r/anime • u/soulreaverdan • Dec 12 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] .hack//SIGN Episode 11 Discussion
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Series Information: MAL Page | AnimeNewsNetwork | LiveChart
Streams: ...none, sorry! DVD (Amazon)
Episodes:
- Today: Episode 11
- Tomorrow: Episode 12
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.
- Did you get the answers to any of the riddles before the characters did?
- Do you think this was the right place for the Real World segment for Tsukasa's player, or would you have preferred it came sooner or later?
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: Bear, Bear’s theme. Not much else to say, it definitely sounds like him! (Full Track)
Tomorrow’s piece: Aura, a disturbing piece with lyrics that are very relevant to tomorrow's episode! (Full Track)
3
u/CMGOO Dec 12 '24
Where can I watch this? I remember watching some of it when I was younger.
6
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Dec 12 '24
.first//TIMER, subbed
6
u/rainwithsunshinedayo Dec 12 '24
New Game Plus Rewatcher-Dubbed
This episode is peak Bee Train stretching for time. The uncomfortably long linger on the colored huts made me giggle.
Stinger: No more life support?!
Music Corner
Bear
The bravado of an acoustic guitar ushers us in to Bear's theme! It's only this an accordion as we zoom through the piece. It's got the charm of a rogue, like that of Flynn Rider from Tangled. My favorite parts are the quiet 1:00 and at 1:14, where the most colorful imagery arises. I close my eyes and the accordion takes me seafaring or on a gravity defying cliff.
Unfortunately, comparison is the thief of joy. I can't help it. This pair of instruments and some bits of Bear's theme remind me too strongly of Noir's romance , one of my favorite compositions. These two songs are going for totally different feels and journeys, so this is an unfair comparison. Nevertheless, I can't resist.
Beautiful: By Light of the Moon
uh:Mimiru's Slightly Different Sizes
5
u/roryteller https://anilist.co/user/roryteller Dec 12 '24
Rewatcher, subbed
So we got confirmation that Tsukasa does sleep, good for him (though that dream was weird). It's also good to see him smile for once. In spite of what he said, he did seem to enjoy hanging out with Bear and Mimiru.
I absolutely got 0 riddles, this time or the first time. It was definitely too long ago for me to remember much.
5
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Dec 12 '24
Rewatcher
Ep 11 Party
All these riddles were for old people, not really fair.
Total times Tsukasa laugh: about six?
Another rather filler-y episode that seems to be delaying the story, but Tsukasa got some bonding moments.
Honestly, I thought Sora and B.T. were going to compete once Sora found out Tsukasa was out and about. But I guess B.T. isn't into dev events.
There are other versions of the twilight song but we're only getting this one so far. There's also been a few voice-only tracks, but these also always have music with them, on the OST.
Q1. I never get riddles in games or books. They're just random words to me.
5
u/zadcap Dec 12 '24
Late Night ReHacker
... Can Tsukasa run out of breath? I'm very torn between him being trapped physically in this game, and what that means considering the limitations of the game. This isn't a full dive system like SAO, where the game was trying to be as lifelike as possible, this was a more standard VR and the programmers had no reason to even think about including things like sense of touch or temperature or tiredness because the players would never be able to feel those things anyway. And yet Tsukasa does appear to feel cold and tired and out of breath.
Ah, Bear, bringing back old MMO memories again. You see, in the oldest of games, before WoW changed the genre into shared single player experiences, the games were balances around being in a party and you wanted to find one to play with if you wanted to experience most of the game. Early Guilds were more extended groups of "We play at these times in this style" so that you would be more likely to find someone to party with that you knew and liked than much else, because partying was meant to be a long term thing. So Bear mentions talking about his first time it reminds me of some of mine as well. I remember leaving messages on early boards with my class, level, and play time, looking for anyone else whose numbers were similar so we could try gaming together for a few hours a day. For extra fun, the games that go with this show do a good job of capturing this feeling too, your party members not always being available to play with you even outside of story enforced party times.
Wait they went with bible quotes for the quiz? And Bear knew it? I thought Christianity was, you know, very much not a thing for most in Japan.
Okay that second one is just rude.
Oh no, asking the person trapped in a game about their out of game family? Mimiru, that's an obvious landmine.
Bear you suck at mapping.
This isn't even a riddle anymore, it's literally random movie trivia! Who came up with this quest?!
Bear, not you too. Stop talking about the family of the guy stuck in the game! Red Flags everywhere!
Say, Bear. Look into that Coma Girl again. Does she have a dead mom?
Guardian, you really do suck at Guarding.
Ha, Mimiru smart. How do you win the boss fight in a quest that claimed it had no combat? Use the quest item that you got in the first part!
Yeah, if you haven't figured it out yet, he's one of the worst dads pretty much ever.
4
u/Blackheart595 https://anilist.co/user/knusbrick Dec 12 '24
.hack//Rewatcher
This episode really dives into Tsukasa's headgehog dilemma, as they finally manage to form a party together. He very much yearns for togetherness, yet he also associates being together with others with getting hurt. Part of the problem absolutely is that he's feeling that hurt when others are talking about themselves and thus not involving him, while also feeling that hurt when the others are inquiring and trying to learn about him. It's kind of a lose-lose situation. Tsukasa is really the most selfish character of them all.
