Anime (US/CAN) General thoughts and ratings for .hack//SIGN 19, "Recollection"

[Shy]

[size=1].hack//SIGN - "Recollection" - Episode 18 - July 5, 2003

1. This is for your thoughts AFTER you've seen the episode. Don't post advance spoilers here, or your thoughts about such spoilers.

2. Please rate the episode from 0 to 10. Please put your ratings at the top of the body of your post and in [b]BOLD.[/b]

3. This is for your ratings and general thoughts, comments, and impressions. If you have specific thoughts or comments on specific issues or points, a new thread would be more appropriate.

4. Normal spoiler rules apply: spoiler tags are required for any spoilery statements. Very vague "I liked it" type comments don't need tags.

5. If you're going to mention any spoilers for future episodes, please use spoiler tags correctly.

6. Please try to keep this thread on topic.

-Shy[/size]

[shadowfire]

Could some one tell me what happened in this episode cause I sorta missed it ?.

[RPGchick]

[b]9.5/10[/b]

I think it was a very good episode. One thing I didn't like was the blonde Subaru player person. She was just scary. I really liked Crim in that episode. He is realllly cool. The best part of the whole episode, though, is the fact that BT didnt appear at all. That is the next best thing to beating her up. I thought that the episode developed some characters better, especially Subaru. I used to think she was sooo annoying just floating around on that boat all day, but now that the Crimson Knights are out of the picture, she is a lot better.

(I ALMOST MISSED THE EPISODE LAST KNIGHT!!! I can't believe it! I totally forgot it was Saturday because I went on a really long drive (Kansas City to Chicago) Okay, so it was only 8 hours but still. My sister (oohhh I love her soo much) reminded me!! BE NICE TO YOUR SISTERS!! THEY DO HELP ONCE IN A WHILE!!) I just had to say that.

[Zephyr]

[b]9/10[/b]

Finally, a chance to see how the Crimson Knights were formed. I just wish they were a little less vague on a few things, like how Subaru and Crim got permission to form them and why Crim decided to leave.

A-chen (I think that is here name) was crazy, and why are Subaru copies like her only showing up now? The only good thing about her appearence was getting to see Subaru scared and unsure, as opposed to completely in control and usual. Plus, for once a character came out of a fight with "battle damage" instead of the regular perfect clothing and indestructible haircut.

The scene at the vary end with the real world Subaru was a nice touch too. It added a lot to the story.

[KKC]

Arg! I missed last weeks episode and this episode! And it was full of Crim! *Crys a rain cloud* But! I did read some good episode summarys, so I know whats going on.

From what I read, It seems there were a lot of Flash backs with Crim and Subaru. And, !O_o Crim gave Subaru his phone number. Ack! Not fare!

Yay! BT wasn't in it *Does a dance* Thats just as good as her being PKed.

[Squall]

I still can't belive that [spoiler]Subaru's handicapped[/spoiler] unless of course I missed something about that

[KKC]

The "Anti-Subaru" Characters name was Kaho.

Its ok to talk about Subaru being Handicapped at this thread being its talking about last nights episode.
I read something saying [spoiler] that later on Crim tells Mimiru, Bear, and the others that Subaru is handicapped[/spoiler] but Im not sure if its true.

Flash backs with Crim..... I can't believe I missed them.

[T man]

[B]6/10[/B]

I think it was A good episode. It wasn't too surrprising that krim help start the crimsion knights. A persion I know wants to know why subaru didn't run away or call krim for help when she got into A fight. I want to know what people think about that.

[KKC]

I think that Subaru didn't want to Call (she has Crims phone number! *crys*) for help or run because the "Anti-Subaru" would go and post about on the BBS. I can see it now "Subaru, former leader of Crimson Knights runs away!" Plus, maybe she was taking Crim's advice to show force.

[Squall]

Crim was telling Subaru not to run away and to hold her head up high through the entire episode. She just started following his advice.
PS I heard from a reliable source that there are only 7 episodes left in the series. So if anyone has any questions, I'm betting that they'll be answered

[Whiteblaze]

[B]10!/TEN![/B]

The way Krim acts so brotherly towards Subaru is so sweet.
*How he helped her to become a stronger person.

I liked how Subaru did what Krim said and stood up for herself, even if what happened to her happened.

What she did at the end, a lot of people do that. When they are feeling that way, they want to be with someone they really care about and that they know, feels the same way.

[OtakuSennen]

I give it a 9.5 out of 10.

I really loved this episode because one of the unanswered questions I've focused on most regarding this show is "How were the Crimson Knights formed?". That was answered when we saw the scene where [spoiler] Subaru, apparently a newbie, is being helped by Crim. Then when those players come, Crim names the two of them "The Crimson Knights" as they fight for what is right. [/spoiler]

And then that last scene, when Subaru came up to Tsukasa and laid her face in his arms, and we saw Subaru in the real world sort of hugging the screen.. That almost made me cry because it was so touching..

