This is definitely an interesting series, though perhaps not one of my favorites. We start out learning about The World, a virtual reality MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). The rules of the game aren't very specific, and the characters are left to play as they wish. Tsukasa, a wavemaster in The World, finds that he can't log out for some reason or other. What's more, he can actually smell, taste, and feel pain inside the game.

This series unfolds in a unique way. As mysteries are solved, more pop up and we are left with a thousand and one questions at the end of every episode. We learn about the characters through their interactions in The World, rarely seeing the real world except to show brief glimpses of Tsukasa's real life.

In parts, this series can be quite a tear-jerker. It displays a profound feeling of melancholy in many places, as well as a range of other emotions from the desire for solitude to the desire for companionship. The feelings emanating from the characters are real, almost tangible emotions. .hack//SIGN invokes thought, making you wonder what happens to the games you leave behind.

If a good mystery mixed with a little game is right up your alley, this is the series for you.

1. Role Play
2. Guardian
3. Folklore
4. Wanted
5. Captured
6. Encounter
7. Reason
8. Promise
9. Epitaph
10. Compensation
11. Party
12. Entanglement
13. Twilight Eye
14. Castle
15. Evidence
16. Depth
17. Conflict
18. Declaration
19. Recollection
20. Tempest
21. Despair
22. Phantom
23. The Eve
24. Net Slum
25. Catastophe
26. Return
27. Intermezzo
28. Unision