Category: .Hack//Roots

Okay, I was wrong in my prediction. The big thing didn’t happen this episode, it’ll happen next episode. I hope. In any case, we haven’t seen any major plot development which will be able to provide material for 24 episodes. At this moment, you’d almost say that we’re dealing with a 13-episode anime if you didn’t know about the fact that there’ll be 24 of them.

I’ve got some issues with the goons, summoned by Ender. If it wasn’t for them, this episode would’ve been totally and incredibly amazing. Ender summons them in order to try and stop The Twillight Brigade for a bit, as they wait for the last virus cores to arrive. But these goons have been horribly executed. They’re just like a bunch of emotionless zombies, who attack one by one, have no skills at all, and just let our main characters have all kinds of conversations. I mean, they were meant to provide some challenge for the Ovan, but they all look like some bunch of pathetic idiots who don’t have any opinion or emotion and who only manage to be convenient for the plot.

Like I said: apart from this little flaw, the episode was just amazing. This time, not because of Haseo, but because of all of the different characters interacting and fighting each other. Haseo himself was more of a side-character in this episode. It’s shown that Ovan’s the only one he looks up to and respects, and that he really wants to make Ovan content. It’s also very good to see that he isn’t an emotionless fighting machine, as after he defeats Goad, he shows some sympathy.

Ender herself also was great. She’s the one who fights Ovan, and he indeed is stronger than she is. Though it is her task to lure him into some kind of trap on the top level. This brings up some interesting issues, when you take a look at the end of the episode. At that point, the virus cores were activated and the Twillight Brigade gets teleported to the castle up in the air at that field. This means that the trap has still to come, which means that the trap is in this castle, which means that TaN knew about the secrets of the virus cores all along, and may even have access to the secret inside of it.

Naobi indeed plans to do something at the time that the other characters are fighting each other. He’s accessing some strange place, which certainly has got something to do with the castle up in the sky. So if you combine these things together, this means that if this was a simple quest about who gets his hands on the Key of the Twillight first, there still is a step left for both parties to perform. It could be something inside of Ovan. After all, the entire purpose of TaN is capturing Ovan’s character data. This means that both parties have each other’s remaining piece of a duplicate puzzle, and it’s just a matter who can get their missing part first, without sacrificing their own part.

Tabby also had a great, though minor role. As she’s just new, and apparently hasn’t trained as much as Haseo, she indeed has trouble with the zombie-goons. But she still is determined to pay Shino back for her kindness. Shino also showed that she can do more than just talk and heal, as she’s able to hold off the zombie-goons as well without getting injured. Still, the focus didn’t fall too much on the two of them on this episode.

B-Set had a small, yet awesome role in this episode. She first tries to stop Goad from interfering with Ovan, though she fails. For a large part of the remaining episode, she spends her time on the bridge wondering whether to go or not. It’s been on her face for the entire anime that she had her doubts when she left the Twillight Brigade, and these doubts only increase as time goes further. Phyllo then finally manages to convince her to go.

Goad also was amazing. After ignoring B-Set, he set off to get revenge on Ovan, but Ender&co manage to beat him to it. He watches from a distance for a while, but then he decides to turn Haseo into a victim. After a small fight at which Haseo’s barely able to hold Goad back (still, Haseo must’ve trained for a whole damn lot if he’s able to do that with Goad), though Goad flinches when he sees that B-Set has come back. Haseo then manages to get him back on the side of the Twillight Brigade.

Ovan was acting as strange as always, but we really saw him smile at times. When he was fighting Ender, for example. it also seems that he knew that Goad and Sakisaka were to deliver him the last two of the Virus Cores. During his fight against Ender, for some strange reason Ender hides, and he, instead of helping his comerades, he stands in the circle of glowing towers and waits while all of them start glowing for no apparent reason. Ender seems to be really happy with this. In any case, it seems that he’ll play a huge role in the next episode, at which his plans most probably go wrong in some way.

