Why .hack//Franchise is the masterpiece and deserves a second chance?

Why .hack//Franchise is the masterpiece and deserves a second chance?

If we gonna talk about its series, it focuses on heavy-based generation technology, trends, networks, and psychological mind condition problems, while it is also more focused on pieces of characters and interaction despite being about a video game. 

Of course, as we all know, the .hack series also built suspense, action, mystery, fantasy, some romance-filled, drama, science-fiction, and much more, including simulating MMORPG to its fullest. Well, if you all playing Final Fantasy XIV right now, it seems that this series may have some influence there too.

But the .hack series is so much more than that. Let me tell you why it has become a masterpiece and why it deserves a second chance.

Why this series is a masterpiece?

People can simulate and experience MMORPG through the series game title while exploring life through the lens of people’s experience inside of and relating to a video game and how it affects the people who play. It’s much like they can experience what they can do even in media social and MMORPG, proving that it would help to create a human drama embodied by the game story and invest players into the narrative.

However, the .hack series is not just about interaction and creating human drama. Each of the .hack titles brings a message to all fans and people around the world regarding social problems, life’s journey, Choices, Friendship, and fateful meetings which for me is the most important point about how meeting with people without any intention or something coincidence that lead them to meet each other for the first time and how the story involving to each of them while connecting with one incident and how their fate meeting become part of their life that can only happen in The WORLD if it wasn’t for them, the story wouldn’t become something as what it is now which all titles of dothack are for example.

.hack series will not be the same without the biggest efforts from the staff team from CC2 & BNE, including the music soundtracks that fill the emotion, expression, thematical story, and feelings toward readers, gamers, viewers, and fans that they can feel the hearts and full of passion through all music, also how they work hard to fill a uniqueness of its franchise and each of story theme that make it feel alive more than anything else, it becomes the most memorable music that attached to all fans.

Each .hack title represents the story direction and theme through Social Problems, Life Struggles, and Challenges. if I gonna choose the title series that brings inspiration to any fans, I might gonna choose .hack//G.U. and .hack//SIGN

.hack//SIGN

.hack//SIGN is influence toward psychological and sociological subjects such as Anxiety, Escapism, and interpersonal relationships, including representation of character diversity. If I think about Anxiety, indeed I have most of that case about Anxiety and still have problems with it (lol), however, as the story focuses on Tsukasa, his character at the beginning represents what I already said above.

Everyone indeed has anxiety, they are afraid of something that brings them harm, failure, burden, blame, and more things that always become common things not just online, but the reality very seems that they have a major problem as well. We let our fear and despair control us without a second thought, but Tsukasa had lived in a harsher environment so the way he thinks about escaping from reality becomes emotionally stronger than any other people think, but indeed they are afraid, wanting to escape, and living in the blissful of a lie.

However, as his story progresses, he becomes more understanding and how to handle his anxiety, because of how his friends reached out to him, Subaru and Mimiru for example. At first, people might not understand why a person always doing something like this, why always running when they meet him, or why he is always shunned by them, that’s the anxiety that become a major issue and problem. The worsening Anxiety and fear come, which could lead to a possible suicide or something even worse than that.

Even society thinks that people can do this alone without any help, but in the end, 

they realize that someone out there needs help and they cannot solve all of their problems alone, along with their anxiety, they do need someone who can talk and find a way to make things out or something they need advice. No matter what happens,

 humans never destined to be alone no matter what society says, they always need someone who always by their side, and someone who always be there to overcome their fear and anxiety, Mimiru wants to reach out to Tsukasa might be for example, same goes for Subaru.

I personally like Bear, who is an adult who would have common sense, he’s a mature adult unlike any adult like Tsukasa’s father, he also to be the one who always looks out for Tsukasa and reaches out for him, he becomes an example of how Adults not to think about the happiness of the world, but to think about the children who would become next generation after them, that’s he as a father might not want his children ended up being abuse. I think whether he is wiser or not, he is someone who could always be there for him, and I’m glad he adopted Tsukasa as her Guardian.

As for Subaru and Tsukasa, I think they become the first LGBT+ representation in the .hack series, it brings more introduction toward the diversity of the story along with its character, since Tsukasa’s player is a Girl.

.hack//G.U.

In .hack//G.U. the theme is Grow Up, to be honest, I don’t know what it means, it could be about representing Haseo’s life journey from being a jerky ass into a mature who believes Power that came from many forms that he had met, and I could say this is a growth development and best story driven development. But if some of you think his character is too edgy, let’s just drop those words and see something else in his story development through three volumes and fourth volume.

If we take the story from the beginning, Haseo is the PKK Terror of Death who is on the hunt for the mysterious player known as Tri-Edge to cure his friend, Shino. If you watch Roots anime, I think it represents something about losing what is precious to Haseo or means to lose something, and how he would find it again is how G.U. story would tell his story.

