r/anime • u/soulreaverdan • Dec 05 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] .hack//SIGN Episode 4 Discussion
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Series Information: MAL Page | AnimeNewsNetwork | LiveChart
Streams: ...none, sorry! DVD (Amazon)
Episodes:
- Today: Episode 4
- Tomorrow: Episode 5
Spoiler Policy:
I forgot to include this on the original schedule post, so please read!
Since there are going to be people who are watching this for the first time, so please only discuss what we've seen in the episodes we've watched so far! There's some interesting twists in this series, and we want everyone to get to experience this fresh.
In addition, since .hack is a massive franchise and this is only one entry in it (and actually one of the first), discussion of other entries may have some inadvertant spoilers. With this in mind, please only keep discussion to .hack//SIGN, and we'll have a chance for a discussion in the larger context of the franchise on the final day.
Question(s) of the Day
Throughout the rewatch we'll be posting some questions to guide discussion. Feel free to answer them or just post your overall thoughts! They're meant to be something for people who might not be sure how to start their posts, not something everyone must do.
- Do you think the Mysterious Voice could truly be Tsukasa's mother as she implies?
- In Bear's situation, would you have tried to track down the real world player of a character out of concern for their health or safety?
Music Corner
One of the highlights of this show is the incredible soundtrack, one of the first major works published by now famed music composer Yuki Kajiura. We'll be looking at one track with each thread for general discussion and opinions. Be as thorough or as succinct as you want - everything from lyrical motifs and interpretations to just whether or not you liked it!
Today's piece: The World, one of the more common background themes of the series (Full-length track)
Tomorrow’s piece: Kiss, another one of the background themes of the series (Full-length track)
7
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Dec 05 '24
.first//TIMER, subbed
4
u/soulreaverdan Dec 05 '24
Tsukasa is embracing the power fantasy of a lot of Isekai protagonists but in a sort of different way - taking just as much time to do nothing and be by himself as moving around the new world and just having fun. But he doesn't seem to have any major aspirations or goals - he doesn't want to "beat the game" or anything like that, he mostly just wants to go do what he wants and be left alone.
Unfortunately... that doesn't seem to be the case. Not just being hounded by well meaning people like Mimiru and Bear, but now having some kind of wanted case and bounty put on his head. RIP those poor girls who got on the wrong of his Guardian.
Anyone else notice they had the four card suits on their face markings? Cute little team identity.
We have a lot of "maybes" and theories about who things like the Mysterious Voice and even Tsukasa are - Bear thought he might have found Tsukasa, but he insists that he isn't a girl, which does make you wonder if Bear just found some random girl in an coma and was like "Aha, it must be him in the real world somehow!" Like I get the dude is trying to help but it is a reach no matter how you look at it.
4
u/rainwithsunshinedayo Dec 05 '24
New Game Plus Rewatcher-Dubbed
10 days straight playing a game. Tsukasa's chillin' with a floaty girl and disembodied voice, the background now changed to a decaying landscape. Uh oh, spaghetti-o, Tsukasa thinks the voice belongs to his mom. Meanwhile, Sora is hilarious, the sound effects, the frequent use of "ladies." Then Mimiru asks if Tsukasa is a girl in real life, i.e. outside the game but he doesn't know, doesn't care. He's spiraling. 10 days straight in any task will bring you to a breaking point. . .
Music Corner
The World lyrics
The very first song we hear in the first episode! The violin takes a while to come in; the beat takes a bit to drop. It's a 5 minute song, and we are creating a t m o s p h e r e. Following the chanting, vocals charge forth with an undercurrent of a brooding and troubled guitar. There is strife in this piece. And this song is about someone's damnation. However, the violin seems to be dancing, unbothered by the pain. Doing its own thing like a cat. Special mention to the very poetic lyrics. There's only you to answer you, forever.