But.. Why were Subaru's clothes pink in the past..? Did she just change them recently..?

[AzureWolf]

[quote]Yay! BT wasn't in it *Does a dance* Thats just as good as her being PKed.[/quote] Haha, those hackers I paid to crash B.T.'s computer seemed to work wonders! Yeah, I kind of had to spend a [I]little[/I] extra of our funds, K.K.C. ;) I think it was worth it, though. Heh, but the treasury's also running kind of low... :D

I gave this episode a ten because the level of imagery and symbolism was astounding. My prediction was wrong :( , about [I]Fake Wings[/I] referring to Silver Knight: it was actually Crim. Haha, why didn't I think of something that happen[B]ed[/B], not something in the future? Crim makes [I]so[/I] much more sense than that psycho, Silver Knight. Oh well...
Wow, and then the philosophical discussion about the online world, who you are, and what you do in that world. The use for [I]The World[/I] was discussed a lot in this episode, and it was very interesting.

Another reason I gave this episode a ten is because, in just thirty minutes, Subaru transformed from a two-dimensional, arrogant angel, into a three-dimensional, respectable human. I mean, I can't believe that the creators were able to make me despise Subaru for 18 episodes, and then, in just one episode, flip all that built-up hate into respect. For this reason, this episode goes above episode 14 ([I]Castle[/I]) in my favorite list. Haha, [I]Recollection[/I] will truly be one to talk about for a long time!

Going back to the symbolism and imagery, my favorite ones were the true meaning of [I]Fake Wings[/I], as well as Subaru's fall from her "angelic" state, to humanity. The song, atmosphere, and ending "surprise" were all perfect and powerful, and it was, in my opinion, as shocking as Tsukasa's death in episode 14, maybe even more shocking than that.

Hmm... I now like Subaru because she got beaten up and suffered humility. I know that sounds messed up, but I can't explain it any better (no, that doesn't work). Uh, she's better beaten up (idiot! Try again!). I guess it's a guy thing (@#$%!). Alright, I'll just shut up now. :o

In all seriousness, though, it's weird how I suddenly respect Subaru because something bad happened to her. Anyone else have a change of heart about Subaru after this episode?

[Xaru Silverfire]

[b]10/10[/b]

That was a great episode, it focused mainly on Subaru. What happened at the end showed that she matured a little more. When she fell out of her wheelchair to trying to get to Tukasa, that was definetly a strong point of the whole .Hack series.

[magic_raditz]

[B]RATING: 7/10[/B]

I thought this episode was good, because it gave a lot of backstory. you get to learn all about subaru. Hopefully next week we will see some adventure!

[Japan]

Opps, almost forgot my rating.:blush: [B]9.5/10[/B]

After this episode, I totally was astonished. I didn't really think much about Subaru until after this episode. I now have a lot of respect for her and I also feel sorry. I would hate to be like that, [spoiler]being handicapped I mean[/spoiler], Crim gave her his phone number!! I sort of wish that I had it. T_T Aww, well. I like Subaru's hair after what happened. I am finally happy that I now know about how [spoiler]the Crimson Knights were formed.[/spoiler] I was happy that there was a lot of Crim. The ending was very sad, poor Subaru.
Well, I can't wait till next episode. I am going to tape it this time.:blush:

[KKC]

T_T phone number...... *crys* I want it! Why does Subaru get everything? Im still recovering from my missing of this episode because of the Crim... but (Sneek peek of episode 21) [SPOILER]In episode 21 Crim is supposed to fight an unbeatable monster. ^^[/spoiler]
sorry, I couldnt resist posting that.

[Dagger]

[b]9/10[/b]

I watch .hack//SIGN on a pretty sporadic basis--when it comes to anime, the show just isn't one of my top priorities. I doubt I've seen more than half of its episodes. However, early this morning I managed to stay awake for Recollection, and it quickly captured my attention.

.hack//SIGN is a very slow show. Not only does it rely heavily on dialogue and sedate, sometimes static imagery, but often falls into long periods of silence, which are punctuated only by wordless indications of emotion from the characters currently on-screen. Sometimes (as in Recollection) this works well. Sometimes it simply makes me fall asleep. >_>;

Because this episode revolves mainly around Subaru, it served to crystallize my thoughts regarding her personality and relationships (especially with Crim and Tsukasa). Its artwork is also slightly better than that found in many of .hack//SIGN's other episodes. Everything--especially the lighting--was perfect. I was even impressed by the way the characters' eyes are drawn; they normally tend to look rather flat and unreadable, but in Recollection, Subaru's eyes really do convey the complexity of her feelings.

