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

.Hack//Legend of the Twilight - Volume 1

By Joseph (Joe) Wood
24th Jul 06

The .hack// (dot hack slash) series passed me by originally, having only played one of the PS2 games for a few hours and having watched three of the .hack//Liminality OVAs, .hack//Legend of the Twilight is my first real encounter with the franchise.

Legend of the Twilight takes place after the four PS2 games (Infection, Mutation, Outbreak and Quarantine); although you don’t have to have played or completed these games in order to understand Legend of the Twilight. Set four years after the end of the games “The World”, a futuristic online RPG, has now become a lot safer, although few players remain who remember the previous problems with “The World”. Shugo and his sister Rena, who are separated due to their parents divorce, win a competition to play as the legendary “dot hackers” characters Kite and Black Rose (two of the main characters from the games). Shugo and Rena enter The World in order to spend some family time together, but their limited edition characters attract a lot of unwanted attention. They quickly go to a area to explore and level up, but they encounter an extremely powerful monster and Shugo is killed (virtually speaking). Whilst “dead” Shugo encounters the mysterious Aura and gives him a special bracelet that can rewrite the games programming, and revives him. Afterwards Shugo and Rena team up with the rare-item hunter Mireille and encounter the mysterious Lord Balmung amongst others. Strange things keep happening to our heroes, and it seems that the World is more than just a game.

Legend of the Twilight volume one focuses quite heavily on comedy than anything else. The gags are pretty simple, but that doesn’t make them unfunny. Although there are, some awkward moments where a sort virtual semi-incest between Shugo and Rena is briefly mentioned a number of times. The characters are likeable but the English dub voices may grate on some people’s nerves due to their squeaky nature.

The episodes on disc one are enjoyable but there isn’t much plot development and if (like me) you have little or no knowledge of the .hack// universe there may be much that passes you by. One interesting thing is that a couple of the episodes revolve around Japanese Folk Tales (for which there are descriptions of in the extras so that viewers can understand the references) adding and extra layer of depth to the show.

The animation is done in a cutesy way, which is bound to appeal to younger viewers, but this style holds together really well, and it’s not used during short segments set in the real world, which adds more depth to the show.

Legend of the Twilight is likely to appeal to fans of the .hack// franchise, but the first volume certainly stands up on its own legs as an enjoyable light-hearted comedy. If your looking getting into the .hack// franchise then Legend of the Twilight may not be a bad place to start.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: Japanese/Eng/French/German/Dutch Audio, Eng/French/German/Dutch Sub, 8-page booklet, Reversible cover, textless opening and closing animations, Liner notes, Trailers.

Release information: Publisher: Beez Release Date: July 24th 2006 Classification: PG Running Time: 100mins

Notes: The booklet with this DVD contains some information on the production of the .hack// franchise, a chronological timeline (although it's not clear if this is in terms of story or production) plus info on characters and "The World" in general. The "Liner Notes" tell the story behind the refrences to old Japanese folk tales which are referanced in the episodes on the disc, and prove intresting reading.

-- Joseph (Joe) Wood 24th Jul 06

Hack//Legend of the Twilight Images