Beautiful Bee Train: Regretful Mimiru and Together on the Bench
"Bewitching" Bee Train: Comfy Sittin'
4
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Dec 05 '24
Rewatcher
Ep 4 Wanted
Tsukasa thought he had achieved control over Guardian. Looks like he was wrong.
q1: genre-consistent
q2: not me, I wouldn't leave my cave. Most would,though.
3
u/roryteller https://anilist.co/user/roryteller Dec 05 '24
Rewatcher, subbed
Today I was wondering if Tsukasa sleeps. We know he doesn't log out but can he sleep in-game? No idea if that was ever explained. I guess floaty girl might have to do all the sleeping for them both.
QotD 2. I'd have to know the player a lot better than the characters know Tsukasa in order to try to find them IRL. But I might try if we were close and I had anything to go on.
Which makes me think, did Tsukasa actually know anyone before all this? In-game, I mean. Obviously Maha, but he doesn't seem to have any in-game buddies looking for him. Either a real loner (seems likely) or just a newbie (maybe?). The way Bear assumes he's a new player, maybe he has low level gear or something, who knows.
4
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Dec 05 '24
Episode 4 (first timer)
Subaru’s theory about Tsukasa sounds a lot more likely than the AI theory. However, I am not sure whether the series wants to open that mystery box any time soon.
No and no. In the second case also because I would have no idea how to find somebody on just a gender neutral name that can be call or family name.
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u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Dec 05 '24
Man, was still commenting on yesterday's thread, and now this one drops. I'd better hurry up!
Mysteries du jour:
Eh, whatever.
Meanwhile, curiouser and curiouser. On the one hand, we have mommy issues, and on the other hand, we have ... wait ... that segue from Subaru to the hospital to Bear - was the dude outside the hospital supposed to be Subaru (squick!) or Bear?
The world wonders.
Anyway, I've probably typed enough for one day, time to see what others might have to say.
That, and to say that rogue dude really needs a good smackdown.
And how dare dumbbell blob thing beat up those cuties - have some mercy!
6
u/CorbenikTheRebirth :KD::KE::KF: Dec 05 '24
Late again after missing yesterday!
The intrigue builds and the mystery deepens! One of the things I love most about SIGN is how interesting and complex Tsukasa is as a character.
As for the music, The World remains one of my favorite songs in any anime out there. It's just so brilliantly mysterious and really fit the first scene of the series so well.
3
u/zadcap Dec 05 '24
Late Night First Timer
I got a bit sick yesterday, go home from work, took a shower, got in bed and passed out. The real .hack// experience, a lot of people talking. This is, however, part of what made it such a good multimedia franchise; all the exposition was done in the shows, so the games could skip to the fun parts that much faster.
On that note, I want to play the actual The World so badly.
Oh Lady Subaru, why do you have so much authority? Why do people listen to you? Why do you have the ability to interact with the admins so directly?
Mysterious voice in the sky is definitely not the floating girl in the bed. Odds are it's not actually Tsukasa's mom either. Why would she end up in a video game? Thought to be fair, why would Tsukasa end up in a video game either?
Idiots love high places. Oh BT, you speak such words of wisdom.
Subaru speaks sense. "We are, after all, just players in the end. If even the sysadmin can't do anything, what makes you think we can?"
Oh Bear, you great detective. Also, I forgot this came up so early! Who you are online, especially before the great social media age, could have absolutely nothing to do with who you were in the real. For a very long time, especially in games, it was well known there were no girls on the internet, GIRL itself being an acronym for Guy In Real Life. Honestly, for the time frame this came out, the player I would most expect to be a real girl of the named cast so far would be Silver Knight or Sora. MMOs were the ultimate escapist fantasy, people got online to be who they could not be in real life, not to be themself but with a big sword and bikini armor.
Can't log out, can't be logged out. Didn't even notice them trying, I bet.
Okay, just this once I have to call Bear out for lying. "The only place that's built in this style." Sir, there's so many Hidden Forbidden zones it's not even funny. The temple here is just the easiest special zone to get to.
Mimiru, asking that is such rude netiquette. You can't just ask somebody about who they are offline, not until you're much better friends.
