Let's talk, .hack
We've known each other a pretty long time, haven't we? After all, you were the reason I bought a PS2, you got me into anime, and I fell head over heels in love with your mythology and world building - especially considering its all just for a fake MMO. Now, before you get offended and just so we're clear, anything I say has nothing at all to do with the original four games, //Signs, or //GU. Hell, I'll even be generous and say that I enjoyed those little non-canonical mangas and //Another Birth you have out. I like AUs in fanfiction - why not in official media?
But. You need to take a good long look in the mirror, my old friend.
First, we're going to talk about //Link. When I heard //Link was coming out - back when it was just the manga adaptation, mind you - I naturally got excited. Clearly this meant a new game! But you used the same cast, setting, and plot for both the manga and the PSP game? Haven't we already established that the mangas are fun little sides, not really meant to be taken seriously? Does the tone of //Link Twilight Knights really match the one you've painstakingly established in your seven beautifully crafted PS2 games? Well, okay, this is just a little reunion game - sort of like The Expendables, right? Just having some fun, playing all your old favorite characters, and Kite and Haseo in the same game? I can dig it.
...then I see the character list for //Link. Um. Explain to me how Elk and Endrance can be separate characters? Why there are THREE Kites - and why the hell does Azure Flame Kite speak? Why is Albiero playable when it was such a big deal for him to leave The World (if you consider //Twilight Bracelet canonical) - and on the issue of canon, why is Cubia a PC? Does that make //XXXX in canon too? How, what? But okay, I don't know the story and the Wiki hasn't got explanations up. I'll reserve judgment.
....then I hear you've given everybody an Xth form. Let me explain something to you, .hack - Final Fantasy, you listen up too. Now, we all remember how awesome Haseo's Xth form was in //GU, right? It was illegal, unique to him, something you wanted to see more of, right? Same with Vincent in FF7, the aloof, mysterious stranger, full of speculation and theories about his backstory. Now, you know what the best way to ruin that suspense and mystery is? To explain it, and oversaturate the story with that explanation. That's why people complained about Dirge of Cerberus - you killed the mystery. By giving everybody an Xth form, you've relegated it to an everyday occurrence, and its lost its interesting aspect. BUT, I don't know why everybody's gotten that form, so maybe you've got a good explanation. Okay. I'll bite my tongue.
...then I saw pictures of those Xth forms.
This is not Black Rose. If anything, this is Etna from Disgaea in a very convincing Black Rose cosplay. Black Rose was not flirty or seductive (minus her outfit) - she would punch you in the face before she would make that cocked hip, winking expression.
Why is Kite wearing leather pants? I'll admit the trench coat is pretty awesome, but why a bow? Kite used daggers! He was based on the concept of a phantom thief! Do phantom thieves use bows and arrows? WHY IS HE IN LEATHER PANTS?
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ENDRANCE? WHY DOES HE HAVE CLEAVAGE?
..then I realize that //Link came out in March in Japan and there's been no announcement of an American release, or an English patch. I thought //Link was supposed to be the end of the series? You'll deny the American fanbase the final part of the game, after releasing basically every other piece of merchandise for the series, up to and including all the non-canonical parts?
...and finally I see an announcement of a new anime, //Quantum.
I don't even know how to respond to this, or even what to respond to. The massive reuse of the same character designs. The random cat. The fact that there's some girl going around in a Sexy Kite costume, which thus makes FOUR KITES in the series. The complete lack of any storyline info. The generic group shot. The stereotypical post-apocalyptic background.
I realize I sound like an overtly nit-picky fangirl crying "YOU'RE RUINING IT", but this legitimately upsets me. This was a series that was a giant beacon of originality in its plot, setting, and character interactions in a genre that - while I love - is hideously mocked for its retread of the same paths and same trite tropes. This was something I could point at when people laughed at the stalwart Heroes and the meek Staff Chicks, the bland fantasy settings and the annoying mascot characters, and say "Not every JRPG is like that." And now Bandai has sucked their cash cow for so long that the originality's been drained out, and all I have left is memories and seven games that are becoming more dated by the day.
