From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
.hack//Roots (ドットハック ルーツ, Dotto
Hakku Rūtsu
?) is a 26-episode anime series, animated by studio Bee Train, that makes up
one of the storylines of the .hack//G.U. franchise, a sequel to
.hack. It is the first
.hack TV series broadcast in HDTV (720p). It is set seven years after
the events of the first two anime series and games. This also
served as the storyline for R:2 and sequel to original MMORPG.[1]
Plot
.hack//Roots is the prequel to the .hack//G.U.
videogames. It follows the story of Haseo, a black 'Adept Rogue' (a
class that can use multiple weapons) and member of the Twilight
Brigade guild. In the year 2015, CC Corp. Building burnt down, and
with it, most of its data for The World.
By splicing data from what would have potentially been another
game, CC Corp. created The World R:2 and released it in
2016. The main revisions of this release were that the game allowed
for guild and PvP (player vs player) play.
Starting eight months before .hack//G.U. and finishing
during the events of the first .hack//G.U. game,
Rebirth, Haseo logs into The World R:2 for the first
time and falls victim to the PKers (player killers) that reside
within. He is saved by Ovan, which prompts him to join the Twilight
Brigade.
The Twilight Brigade members are on a mission to find the Key of
the Twilight, however, the TAN guild opposes this because they want
Ovan's character data due to the device in his left arm and will
stop at nothing to keep the Twilight Brigade from their goal.
Their current mission is to find the 6 virus cores before TAN
does. Haseo has the green virus core and the purple core, Shino has
the red, Sakisaka the Yellow, Ovan the grey, and Gord has the blue
one. There is a Lost Ground with 5 towers, where the Brigade used
the supposedly-unusable virus cores. When the five are used it
transports them to the tower above the 5 small towers to where they
can find the last virus core.
This mission, unfortunately, was just a trap made by the members
of TAN in order to investigate Ovan's strange character data. With
Ovan gone, and no sign of the Key of the Twilight, the Twilight
Brigade quickly breaks apart. B-set and Gord quit the game
entirely, and Sakisaka and Tabby quit the guild, even though Tabby
is still hopeful things will pick up. However, even this is quickly
shattered, as Shino is soon after killed within the game. What's
even more alarming is that Haseo can't contact her in real
life.
Haseo starts training, to get Shino back from her real life
coma, and encounters a strange power within him, which, while
strengthening Haseo, also slowly corrupts his mind, making him seem
less sane than before.
Characters
- Haseo (ハセヲ, Haseo
?)
-
- Real name: Ryou Misaki
- Class: Adept Rogue
- Voiced by: Takahiro
Sakurai (Japanese), Andrew Francis (English)
- The protagonist of the series, and a newbie within The World R:2. Haseo had an
encounter with PKers (Player Killers) before joining the Twilight
Brigade. He appears to be obsessed with Ovan's enigmatic nature,
which he soon discovers isn't so unusual. He is an outsider in real
life, and not very good at dealing with people. In the first
episode of the series, Ovan tells Haseo that he has 'potential',
which now appears to be a reference to Haseo's potential as an
Epitaph-PC. This explains the bizarre abilities Haseo has exhibited
a few key moments within the series. He seems to care for Shino in
a more than platonic way. After Shino goes into a coma, Haseo
starts to become extremely depressed and also very angry whenever
Shino or Tri-Edge are mentioned. He completed a special event known
as The Forest of Pain, which was said to be impossible to complete,
and was upgraded straight to his 3rd Form. He is now trying to hunt
down Tri-Edge, using his newly gained power status to PK players in
an attempt to find information. After his transformation he becomes
even more mentally unstable and anti-social. While trying to find
information on Tri-Edge, Haseo reunites with Ovan who tells him
that he will find Tri-Edge at the Hulle Granz Cathedral. Haseo
fights Tri-Edge but is defeated and stripped of all his power and
equipment, ironically returning him mostly to his senses as well.
Outside of the game, Haseo is 17 years old and attends a private
school. He lives alone. Haseo visits Shino in the hospital on a
daily basis.
- Ovan (オーヴァン, Ōvan
?)
