{"id":2287,"date":"2008-08-19T06:51:37","date_gmt":"2008-08-19T06:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=2287"},"modified":"2008-08-17T11:56:50","modified_gmt":"2008-08-17T11:56:50","slug":"hackgu-volume-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2008\/08\/19\/hackgu-volume-1\/","title":{"rendered":".Hack\/\/G.U.+ Volume 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\".Hack\/\/G.U.\"<\/a>
.Hack\/\/G.U.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Tatsuya Hamazaki<\/strong> & Yuzuka Morita<\/strong> (TokyoPop)
\nISBN: 978-1-4278-0635-2<\/p>\n

This is a very confusing sequel to a sequel based on a computer game about a computer game. The originals were based on a Japanese anime series called .hack\/\/Roots<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and I’m going to stop there with the background stuff because my eyes are starting to bleed. There are three (maybe four by now) game editions and a couple of TV series but that has little relevance to the book I’m holding in my hand.<\/p>\n

By the year 2017 a huge multiplayer online game called The World has gripped humanity to such an extent that most of the planet are now continuously lost in a fantasy realm of fighting Avatars \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the online personas of players. Most are trapped there with no way out. PKs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Player Killers – hunt and destroy Avatars and more adaptable PKKs have evolved. Player Killer Killers hunt down and slay the predators but not for any moral purpose, they’re just a better test of prowess.<\/p>\n

But even if the population is lost in The World (R: 2 to be exact) the real world still impinges. PKK Haseo – AKA \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Terror of Death\u00e2\u20ac\u009d – roams the cyber-realm hunting for the PK \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tri-Edge\u00e2\u20ac\u009d whose attack on his friend Shino left her in a real coma – an increasingly common event in The World. And covert forces are manipulating the game and the billions of players for some as yet unspecified purpose. What is really going on?<\/p>\n

No, I’m serious asking here because I truly am terribly confused. I feel completely unable to comment on the narrative because so much back-story is unavailable to new readers. It seems competent and may be excellent but I just can’t tell. The art however, by Yuzuka Morita is good; fast, slick and strong on action but with a sensitive touch in regard to character interaction.<\/p>\n

Impressive looking, this is not a book for the uninitiated.<\/p>\n