Title: .hack//黄昏の腕輪伝説 (.hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet) Vol. 3
Artist/Author:　依澄れい (Rei Izumi)
Original Creator: 浜崎達也 (Tetsuya Hamazaki)
Book Size/Pages: B-6, 276pp., w/o furigana
Volume: 3/3
First Printing: 4/3/2004
Rating: 3/4

This book is enormous. It's about as big as the two previous books combined. Ugh.

.hack strikes me as a series that was created to milk money off making tie-ins to games, manga, and anime. I haven't finished the anime (first season) and have only played only 3 of the games (haven't watched the OVAs since the second game), I don't know how much the manga ties in.

When I first started this series, I didn't know what was going on. The artwork is good, especially when Shugo is dumbfounded. The story is interesting, although I haven't been able to tie it in as I haven't finished the other media for .hack. This last volume continues that. It's sums up the story well, but I would have benefited from knowing more about the anime and game.

Besides the main story, which ends around page 236, there are two full length bonus comics as well as more mini-comics. The book starts off with 4 color pages. The inside cover has drawings of the real-life characters that play the game.

13. 終われるか (Is It Possible to Finish?): Shugo, Rena, and Zefi are in a prison. Rena is about to quit the game, but starts thinking and also gets some sense knocked into her by Zefi. When she gets her motivation back, Zefi breaks them out. Meanwhile, Balmung has decided to step down and re-join the game.

14. 別れて、　逢って (To Part and To Meet): The three of them bump into Komiyama as they're escaping. They chat a bit and Zefi fixes his face. Meanwhile, Balmung is meeting with Wiseman discussing the Net Slums, Aura, and the .hackers. Komiyama, with his pretty face, is now on good terms with them. Shugo receives a letter from Mirelle.

15. 隠されし　禁断の　望域 (Hidden Forbidden Castle): They go meet Mirelle at the castle, where they also bump into Ooka, the cat-woman character. Shugo and Rena's real-life sibling, Kazu, who once played alongside Mistral, Mirelle's mother and who she inherited her character from, arrives and gives them the keys to the Net Slums. No sooner does the system administrators come and try to claim the key. Komiyama tries to stop the female admin, but gets himself deleted.

16. 心に、　槍を (In the Heart, a Spear...): Kazu and Ooka try to keep the admins busy while the others make a getaway, however, they are stopped short. As they're being confronted, Hotaru steps in with a plea. Zefi repels the admin's attack and creates a Gruntie to help transport them away. Shugo, however, decides to have a heart to heart with the defeated admin.

17. あのとき「前編」 (That Time, First Part): Because of relationship issues in the real world, the admin has taken this job in "The World." After some talk, she beings to have more faith in herself.

18. あのとき「後編」 (That Time, Last Part): The group leaves on the Gruntie. After they leave, Balmung shows up and talks to the admin. The gang uses the key to get to the Net Slums.

19. ネットスラム (Net Slum): In the Net Slums, they meet the lost game characters. Their search comes to a stop when Balmung shows up and tells Shugo that if he wants to meet Aura, he has to defeat him.

20. 勇者の条件 (What It Takes to Be a Hero): Shugo obviously doesn't have enough experience to defeat Balmung. However, in typical adventure story fashion, he gathers strength from all the memories he's had with his friends and is able to inflict some damage, which was all he needed. They finally get to see Aura, Zefi's mother.

21. Little flashback to when Shugo was a kid, played the game and wanted to be a "hero." Happy ending. Game over.

Comments

(Comments are Closed)