.hack// Roots Volume 1

The World R:2 is a newer and improved version of the MMORPG featured in the TV anime series ‘.hack//sign’ which was notable for its wonderful score by Yuki Kajiura. New series ‘.hack//roots’ plunges us straight into The World R:2 with new player Haseo. The score by Mikiya Katakura is a wild and whacky eclectic fusion of bits of everything from the Queen of the Night’s coloratura aria (Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’), Scott Joplin-style piano ragtime, Celtic fringe, and contemporary electronic techniques, all cleverly mixed by the inventive ALI Project (who play real instruments!). The opening song ‘Silly-Go-Round’ is by Yuki Kajiura and the aptly bizarre yet catchy final song ‘Boukoku Kakusei Catharsis’ is just as good, capturing the weirdness of Haseo’s experiences in The World.

I could wish, however, that the storyline was as anyway near inventive or involving as the score. Haseo starts his time in The World by being killed by a PK (Player Killer). Revived and rescued by the enigmatic Ovan, he is told that he has ‘a gift’ and is ‘special’. Phyllo, an observer, takes an interest in the confused Haseo and gives him helpful advice. Phyllo also serves to remind us that we are also merely observers in an RPG (no-one here is really what they seem) when he suddenly fades out and then in again when his cat pulls out the cord of his computer. Haseo meets Shino, a sweet-natured ally of Ovan’s, who tries to persuade him to join Ovan’s guild, the Twilight Brigade, in their search for the mysterious Key of Twilight. Shino has been looking after Tabby, another newbie, a cute and lively catgirl; the fourth current member is Sakisaka.

Another guild, TaN, run by the panther-faced Naobi, is after the Twilight Key. After rumours about Haseo’s unique qualities are spread on the forum (reputedly by Ovan?) two of their number, the sexy Player Killer Ender and the lumbering treasurer Narawaya, set out to try to persuade Haseo to join them. Haseo, inexperienced in the ways of The World, suddenly finds himself the centre of unwanted attention.

I wish there were some other way to put it, but ‘.hack//ROOTS’ is slow. Very slow. Maybe if you play the related games, it becomes more meaningful, but to me, an animated TV series has to work first and foremost as an unfolding drama on its own terms. There’s way too much dialogue of the “So; what d’you think we should do now?” Pregnant pause. “Who knows…?” variety.

As in the original series, the viewer is left wondering how much the characters’ online personalities reflect their offline identities in the ‘real’ world – and to what extent these dynamics will affect the outcome of their player lives in The World. And vice versa! At the end of Episode 2, for example, the camera pans slowly away from Shino sitting admiring a beautiful landscape with a cute digital deer creature sitting beside her. It’s all very pretty. But at the end of an anime episode, I want to be left desperate to know what’s coming next. Or even a little curious. If it weren’t for the quirkiness of the final song, coupled with the visual hints at what Haseo’s ‘gift’ might be, it would be way too easy to walk away from the series and not return.

Visually, ‘.hack//Roots’ is pleasing to watch; the attractive character designs recall those of the first series, although the graphics are much more sophisticated (seven years have passed, after all!).

The box set for Volume 1 also contains the first of two original soundtrack CDs, a really dinky light-up key-ring and a helpful booklet with character guides and explanations of the terms used in The World. As the soundtrack is, in my opinion, the best thing going for ‘hack//Roots’, this makes an attractive package.

In Summary

A brilliantly inventive soundtrack – but will that alone be enough to sustain interest in this slow return to The World? This viewer, for one, was desperate for way more action and more plot development. Perhaps that will come in Volume 2…