One of the more capturing songs from .hack//sign is the theme song named after the game in the show's world by which the viewer experience the show.
The TV show backdrop is pre-WoW mmo games such as Dark Age of Camelot, Lineage 2 and Everquest 2. as a saga the .hack utilize the advents of this new games as ways of socializing to explore a particular part of the interaction of technology and society that is the substitution of human interaction to an imaginary one at first, but also how the dwelling in this cyber arena overtake one life without noticing(be it by the nature of technology to be a utility that always tend to go to the background or the nature of the substitution that the game contextualization can bring). this in turn highlight the artificialness of the experience as the game back drop highlight how one is free to come and go freely without real consequence, but once it has consequence it is queer(in so far as the realization of the viewer). but the artificialness never stays within the realms of being odd to the viewer, the show by bringing it to light aim to show the sense of paradox of how social activity become so isolated in terms of experience.
before delving into the manner by which the show explore the themes lets give a general background. .hack//sign is a show set in the not so far future where a company named CC corp released a vr computer that took over the world and released a game named "The World"(shortened to R1) the game premise is the usual fare of mmorpg in the time where you go on some pve, hang up in the world and engage with the lore that is hidden within the game world. the show follows a player named "Tsukasa" who got stuck in R1 and a particular bug(or unintended ai) start to follow him and protect him. two players who are caring encounter him (named Bear and Mimiru) and start investigate him, at first they thought he is some event character but soon realized he is a human player who got stuck and try to release him from the game. along the way the bug shelter him and let him cause havoc and put human players in comatose after he pk them and they try to solve it along with the ingame mod-knights.
so how does it go about exploring the themes? first, the main utility is when a human player in some manner stopped the normal interaction of making the game an alternative reality. this is done in the tv show by making a human player not only engaging the game as a distant activity(that is allowed by "logging off" but living in the game world as part of its very fabric and without being able to escape. one need to notice this happen not because the player wanted to but by accident outside his control and without him being able to do anything about it. for him he just passing by and frustrated. though the show don't just stop there the bug that "joined" him is causing harm to other human players, putting them in comatose whenever they interact. thus the game world stopped being neutral, and it is not because any human agent but an ai that accidently slipped in and the trivialization of the game and vr as a utility.(later on the franchise will play with it in more substantial manner.)
that is enough to ground in the most basic manner to ground the substitution, but where does the artificial nature of the experience come in? as the show start Mimru notice that tsukasa activity is unusual, sure he do some bugs, she is aware of some hackers here and there, but she sees that he have more natural interaction, for example the berries he eat them as if they are food to him, as he can say they are sweet or sour. she sees him doing what could be taken as daily life events, or when he suffer it is as if he is in real pain. this is deneutrlize the game as experience, she is worried or rather at first curious but later on want to help and bring Bear abroad. which also become worried. then they realize the comatose victims in the real life are victims of his, so there is sense of urgency on one hand but also sense that the game world itself changed in the place it took. they start to explore in the real world, try to find hints about the player identity and so on. on top of this main narrative you constantly see how the main characters have a weird relation where you mostly see them ingame and in manner that is rather obsessive(the op named obsession around this theme in particular).
but the show don't stay on this level for it also show the emptiness that come around. not in blunt fashion, as it is a slow show, but in steady manner.
the Assasin that follow along selfishly for loot(who is most likely a 13 years old in character) constantly hang around an adult Priest who scheme with him in game only to be revealed that the said Priest is more engaged in R1 than her life, but also show how unfulfilling it is as to her it is manner of escape the daily life.
another contrast is by the mod-knight gang. they are the sort of decency cop of the game world hired by the company with a special suit and organization. they are being lead by a Blue priest who is quite weak but her main time is in the world being around rping as the leader of them, so much so that it is her. so much so, when they get disbanded the said priest is lost in R1 but even more lost in the actual world.
however all of those are nothing compared to what Tsukasa represent. Mimiru is curious about Tsukasa because his manner of engagement with R1 seems appealing, she is quite an heavy player. she sees in Tsukasa someone who breath the world which she can only engage externally, it is a sort of envy at first but to the viewer it is in contrast to Tsukasa actual experience, he is alone in the world, can't really engage with other players nor can he take part with the activities. even if he could take part in the intended activities they get dull fast. in order to enhance the distance the ai (Morgana) is trying to jail him within her claws, a weird monster follows him by her order and protect him, and he even get a chance to play with the world in the unintended manner. but that is not enough and ultimately R1 for Tsukasa is truly a jail and isolating.
