Hack//Legend of the Twilight

Publisher
Bandai
Director
Koichi MashimoKoichi Mashimo, Kouji Sawai
Production
Bandai, Bee Train, Yomiuri Advertising
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
12 episodes
Year
2003

(dot)hack//Legend of the Twilight V. 1

By David Rasmussen
20th Dec 04

Company - BANDAI
Rated - Age 13 and up.
Original Story by Project (dot)hack
Planned by Shin Unozawa & Kazumi Kawashiro
Series Planner - Satoru Nishizono
Producers - Kazunori Takagi, Koji Morimoto & Ryou Shimamura
Original Character Designer - Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Based on the Manga by Tatsuya Hamazaki & Rei Izumi (published in English by TOKYOPOP)
Produced by Yomiko Advertising & BANDAI Visual

(dot)hack//LEGEND OF THE TWILIGHT (a.k.a. "Dusk")
Volume 1 - New World
Previously...
It all started almost 10 years ago with the events of (dot)hack//SIGN.
Then, about four years ago, came the events of the PS2 (dot)hack video games.
INFECTION, MUTATION, OUTBREAK & QUARANTINE.

It all started with a new player named Kite, and his quest to save his friend which became a quest to save the World itself. He gathered allies, made enemies, and fought his way through infected server after server in a seeming impossible quest to save those who fell into comas (including his friend).
At the end, in the darkest hour, the greatest battle that shook the very foundations of The World itself was waged, and victory was snatched at long last when things seemed their bleakest.
And, it was in that time, a legend was born.

Four years have passed, but what of this legend? Most certainly it was blown way out of proportion with what reality was for Kite (yourself) when this quest was being undertaken, but what can come of this "legend"? And what of the mysterious Aura, who seems to be the only character that ties the trilogies of (dot)hack//SIGN, (dot)hack PS2 "quad-rilogy" of games, and this series together?
She seemed to have "died" at the end of QUARANTINE, only to be "reborn".
What of this new Aura, and will she be seen again?

If you read my review of (dot)hack//Legend of the Twilight GN 1 (TOKYOPOP) then you know the answer to that question -- but let's get into it here as we begin reviewing the first Twilight DVD.

Episode 1 - The Legendary Hero
Looks like things truly come in cycles -- like the return of "Kite" and "BlackRose" (sorta).
But not only good things come in cycles, so do bad things.
It seems the beginning of a new wave of "coma" cases might be on the horizon, as one player "falls" at the start of this episode. Whether or not he ended up in a coma however has not been said -- yet.
But for twins separated by parental strife (Rena and Shugo) it seems The World might be a good place for them. Rena, having won two rare characters from a contest (entering Shugo without his knowledge), has found a way to reunite with her brother in The World.

But as they begin playing it seems they're about to be caught up in events that are bigger than them.
As the nemesis of old may be on it's way back... and the only "old guard" from before that seems to be left that remembers the "Twilight" incident of before is Balmaug, who now works as a System Administrator.
Well, looks like Shugo (after "dying" in an easy "level" at the hands of a high level creature) is going to have a meet with the mysterious Aura, and be given the same bracelet that Kite had four years ago to fight the rogue "wave" and it's eight "avatars".

Episode 2 - Kite's Bracelet.
The bracelet. Originally used by Kite to resist the rogue "wave" and it's "avatars", it was destroyed in order to bring the "destruction" of the creature known as Cubia (which is why the ads are in error -- you institute the destruction of the bracelet yourself, and do it in grand fashion).

A few months after the end of the "twilight" incident, and the apparent death of Aura, Aura returns and brings back a new "bracelet". But what happened in the span between then and now is unclear.
The status of all the major players, from Kite, BlackRose, Wiseman, Terajima Ryoko, Rachel and so forth seems to be rather non-existent. In fact, with the exception of Balmaug, everyone else seems to be gone... EXCEPT it seems one other player from the Twilight event might be wandering about if "patch" turns out to be the same character from the video games.

But forget about that. Today it's Special Event day and it's a bit different than the event from the manga (combining two things from the manga into one. Which events? The "mini-event" contest, and the cherry blossom event).

In the mini event they had to dig up stuff looking for a pumpkin, in the cherry blossom festival they met a cute dog that turned out to be more than she seemed... for instance not being a dog in the first place but a -- well, see for yourself (or refer to (dot)hack//Legend of the Twilight GN 1 from TOKYOPOP for the encounter in question).

This time out it seems the event is to bring cherry blossom trees to life and make them bloom.
During the manga version of the festival a ton of the undead came out of the ground.
This time out it'll just be one, but that's enough considering that things are about to go wonky after the new "Kite"'s bracelet malfunctions and causes screwy things to happen. Lots of screwy things to happen.
Weapons fail, spells fail, Black Rose/Kite might actually get past first base this time out and that's so wrong because it's NOT the original BR/Kite here -- which kinda means incest if it gets out of hand -- never mind.

Forget I said anything. Nothing happens, they don't get out of hand, and Excel/Hyatt don't consider Mince a mobile emergency meal ration in case of emergency.
Ok. Maybe the last one isn't true but the rest is right on the money.

