Besides, like I mentioned in my other blogs, I have a lot of unfinished posts stored on the drafts pages of my numerous blogs (particularly Tumblr and Google Blogger). I'm now trying to finish all these articles, so I can publish them already and decrease the number of my drafts.
This is a review of the .hack//xxxx manga (#ad) by Hiroshi Matsuyama. This manga is an adaptation of the .hack games with some changes.
This review isn't complete though since I wasn't able to finish reading said graphic novel. Maybe when I get more time I'll be able to get back to reading this comic and actually finishing it.
Anyway, this review is in no particular order, and parts of it is in a stream-of-consciousness format of sorts.
Title
The manga's title is weird, but interesting in its own way. What does .hack//xxxx mean? Guess I'll find out as I continue reading through this manga.Beginning
The beginning of the story came across as confusing and hard to understand. If you read the manga's summary, if you're familiar with the .hack series, or if you've read a bit about this online or something, then you'll already know that it's about this online game called The World.This is how the story begins, but I still found it confusing. Right away, we get introduced to some characters, but we have no idea who they are.
This comes across as rather abrupt. We get some characters introduced to us readers, but we can't really care about them because we don't know who they are or why they're showing up.
There's an air of mystery, but it's just annoying for those who don't know anything because it's like when are we going to get to the explanation? I mean, this is all well and good for those who know about this game already, but what about for those who don't?
Overall, I felt frustrated. The first few pages were so confusing since I was new to the manga and series, so I had no idea what was going on. We basically got a bunch of characters along with their names, but nothing made sense.
Chapter 1
In the first chapter of the .hack//xxxx manga, we see Kite, Orca, and Yasuhiko. We also get a flashback of sorts. As if this story wasn't already confusing enough as it was.So Orca gets a bracelet. But it's all so fast-paced. It's not really interesting because you don't know what's going on. Everything is happening so fast.
We don't even get much of an intro about this, which isn't helpful at all for people who didn't get to play the .hack// game. This makes it all the more confusing.
How Does This Game Work?
I find the concept of playing an online game fascinating and interesting, but I'd like more information about this such as in terms of:- how does this game work?
- what's the world about?
- what are the different classes?
- what about the magic system? How does it work?
- is this like a virtual reality game or something else?
For instance, we find out that Kite is apparently a beginner. But what class is he? Does he start as some knight? Does he get to choose? What about Orca? Did he evolve or level up or something? How did he get so good?
Since the characters are inside the game, did they design their game characters and weapons, or did they have to choose from a selection of pre-made characters and weapons? Do they look the same in-game as they do in the real world?
It's interesting to note that the faces of Kite and Yasuhiko weren't shown in the real world. Kite was looking down, so his hair was covering his face while Yasuhiko's image was cut.
It's still confusing though. I mean, how did they get out of the game? If they die in the game, does that mean they leave and end up back in the real world? It seemed so abrupt. Like, how did Kite survive that? And who was that girl?
It does make me more curious about this game. What is it, really? Who made it? How come it isn't just a game? I mean, what made it like this, so that it was more than just a game? Is there an actual story explanation, or is it like this is only because of the plot or premise of the story?
More Info About Yasuhiko
I wonder how Kite and Yasuhiko know each other. Yasuhiko appears to be older than Kite, or is this just because of what his character looks like in the game? I also want to know what happened to Yasuhiko. In the real world, how did they explain how he suddenly got sick and fell in a coma?Interesting Plot
Needless to say, the whole flashback sequence could have gone much better. It could have been done much better too, so it was less confusing and annoying. Nonetheless, I decided to continue reading the story though it was getting rather frustrating.Thankfully, things started becoming a bit more clearer, not to mention more interesting. The plot is interesting. I like fantasy. And am curious how the magic in this world works.
The Mystery Deepens
There's a summary in one part, but it doesn't really help much. Still, it's good that it's available.There's something about an illegal program, but not much info yet. New characters show up, but we still don't really know them all that well at all. I still have no idea who they really are.
Kite apparently knows that the guy who showed up is a twin blade user like him, but how does he know that?
Confusing Flashback
Looks like I spoke too soon. Just when I thought things were finally becoming clearer, things became confusing all over again.It should be easy to tell if we're in a flashback or not. The manga attempts to explain how BlackRose and Kite met, but it basically seriously failed, so it ended up explaining nothing at all.
This just made things even more confusing for readers. Ugh.
More Information About BlackRose
I thought BlackRose was pretty cool. This includes her name itself and her sword. The huge sword reminded me of Haru Glory's Ten Commandments.Haru is the main character of this anime and manga series by Hiro Mashima called Rave (also known as Rave Master and The Groove Adventure Rave).
Ten Commandments is the name of Haru's sword. It's huge and can transform into 10 different forms, hence the name.
Actually, as far as I can recall at the moment, it seems that if a form of media (like a book or movie) features a huge weapon, it's usually a guy who'd be wielding said weapon. So I found it especially refreshing to see BlackRose with a big sword. Because women should be able to wield those kinds of weapons too, right?
Anyway, we soon find out that BlackRose apparently has a little brother that she wants to save. We get more info about her past as well as about her brother suffering the same fate as Orca. This is interesting and all, but I also found myself wondering what about Mistral? What's her story?
Also, what's up with that scene between BlackRose and Aura? Said scene went nowhere. What's the use of that scene?
More Questions About the .hack//xxxx Manga
- Why didn't Lios throw Kite out of the game if he was causing them problems?
- Why didn't he confiscate the illegal program?
- Why didn't Kite explain that the bracelet was just given to him? Actually, it was originally given to Orca, so why didn't he say that?
- Why did Lios just leave without doing anything else?
- Why didn't he do something about the illegal program sooner?
- How come he's attempting to delete Kite's character now and not before?
Kite's Friends
How come Kite suddenly started hanging out with Cubia and Balmung? What about his friends, Mistral and BlackRose? What happened to them? Did he just throw them away? How could he do that?Conclusion
Overall, I found the .hack//xxxx manga pretty interesting, but also quite confusing.Your Thoughts and Opinions
So what about you? What do you think about this? Feel free and welcome to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment or by answering the poll below.*Notes:
- Pic is from Amazon.com; link shown above
- Text was added to pic using Canva