to make it clear, the above sub elements work only because this very tension tsukasa represent. for tsukasa become an ideal type and each of the agents see in him something else. Mimiru see in Tsukasa a different sense of R1 which she want yet not realize what she wants, while you as a viewer can see the place in which she miss the mark. Bear see in Tsukasa a sense of mystery in R1 which later transfer to pity - mystery as he treat tsukasa as a game event at first, some type of lore or so puzzle that unique from the regular activity, but soon he realize the actual happening and see in it the misery. the priest along with the Assassin see in Tsukasa a sort of new challenge compared to the regular pve events they were doing while tsukasa just want to be left alone. and the mods who are overly invested in their rp see in him a nuisance to the order they want to create while for tsukasa at times it is not even in his control but by the control of the ai.
the show reveal all of those tensions by perspective is not being caused by any of the player but by the game world and yet the thing that change is never the game world. they all just happen to fall into there in different path of life with different mindset on what they want from R1, or one may say what they want in their life. yet what they put investment in, R1, will never be fulfilled as the only reason they think it will be fulfilled is that they are not part of R1(if they were part of R1 they would become Tsukasa who live their dream) and besides R1 itself became something else with an AI that now make it an entity separate in itself that can cause things of its own will.
with that note here are the said lyrics that at least to me invo.
You are here alone again
in your sweet insanity
all to calm, you hide yourself for reality
do you call it solitude? do you call it liberty?
when all the world turns away to leave you lonely
The fields are filled with desires
all voices crying for freedom
but all in vain they will fade away
there's only you to answer you, forever
In blinded mind you are singing
a glorious hallelujah
the distant flutter of angels
they're all too far, too far to reach for you
I am here alone again
in my sweet serenity
hoping you will ever find me in any place
I will call it solitude
when all my songs fade in vain
fly my voice, far away to eternity.
The TV show backdrop is pre-WoW mmo games such as Dark Age of Camelot, Lineage 2 and Everquest 2. as a saga the .hack utilize the advents of this new games as ways of socializing to explore a particular part of the interaction of technology and society that is the substitution of human interaction to an imaginary one at first, but also how the dwelling in this cyber arena overtake one life without noticing(be it by the nature of technology to be a utility that always tend to go to the background or the nature of the substitution that the game contextualization can bring). this in turn highlight the artificialness of the experience as the game back drop highlight how one is free to come and go freely without real consequence, but once it has consequence it is queer(in so far as the realization of the viewer). but the artificialness never stays within the realms of being odd to the viewer, the show by bringing it to light aim to show the sense of paradox of how social activity become so isolated in terms of experience.
before delving into the manner by which the show explore the themes lets give a general background. .hack//sign is a show set in the not so far future where a company named CC corp released a vr computer that took over the world and released a game named "The World"(shortened to R1) the game premise is the usual fare of mmorpg in the time where you go on some pve, hang up in the world and engage with the lore that is hidden within the game world. the show follows a player named "Tsukasa" who got stuck in R1 and a particular bug(or unintended ai) start to follow him and protect him. two players who are caring encounter him (named Bear and Mimiru) and start investigate him, at first they thought he is some event character but soon realized he is a human player who got stuck and try to release him from the game. along the way the bug shelter him and let him cause havoc and put human players in comatose after he pk them and they try to solve it along with the ingame mod-knights.
so how does it go about exploring the themes? first, the main utility is when a human player in some manner stopped the normal interaction of making the game an alternative reality. this is done in the tv show by making a human player not only engaging the game as a distant activity(that is allowed by "logging off" but living in the game world as part of its very fabric and without being able to escape. one need to notice this happen not because the player wanted to but by accident outside his control and without him being able to do anything about it. for him he just passing by and frustrated. though the show don't just stop there the bug that "joined" him is causing harm to other human players, putting them in comatose whenever they interact. thus the game world stopped being neutral, and it is not because any human agent but an ai that accidently slipped in and the trivialization of the game and vr as a utility.(later on the franchise will play with it in more substantial manner.)
