MovieChat Forums > .hack//SIGN (2003) Discussion > Hack Order

Hack Order

posted 19 years ago by Englisha
16 replies | jump to latest

I've never seen this anime series before, but I have read the Manga for //Legend of the Twilight. I was just wondering what the order all of these went in. I saw the Games in the store before and I've heard of the Liminality (whatever that is), so I was wondering if this was the order in which things went:
.hack//SIGN
.hack//Infection and the rest of PS2 games
.hack//Liminality
.hack//Lengend of the Twilight.
Also, are they all the same characters all the way through, or to they switch characters every single saga? BTW, to I also have to watch whatever comes first to understand the rest of the saga's?

[–] AkirQueen 19 years ago

You're almost right.

I heard that there are .hack novels (that are going to be dubbed and released in the summer) that took place before .hack//SiGN, but I'm not entirely sure.
So yes, part one of Project .hack is .hack//SIGN.

Then you have //Liminality and the games.
Now with these two, it makes more sense to watch each accordingly.
You see, each one of the 4 volumes of the .hack games comes with one episode of //Liminality.
The point of //Liminality is to show you what is happening offline, or in the "real world", as you are playing the games.
So each game and each episode of //Liminality is happening at the same time.
Hope I didn't confuse you there x_x

Next,.hack//Gift is a parody episode that comes with the 4th volume of the game and takes place right after you beat the game.It has no real importance, story wise. Its just really funny to watch XD

And then you have .hack//Unison also after the games, which is the OVA (comes with the Limited Edition volume 6 of //SIGN). Its a .hack//SiGN episode that has the //SIGN characters and the game characters celebrating the defeat of the true enemy.

Lastly, you have the anime/manga .hack//Legend of the Twilight[Bracelet].
I don't consider it a major part of the .hack Project, since it wasn't meant to be a part of the saga. The saga truly ends with .hack//Unison. It even says "THE END" in //Unison.

And the characters stay through the series,for the most part.
In the games, you can encounter the //SIGN characters in the later volumes.
In //Legend of the Twilight, you encounter some of the game characters.
As for //Liminality, you don't run into any of the //SIGN or game characters.

[–] Englisha 19 years ago

Alright, so let me see if I've got this right.

.hack//SIGN comes first, and then is finished off by the PS2 Video Games, and at the same time Liminality is going on in the real world. And, some of the characters from the //SIGN saga appear later on.

And then there is a //UNISON? And that takes place after the game? Is it, like Liminality, included in the games or is that seperate as well? I've never seen, or heard, of UNISON.

I've read the manga of Legend of the Twilight, but never seen the anime, yet.

[–] AkirQueen 19 years ago

.hack//UNISON is just an episode of .hack//SIGN and it comes on an extra disc when you purchase the 6th Limited Edition volume of .hack//SIGN.

And I say don't waste your time watching the //Legend of the Twilight anime...the manga is much better and the anime doesn't stick to the storyline of the manga entirely.

[–] Englisha 19 years ago

So, //UNISON is only on the DVD version of hack//SIGN, it isn't on TV or anything? Bummer, lol.

[–] AkirQueen 19 years ago

Well, yea. OVA's are always set for DVD releases only.

[–] PowerBlitz 19 years ago

As for the books, there are two. //AI BUSTER and //ZERO. //AI BUSTER comes before //SIGN, and //ZERO takes place between //SIGN and the games. Neither are that important to the plot other then a bit of //AI BUSTER at the end of the //LotT manga.

[–] LeatherJacketWeather 19 years ago

.Hack//Sign was first and it ended with the first of the 8 waves
.Hack//Infection
.Hack//Mutation
.Hack//Outbreak
.Hack//Quarrentine (The games delt with the 8 phases)
.Hack//Liminality took place during the games. It was from another charecter's POV and it actually took place in the real world.
.Hack//Legend of the Twilight took place awhile after the games.

Damn the Man! Save the Empire!

[–] bryn-15 19 years ago

There are also the novels, ".hack//AI buster" and another one (I forget the name of it, I think it's ".hack//Zero";). I'm not sure where that fits in, but I think it's before "Legend of the Twilight".

