.hack//Quantum

So, a couple weeks ago I went to Nekocon, an amazing little convention in Hampton Roads.  I was perusing the program when I saw that they were running .hack//Quantum, the three episode OVA brought to us by Kinema Citrus and Bandai visual.  And this particular OVA I have wanted to see ever since its debut in 2011.

I suppose I should take a moment real fast to say once, for the record, that I am a dedicated .hack fan.  That is not to say that I am a die-hard, ignore-its-faults, say-its's-the-best-show-ever fan; but if you put .hack// in front of something, I will more than likely be interested.

WARNING: incoming digression

I have loved .hack ever since I caught SIGN on cartoon network in 2001.  In fact, I want to say that it was the second box-set of anime I ever owned (Outlaw Star being the first).  Anyways, I watched SIGN, played the original set of games for PS2 (Infection, Mutation, Outbreak, and I am working through Quarantine), and I OWN the first of the G.U. games.  The series will always have a special place in my heart, so this will be a very rose-colored-glasses review.  Something about the Celtic aesthetic, maybe?  Maybe I'm just drawn to the GAMECEPTION!!!
Digression over.

So anyways, I managed to convince my lovely lady to come with me to watch it, even though I wasn't sure she would like it, and we were both very pleasantly surprised with Quantum (SO many nerd-out moments on my part).  It far surpassed my expectations in terms of visuals and animation quality.  I can't say the same for music and voice talent because those have always been great ;)

Did I mention that it was gorgeous?  Yeah, it's real pretty.

So anyways, .hack//Quantum follows a high school girl named Asumi, a...vibrant girl, to say the least, who plays The World -a fantasy MMORPG (the setting for everything in the .hack universe)- with two of her friends Iori and Eri (with their alter egos Sakuya, Tobias, and Mary respectively).  I won't spoil too much about the plot, but true to form, there's a cat player (because there's ALWAYS a cat player...for some reason) and a coma.  The three episode OVA shows Asumi/Sakuya as she tries to solve these mysteries surrounding The World.

The thing I liked the most about .hack//Quantum was its strong character development.  Three episodes really isn't a lot of time to fully explore a character, but somehow these OVAs managed to get me attached to a whole cast of characters.  I thought all of the characters were very defined and well-rounded, and each one had an incredible amount of personal growth in the story, especially Asumi.  Her development was the strongest (not surprising since she was the main character), and it was done so in a way that really resonated with me.  I really enjoyed watching her grow up through her adventures, and there were even some real tears towards the end (don't you judge me!).  I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was genuinely sad to see the end of Quantum because I wanted there to be so much more.

Q_Q yon feels!!!!

Which I guess is part of what I love about the whole .hack universe, that there always is a little bit more to it.  Even if you've already seen/played everything, you can go back and find some connection that you missed the last time.

Anyhow, .hack//Quantum is available on Blue-ray and DVD in English (I haven't heard the original Japanese dub, though I have no doubts about its quality, but I highly advocate the English dub on this one), and I would definitely recommend it.  Hell, I'm trying to get a hold of it myself to add to my collection.