Title: .hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet
Volume: 2 (of 3)
Creator: Tatsuya Hamazaki & Rei Izumi
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: KADOKAWA SHOTEN
US Publisher: Tokyopop
Release Date: 12/9/03
Pages: 172
ISBN: 159182415
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Fantasy
Rated: T (Teen Age 13+)
Description: What do you do when a game starts playing by its own rules?
Shugo and Reina only recently started playing The World, the most advanced online game ever created, but they are already well on their way to becoming heroes. They've got a great party of friends, cool new items, and now they've been joined by Zefie, a Vagrant AI who acts outside the rules of the game. As intelligent as Zefie may be, the CC Corporation isn't about to let an unstable element run free in The World -- not after what happened four years ago. So with the notorious debugging team, The Cobalt Knights, on the prowl, Shugo and company had better watch out!
Contains Logins 7-12:
- Login 7: A Passing Shower
- Login 8: A New Resolve
- Login 9: On/Off Coin
- Login 10: The Players Are Thinking
- Login 11: 4 Years Ago
- Login 12: Cheating
Review:
Cover: The cover somewhat is closely like the cover of the first volume in the .hack manga series. Volume 2 however has the female main character, Rena, on it. The background is black, with the Series Title, .hack//LEGEND OF THE TWILIGHT, in big while letters on the top. Both sides of the front have a green strip, but the right side has the Tokyopop logo on it. We also get the same hexagon design as the last volume, but this time they are pink in color, with the usual character pictures in a few of them. The top Hexagon has a number 2 in it, referring to the Volume Number. The bottom of the cover has the Mangakas, which is kind of hard to recognize.
The Spine was nicely done as well. We get from top to bottom the Tokyopop Logo, the Series Title, the Mangakas, the same picture of Rena from the cover, and the Volume Number.
The back kind of feels a little cluttered in my opinion. We have the 2 green stripes on each side, like the front. We have the Series Title on the top, followed by a very detailed summary of the Volume, which takes up most of the back cover. To the left of the summary we have the 100% Authentic Manga Stamp. Also there are more hexagons, which make the cover even more cluttered.
So far this has to be one of thee worst back covers I have reviewed. Too much info and design. Tokyopop could have used a smaller print if they wanted to include such a long summary.
Artwork: The Artwork of .hack//LEGEND OF THE TWILIGHT is rather nice. The only problem I has is the consistency. There is a lot of serious scenes in the manga, and with the quick and sudden change of mood as the characters go into Chibi form and begin to whine and cry, just does not fit it. I like consistency in artwork. However, if a joke was made by a character in regular form, then they shift into Chibi style, it would be a whole different story.
Translation: More original goodness. All of the manga has been translated entirely correctly. Every scene was left intact. Plus, sound effects were left unchanged. That’s what I like to see in a manga.
Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): The second Volume of the .hack manga series goes much more in depth then just dungeon exploring and leveling up like the first Volume had. Actually, it seems several weeks, maybe months have passed since the last chapters took place.
Our first story involves a side quest that out heroes decide to go and explore. As our heroes enter the dungeon, they are attacked by quite a few monsters. Rena is eventually captured by one of them, and if it was not for Shugo, she would have gotten a Game Over. Shugo easily handles the enemy, and it is then seen that Shugo has grown tremendously since he first started the game. At the end of the first chapter, we have the appearance of a mysterious girl named Zefie, who has a strange resemblance to Aura, the NPC who gave Shugo the Twilight Bracelet in Volume 1.
The main story in Volume 2 centers on Zefie. Our heroes try to find out where she came from or how she came to find them. Apparently she is Aura’s daughter, so Shugo feels obligated to find Aura and return Zefie to her. In the meantime, Rena is beginning to get jealous of all the attention that Shugo is giving to Zefie and not to her (quick change around from Volume 1 if you ask me).
Mireille decides to visit Wiseman and find out some clues pertaining to Zefie and Aura. Wiseman tells Mireille the story of 4 years ago, about Kite and BlackRose the Legendary .hackers.
While all this is happening, Balmung decides to resign his position as an administrator. With Balmung out of the way, Kamui is now able to act on her own, so her first task is the delete the .hackers skins from the World.
At the end of Volume 2, we are left with Kamui finding Mireille’s Secret Hideout and arresting all of our heroes. She tells them she will let them go soon, but Shugo and Rena’s characters will both be terminated. What will happen in the final Volume of the .hack//LEGEND OF THE TWILIGHT Series?
As for the manga, I like it a lot. It is totally different then the Anime version of the same name. Plus, a lot of characters are not present in the Anime that are included in the Manga and vice-versa. .hack//LEGEND OF THE TWILIGHT is a worthwhile read for fans of the .hack series.
Objectionable Content:
Language: No
Violence: Yes
Nudity: No
Sexual Situation: No
Overall Rating: 4/5
Where Purchased: Waldenbooks
Original Review Date: 12/12/03
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