[–] Englisha 18 years ago

So its:
AI Buster
SIGN
Zero
Infection
Mutation
Outbreak
Quarantine
Liminality
GIFT
Unison
Dusk/Legend of the Twilight

Just out of curiousity, what goes on in Unison? I can't find anything about it.

----
Never argue with an idiot. They bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

[–] yuriel_367 18 years ago

Unison is an OVA of all the series, like the conclusion.
What happens is, that the .hackers all come together to have a big huge party in the Net Slums, and old bonds and new friendships come... yupyup.
It could also be listed as the 28th episode of .hack//SIGN.

[–] ryatwo 18 years ago

most likely the manga .hack//zero showed what happened to sora after the AI comp thingie name startin with M. so yeah thats what happens in the manga. can some1 tell me what happens in the PS2 video games? whats the story? i know its bout orca , kite's fren goes into a coma lyk .hack//liminality. but i need 2 know more?! whos the real enemy?

[–] cronotriggr 18 years ago

AI Buster - novel
Sign - tv series
Zero - novel
Infection - game
Mutation - game
Outbreak -game
Quarantine - game
Liminality - oav
Gift - oav
Unison - oav
Legend of the Twilight - manga
Legend of the Twilight - tv series
Fragment - mmorpg
G.u. - game

[–] Copper Payne 17 years ago

To further confuse things, they've also put out ".Hack//Another birth" which is a four volume manga/novel that is BlackRose's version of the events that occur during the .Hack game series. It goes more into her thoughts at the time, introduces a few new characters that *don't* appear in the games (and many that do), and in addition to having a commentary that runs through the game, also shows what her life is like in the real world, having to deal with school and friends and such while trying to save her brother and the others. There are also a few things mentioned in the novels that parallel Liminality (Her father gets caught in the mess that the Liminality character, Mai, I think, is at. And he mentions seeing an older man and a young girl walking along, talking on their cell phones.)

They've also started an anime that runs along with GU, but I haven't seen that yet. That one is ".Hack//Roots"; but I'm not sure how/where that fits. Only that it goes along with GU.

So I suppose the new order is:

AI Buster - novel
Sign - tv series
Zero - novel
Infection - game
Mutation - game
Outbreak -game
Quarantine - game
Liminality - oav
Another Birth - Novels
Gift - oav
Unison - oav
Legend of the Twilight - manga
Legend of the Twilight - tv series
Fragment - mmorpg
G.u. - game
Roots - Anime

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Dancougar82 16 years ago

Ok, how's this updated listing? The events of Roots occur before G.U.
--Dancougar

Fragment - mmorpg
AI Buster - novel
Intermezzo- //Sign episode
Sign - TV series
Zero - novel
Infection - game
Another Birth 1- novel
Mutation - game
Another Birth 2- novel
Outbreak -game
Another Birth 3- novel
Quarantine - game
Another Birth 4- novel
Liminality - oav
Gift - oav
Unison - oav
Legend of the Twilight - manga
Legend of the Twilight -TV series
End of the World - G.U. Rebirth Limited Ed second disk
Roots - Anime
G.U. Rebirth - game
G.U. Reminice - game
G.U. Redemption - game
Online Jack, a set on anime clips in the news section of the .hack//G.U. games' fake internet.
CELL - novel
GnU - manga
Alcor- manga
Link - manga

[–] darkwander16 15 years ago

DAMN!! thats a long ass list! i better print this out. ive been into the .hack seires since i first saw the episoes on CN but i never had a chance to finish the seires and i was afraid i wouldnt like the game so i didnt bother to put out the $50 for it. recently i bought a used version of infection but it didnt come with the anime disk so i never watched the anime episode that came with it.

damn man, i think this series could probly give DBZ a run for its money where lenght and never ending problems are concerned(j/k, i dont think theres an anime in exestince that could beat DBZ in that area)

now i must go forth on this quest and find all this .hack stuff so i get everthing in order!

......thats kind of a major pet peeve of mine. i HATE doing things out of sequence. no matter where i am in a game or anime if i find out im doing something out of sequence i HAVE to stop and go back.