Kite, Blackrose, Aura and the other players in The World return from Tokyopop to put a new spin a tale that's spanned the video game, anime, manga and collectible card game genres in recent years. In .hack//XXXX volume 2 from Tokyopop the very abridged version of the tale of The World and Kite's involvement comes to a conclusion as the mystery of the comatose players, Kite's data-drain bracelet as well as Aura and Cubia existence is revealed. It's a lot to swallow, but let’s take a look at the story.
With friends and fellow players comatose in real life, twin blade Kite teams up with Cubia, another player, to hunt down the various Phases that seem to be the cause of all The World's trouble. The power utilized, the bracelet, is revealed to be not just the solution to The Worlds troubles but also partly the cause. First Cubia and Kite must, reluctantly, destroy an infected Mia much to Elk's dismay then as his power grows and Aura warns of impending doom Kite alienates his friends leaving him to Cubia's whims, which are not good to say the least. The confrontation with Cubia leads to revelations about the existence of this particular AI and its ties to Aura. Not all bad data is evil it seems and while the ending is bitter sweet for Kite having his friends is a good start to recovery.
First let me say this, .hack// and all it's games, anime and manga are deep, very deep but this two volume treat really does an excellent job of getting to point of the story without too much about The Epitaph of Twilight, we even get to see Helba's face (hottie). The color spread at the beginning of the manga would look just dandy as a poster. Megane Kikuya should be applauded for adapting such a complex story into two volumes as Hiroshi Matsuyama’s original work is, as stated, very deep. The absolute best, most outstanding feature of this manga is the art. All the characters look dead-on with their original vision and there is a sense of humor, love, loss and pure emotion that is not easily conveyed in a manga but comes across very well here. Page 186 has to be one of my favorite pics in any manga,
So any .hack// fan wondering what is up with another manga know this, you should pick up .hack//XXXX as it will help you relive what you love about this franchise and only in two volumes. For fans new to .hack//, looking to get into it this is actually a great starting point, though with some spoilers so beware. There is a lot of manga out there, a lot of .hack// to choose from, but this has to be at the top of that pile.
With friends and fellow players comatose in real life, twin blade Kite teams up with Cubia, another player, to hunt down the various Phases that seem to be the cause of all The World's trouble. The power utilized, the bracelet, is revealed to be not just the solution to The Worlds troubles but also partly the cause. First Cubia and Kite must, reluctantly, destroy an infected Mia much to Elk's dismay then as his power grows and Aura warns of impending doom Kite alienates his friends leaving him to Cubia's whims, which are not good to say the least. The confrontation with Cubia leads to revelations about the existence of this particular AI and its ties to Aura. Not all bad data is evil it seems and while the ending is bitter sweet for Kite having his friends is a good start to recovery.
First let me say this, .hack// and all it's games, anime and manga are deep, very deep but this two volume treat really does an excellent job of getting to point of the story without too much about The Epitaph of Twilight, we even get to see Helba's face (hottie). The color spread at the beginning of the manga would look just dandy as a poster. Megane Kikuya should be applauded for adapting such a complex story into two volumes as Hiroshi Matsuyama’s original work is, as stated, very deep. The absolute best, most outstanding feature of this manga is the art. All the characters look dead-on with their original vision and there is a sense of humor, love, loss and pure emotion that is not easily conveyed in a manga but comes across very well here. Page 186 has to be one of my favorite pics in any manga,
So any .hack// fan wondering what is up with another manga know this, you should pick up .hack//XXXX as it will help you relive what you love about this franchise and only in two volumes. For fans new to .hack//, looking to get into it this is actually a great starting point, though with some spoilers so beware. There is a lot of manga out there, a lot of .hack// to choose from, but this has to be at the top of that pile.