-
- Real name: Masato Indou
- Class: Steam Gunner
- Voiced by: Hiroki
Touchi (Japanese), Michael Kopsa (English)
- The Guildmaster of the Twilight Brigade, Ovan has a strange
device sealed around his left arm. He is an enigma to those who
know him. Many people think he is odd, due in large part to his
search for the Key of the Twilight, an item that may not exist. He
is often searching for information on the Key of the Twilight, and
is almost never seen around town. Apparently, Ovan's PC data is as
large as an entire field, which may be due to the fact that it
contains the black matter, the material that make up AIDAs that
possess PCs, or possibly the epitaph of Corbenik, the last of the
Eight Phases. The data is apparently mostly in his left arm, in
which Naobi had unlocked upon capturing him. After the incident,
Ovan somehow escapes, not returning until much later in the series.
He has also contacted or ran-into Taihaku, the reasons for this are
unknown, but it may be connected to his wish to make Haseo
stronger. He encountered Azure Kite, and defeated him leaving one
witness.
- Shino (志乃,
Shino
?)
-
- Real name: Shino Nanao
- Class: Harvest Cleric
- Voiced by: Kaori
Nazuka (Japanese), Kelly Sheridan (English)
- One of the few people close to Ovan who acts as leader of the
Twilight Brigade whenever Ovan is incapable of doing so.
Gentle-mannered but strong-minded, she holds the Twilight Brigade
together during Ovan's frequent absences. She and Ovan seem to have
a more involved relationship than mere guildmates, as they have
both known and seen each other somewhat frequently outside the game
as it was alluded to when Shino asked about Ovan's doctor visits.
During episode 13 Shino is attacked by Tri-Edge and Azure Kite is
framed, resulting in her PC seemingly erased and her real self sent into a coma.
She had been living alone and her landlord discovered her
unconscious. The doctors cannot treat her because they do not know
the cause behind her coma. Those who have suffered fates like hers
are referred to as a Lost One, since it is rumored that once PKed
by Tri-Edge a player can never return to the game. In real life,
Shino is 18 and studying medicine.
- Sakisaka (匂坂,
Sakisaka
?)
-
- Real name: Shinnosuke Sakamuki
- Class: Steam Gunner
- Voiced by: Ryotaro
Okiayu (Japanese), Alistair Abell (English)
- Sakisaka left another guild to join the Twilight Brigade and
was a member during its previous incarnation, he often helps
beginners like Haseo and a lot more with Tabby to level up. He is
skeptical that the Key of the Twilight even exists and often
complains that the Twilight Brigade's search is meaningless. He
quit the Twilight Brigade after Ovan's disappearance, assuming Ovan
had stolen the Key of the Twilight for himself, and formed a Guild
with Tabby, but as of episode 13, Sakisaka has quit the game and
gone to another called Riot Gun. In real life he lives in a small
apartment and is 19.
- Tabby (タビー, Tabī
?)
-
- Real name: Moe Kubo
- Class: Tribal Grappler
- Voiced by: Megumi
Toyoguchi (Japanese), Maryke Hendrikse (English)
- As her name implies, Tabby somewhat resembles a cat, with
feline ears, claws, and hair that acts like a cat's tail. Her
weapon of choice is a pair of large cat paws that she uses to slash
at enemies. Tabby has been playing about as long as Haseo and
usually fights alongside Sakisaka in the field. She often refers to
Sakisaka as her "master" or "teacher." She is loyal, friendly and
positive (though she points out that she's not cheerful because she
wants to be). She has quit the Brigade alongside Sakisaka. Unlike
Sakisaka, she has yet to quit the game, opting to try and help
Haseo instead. She momentarily caught Yata and Pi's attention,
though Saburo doubted she was ever particularly special. Kuhn
offered her a place in Canard which she denied. Yata and Pi still
seem to feel that Tabby has some untold role to play, despite being
a seemingly ordinary player. Tabby created a Guild, under Tohta's
guidance, known as the Paw Brigade, which was set up to heal both
Haseo and PCs defeated by Haseo.
- Naobi (直毘,
Naobi
?) /Yata (八咫, Yata
?)
