^.hack/Sign is a 26 episode anime show directed by Koichi Mishimo and produced by Bandai Visual and Bee Train Studio, that made its premiere in 2002 in Japan.

.Hack/sign anime show was created as part of a merchandising strategy by Bandai to increase the sales of the four .hack/sign games made for Playstation 2, and it depicts the events prior to the games.

What's curious is that the anime itself - intended to be filler - got more famous than the actual games. That happened because of:

1) The interesting story... one of a character named Tsukasa, that has amnesia (yeah, this is a cliche), and that appears in a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) called The World. So far so good... the problem is he can't log-out! (now this is not a cliche) During .hack/sign the viewer will come to understand why that happens, as he accompanies Tsukasa on his quest to remember if he really exists in the real world and if so who he is and how can he go back. He'll find some friends to help him along the way, all with their own reasons to play the game and together they will face an evil that threatens to annihilate all of The World.

2) The questions that arises to the thoughtful viewer... mainly about all the psychological stress and anxiety that can be associated to the online experience, the sometimes-not-so-simple reasons for us to spend so much of our existence in front of a screen and the hard costs that that implies. Also, it provides good reflexion of the nature of online interpersonal relationships and its possible transposition to the real life.

3) The superb soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura, featuring a joyful mixture of techno and Celtic music, with great vocal choirs.

4) And of course... the actual .hack/sign games were not that good anyway O_O´

But not all are roses. The quality of the animation is average. But the real deal is that this anime won't certainly appeal to all audiences. .hack/sign has almost no action scenes whatsoever and the story has a slow progression. It's mainly an exposition-driven character study where major themes of human personnality and behaviour are excrutinized. So if you just like BANGS and POW'S this one is not for you kid!

Personally I liked it a lot and not only me, It had very positive reviews not only in Japan but on all the countrys it aired. It can get a little boring in the middle but bear with me, because the ending is worth it!

The videos posted on this page concerning the anime show were not uploaded by me on the video servers. They have lower quality than the originals and it's main purpose is for the viewer to have contact with a work not seen previously.

If you liked what you saw PLEASE BUY the original product in the links of Amazon I provided or in another official retailer.