Though the real stars of this episode were Sakisaka and Tawaraya. Sakisaka wants Ovan to acknowledge him as well, so he finally decides to go back to Tawaraya to get the Virus Core. Tawaraya isn’t the same optimist as he was at the beginning of the series, so he gets a bit gloomy when he sees that Tawaraya plans to PK him in order to get back the Virus Core. This plan turns into at total failure when it seems Tawaraya’s incredibly strong. Though he gets really unconfortable when he sees Sakisaka struggle to keep going. After all, what would you do when you were suddenly attacked by something incredibly weak about a thing you don’t even care about? Tawaraya indeed did the same thing I’d do in such a situation, I think. I SO like the direction the two of them are going: Sakisaka begins to open up more and more, while Tawaraya begins to get more and more gloomy by the minute. I’m so curious about how the two of them will be ending up in the end.

Those individual characters may indeed not seem so worthwile. But remember: all of this happened in just 20 minutes. Everything just almost happened at once, turning this into a near-amazing episode. The already amazing music also was used perfectly, and not to mention the amazing graphics. It seems that the mystery-department also got a nice dose, with a bit of help from Naobi and the strange dude who appeared at the beginning of the episode.

.Hack//Roots really is the king of the anti-climaxes. At the climax of the last episode, Haseo, Tabby and Sakisaka are about to be teleported towards some unknown areas when the cliffhanger set in. What do you think happened at the beginning of this episode? Yes, they ended up in the lost grounds which Shino and Ovan seem to have labeled as their favourite place. Still, this doesn’t make this episode bad. In fact, apart from episode three, this was the best .Hack//Roots episode yet.

So many different thing happened, so many unexpected events played. So many questions introduced and so many questions answered. This episode really was a roller-coaster ride. And then to think that this was just an intermezzo, an introduction to the ninth episode! I can’t wait to find out what might happen then.

Haseo was great once more. It really seems now that he wants to please Shino in some way, and he wants to be with Ovan. That’s why he got the idea of what the function of the pillars might be, and that’s why he listened to Shino when she asked him to continue searching for the Virus Cores. I guess he doesn’t like Tabby and Sakisaka too much, which only makes him more adorible. He really doesn’t know how to deal with people, that’s clear now.

Ender also has the worst timing in the world, that also became clear after this episode, though I’m loving her evil character more and more. Especially now that she’s beginning to show more and more weaknesses. I just loved the fact that she just appeared after Sakisaka vanished, and then kept wondering where they went. This means that even she doesn’t know about these bugs. For the rest of the episode, she got assigned to watch Haseo, as Shino decided that the three of them were better to be moving alone, after she heard that Ender showed up again at the church. She then really gets surprised when Haseo suddenly disappears in front of a marking again, and you can see that on her face for the rest of the episode.

Goad also is planning something. He wants to prove Ovan that he’s better than him, and gets one of the virus cores which was in the posession of another PK-guild, named Kestrel. Phyllo calls him with a little brat because of this, with some good reasons. Still, I like Goad. He’ll definately play some great roles in the next episodes. I also loved the fight he had this time. It was short, and some strategy was included in it. And why does he think he can beat Ovan when he can’t even beat a guy like Phyllo? ^^

Tabby was adorible this time, especially in combination with the rapid succession of the different scenes. She really is determined to find out about the Virus Cores, so she decides to check out the church a bit, in order to find another one of those teleporting markings. When Haseo and Sakisaka are talking a bit, she’s busy checking the wall in order to find some secret entrances. Instead, she finds a doorway into a bug which doesn’t let her move at all. It takes her a while in order to find out she’s dealing with a bug and teleport away. (Yes, I absolutely loved the scene in the church. Roller-coaster rides at its best!)

Sakisaka remains in his sceptic and sarcastical self. When Tabby suggests them to take a look at the church, he finds that they’d better look for the virus cores instead of the markings, though he gets taken along against his will. Inside the church, he has no idea where to look for, and makes a couple of sarcastical comments about this. Though, when Tabby has her accident, he reacts to this, faster than Haseo. Only to wind up getting blocked as well. He, however, gets out faster than Tabby does, he meets up with Shino faster and fulfills goes to take care of one of her requests before the other two arrive.