Look. It's just not going to be their day... that is until they solve the mystery of the event in question.
Solution? It can be found in the "liner notes" in the extras section.

Episode 3 - The Phoenix Feather
Obviously the situation in the anime is far more dire than what is going on in the manga version.
Why? Because while (in the manga) Balmaug is content to remain in the background, this one has already come out and confronted the new "Black Rose" and "Kite".

If you played the video games, and remember the near cataclysmic events of the games then you'll see why he's taking a far more hands on approach this time around, especially since it seems the bad old times are a-coming back once again. Invincible monsters that cannot "die", players most likely falling into comas, it's the bad old days of four years ago once again and that can't be good for The World.

But that's not important because it looks like Kite (Shugo) is about to be charged with saving a Baby Grunty. A player is left caring for a baby grunty as another player (who turns out to be a first class major loser player) goes on a three day leave from The World. And, yeah, it's as noisy as the one from the video games. Speaking of the games? Apparently all your hard work to level your character up is sorta believed to be tied in to the ability to properly use the bracelet. Uh-huh. That means it's "basic training" time for Shugo... which might kill him.

Speaking of things that'll kill Shugo. When he's confronted with that Baby Grunty problem he's going to save the Grunty even if it kills him... and it just might. Why is it going to kill him? Seems he can't get in touch with anyone in the real world -- all of three allies including his sister -- so that's why it might kill him.
But since it's only Episode 3 I don't think there'll be any fatalities -- even if Shugo's love of dogs might get him mauled this episode... uh, you'll have to see that for yourself.

NOTE - I thought so! It WAS Sanjuro (from the games) hanging around the past few episodes. He finally shows up and meets Shugo (mistaking him for the original Kite) in this episode.
Wonders if this means we'll get a visit from some of the other characters?

Might be interesting to see Rachel appear and have a Rachel/Mirelle team up since they both have near similar drives. Meanwhile it looks like we'll see more of Sanjuro as it seems Balmaug wants him to train Shugo for the coming "twilight" that seems inevitable.

Episode 4 - Tanabata Night
I'm going to stop here. Why? Because this is an episode that is detailed out in the "liner notes" and you can see this one for yourself. That's why. Anyway if anything major happens in this episode I'll talk about it a bit next review of (dot)hack//Legend of the Twilight.

Hint - It's the anime version of the episode where Rena becomes the "prize" of a contest involving a race and lots of gigantic shark creatures -- and Shugo without a boat of any size to complain about.
Ok. That's that. It's extras slash breakdown time so let's get right to it.

Region One Optional Extras
Textless Opening & Ending - You know the drill with that. Opening and closing credits roll without the credits blocking the animation. Nice.

Art Gallery - It is as it says it is.

Liner Notes - As always my usual rule of thumb applies to this. Spin the disc once, watch the episodes, then come back afterwards to read the notes (y'know, just in case there's spoiler notes in the notes).
This time out it's two notes. "The Old Man Who Made Flowers Bloom" and "The Story Of Tanabata".
Video Game Trailer - Trailer for the PS2 (dot)hack games. Let's hope BANDAI rolls out a sequel to Episode IV (QUARANTINE) someday -- otherwise I don't know why my data was "flagged" at the end of the game if I can't bring it over to another game somewhere down the line.

(dot)hack//LotT Breakdown the 1st
What's Hot? - Ok. If you finished your "tour of duty" of the four BANDAI PS2 games, and wanted a game that captured the essence of the games then -- well -- you're going to be one highly disappointed player.
The show, however, has it's own merits as a sequel, and is the lightest fare I've seen of the (dot)hack trilogy to date. Consider this "Episode III" of the series (Episode I being (dot)hack//SIGN, Episode II being the (dot)hack quad-rilogy video games). Ok. It's not the fall of The World, and though there are elements that bring a sense of urgency and danger it's still (dot)hack//lite. And it's not like that's a bad thing.

HOWEVER as of next DVD the whole lighter than (dot)hack//SIGN theory goes right out the window as the series suddenly (to it's faulting) tries to foster a dark side... not good, especially since this was so original by having a lighter side.

Watched the previous series? Good reason to hook up with this series. Want something cool but light fare? Enjoy it while you can, things seem to be going darker from this point out.

What's Not? - They actually avoided the stuff I kinda was abit iffy about with the manga in this version, and that's a good point. So there's no nots here to note.
But the true Not of this series is the dark turn it takes next DVD, but I'll mention more on that next time.

Moments to Remember? - It's quite memorable as you'll see. Once the gang's all there and things start to go weird it'll be quite memorable.

What to Ignore? - Nothing... yet. I won't have the same sentiment next time though.

Overall? It's not as hard edged as (dot)hack//SIGN... well, that WAS until next time then it suddenly dumps it's lighter image and tries for a darker taint which was just so unwelcomed!
I finally find something that is different from the original (it's (dot)hack//lite) but that doesn't stop them from throwing it all out and going 360 to make it darker... damn! Stay tuned.

-- David Rasmussen 20th Dec 04

Hack//Legend of the Twilight Images