Common Name: .Hack//Quantum
Score: 6/10, 2/5
Length: 3 episodes
Genre: Action, Adventure, Video Game, Sci-Fi
Summary: Taking place during the third iteration of the popular MMORPG series, dubbed The World R:X, Sakuya and her pair of friends stumble upon a secret that will likely unravel this version of the World like all the others before it.
Review: In spite of so many failures the ever enigmatic and possibly evil C.C. Corp. sees fit to make yet another version of The World. For some reason I find that hard to believe yet I suppose the series wouldn't be the same without mention of the literal soul sucking corporation. What makes it worse though is that this general feeling of "hard to believe but necessary" pretty much sums up this entire entry into the .Hack franchise, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily bad...or that it's good for that matter. If anything, I find the work to actually be a breath of fresh air, since it isn't bogged down with all the lore and previous characters like so many of .Hack's other shows. This work, to my knowledge, exists entirely unto itself. There is no manga, video game, light novel, or film adaptation to muddy the waters and make it more complex than necessary. Sure, the characters that exist throughout the work are callbacks to the characters from the original video games (Kite and team), but knowledge of them isn't even necessary this time around. There are a few less than subtle name drops, but it's simply a spice added in to give a little something to the people who are longtime fans of the .Hack franchise.
At it's heart though, this title is simply a tale of friendship amidst the usual problems that plague every iteration of The World. It is made clear from the start that the show's characters aren't exactly new to The World, or at least this version of it. Asumi, the controller of Sakuya, and her pair of schoolmates have visibly had enough time to fall in love with The World, so much so that they regard it as a magical extension of the real one, while they simultaneously learned to function as a team, in spite of Sakuya's clumsiness.
I'll give you a hint, her name rhymes with Bakaya.
The fact that the focal point of the entire show is the friendship between these people and those they meet along the way is a bit of a problem though. The problem being that characters as they are presented in The World, are not fit to be the backbone of the plot. Every single character is either two-dimensional, nonexistant, or a deus ex machina meant to keep the plot chugging. Sakuya is an airhead who trips and stumbles through the entirety of the plot with her only motivation being "I fight for my friends," Mary is only present for a small portion of the OVA, and Tobias serves as the thoughtful character who always has a plan yet never uses that intelligence to actually get anywhere. None of them outgrow these shells, which I suppose is appropriate since they are little more than roleplay avatars, but this isn't the only instance of such lazy and rushed writing. While it's interesting watching the actual players try to solve the mystery of what is going wrong with The World, they never actually do any actual investigation or do anything to make them endearing as characters, outside of them making plans for the future. Much like their avatars, the players either stumble onto the answers or are, by some fortunate miracle, given the answers by another person. To make this matter worse, the plot of the show sprints through the three episodes so fast that the viewer is rarely given the time to breathe, let alone pause to actually connect with any of the characters or make sense of the show's plot. Perhaps that was intended though.
It was clear almost from the word go that that the team working on this wanted to make a title that was accessible to people new to the property as well as seasoned veterans. The entirety of the show is full to bursting with cameos and references to all the old properties, yet takes no time to actually explain them when they are brought to the surface. For example, the character of Tobias starts off as a simple Balmung look-alike but lacks his characteristic angel feather cape. That is until Sakuya's team encounters the raid boss known as The One Sin, the source of Balmung's cape, and Tobias magically acquires said cape while running away from the unbeatable boss, thus turning the reference into nothing short of a carbon copy.
Now that my ensemble is complete, I will take my rightful place as
the successor to the biggest asshat in this game's history.
Reference after reference fills this show in the same manner, yet they all have little reason to be present outside of paying homage to the past. Now, I won't say that the show is ruined for these less-than-subtle nods, but they certainly don't help it.
I've seen too many properties ruined because the creators tried to do too much though, and I can't help but think this is just another example of that fatal error. Rather than making a solid story with likable characters, they basically trimmed the meat to add more fat. It may look really nice and have solid animation and music, but there were only a few moments where I had the luxury of enjoy any of the show's redeeming qualities. So, unfortunately, I can't say if it was good or bad--it just was. It existed to tell the story of .Hack for a new audience and did what was necessary to accomplish that. It never overstayed its welcome, but it didn't give the opportunity to form any kind of meaningful relationship with it either. There's just nothing particularly unique or compelling about this new addition to the franchise, and I find it hard to believe that we needed it at all.