Dear Internet,
There,
".hack//Sign" is done with. I spent
two days suffering through this show to scratch it off the backlog. You can go back and read the last entry that
I wrote because a majority of the issues that I took with it in the first 15 episodes
is the same that I took with the second half.
The
pacing of this show is absolutely terrible.
Nothing moves or happens for long segments of the time. Instead, the show places the bulk emphasis
onto character development instead of action oriented plot. In my last post, I did not include a tag or
label for "Action" despite "Sign" being listed as such on
Wikipedia. I withheld that tag because action
occurs so very little in the entire course of the show that saying
"Sign" was in the Action genre would be like saying "Green Eggs
and Ham" should be labeled under suspense because Sam would not eat the
eggs. Past episode 15, the plot does
move forward, but it happens all at once, sort as if it was making up for the
fact. There are only about 5 episodes,
from 20 on, where the various characters enact with the world around them and
actually battle monsters. I will admit
that there was some fighting going on in earlier episodes but those were either
meant to be minor distractions or speed bumps as threatening as a shoebox. The emphasis of the show is not action. That is essentially what "Sign was
going for, but it just highlights the vast waste of potential its setting had
for itself.
The
background sets are something that "Sign" had going for itself. The artwork is well made and sets the mood
instantly with bustling cities, thorny forests, etc. Towering upside down castles compose a mixed
up dungeon that showcase the insanity that rests before the cast. A ruinous landfill city makes the perfect
backdrop for the garbage remains of data.
The areas do have a sense of fantasy about them, but only three or four
stand out. The dozen or more other
settings are passed by with little to no care.
There is no sense of spatial awareness brought about by the plot. The only settings that matter are ones where
one cannot usually get to. The manner
that the characters travel is never given a full explanation. Instead, everyone seems to just beam up with
some sort of transport ring. The city
introduced at the beginning of the show never feels special because you can
just clink your heels to get back to it.
Other than for Tsukasa, dying has no deep meaning for any of the cast because
at worse they get a slap on the wrist by being transported back to a gate and
lose some "EXP," which none of them seem to care about. This lack of danger until episode 25 means
that there really is no tension unless you care about Tsukasa, which the story
never really got me to do.
The
story wishes to portray Tsukasa as a victim.
And in most applications, it fits.
Tsukasa seems to have suffered tremendously outside of the game world. Between beatings, a coma, and people dying
close to her, Tsukasa has had it rough. However, for the first seven episodes, and
large sections of later episodes, Tsukasa acts as an anti-social coward who
would rather runaway from the reality that she is trapped in a virtual fantasy
then accept the help of those who are offering it. She has nearly no motivation in bettering her
situation in the least, and the show plays this up for drama. That is basically what the central axis of
the story is, getting Tsukasa to stop being depressed and actually do something. There was one episode that showed her caring
for a sick pig creature and made me hope that a little responsibility would
change her, but that did not last long.
It gets even more ridiculous when it is revealed that her emotions,
whether happy or sad, is what directly affects the World. If I wanted to watch a show that follows around
an angst ridden teenager slowly getting off their butt to move the plot, I
would watch "Evangelion." At
least that was entertaining to watch.
 |
| It took 23 episodes for her to get to that point. |
Then there
was the horrible dialog. Everyone in
this show seems to talk like a philosophy professor or pseudo-intellectual. The dialog never seems to fit the character
that is talking. People that are
supposed to be younger than 16 do not talk like kids. Adults all talk like they are giving a
lecture about interpersonal relationships.
There are Meta discussions about hypothetical situations that constantly
feel awkward and out of place. Maybe
this was a poor translation that was corrected with the English translation. I tried to listen to the English dub for a
while, and it did add extra dialog that helped to clear up what people were
saying. But after listening to the
lackluster voice acting for half an episode, I switched back to Japanese.
 |
| Dialog of the year, right there. |
The
only saving grace of "Sign" is the musical accompaniment. The opening song does have rather gratuitous
use of Engrish, but the soundtrack is excellent. From the sweeping vocals that are able to set
the stage for the wonderful backgrounds to the Latin chant found near the end,
the music takes center stage in this show.
The soundtrack is worth listening to without any context and would be
worth the time to listen to instead of the show. It is too bad that the rest of the show is
not up to par.
Overall,
".hack//Sign" is a bad show. It
takes much too long to get going, and when it does it never quite gets
there. The entire story could have been
condensed to half the length or less.
The recap episode condenses about 17 episodes with little of essence
being left out. I wish I had not wasted
my time with this show, especially after not even getting a climatic confrontation. To top it all off was that the show never
really got into the intricacies of online verses offline life very well. It tried, but it never got me to care or felt
like it mattered. Instead, I would have
rather spent my time reading "1/2 Prince," which actually does a good
job of making a story follow a group of MMO players.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
P.S. Tomorrow is
"Kamen Teacher."
No comments:
Post a Comment