Synopsis:
Shugo and Rena are twin siblings who've won a contest that enable them to use the legendary characters Kite and Black Rose in the online game "The World". Shortly after the two start playing, they are plagued by seemingly indestructible monsters and strange events which are initially attributed to their special character status. But when players start going comatose while logged in "The World", Shugo and his friends' darkest suspicions are confirmed -- they are caught in something far more serious than just a mere special event. To top it off, Rena's character Black Rose disappears... and her real life self joins the ranks of the numerous players who have been hospitalized in a coma. It's up to Shugo and his party to save Rena... and the rest of "The World".

Review:
I watched .hack//Legend of the Twilight without having seen any of .hack//Sign. I have however, played the first three .hack games that had been released for the PS2. In any case, .hack//Legend of the Twilight works without any previous .hack anime or game background.

.hack//Legend of the Twilight is mainly about 14-year old Shugo and his twin sister Rena. Their parents have been separated for some time. Shugo lives with their father while Rena lives with their mother. They remain close although they haven't seen each other in a while, and so getting together online to play in "The World" proves to be a very joyful and fulfilling experience for them. Shugo and Rena make a lot of new friends in "The World", all of which subsequently help them in their quest to get to the bottom of the mysterious events which transpire.

.hack//Legend of the Twilight pans out just like a typical MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). Kite, Black Rose, and their companions go in dungeons, fight monsters, level up, get items, participate in special in-game events... if you have never played an MMORPG, this series will give you a rather clear picture of what it's like. The plot thickens when bizarre occurences keep coming Shugo and Rena's way. They come across perpetually regenerating monsters, eerie non-player characters, and supposedly inaccessible areas among others. Soon, players start going comatose while logged in "The World" -- including Rena. This prompts Shugo and his friends to investigate, at the risk of going against the group which the CC Corporation (the company behind "The World") assigned to do the job. It's a pretty straightforward storyline interspersed with some philosophical concepts that are not at all difficult to grasp. I was, however, a tad uncomfortable with the incestuous implications of Shugo and Rena's relationship.

Exceptionally crisp and vibrant visuals make up .hack//Legend of the Twilight, although the character designs are a bit of a mixed bag. Kite and Black Rose (especially Black Rose) are rendered in an overly cutesy, superdeformed-esque style which I wasn't particularly fond of. The rest of the characters (i.e. Balmung, Sanjuro, Ohka, etc.) looked really good however. I loved the catchy opening theme "New World", but I found the background music that would play during the scenes to be distracting in general.

Overall, I found .hack//Legend of the Twilight to be an enjoyable and entertaining series with just the right number of episodes -- not too long that it would drag, but not too short that it would hang.

Miscellanies:
This series spans 12 episodes.

Screenshots:

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