Tawaraya had a bit of a sad role in this episode. He has a Virus Core, and for some reason, he’s supposed to give it to the members of the Twillight Brigade. His earlier attempts failed, and he can’t seem to think of another way to do it. But why does TaN want to give some of the Virus Cores to the Twillight Brigade? I mean, can’t they just take them from Haseo, Ovan and Shino and use them themselves? I mean, they seem smart enough to do it.

Naobi has another cryptic discussion with Ender. Apparently, their plan is about to enter a certain “Phase One”, and they need Haseo for it for some strange reason. Tawaraya doesn’t need to know anything again, despite him having one of the Virus Cores. Apparently, the thing he wants is Ovan’s character data. Once Ovan is caught, their mission will be lots easier. Their plan to do this seems to be all set up, though Ender is not sure whether it will work. Naobi’s silouette also appears when Ovan starts talking about the fact that the Key of the Twillight might already be near them. Does that mean that Naobi has got something to do with the Key of the Twillight itself?

Shino also seems very keen on being the one to break the good news to Ovan. She has another cryptic discussion with him as well. It seems that Ovan might disappear for a while once the Key of the Twillight is found. She also reveals that she knows Ovan in real life somehow, though she makes it seem that there’s more than just that. Though, why is she reluctant to let Haseo show his own findings to Ovan?

Ovan seems to be getting energetic at the end of the episode, up to the point at which he even priorizes the Key of the Twillight above his own job. It really seems to be his plan to go and get the Key of the Twillight in the next episode. But still. Haseo has two Virus Cores. One he got from Shino and the other one he got in the strange space he visited during this episode. Shino also has one, and he has the fourth one of the Twillight Brigade. Then there is one in the hands of Goad, and Tawaraya posesses the last one. But how was he planning to go there without having the last two of the Virus Cores? Or could it be that Haseo just managed to discover the seventh Virus Core? After all, it was found in an unknown area. In any case, his little pep-talk at the end of the episode really managed to make Haseo enthusiastic.

Sakisaka also states a nice point: everything seems to happen a bit too convenient. And it’s true. The Key of the Twillight is about to be found, and we’re only at episode eight. This must mean that there’s something about to happen which will turn over the entire plot of the anime, like a giant pancake. It probably has got something to do with Haseo’s strange ability. It would be too great if all the different parties manage to break up afterwards, making the Twillight Brigade and TaN to be disbanded.

The brilliance of .Hack//Roots? The fact that there are so many different characters, with each and every one of them acting independantly. Because of this, there are so many different opportunities for different kinds of conversations, which makes each character different. And not just once, but during the entire airtime of the anime. Each of the different characters has his or her own meetings with other ones of the different characters, and it’s executed perfectly.

Apparently, we never know what happened at the end of the last episode, as we only get to see the aftermath. We start with Sakisaka officially breaking his ties with Tawaraya (the first time in which we see him actually surprised in a negative way).The discussion which follows is very dynamic, good job to the creators.

We then switch to the headquarters of the Twillight Brigade. Shino suggests to actively communicate when something goes wrong. Then we go to the bridge, at which Phyllo and B-Set talking about the rumours of the members of TaN attacking the Twillight Brigade. TaN-members are also showing up more than usual.

Tawaraya suddenly gets a huge blow in the back, as he gets obsolete as soon as he finishes his mission. This suddenly is a huge change when you compare it to the fifth episode. Ender also reveals that she’s into a serious mission, and that there’ll probably some kind of trap to lure Ovan out, though everything will be ruined when he doesn’t show up. The talk between her and Naobi is kept very cryptic, so we don’t get much wiser after the end of this conversation.

