.hack//g.u.+ 1

.hack//G.U.+ #1

by Tatsuya Hamazaki, Yuzuka Morita

It is the year 2017, and the stakes have gotten even higher in the massively multiplayer online game The World--now The World R:2, a dangerous place overrun by player killers, where lawlessness abounds. The PKK Haseo, known as "The Terror of Death," is a fearsome foe who punishes those who want to slay other players. But things have gotten personal as Haseo tries to track down the killer Tri-Edge, who has threatened the real life of his friend Shino...

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels, Video Games, Action

Other Format

First published February 12, 2008

About the author

浜崎達也 (Hamazaki Tatsuya).

Reviews

[Moonie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 (This review is for all 5 books in the series) The world of .hack//G.U.+ isn’t cozy or inviting. Most stories centered on video games give us something to escape to. A lush universe, cozy characters, maybe wild and goofy antics where we can relax and enjoy the ride. There’s a certain comfort to watching these epics quests or seeing fools triumph over adversity. The story of teenage Haseo doesn’t touch upon either of things; instead, he’s out to avenge his old flame as a player killer after she falls into a coma when playing the game together. On the plus side, there are intriguing mysteries sprinkled in that keep us interested and Haseo isn’t your ordinary innocent do-gooder. There’s also tons of fun action, from revenge killing to dues ex machina power ups, plus a sweet (if underdeveloped) romance. All the genre ingredients are there, so what happened? Unfortunately the heavy focus on complicated lore over deeper character work prevents any sort of satisfying emotional payoff. Haseo’s motivations don’t always align with his actions, making him extremely hard to relate to. The final arc is also sloppily paced and feels slapped on just to get a conclusion.

Despite the missing pieces, .hack//G.U.+ contains solid framework for an interesting sci-fi mystery. It shoots for a compelling revenge story but struggles to find its footing.

[Paula ϟ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This looked like an interesting read to me for many obvious reasons (computers, gaming, interesting art). I would rate this higher, except that I would be trying too hard to like this book. I know that manga is different from a regular book, but what really bothered me is that half the time I really had no idea what was going on in the story. There is little to no explanation about what is happening throughout and the characters just appear and are not properly introduced. There is not much background given on the main character, so it was hard for me to empathize with him and be interested in his goals. The whole concept is really awesome and I wish there was more detail. I feel like this manga just rushes through the story to keep interest, instead of building a good, at least semi-complex, plot and quest. I will still read on and see what I think of the next couple of volumes.

[Ashira (Savannah) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It started out with just watching a couple things of the .hack// series' with mah best friend, Sheoiga, and then I got this for Christmas. YAY!

So I read it and loved it - the detail in everyone's outfits are pretty awesome and I just love .hack// in general. I highly recommend it to gamers especially (obvious reasons).

Besides that though...is it just me or is Hasao almost exactly like Sasuke? Like besides the haircut...they're both emo...they both want revenge...they're both popular with the girls (Sasuke is more-so but that doesn't matter)...it's like the same guys, only the guy with black hair is a ninja with family problems and the guy with white hair is a guy with anger problems. Weird...

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of the .hack// series I recommend it. If you are unfamiliar with the franchise, however, I would say play one of the games or watch .hack//SIGN before you start getting into this manga. They don't explain a whole lot, so if you're unfamiliar, you'll get really lost really fast. Part of that is because this moves at a pretty fast clip.

If you've played the .hack//G.U. games, don't fear. G.U.+ is different from the games. The story varies (though keeps the main basic plot) and let's you see the real world (if only a little bit right now).

[Coco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The manga-ized version of the video game of the same name, this .hack story doesn't cease to please. While I haven't played the games, this series follows in the tradition of the other games/manga/anime with the drama of the MMORPG "The World" that always seems to have a mind of its own. This manga won't even spoil all the fun of the game if read first since some spoilers were left out. I really enjoyed this revisit to "The World v. 2.0". (December 2008)

[Yvensong · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't awful, just didn't grab my attention until the last few pages. Most of the time I was bored. I will probably read the next few books, since I picked them all up from the library at the same time, but I don't think I'll go much further in the series. On a side note, I did enjoy the .hack//Quantum anime, which was why I wanted to give the written form a read.

[Morgan Vank · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/18/11

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of drama not a lot of dialogue. Very difficult to follow.

[Jonathon Cronin]

I thought this book was an outstanding book, even though the ending was a bit confusing,[ For example, when Cubia turned out too be the son of Morganna (The World. Morganna is also known as the Last Phase "Corbenik"). But even more confusing is when Mia turned out too be the Sixth Phase known as "The Temptress" whose actual name is Macha (The Sixth Phase). Overall I would give this Manga a 4.5 of 5, but since I can't do partial stars and since it isn't a full star, I gave it a 4. Another subject of this manga I found disappointing was that it is only a 2 manga volume series. Even though this is a manga that has a similarity to Sword Art Online, it has an excellent (my opinionated) story plot. Although this was a good manga I would still recommend Naruto since it is a manga that has a large of books and has more recommendations than .Hack///XXX. (I don’t remember the website, but it was true at the time.) Unfortunately though, the .hack series isn’t extensive when it comes to book length most of the time, unless if you find a book that contains a lot of the story within it. What I also know is that there are games of the .hack series for the PlayStation brands. Also another thing to take note of, if you know this, is to realize .hack isn’t the only series to have a game adaptation to the manga/anime. For example, the Naruto series. The Naruto series has ran hard and strong but have recently released their final game to be made. And then there’s Sword Art Online, (A.K.A. SAO.) Originally, SAO was a manga series, a game series, (Oh the irony in it) and now one of the most currently popular mainstream anime shows that’s broadcasted. Like .hack though, the entire setting (or at least most of it) takes place in a VR place within an MMORPG.