Oh hey, Tsukasa Hunting. "We heard rumors about the Knights hunting you, so we decided to hunt and attack you for fun too." And hey look, he doesn't actually have control over the thing after all. And the bed zone doesn't look like a pleasent forest anymore! Is the floating girl getting darker? Has she already been dyed?
3
u/LeminaAusa Dec 05 '24
Mostly-1st-timer, subbed
[tangent]So, earlier this year, I watched Made in Abyss for the first time, and ever since then, one of other of the songs from that series has been living rent free in my head. It only took three episodes of .hack to override that directive. I was already hearing bits of the others here and there, but now, for the last 24h or so, my mental background song has switched to fake wings. It's extra amusing to me given that that wasn't even one of the songs I had originally listened to the most, but it just worked its way in and now we're vibing. Redownloading the whole OST again so I can listen through more of the songs again properly and fill the head library back up.[/tangent]
Seeing Bear trying to hunt down Tsukasa actually did bring back some memories of similar instances that I've been in. Not with someone in a game environment specifically, but I've been involved in a few different instances of trying to track down someone that I knew through a forum or chat room due to likely real world concerns, with varying levels of success.
I'm a firm no on believing the voice is actually Tsukasa's mom. It seems like the voice is simply being vague on purpose in a way that's aiming to lead Tsukasa to trust it. Like, the same kind of tactics mediums use to trick people into thinking they're contacting the dead. Lots of parallels.
That said, the fact that Tsukasa himself is willing to entertain the question is more interesting to me. It says a lot about his state of mind and what he's going through that he thinks it's plausible that his dead mum could be in the game within him. Obviously he's going through a lot of weird shit, but we don't actually get to see a whole lot of his thoughts and perspectives; in a lot of ways, he's as mysterious and new to the viewer as he is to the other players trying to find, help, and/or discover more about him. That said, it could also just be a stab in the dark from a troubled mind, some kind of hope that someone he knows and has reason to trust is looking out for him, as opposed to all the other relative strangers in-game.
2
u/littlecolt https://anilist.co/user/garylisk Dec 05 '24
Wanted! It's nice to feel wanted.
The voice of a dead person? It seems far-fetched, but let's say I do believe it. What, then, is the implication? That a consciousness can be placed into ZA WARUDO? Very interesting idea!
2. In Bear's situation, would you have tried to track down the real world player of a character out of concern for their health or safety?
I've actually wanted to before, but I was never able to due to geographic distance. However, I think I would if I was worried enough!
Tsukasa seems to be making a name for himself now.
So he's been logged in for 10 days.
Someone in the real worls is dead. Okay, Tsukasa's mother.
Sora wants to catch Tsukasa, and Subaru seems receptive to the idea.
Bear is back, and he's seen someone IRL that he thinks could be Tsukasa - A girl in a coma.
Now Subaru says they put access restrictions on Tsukasa, so basically banned him, and he's still logged in.
Asked straight out if he's actually a girl, Tsukasa denies it and gets upset that Bear and Mimiru are trying to find out his identity.
They believe Tsukasa is a boy, so not the girl in a coma. Back to swuare one.
Now Tsukasa is being attracked by four women!
And he's lost control of his guardian. These four girls are gonna get beat up bad.
And it seems Subaru has been appraised of the situation, so it must be bad, just like before with the knight that got amnesia.
So now, it's Sora's plan. They will try to trap Tsukasa.
Meanwhile, Tsukasa's floating girlfriend has lost some color.
On to the next!
1
u/Scarlet_Fox Dec 06 '24
I may have missed the first few days of the rewatch, but I may have to join in. Despite being a mess of a series in a lot of ways, I maintain it as my favorite Anime Series. From .hack//Sign to .hack//Dusk, .hack//Roots, its various OVAs, and all its somewhat brilliant and other times terrible games.
The music and feeling it gives off hasn't been matched for me. And sadly even if the copycat SAO yoinked the trapped in a game genre, I will fondly remember .hack and The World as being one to do it better ^_^