Goad also comes with an interesting observation, which most people might’ve figured out by now. I however, didn’t see it. It seems that there are only six virus cores known. One is in the possesion of TaN, and was used by Tawaraya in order to convert Sakisaka. The other one was found by Ovan in episode five. Shino holds the third one. Phyllo gave the fourth one to Ovan. The backgrounds of the fifth and the sixth ones aren’t given yet. Anotehr interesting note is that Phyllo actually is pretty strong, as he easily manages to beat Goad. He reminds me of Bear from .Hack//Sign, in a certain way.

Ovan, meanwhile, will be leaving for a while. It’s got something to do with his job, and he already got scolded by his manager once. He orders Shino to order Sakisaka, Tabby and Haseo to look for the remaining Virus Cores, while she has to wait for his orders. Shino gets worried about this, especially concerning the PK-ing, though she listens to Ovan. It really feels like this show is building up at the moment. Especially Ovan and Shino’s characters weren’t too worthwile in the last couple of episodes. Shino only had one moment to shine in episode three, and Ovan was good in the first episode, but the two of them really toned down a bit. They do, however, show great potential for future episodes, so let’s keep hoping.

In the meantime, Haseo has another supernatural experience. It still doesn’t make any sense at all. Why do these target him only? He goes to tell this to Phyllo, though he backs down in the middle of the conversation. I so loved this moment. As Haseo’s shy, he doesn’t know how to continue a conversation like that, so he chooses the easiest option of just running away. I’m kindof ashamed to say it, but that’s probably the way I would’ve reacted as well.

We then switch to Tabby, Sakisaka and Haseo, who head for the lost grounds while Shino patiently waits for Ovan. They then find the same A-shaped mark from previous episode and the commercial-break-scenes. They then turn to one of the other lost grounds, at which another one of these patterns lies. This one, however, does react to Haseo. It then teleports our heroes into something we have to find out in the next episode.

Nothing awesome in this episode, though it remained enjoyable. It feels like the characters which are going to shine later in the series really are holding too much back right now. I also hope that Haseo’ll have more contact with as much different people as possible. I really liked it when he did this in the past.

I really liked Haseo in this episode, as usual. He actually spends most of the episode on the bridge (he seems to be favouring that place), along with the little furry animal. Both of them don’t say too much, and especially Haseo’s thinking about what happened last episode. He tries to talk him out of things, by providing some examples .Hack//Sign also used. Then, we get our first sign of an event outside of the World: a meteor-shower’s supposed to pass by in the real world that evening. Haseo isn’t very interested in meteors, so he declines.

At around the end of the episode, we get to see a neat little technique, performed the creators. Sakisaka and Tabby are about to become toast. They keep sending e-mails to the other members of the Twillight Brigade, but nobody responds. We see a small shot of the bridge, without Haseo. This gives you the illusion that Haseo already logged off, while in fact, he was rushing towards them, managing to save them in time. Even though I absolutely dislike this concept (after seeing Star Ocean Ex, who wouldn’t?), it’s a good thing that the creators actually managed to pull off this trick. It’s definately an improvement. Anyway, we also get another hint about the supernatural events which are to happen in this series. Apparently, certain kinds of glowing thingies cause all of the data they touch to be completely messed up, resulting in them to lose all of their graphic form. Haseo, apparently has the power to undo these.

Tabby also was very interesting. Not in terms of her own character (I still don’t really like it), thought he effect she has on all of the other characters. As she’s still young, and naive, she’s the easiest to suspect people. After all, at the beginning of the episode, she was saying to Sakisaka how Haseo could’t be trusted anymore. That’s pretty blunt, isn’t it?

Sakisaka still had his doubts at the beginning of the episode, though I think that the conflict will have to be delayed for a while. I’m guessing that Tawaraya made a small mistake when stating his opinion about the meteor shower. The effect that this statement has on Sakisaka really was noticable, as he takes his distance away from him. He still has doubts, though, as he keeps clenching to his virus core. I think that this’ll be important for the rest of the episode.

