.hack//Roots is a 26-episode anime series, animated by studio Bee Train, that sets as a prologue for the .hack//G.U. video games. It is the first .hack TV series broadcast in HDTV (1080i). It is set seven years after the events of the first two anime series and games. .hack//Roots revolves around an MMORPG game called The World R:2, also known as The World Revision:2 and serves a sequel to the original version of "The World".

Plot

".hack//Roots" follows the tale of Haseo, a black 'Adept Rogue'(a class that can use multiple types of weapons) and member of the "Twilight Brigade", a small guild created within "The World R:2." In the year 2015, the CC Corporation's building burned down, and with it, most of the existing data for "The World." By splicing in data from what would have potentially been another game with what remained of "The World" after the fire, CC Corp. created "The World R:2" and released it in 2016, which is when the anime takes place. The main revisions in this release were that the game allowed for guild and PvP (player vs player) play. Haseo logs into The World R:2 for the first time and falls victim to the PKers (player-killers) that reside within the game. He is saved by Ovan, who prompts him to join the Twilight Brigade alongside Sakisaka, Tabby and Shino, who are in search of finding "The Key of the Twilight." However, a popular guild named "TaN" obstructs the Twilight Brigade in its mission and is attempting to obtain Ovan's unique character data. The Twilight Brigade has discovered special items, known as 'Virus Cores', and believed them to be the path to finding "The Key of the Twilight" and went to find them all. Once the Twilight Brigade had acquired all 6 cores, the guild headed out to use them in one of the "Lost Ground"s, after figuring out that the two were connected to one another. However, the group discovers that this was all a trap laid by the members of TaN in order to capture Ovan. With Ovan gone and no sign of the Key of the Twilight, the Twilight Brigade disband and previous members, such as B-set and Gord, quit the game entirely. Soon after, Shino is killed within the game by a mysterious PKer named "Tri-Edge". This somehow puts her into a coma in the real world, which devastates Haseo. Haseo then begins training in order to get strong enough to defeat Tri-Edge and save Shino from her real-life coma. Through this ordeal, Haseo becomes obsessed with power and ends up as a Player-Killer-Killer(PKK), in an effort to find information on Tri-edge. When Haseo competes in a special event that promises a special reward, he gains a new power, but his mind is corrupted and he begins to kill PKers with yet more aggression, gaining him the title of "The Terror of Death."

Characters

Episodes

.hack//Roots has 26 episodes and aired on TV Tokyo. The final episode was broadcast on September 27, 2006. In North America, the series started airing on Saturday, November 11, 2006 at 5:00am EST on Cartoon Network, with no prior advertising or announcements given whatsoever. Due to the last few episodes containing spoilers for games not yet released in North America, Cartoon Network chose to restart the series at Episode #1 after only 21 episodes were broadcast, leaving the last five unaired. Starting July 6, 2007, Adult Swim took over Friday nights, leaving the show nowhere to be seen on the schedule and the remaining episodes were never aired. All 26 episodes have been dubbed, however. The anime was licensed by Bandai Entertainment with dubbing handled by The Ocean Group based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Following the closure of Bandai Entertainment, Funimation announced at SDCC 2013, that they have acquired 4 .hack titles including Roots.

Music

Singles

Silly-Go-Round Single was released on May 10, 2006. It contains the opening theme Silly-Go-Round along with the song Angel Gate. Lyrics, composition and arrangement were done by Yuki Kajiura was performed by FictionJunction Yuuka Boukoku Kakusei Catharsis Single was an album single by ALI PROJECT and was released on 2006. The song was composed by Mikiya Katakura and lyrics were done by Arika Takarano.

Original soundtracks

There are currently two soundtracks released for .hack//Roots called .hack//Roots OST I & .hack//Roots OST II.

Reception

Chris Beveridge of Mania gave the series a B+.