& Entertainment Arts co. 06 it’s “hen quite the adi since the last “volume of Dot Hack arrived but now we get -,- to see the end, or the middle depending on how you look at it. The chapter of Sign has _ ended, but its end sets the stage for Dot | Hack Infection. This was a great series, it _ just might bother some people that it’s not finished or that it’s only finished in the form of four PS2 games. The technical side of the disc came off flawless as usual, it’s not like the old days when we had crappy VHS tapes to deal with or even that bit of lost technology known as the laser disc. The sound quality was also great, as the 5.1channel English tracks make good use of the directional sounds. I must also com- mend the English voice cast for doing a great job. Now the extras are really weird since episode 26 and 27 count as extras, they're _. actually listed in the extra menu. You may _ ask why, but only up to episode 25 was x3 aired on Japanese TV, making these two .. additional episodes DVD exclusives in | Japan. So these two bonus episodes are not technically part of the story, plot wise. —.. Episode 26 consists of some back story on ~ the person who plays Mimiru, and her past experiences in the game two years ago. And . episode 27 is basically just a recap episode to show you what’s happened in the series - you just watched. I really don’t like recap episodes like this at the end, I mean it does try to sum up things, but if you were pay- ing attention it’s needless. -- Finally, if you spent the extra money to ~~ buy the special edition like I did you also get a bonus disc containing episode 28. + Now you may ask yourself, is one episode + worth the extra cash? Well, let me put it ~~ this way—is seeing Silver Knight dance worth money? Definitely. Basically episode 28 is the one you watch after you finish the anime and the Dot Hack games, because it is a wrap-up party episode with both the cast from Sign and ~ the game. The episode is chalk full of jokes : 14 | OtherPress making fun of the fact that certain charac- May 2004 ters look basically the same, because they have similar game models, and thus hilari- ty ensues. The only problem with the episode is they managed to cut a major character from the games series for some reason, and there seems to be no actual explanation for it. But overall it is a nice wrap up and def- _ initely worth the extra cash, especially if youre buying the game series as well. Now on to the actual three episodes that were not bonus features or extras. Basically as I stated earlier this wraps up Sign, but it doesn’t wrap up the whole story at all. We get a fairly decent end to Sign, which still makes me rate it as a top ten of the year, but the ending is rather weak since the game’s story line picks up almost directly after this. Technically 'd have to say Hack Sign is more suited to people who intend to play the game since they'll get the entire story, but as anime alone Sign is not without it’s merits too—even though the ending is a tad lacking. I don’t want to go into great detail, but it continues the whole dependence on com- puters and the internet theme, and brings up great theological questions on what qualifies someone as living and what crite- ria should be applied to sentient life. And the fact that this is all experienced by a bunch of normal everyday people playing an online game makes it a lot easi- er to relate to and understand. With the rapid expanse of technology Hack Sign makes you take a moment to really con- template how technology is affecting our lives. _ So, if you've entirely missed out on the whole Dot Hack series you should check the series out, although start with volume one. If you're already collecting it, well vol- ume six of six is a given as a must buy. But this is the end to the experiment of cross- media storytelling and although not every- one is going to like it, there is no denying that it was original in both its execution and its story. And it’s earned a place on this reviewer's top ten series least for this year.