I loved the conversation between Tawaraya and Ender this time, as it exactly had my kind of humor. The two of them are indeed viewing Sakisaka as the weakest link in the Twillight Brigade. I’m surprised that they didn’t select Tabby for this. But still, we have absolutely no information about his activities in the Twillight Brigade before Tabby joined. An interesting fact about Tawaraya is also that he doesn’t notice that Sakisaka’s beginning to lean more towards the Twillight Brigade. Or did this meeting have a deeper meaning?

Ender seems to know about the shiny thingies, as she gives a recognizing confirmation when she sees these. The then charges to Tabby and Sakisaka, cleverly avoiding them. I guess that these really have something to do with Ovan. Though she didn’t really count for Haseo to show up, and do the things he did. Also, why did she wait a while before attacking the both of them? In fact, why is she even bothering to PK them? The cliffhanger’s a very interesting one. She attacks both Haseo and Sakisaka, while they attack back, the screen pans up, we see a couple of flashes and Sakisaka screams. Tabby, however, doesn’t yell, but she sarcastically questions him. What’s up with that?

And where was Ovan during this episode? He just talked for a bit with Shino, said thanks, and never showed up for the rest of the episode. What has he been doing at that time? His conversation with Shino also triggers a lot of questions. For starters, Shino mentions hospitalized people. I might be mistaking, though could it be that these people are data-drained? But then, what did “it might be a long road ahead” mean?

Shino also mentioned Haseo being a bit too hard to please at the moment. I guess that she realizes that Haseo’s having trouble, though she doesn’t understand him perfectly. I’d like to see more of her brilliance of episode 3. Later this episode, she is the one who guides Sakisaka and Tabby to the place with the shiny thingies. This, however, is just a normal dungeon. How did she know that the shiny thingies were to be there? And even if she knew it, why did she even bother sending Sakisaka and Tabby there in the first place? And yes, she had to log out for some kind of reason. I also get the feeling that she didn’t want to tell Ovan what she was going to do afterwards, though Tabby’s questioning made me realize that there indeed was something that she was doing at that time. What could it be?

This certainly was an episode meant to trigger a lot of questions. Like, what are these shiny thingies anyway? And why do they appear where they appear? Why does Haseo, of all people have the ability to dispel them? I also loved the fact that some of the scenes in this episode were incredibly slow. Most people might not like it, though I think it’s brilliant. The music combines it really to a masterpiece.

The conflict between Haseo and Sakisaka extents further, and now Tabby and Shino also become involved with it. This is awefully fast, though it does mean that it’ll be solved relatively quickly in the range of the anime. What will happen once this is solved?

Haseo was great once more. Even though he doesn’t show it, he is worried about the PK-ing, and goes to investigate, and again visits a number of people. It’s a good thing that, even though he’s part of the Twillight Brigade, he does visit other people, unlike other members. Unfortunately, Tawaraya is one of the people he visits, which doesn’t really create good rumors. I find him rather uncertain and nonchalant at the outside, though I thing that he probably knows what he’s talking about, though he’s just doesn’t want to make any false statements. I like the way he talks, though. It’s so much better than all those impulsive main characteer. I also loved him after his conversation with Ender.

I was finding Tabby in the beginning just plain annoying, though now I see that she also has a couple of good sides. I just can’t stand her character design, especially the look she has when idle. Can’t she just not smile? Though the way she stirred up the conflict in this episode was brilliant, not to mention her annoying behavior towards Haseo, who wants to just be left alone and do his own things.

Ovan was a bit boring in this episode, though I think he’ll begin to shine at the last part of the show. He’s really not meant to show himself at the beginning of the series. I’m also wondering what he meant “So this is all of them”. I guess he meant that he just caught the last of the virus cores that was to be appearing at that time and place, though the moment I saw it, I really think that that was the last of the virus cores to ever appear.