that is enough to ground in the most basic manner to ground the substitution, but where does the artificial nature of the experience come in? as the show start Mimru notice that tsukasa activity is unusual, sure he do some bugs, she is aware of some hackers here and there, but she sees that he have more natural interaction, for example the berries he eat them as if they are food to him, as he can say they are sweet or sour. she sees him doing what could be taken as daily life events, or when he suffer it is as if he is in real pain. this is deneutrlize the game as experience, she is worried or rather at first curious but later on want to help and bring Bear abroad. which also become worried. then they realize the comatose victims in the real life are victims of his, so there is sense of urgency on one hand but also sense that the game world itself changed in the place it took. they start to explore in the real world, try to find hints about the player identity and so on. on top of this main narrative you constantly see how the main characters have a weird relation where you mostly see them ingame and in manner that is rather obsessive(the op named obsession around this theme in particular).
but the show don't stay on this level for it also show the emptiness that come around. not in blunt fashion, as it is a slow show, but in steady manner.
the Assasin that follow along selfishly for loot(who is most likely a 13 years old in character) constantly hang around an adult Priest who scheme with him in game only to be revealed that the said Priest is more engaged in R1 than her life, but also show how unfulfilling it is as to her it is manner of escape the daily life.
another contrast is by the mod-knight gang. they are the sort of decency cop of the game world hired by the company with a special suit and organization. they are being lead by a Blue priest who is quite weak but her main time is in the world being around rping as the leader of them, so much so that it is her. so much so, when they get disbanded the said priest is lost in R1 but even more lost in the actual world.
however all of those are nothing compared to what Tsukasa represent. Mimiru is curious about Tsukasa because his manner of engagement with R1 seems appealing, she is quite an heavy player. she sees in Tsukasa someone who breath the world which she can only engage externally, it is a sort of envy at first but to the viewer it is in contrast to Tsukasa actual experience, he is alone in the world, can't really engage with other players nor can he take part with the activities. even if he could take part in the intended activities they get dull fast. in order to enhance the distance the ai (Morgana) is trying to jail him within her claws, a weird monster follows him by her order and protect him, and he even get a chance to play with the world in the unintended manner. but that is not enough and ultimately R1 for Tsukasa is truly a jail and isolating.
to make it clear, the above sub elements work only because this very tension tsukasa represent. for tsukasa become an ideal type and each of the agents see in him something else. Mimiru see in Tsukasa a different sense of R1 which she want yet not realize what she wants, while you as a viewer can see the place in which she miss the mark. Bear see in Tsukasa a sense of mystery in R1 which later transfer to pity - mystery as he treat tsukasa as a game event at first, some type of lore or so puzzle that unique from the regular activity, but soon he realize the actual happening and see in it the misery. the priest along with the Assassin see in Tsukasa a sort of new challenge compared to the regular pve events they were doing while tsukasa just want to be left alone. and the mods who are overly invested in their rp see in him a nuisance to the order they want to create while for tsukasa at times it is not even in his control but by the control of the ai.
the show reveal all of those tensions by perspective is not being caused by any of the player but by the game world and yet the thing that change is never the game world. they all just happen to fall into there in different path of life with different mindset on what they want from R1, or one may say what they want in their life. yet what they put investment in, R1, will never be fulfilled as the only reason they think it will be fulfilled is that they are not part of R1(if they were part of R1 they would become Tsukasa who live their dream) and besides R1 itself became something else with an AI that now make it an entity separate in itself that can cause things of its own will.
with that note here are the said lyrics that at least to me invo.
You are here alone again
in your sweet insanity
all to calm, you hide yourself for reality
do you call it solitude? do you call it liberty?
when all the world turns away to leave you lonely
The fields are filled with desires
all voices crying for freedom
but all in vain they will fade away
there's only you to answer you, forever
In blinded mind you are singing
a glorious hallelujah
the distant flutter of angels
they're all too far, too far to reach for you
I am here alone again
in my sweet serenity
hoping you will ever find me in any place
I will call it solitude
when all my songs fade in vain
fly my voice, far away to eternity.
