HomeManga.hack//XXXX - Volume 1

.hack//XXXX – Volume 1

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hackxxxx

A nice short review for tonight. This is the manga adaptation of the original video game series made for the PS2. It retains some of the same characters, adds a few, removes a few and overall is a retelling which is completely different from the game.

Artwork: The artwork quality varies throughout the volume. Some of the character designs are good such as for Balmung and Mistral, while for other characters such as Kite and Lios, they varied from relatively good to disappointing, depending on the situation. A large percentage of the time you are looking at a while background with a few trees or buildings in the far distant background, but at the same time, some areas such as the root towns (For example, Mac Anu), do have some good backgrounds. It is good to see however, that the 8 Phases have retained their odd looks from the game.

Storyline: The storyline retained some familiarities to the game however a lot of it was either new or remade. For example, Orca being data drained was in the correct chronological order however, stuff like meeting Mistral, being trapped by the GM’s and even becoming allies with Balmung all take place in a different chronological order to the game. Whilst it may offer a slightly different storyline to the game, I do feel that if you were to pick up the book for the first time, you would most probably have difficulty understanding all the concepts. Also, the addition of Cubia as a user instead of a giant monster was different. It is hard to tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing at this stage.

Characters: A lot of characters were included, and then disappeared for the rest of the volume. Characters like Mistral only appeared in the first one or two chapters and then never turned up again, this remains the same for other characters such as Blackrose (The second main character in the games) and Natsume. Mainly, the characters that gained a decent amount of space was Kite, Balmung, Cubia, Mia and Elk (Mia and Elk, whilst having a decent part in the main game storyline, had very little part in Volumes 2 & 3 of the games). I really don’t know what to say, it was good to see the characters that are not so commonly added to the storyline, however, I would have preferred to see more of the normal main characters in it.

Extras: The following extras are included:

  • Artwork between each chapter.
  • What is .hack//XXXX by “Piroshi Matsuyama”
  • Artwork messages from others.
  • Message from producer
  • Preview of Fate: Stay Night (Thought it would have been .hack//XXXX Volume 2 preview….)

Personal Opinion: Really…. I found this volume to be very average. I guess I personally didn’t like all the changes as they are what I would expect from an anime adaptation, which can usually pull it off quite well. They could have most probably fit a game volume into a chapter. Still, it is worth a read if you are a big .hack fan.

Overall:

Artwork: 3
Storyline: 2.5
Characters: 3
Extras:
3
Personal Opinion:
2.5
Overall: 2.8 (C+)

Final Comments: If I was to find a second volume of this series, I would most probably pick it up just to see how well it continues on being a fan. However, if you are new to the series, it may get a bit confusing at the beginning, and I would recommend either reading a detailed summary or playing the game series first.

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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