Shino’s a bit boring. At least, when she’s not giving her attention to Haseo. When she’s not with him, she tries to be a bit advicing or serious, but it doesn’t work. When Haseo’s around, though, she finally acts a bit more natural, kindof like a motherly type. These moments are very enjoyable, both when the two of them agree with each other, and when the two of them are on different tracks, like the end of the episode.

Another person I love is Sakisaka. Although it won’t seem that he’ll ever be able to escape the miseries of being a side-character, he plays his part very well. He too, begins to question Ovan and the Twillight Brigade. Tawaraya only makes this worse, and he’ll probably explode in one of the following episodes. Two things can happen afterwards, he can either calm down, and stay with the guild, or he’ll leave the guild just like Goad and B-Set. So far, I haven’t seen any true motivation from him to be remaining on the Twillight Brigade, so I think it’ll be the second. I also loved the way he tried to hide the things he knew.

Goad also came in as a surprise. When I first saw him, I believed he was only to return for a couple of more episodes, though it does seem that he’s going to play an active role in the story. It was also great to see some character development from his side. His pride, is of course being hurt, so he will take revenge against Ender. But how?

I’m a bit worried about the leader of TaN. He just seems so much like the standard I-sit-in-my-chair-while-all-my-subordinates-carry-out-my-evil-plans-muaha-evil-villain. I hope that there’ll be a change in this pattern, as he’s probably the member of the cast who so far has experienced the least character-development of all (a fancy way of saying that he’s had no character development at all). Will he really make for a great bad guy?

B-Set also shows a lot of potential for the rest of the show. I’m somehow reminded of a weaker version of B. T., a member of the .Hack//Sign cast. She was once member of the Twillight Brigade, but she left. But still she can’t forget it, and Haseo doesn’t make it better. The previous episode showed that she has quite some character, so she’s probably going to have a couple of moments in which she’ll shine.

Tawaraya is, unlike the leader of TaN, a good example of a villain. He’s more of a merchant, so he doesn’t go into fights, as opposed to Ender, so the two of them make a good combination. It also seems that this won’t be a contest to see who can collect the most virus-cores, as he doesn’t just gloat when he enounters one. Still, I love it how he loves to stirr a bit of conflicts in the Twillight Brigade. I only don’t like him when near his superior.

The little furry animal (what’s his name again?) is fairly unique to anime. He’s a character you can just talk to, and he’ll give you some interesting and very useful advices. He says he plays the game to kill time, though I think he actually enjoys listening to those people, and giving his opinion.

Ender seems to be a villain which will last till about episode 10. I don’t think she’ll play a big role afterwards, but the role she has right now is pretty entertaining. I have no idea why she randomly PK’s people when they don’t have the answers she needs, though I think it’s to intimidate the opponent.

In case you haven’t noticed yet, this was my first attempt at an in-depth character-analysis. I got the inspiration from Willuknight, and his post about the characters from Air. I dont think I’ll be doing this very often, as it takes one hell of a job to write. Still, I’m quite pleased with it, although it could benefit from a number of improvements.

After last episode, it was only natural that this would be more like an intermezzo. Still, plenty of things happen. Sakisaka gets amazed at the lack of reasons why Haseo and Tabby joined the guild, though he’s being a huge hyporcrite by doing so. He later gets to train with Tabby, while Shino shows Haseo a familiar place: the church from .Hack//Sign.

Sakisaka gets a bit bored with Tabby, and begins to ask himself questions about Haseo, who’s meanwhile levelling up along with Shino and Ovan. Later, in the guild-building, he meets up with Haseo. Haseo’s being overly nonchalant, and Sakisaka begins to lose his temper. Right before they end up fighting, Shino arrives with the message that Tabby was PK’d.

The members of TaN also have their busy times. The large merchant is involved in some kind of shady business, while the female thief visits the girl from episode two, who left the Twillight Brigade. Most of it still doesn’t make any sense, though.

As this was an intermezzo, it wasn’t as good as the previous episode. Still, the next episode looks promising.