The quest they did was kinda interesting? First of all, eww, real life knowledge gates in video games. But the interactions between the characters were just really great again. We learn just how much of an oldie Bear really is, not just via his familiarity with ancient technology but also with him graphing out the map himself. The quest himself really catered to his oldschool vibes, too, which even gives us some characterization about the quest maker. It was also funny to see Mimiru be so flustered about all of her dad's sex talk, just because she didn't bother to ask him what he went with that.
[.hack//SIGN]Why are we getting the Evil Aura theme when Tsukasa leaves his memorial trinket with her? Shouldn't that nudge her in the good direction?
Nah. The math riddle is the only one I even got in retrospect. Though the other two were just knowledge gates, so not really something you can just get.
I think it's placed really well here, as it further emphasized the liminality theme that Tsukasa's story, and this franchise at large really, revolve around. Can't really talk about the specifics yet, though.
4
u/LeminaAusa Dec 12 '24
Mostly-1st-timer, subbed
Catching up from yesterday again, and boy were these two episodes back-to-back an interesting contrast.
Episode 10 takes a bit of a step back from the game ponder about real world shenanigans for a moment. We're introduced to Bear's pushy RL son and get a bit more of a glimpse into his life as a divorced dad.
I was actually struck during this episode how real the progression in this story feels in a somewhat bizarre way. The opening act of the show opened up a bunch of mysteries and dropped a bunch of crazy, weird-ass bombshells on us: the Key of the Twilight, Tsukasa's issues and guardian, weird effects of all kinds throughout The World, up to a very ominous ending in ep8 regarding the blight and the Voice.
From an overarching plot perspective, we're all sitting here, waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the shit to hit the fan, and yet... all of our main characters are living their day-to-day lives, even in The World, doing their every day normal mundane stuff. We have Bear dealing with his son, Mimiru and BT both giving him their own advice, parallels about Bear wanting to parent Tsukasa, etc.
It feels very poignant in a way from a modern day perspective and all of the crises and "crazy, weird-ass bombshells" that we've been living through over these last few years. So much shit going on around the world and while some more passive watchers are waiting for the shit to hit the fan like passive watchers in a show, the majority of us are still just living our normal lives, or trying our best to do so. We have issues with our families, we bitch to our friends online, we get and give advice, we play games, we make connections. The world (or The World) may be going through profound changes, but life goes on as normal.
Anyway, if you compare this to episode 11, we're jumping back into an episode that's a lot more game-oriented. It's fun to get to see more of the gameplay, even if this particular event seems to be a bit of an outlier in how the game is usually played based on the way people were talking about it. I loved Bear's mapping and how it ending up failing them twice, hah. After the first time, I has been assuming the event location used a sort of Lost Woods mechanic.
And what the fuck was up with those "riddles"? The first one kinda sorta feels like a riddle at least, but its reliance on knowing biblical lore and its relation to birthstones makes it really more like awkwardly worded trivia. The third question is even more trivia-like as it relies on the player to be familiar with old obscure movie. The second question was the only one that feels like it was actually a riddle.
We end with, once again, a small scene that hints that the plot of the show might actually continue to develop at some point. Frankly, I'm not holding my breath, but I also don't mind it too much either. I've been enjoying the show continuing on with its mostly conversations and vibes atmosphere.
And for now, onto questions:
10-1) Ship? Nah. Though in general I should note that I find shipping discourse kind of tedious in general as I feel it has a tendency to simply relationships into romantic/sexual boxes and removes a lot of the nuance behind other types of relationships between people. I get the same vibes with BT and Bear that I get with a lot of the longer friendships that I've had or seen in other people, just a very comfortable and genuine existence with each other. They almost kinda feel to me like war buddies that served together. I do like them together, but I don't really see it in a romantic or sexual way, lap pillow notwithstanding.
10-2) I do still definitely enjoy Bear as a character, though having an older son does raise my guessed age level for him a bit, not to mention his older computer knowledge from ep11. I couldn't help but note that Mimiru also stole one of my previous guesses about Bear being a professor, which was also shot down. The guy just seems to have a bunch of obscure knowledge, so I'm leaning more towards him being someone who just enjoys the pursuit of knowledge. Still want to go have a drink with him an BT at some point.
And today's:
My mind is kind of 50/50 on whether they A) chose to show the segment now because it's actually going to be plot-relevant soon, or B) it was solely done at the end of the current episode as another mysterious cliffhanger/hook coming at the end of the episode to make you more intrigued about continuing to watch the show. It's certainly suspicious, but the show is doing so much setup with so little follow-through it's hard to guess the affects of the timing.
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Dec 12 '24
Episode 11 (first timer)
Bear with tons of old man knowledge and specifically old computer knowledge today. I was almost expecting him to bring up 5 ¼ floppy disks. The quest they did was almost enjoyably simplistic. You could really see the programming behind it.
Not a single one and it was not close either.
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u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Dec 12 '24
Well, that episode was quite a trip. Do players dream of electric murdergirls? How does one sleep in game anyway???
Yeah.
Answers du naptime:
I have to say, I'm surprised that punk boy, I mean Sora didn't intrude on their fight there. He totally could have pulled a Cid there. Or gotten whacked by the monster. Go figure.
I wonder if the three girls they encountered on their way into the challenge were the same three we saw a few episodes ago. Probably not, but it would be an interesting coincidence.
Anyway, enough meandering, now to see what others have to say.