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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tsukasa Under Seige, November 15, 2003
When the last DVD left off, one of the strongest themes in process was the developing relationship between Tsukasa and Subaru, who we now know is partially paralyzed in real life. This DVD starts out with Tsukasa bringing Subaru to Aura's bedside and the repercussions of that act. In retaliation for that act Tsukasa finds himself in conflict with the spirit that haunts that site, and will spend almost all of this series trying to recover from the backlash. Subaru, unawares of this, begins to play a role in the second key them of this set - tracking down the avatar of Harald Hoenwick, the creator of the World. Somehow Harald has unintentionally programmed a deadly series of events into the virtual environment. As a result, players are being rendered comatose and undefeatable monsters are wandering the dungeons. In the first major crossover from the console game Helba puts in a lengthy appearance, aiding Bear, Subaru and Mimiru in their quest. The real world is beginning to impinge on the inner story as well. Not in terms of scene shifts, but in sudden insights into the real nature of some of the players. Crim begins to act as a general conscience for the players, asking each one why they are really there. As a result, several of the characters revisit their motives, causing a few surprising realignments. Not Sora though, he is intent on being one of the villains. As you can see, this DVD represents the dramatic pause befor events start working towards a conclusion, the battle is dawning on several fronts as both the game and the players are increasingly at risk. It always surprises me how story driven this part of the .hack package is, refusing to give in to the pressure to become a pure swords and sorcery outing or to use excessive graphics to cover the gaps. I hardly expected this series to be so thoughtful, and it is a refreshing change.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
And we build to a climax, November 14, 2003
Tsukasa takes Subaru to see the sleeping girl and not only is she not there but the entity gets real mad at Tsukasa and punishes him in the way you would expect from a ticked off omnipotent entity. And that's it for him or a while. The Cat, however, shows some concern for him making you wonder at the cats relationship to the entity. The team of Bear, Mimiru, and Subaru with the help of Helba find another way to the broken man and learn a few more hints to the truth - that is, before the entity finds out what they are up to. Un-killable monsters are roaming the land, mysterious players who we have yet to be introduced to are shadowing the team, and more plots are being made aginst the group as BT, Sora, and the Silver Knight team up. But is the Silver Knight a player or a pawn? For that matter, is BT even in control of her own plots and with the chaotic nature of his character will Sora forsake all alliances for a chance to serve the "Power"? And what about Subarus' feelings toward Tsukasa? And what happened to the sleeping girl? And what's going to happen if she is awakened? As I've said before, this series has been more about human interaction and intrigue than action. Even though there is action, I feel that it is used to enforce or to re-enforce the by-play between characters. Which is one thing I love about the series. A good example is the fights with the un-killable monsters and how the Silver Knight is abandoned by Sora, where as Subaru falls to one of the beasts and another is willing to jump in-between them simply to be there for her. As they've said, even if it is a game no one likes to die. It comes down to who will be there for who, who can swallow their pride to work with others, and who is willing to abandon everyone to follow their own path. Alliances are formed here that should endure through the final confrontation.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Once more unto the breach, dear friends..., July 21, 2004
The party gets assists from Helba and, in a brief cameo, Subaru's powerful friend Balmung - who we haven't met yet but has previously been mentioned as helping out offscreen - as the final conflict draws near.
Of all the people he's come to care for, Tsukasa's closest tie is to Subaru, and he now trusts her enough to share Aura, the sleeping girl with her. This does not go over well with The Voice, however, and once Subaru leaves she punishes him severely - a serious setback, as Tsukasa is left traumatized and shell shocked.
In other developments, the whole party is now on the same page, with Bear and Mimiru working in concert with Subaru and Crim for the first time. With the appearance of unkillable boss monsters hearalding the fact that they're running out of time, they try to bring their lost sheep back into the fold.
Previous comments from Crim have suggested that the Silver Knight isn't really a bad guy if given a nudge in the right direction, and indeed we find him taking the fallout of the Knights' dismantling - which was certainly never his intention - even harder than Subaru. B.T. - who's been seesawing through the whole series - wants back in, but doesn't see how that's possible considering her recent behavior and the messy way she's left things - until she finds to her surprise that Bear still maintains an almost childlike faith in her. For that matter, the "old man" hasn't entirely given up on Sora either.
There's always one problem case, however, and it looks like he might be wrong on that count. Until now, Sora hasn't really done anything more dire than play The World rather unscrupulously. However, it should be starting to register that a real child is in trouble and this is no longer just a game, and his antics are starting to wear thin. Finally even threatening Mimiru - who he had seemed to like if he liked anyone - he seems to be a lost cause. And like the young boy it's been implied he is in the real world, he starts playing with fire...
The chess pieces are on the board, and zero hour is approaching.
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