The ending shot [spoiler](which reveals Subaru to be a plain-looking girl in a wheelchair)[/spoiler] explains more about her motivations and actions than any philosophical conversation could have. Both in terms of poignancy and emotional intensity, I thought that this episode was far superior to any others I've seen to date. If the rest of .hack//SIGN is anything like Recollection, I could really come to love this series.

~Dagger~

[Neko]

[b]9.5-10[/b]


Wow. It's pretty amasing how deep this episode was...
In any case, I'm really new to the series, but I know enough to think that "Fake Subaru" was a real Jacka--.

One thing that kinda brought this episode down is the last scene, though...According to what I've heard, [spoiler]Tsukasa is actually a girl[/spoiler]. If this is the case, why is he/[spoiler]she[/spoiler] hugging Subaru at the end of the episode? That...kinda...gave me...the chills...eeeeewwwwwwwwww.....

[Neko]

Oops. Yeah I guess I realy screwed up there...
Oh, well...I still say it's kinda scary.....heh...

[AzureWolf]

^That double post was my fault: I deleted my comment because I wanted to add some comments about Dagger's post - sorry. [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Wave_of_Death [/i]
[B]One thing that kinda brought this episode down is the last scene, though...According to what I've heard, [spoiler]Tsukasa is actually a girl[/spoiler]. If this is the case, why is he/[spoiler]she[/spoiler] hugging Subaru at the end of the episode? That...kinda...gave me...the chills...eeeeewwwwwwwwww..... [/B][/QUOTE] Well, the fact that you haven't seen all of the episodes leading up to this one might explain why you didn't like the ending scene all that much. Secondly, the paradox you are complaining about is addressed later on in the series, when they reveal to you that [spoiler]Tsukasa's user is a girl[/spoiler].

This complaint is a perfect example of why spoilers suck and should not be read if you want to get the most out of an anime. Spoilers should only be read after you already know about them.

Gasp, Dagger dislikes the .hack//SIGN series! Blasphemy! ;)

"Flat and unreadable," huh? Haha, I guess you also got immersed in [B]The World[/B] and forgot that it is an online game, lacking human complexity. I believe that was the creators' intention to make them appear "flat and unreadable." The fact that Subaru doesn't appear as such in this episode is hinting at something, I'd say...

[Neko]

[quote]Spoilers should only be read after you already know about them.[/quote]

But wait...if a spoiler's blacked out, how can you know that you know it unless you actually read it?
(scratches head) did I say that right? (TRIES to think) Oh, da--it! I'm confusing myself again!!!

[AzureWolf]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Wave_of_Death [/i]
[B]But wait...if a spoiler's blacked out, how can you know that you know it unless you actually read it?
(scratches head) did I say that right? (TRIES to think) Oh, da--it! I'm confusing myself again!!! [/B][/QUOTE] By watching the episode the spoiler is based on before reading the blacked out parts... -_-

It's not complicated. This thread is about episode 19, so if you've seen episode 19, you most likely already know about the spoilers. Simple enough.

[Dagger]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by AzureWolf [/i]
[B]Gasp, Dagger dislikes the .hack//SIGN series! Blasphemy! ;)

"Flat and unreadable," huh? Haha, I guess you also got immersed in [B]The World[/B] and forgot that it is an online game, lacking human complexity. I believe that was the creators' intention to make them appear "flat and unreadable." The fact that Subaru doesn't appear as such in this episode is hinting at something, I'd say... [/B][/QUOTE]

That's a good point (one which I certainly wouldn't have thought of >_>). However, weren't .hack//SIGN and Noir created by the same company? The two shows' characters sport somewhat similar eye styles, although I think that .hack's generally tend to look more.... polished, for lack of a better word. Then again, I've seen only seen a few previews of Noir, so I could certainly be wrong. ;P

If the same character designer worked on both Noir and .hack//SIGN, I'd probably believe that those eyes can be attributed to his or her artistic style, since they're not unique to .hack//SIGN.

Unless, of course, Noir's characters also have to cope with a lot of bottled-up emotion. In that case, I would be more inclined to think that the flat-looking eyes in that series (as well as .hack) were deliberately made to appear somewhat unfeeling.

I actually have quite a few questions about how the World works, but I think I'll save those for another thread. Thanks for responding! ^_^

~Dagger~

[AzureWolf]

The eyes? O_o Hmm... Well, to be honest, I never noticed any change in the art throughout the entire series, and I didn't think/notice that the eyes were flat. I figured you found something I didn't and I tried to take a stab in the dark with it - looks like I missed.

But anyway, yes, from what I saw (or didn't), the art style is no different between Noir and .hack//SIGN. Same studio, Bee Train, was responsible for both series. The eyes are the same - at least, as far as I can tell. And there's absolutely no bottled-up emotions in Noir, so... yeah, I'll go over there in the corner with the dunce cap. :sweat:

In short, it's probably the art style.