As the story progresses, they meet a lot of friends, rivals, and also someone who has different methods but shares the same goal and begins to understand what it means to his journey and what is the true meaning of the Power he seeks. At first, he wants to use power for vengeance and hatred against those who are precious to him and are being taken away and never thinking of anyone else but only for someone whom he had already lost, Shino for example. He cannot move on or cannot face another obstacle, always focusing on only one direction and fearing losing them. 

There are also important things to tell his character from the beginning, one thing important from his beginning journey is trust issues, due to his first experience being PKed by PKers, IYOTEN, and Asta during his first login. 

This could lead to how we saw in .hack//Roots as his trauma of getting PKed has caused him to have a trust issue toward others, but that trust was regained following a meeting with Shino, Ovan, Tabby, and Sakisaka after joining Twilight Brigade. But with all things happening following their quest to find The Key of the Twilight, Ovan’s disappearance, and a few members of the guild retiring from playing a game (As for Tabby, well you should watch .hack//Roots for that, but indeed she retiring, until post-game Vol.3 Redemption), and now Shino, who’ve been PKed by Tri-Edge become main driven of his intention a way to save her, and the vengeance against the one who putting Shino into Coma, or as Lost One if call now.

Now as I said before, this is how his Trust Issues continue and he cannot think of the other things except hunting Tri-Edge and curing Shino. This is the reason for his lust for power that he could obtain in use of vengeance, that power that made his avatar Skeith, The Terror of Death go berserk during the Demon Palace Tournament, is how the consequence of using the power of Epitaph because of his Lust for Power is the reason of that happen, that is also a reason that he lead Skeith went berserk and out of control.

His character in the beginning of G.U. is how to depict how much he had lost his way for understanding the true meaning of Power, and the start of his journey is only to save Shino, Hunt Tri-Edge, and obtaining more power is the only way he could live up to. But meeting someone like Atoli, Gaspard, Silabus, Alkaid, Kuhn, Pi, Yata, and anyone that he had encountered, he realized that his direction of life had changed, turning a wheel of its fate and broadening his eyes to the world, with how his direction focus toward many bringing to his understand about Life and Power Struggle through his journey, and the inevitable Truth that hit it’s hardest to it core, those become what it defines Haseo to these days. No one knows who’s allies and enemies are, but the progression will become clear, and the truth is very dangerous to be hindered, no one could ever run away from the truth, it is just inevitable and his story leads to that.

The same goes for everyone, sometimes have fear and only focus one direction to the most things that they usually do in their life, but meeting someone who has entered your life brings another meaning to your existence and the meaning of your struggle if G.U. is about Glow up or so Grow Up, it represents something that challenges, growth, encounter, and truth brings people to change as one who begins to understand the meaning behind their struggle, become a mature, and proud that the goal they had come so far become much more worth it and very meaningful than what they usually do in the past. 
But it wouldn’t work if it’s not for Ovan who had found him he wouldn’t met Shino & understood the beauty of The World, and if it’s not for Silabus and Gaspard who accidentally crashed toward him, Haseo might just be Jerky Haseo XD like we know as a Terror of Death.

But let’s just say, Ovan is the main character who became a key to Haseo’s development throughout three volumes of G.U. and everything he does is the pathway for his growth.

All of his development is being paid off satisfyingly with .hack//G.U. Vol.4 Reconnection and concluding his story as well how his development from start to end has led up to this moment where he want to save Ovan and how he understands the true meaning of Power is. and indeed that .hack//G.U.become the first game of .hack that I’ve ever played.

Many stories bring the message to all fans around The World, as Hiroshi told us “They didn’t create a Useless Story” which brings more reasons why the .hack series became a masterpiece with a rich storyline, music, and gameplay bringing more glimmering experience more for the fans whose not just thirst for the MMO, but enjoying what message that they would give to us through .hack stories.

Is .hack//Franchise deserve a second chance?

The answer is Yes, the series deserves a second chance and it would become an opportunity to introduce the Isekai theme through the .hack series in a different way. 

Why .hack? because the way the story is handled has brought the most realistic story about MMO and exploring life & interaction between players in the online game, which is another theme of the franchise. It brings life change for the people who have played and become a fan of the series since childhood, there is also a new fan or those who didn’t play it and are willing to try its first game in the remake version for the current and next generation consoles to bring nostalgia to the old and can also be enjoyed for new fans.

Even though the franchise has been quite dead, the hearts, passion, and it’s dedication to the series haven’t disappeared, as the series became the largest part and the source of the heart of the community itself, it became attached to anyone who had played this game and how they appreciate an unique, social problems, interaction game, MMORPG offline based-story, and it’s a unique storytelling by Gamers, Anime Watchers, Readers and even to all Community.

That brings a many reasons why we should believe and prove that our support toward the series never fades away and make them realize how important for fans to cry, hoping for the series to return, that’s why we need Bandai Namco Entertainment and CyberConnect 2 to hear our cries and prove how .hack series deserves for the second chance and it’s revival. 

(Actually, you need to make the ultimate request to BNE, as soon as possible).

Support me for more content you’ve ever desired.

(click the image for the direct link to the website)