.Hack//Roots – 10 – Rant on Roots vs Sign

Okay, we’ve reached episode 10, and still no big thing. As everything stands now, the anime can just end at the thirteenth episode without too much problems. TaN has executed its plans, Ovan is kidnapped, and our protagonists will probably need three whole episodes to sort everything out. My predictions are that the first thirteen episodes will be focusing at the natural, while the last thirteen episodes will be focusing at the supernatural. After all, the virus cores are explained, though the strange thing who appeared at the previous episode, or the strange A-like markings have yet to be explained. Still, TaN probably has got something to do with the latter, as one of the virus cores found itself inside one of the spaces that the A-like markings teleported Haseo to.

Still, some major things happened during this episode, and I didn’t like it. Ovan just went and got himself kidnapped, even though he knew it. In that case, why has he been collecting the virus cores so furiously? His smile from the previous episode’d better have some kind of meaning, as I’m beginning to dislike Ovan more and more. At least his disappearance made sure of one thing: Shino. For the first time since the third episode, she played a great part again. The creators made use of a nice technique, by not showing her eyes when she talks. This way, the viewers have no idea about her expression, and have to guess a bit, giving a very nice overall effect.

Another thing I really liked about this episode is the fight that the members of the Twillight Brigade have at the beginning of the episode, against Ender and her goons. Okay, the latter were just horrible, just like the previous episode. But the former really showed their best sides at that moment. Especially the sarcastical Sakisaka and the overenthusiastic Goad. Lots of things happened at the same time, you just have to give the choreographers credit for this.

Still, now that we’ve reached the tenth episode, I know. .Hack//Roots will never reach the perfection of .Hack//Sign. The biggest reason is the following: .Hack//Sign was smart. Very smart. It covered themes that really made you think. Why do you play the game? Just do the things that you want to do. These ones really are nowhere to be found in .Hack//Roots. The first example does return a bit, though most of the characters just throw this away because it’s too much efford to think about it, and only Phyllo manages to give a satisfying answer. The second one, however, just remains oblivious.

The fact is that this remains an MMORPG. Okay, there are guilds, I can accept that. What I can’t accept is the fact that TaN seems to be covering hundreds of members, actually WORKING for the big guy, Naobi. I mean the game remains for recreational purposes. What the heck does Naobi think ordering everyone around? It isn’t a company or some sort of thing. The fact remains that .Hack//Sign really gave the feeling of an MMORPG. In .Hack//Roots, Phyllo is the only one who manages this. .Hack//Sign made very subtle use of the real world. They showed little snippets of scenes in the real world, though very cryptic and subtle. Especially Tsukasa’s flashbacks were great. What does .Hack//Roots do? Nothing. The only sign that we ever get from our main characters is that Ovan and Shino seem to know each other.

.Hack//Dusk went way too extreme in it, but it had the right ideas about the following subject: quests. .Hack//Sign made perfect use of it, though. .Hack//Roots? Quests? What’s that? .Hack//Roots indeed seems to be forgetting one of the most important aspects of an MMORPG. Okay, they may seem a bit weak, but they’re actually quite fun to do. Roots just doesn’t see this. It also seems that NPC’s also don’t exist in the world anymore. .Hack//Sign was also brilliant in keeping its distance from the administrators. You have to realize that they’re the only party who gets paid to do their job. They don’t have anything to do with the player. I was hoping for .Hack//Roots to follow the same example as .Hack//Sign did, instead of following the horrible example that .Hack//Dusk set. But unfortunately, I was wrong. TaN seems to have something to do with the administrators after all.

The point remains that everyone inside an MMORPG remains equal. Nobody has special powers. Everyone can just level up to lvl 99 as same as everyone else. What they do have, however, is some people who are incredibly active, and set some examples to the rest. Think of Subaru in .Hack//Sign. She attempted to start some kind of independant police force, which would be able to control malicious players. Soon, more and more people started to hear about her, she got support, and before you knew it, she was the most famous player in The World, with everyone recognizing her. What the heck did Naobi do to get such a status? Well, he’s just friends with the admins. Woo. It’s the same for the Twillight Brigade. We never get to see what made them so known around The World. I hope this gets answered in the later episodes, though I seriously doubt that they’ll be able to beat Subaru in this.

Another thing is: why the heck is Naobi so obsessed about getting Ovan’s player data. Dude: it’s a friggin’ GAME. What the heck do you hope to gain with this. Ovan also reveals that the strange voice from .Hack//Sign and the Twillight Bracelet from .Hack//Dusk were actually the Key of the Twillight. Not only takes this away all the mystery in one giant blow, it also gives us some large hints that the guy who appeared in the previous episode will have to be playing for the Key of the Twillight-part. I also don’t like the fact that Naobi, of all guys, was the one who told Ovan about the Key of the Twillight. Remember Sora? He was the one who introduced the term in .Hack//Sign. Still, he was just a PK-er, a fouteen year-old guy who liked to play the game. That has to say something, doesn’t it?

Okay, that concludes my little rants. .Hack//Roots still remains entertaining, though that mostly comes from the first 8 episodes. You really had no idea what was going on, and that was the good part of it. Just showing a couple of guys executing their plans wasn’t just too worthwile to see. It’s the preparation that counts, along with all of the unforeseen circumstances. Though Ovan getting kidnapped was just everything away from unforeseen. Still, I’m still waiting for the big thing to show up and give us some material for the last thirteen episodes.

On a side-note: I just loved Tabby’s fangirling at Goad. ^^;