The episode begins with the members of TaN discussing for a bit, then we switch back to Haseo, who’s busy levelling. These are also the only fights that happen in this episode. It makes me glad to see that this series didn’t focus on the fights after all. Anyway, after killing a bunch of monsters, he walks into three suspicious-looking PC’s, probably after an easy PK. Then we switch to the members of the Twillight Brigade. Shino and Ovan have a little talk with each other, with Ovan being as mysterious as ever.

Back to Haseo, it seems someone has been spreading rumours about him being the legendary Haseo, with superpowers and super-items. The three PC’s from before were begging him to join their party. Haseo tries to flee, but runs into some other guys who heard about him. These, however, are a bunch of PK-ers, only after his money and items. Haseo gets saved by Tawaraya, the big merchant from TaN. Tawaraya, interested in Haseo’s bond with Ovan, is stunned when he founds out that Haseo knows absolutely nothing. He goes back to TaN, and wonders why Ovan was so interested in this kid.

Haseo, meanwhile, gets bothered by Tabby. She’s the only character in the show I have problems with. In combination with other characters, she works pretty well, but her artwork SO does NOT fit with the others. It’s really another art style she’s drawn in. She also was the biggest reason why I feared that .Hack//Roots might be going into the wrong direction. Anyway, she gives Haseo a special card, which makes you able to join a certain guild, in this case, the Twillight Brigade. The two spend a bit of time together, Tabby keeps bothering him, and Haseo decides to lose her the quick and easy way: by logging out.

I’ve noticed before, but now I know for sure: the episodes of .Hack//Roots all start out a bit of mediocre, but as the episode progresses, the scenes become better and better by the minute, and the scenes at the beginning of the episode all get their meaning. The result is awesome, and this episode was no exception. We now get our first taste of supernatural events on the show, and finally it becomes clear why Ovan was so interested in Haseo. For some reason, the screen gets a weird tint, all PC’s and NPC’s disappear, and all Haseo’s able to see is Ovan, who’s walking a distance away from him. Haseo tries to follow him, but the screen turns normal again, and he bumps into Tawaraya. Tawaraya soon understands what happened to him, and finally understands why Ovan was so interested in Haseo. He gives him a special card as well. It also now becomes clear why TaN’s so interested in Ovan. A lot of pieces fall into place this way.

Shino, meanwhile sees where she went wrong, and goes back to Haseo. This time, not to convince him, but just to be with him. That’s what I really liked: two characters, just sitting next to each other, saying just nothing. A lot more anime should attempt this. Haseo leaves, but Shino made a big impression on him. The rest of the episode, we see Haseo thinking about which guild to choose. The result is predictable, but the way the decision is made totally makes up for it. After all, it took Haseo three episodes to make a good decision. Each side was explored, he knew the advantages and disadvantages, and he made a choice. You don’t usually see this in anime either.

Overall, this was another brilliant episode. Haseo’s in the guild now, but I like the way it happened. I wonder what he’ll be doing next.

I really like Haseo. Even though he’s shy, he has a strong character. He doesn’t just hear things and obeys them, but he thinks on his own for a chance. Still, my guess is that he’ll end up in the Twillight Brigade. Probably in the next episode. Anyway, today we see the introduction of another pair of interesting characters. They’re both players who abandoned the Twillight Brigade, because they were just used by Ovan. It’ll be very interesting if these characters make some more appearances in the show, as I kindof liked them. After all, a friendly PK-er and a pessimist are always nice to see.

There isn’t really a good side and a bad side yet. There really are lots of differend sides. I hope it stays this way, as it brings potential for so many conflicts.

An element I found interesting is the fact that nothing out of the ordinary has happened yet. In every other .Hack//anime, the first episode would immediately introduce something supernatural which was happening. In //Sign it was Tsukasa being unable to logout. In //Dusk it was the undefeatable monsters appearing (I hope never to refer back to //Dusk again) and //Liminality had (along with //Sign as well) people getting into a coma. //Roots still has nothing, which makes me curious about what will happen in the next couple of episodes.