the things that made little sense; they stressed different points in the movies which shifts the overall tone between the two versions and to me resulted in a better piece of storytelling.

Prose: Nice old school anime with the hand drawn animation and good voice acting. The movie contains more CG than the anime but in vary well chosen moments so as not to distract from the story. 

Cons: The anime had enormous plot holes and a truly crap-tastic ending originally which was somewhat fixed by "The End of Evangelion" which is an hour and a half movie made to replace the last 2 episodes. 

-Notes: Fully dubbed. 2 of the 4 movies planned have been released but the final 2 which were scheduled for a 2008 release were "slightly delayed" to a 2012 release instead. I watched the anime than the movie so it may be that I am filling in some blank areas of the movie with the good parts of the anime but in my opinion the movies are BY FAR better than the anime. While the movies are shorter than the anime they managed to cut most of the confusing/useless bits off of the anime and stream line it into a more functional version with the movies; they also stress some different plot devices in the movie which changes the tone and makes for a clearer series of events between the characters which also helps understanding. If given the option I would suggest watching the movies first before the anime, also when watching the anime I would recommend the alternate ending instead of the original episodes 25 and 26.

Anime - 7.5/10   Movies - 8.5/10   (Plot holes large enough to drive gigantic fighting robots through)