Perhaps //Link and //Quantum can surprise me by being a good game and a good anime. I don't have much hope, though.
.
But. You need to take a good long look in the mirror, my old friend.
First, we're going to talk about //Link. When I heard //Link was coming out - back when it was just the manga adaptation, mind you - I naturally got excited. Clearly this meant a new game! But you used the same cast, setting, and plot for both the manga and the PSP game? Haven't we already established that the mangas are fun little sides, not really meant to be taken seriously? Does the tone of //Link Twilight Knights really match the one you've painstakingly established in your seven beautifully crafted PS2 games? Well, okay, this is just a little reunion game - sort of like The Expendables, right? Just having some fun, playing all your old favorite characters, and Kite and Haseo in the same game? I can dig it.
...then I see the character list for //Link. Um. Explain to me how Elk and Endrance can be separate characters? Why there are THREE Kites - and why the hell does Azure Flame Kite speak? Why is Albiero playable when it was such a big deal for him to leave The World (if you consider //Twilight Bracelet canonical) - and on the issue of canon, why is Cubia a PC? Does that make //XXXX in canon too? How, what? But okay, I don't know the story and the Wiki hasn't got explanations up. I'll reserve judgment.
....then I hear you've given everybody an Xth form. Let me explain something to you, .hack - Final Fantasy, you listen up too. Now, we all remember how awesome Haseo's Xth form was in //GU, right? It was illegal, unique to him, something you wanted to see more of, right? Same with Vincent in FF7, the aloof, mysterious stranger, full of speculation and theories about his backstory. Now, you know what the best way to ruin that suspense and mystery is? To explain it, and oversaturate the story with that explanation. That's why people complained about Dirge of Cerberus - you killed the mystery. By giving everybody an Xth form, you've relegated it to an everyday occurrence, and its lost its interesting aspect. BUT, I don't know why everybody's gotten that form, so maybe you've got a good explanation. Okay. I'll bite my tongue.
...then I saw pictures of those Xth forms.
This is not Black Rose. If anything, this is Etna from Disgaea in a very convincing Black Rose cosplay. Black Rose was not flirty or seductive (minus her outfit) - she would punch you in the face before she would make that cocked hip, winking expression.
Why is Kite wearing leather pants? I'll admit the trench coat is pretty awesome, but why a bow? Kite used daggers! He was based on the concept of a phantom thief! Do phantom thieves use bows and arrows? WHY IS HE IN LEATHER PANTS?
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ENDRANCE? WHY DOES HE HAVE CLEAVAGE?
..then I realize that //Link came out in March in Japan and there's been no announcement of an American release, or an English patch. I thought //Link was supposed to be the end of the series? You'll deny the American fanbase the final part of the game, after releasing basically every other piece of merchandise for the series, up to and including all the non-canonical parts?
...and finally I see an announcement of a new anime, //Quantum.
I don't even know how to respond to this, or even what to respond to. The massive reuse of the same character designs. The random cat. The fact that there's some girl going around in a Sexy Kite costume, which thus makes FOUR KITES in the series. The complete lack of any storyline info. The generic group shot. The stereotypical post-apocalyptic background.
I realize I sound like an overtly nit-picky fangirl crying "YOU'RE RUINING IT", but this legitimately upsets me. This was a series that was a giant beacon of originality in its plot, setting, and character interactions in a genre that - while I love - is hideously mocked for its retread of the same paths and same trite tropes. This was something I could point at when people laughed at the stalwart Heroes and the meek Staff Chicks, the bland fantasy settings and the annoying mascot characters, and say "Not every JRPG is like that." And now Bandai has sucked their cash cow for so long that the originality's been drained out, and all I have left is memories and seven games that are becoming more dated by the day.
Perhaps //Link and //Quantum can surprise me by being a good game and a good anime. I don't have much hope, though.
.