-
- Class: Macabre Dancer
- Voiced by: Takumi
Yamazaki (Japanese), Paul Dobson (English)
- The mysterious former Guildmaster of TaN. Naobi appears to be
obsessed with Ovan's search for the Key of the Twilight or rather
Ovan himself, though his motives is unknown. He and Ovan seem to go
way back, although precisely how far is unknown. Naobi was the one
who first told Ovan about the Key of the Twilight. Naobi appears as
a large dark blue cat creature. After capturing Ovan to analyze his
PC, his illegal activities were reported by Shino over what had
happened with Ovan, and he was forced to abandon Naobi, which turns
out to be nothing more than a PC to hide his true identity, and now
controls Yata; meaning Naobi was a System-Administrator. He and Pi
are keeping tabs on Haseo as well as waiting for any strange
activity to take place in The World.
- Tawalaya (俵屋,
Tawaraya
?) /Tohta (籐太, Tōta
?)
-
- Real name: Junya Murakami
- Class: Shadow Warlock
- Voiced by: Kenta
Miyake (Japanese), Mark Acheson (English)
- The figure-head and finance treasurer of TaN. Tawaraya is a
college student who is planning to study abroad. He acts very
business-like while playing and appears to deal in items and
information through TaN. His account has been terminated or
suspended due to TaN's illegal activities but he has since come
back with a new PC known as Tohta in order to take care of
unfinished business before leaving. Both his PC's names were
connected to a historical figure known as Tawara no Tohta. He
disliked the recent practice of 'Real-Money Trading' within The
World and managed to get Yata to have the The World's
administration to delete or suspend PCs that were doing so within
the game. He has since accepted to inform Wool and Cashmere of
Tabby's whereabouts, as well as offered to collect information on
Tri-Edge for Haseo.
- Ender (エンダー,
Endā
?) /Pi (パイ, Pai
?)
-
- Real name: Reiko Saeki
- Class: Blade Brandier/Tribal Grappler
- Voiced by: Sanae
Kobayashi (Japanese), Lisa Ann Beley (English)
- A PK and the former head of TaN's 'black ops'. She acts as the
enemy, as well as stalker, of the Twilight Brigade on Naobi's
orders and assists him in his illegal activities. Little is known
about her motives but she seems to plan on taking the Key of the
Twilight for herself, or so it seems. She seems to take pleasure in
hunting down members of the Twilight Brigade and PK them after
shaking them up for information. After assisting in Naobi's capture
of Ovan's PC, she was made an outlaw like him and was forced to use
her administrative PC: Pi. She has a contact named Saburo; a former
member of TaN that worked under her. Pi keeps an eye on players
such as Haseo and Tabby, and sends Saburo in her stead to keep
herself unnoticed, as well as have observation surveillance done on
Haseo.
- Phyllo (フィロ,
Firo
?)
-
- Real name: Nakamura Kojirou
- Class: Harvest Cleric
- Voiced by: Junpei
Takiguchi (Japanese), Russell Roberts (English)
- Phyllo does not belong to any Guild and is unusually old for
someone playing The World R:2. He is an U-zoku character and is
almost always seen floating in midair. He acts as a mine of
information for Haseo, having connections with numerous influential
PCs, including Ovan, Naobi and Taihaku. Phyllo likes to hang out in
town and does not venture out into the fields often. Despite this,
his character is strong and he can hold his ground against melee
players. It was Phyllo who introduced Shino to Ovan. He was
attacked by Azure Kite in episode 14, but then later backed off
after realising that Phyllo was not Ovan, who he was looking for
and had been at the same area as Phyllo only seconds earlier.
Phyllo is also the only one to have survived an attack by Tri-Edge
without suffering any side-effects to himself or his PC. Later on,
this catches Pi and Yata's interest. It was stated during Yata's
interrogation of Phyllo that he met a female PC who introduced him
to Ovan, though her identity is unknown, however it is stated that
it was Aina, Ovan's younger sister.
Episode
list
.hack//Roots has 26 episodes and aired on TV Tokyo. The
final episode was broadcast on September 27, 2006. In North
America, the series started airing on Saturday, November 11, 2006
at 5:00am EST on Cartoon Network, with no prior
advertising or announcements given whatsoever. Due to the last few
episodes containing spoilers for games not yet released in North
America, Cartoon Network chose to restart the series at Episode #1
after only 21 episodes were broadcast, leaving the last five
unaired. Starting July 6, 2007, Adult Swim took over Friday nights, leaving
the show nowhere to be seen on the schedule. Whether or not the
remaining episodes will ever be aired has not been announced.
| # |
Episode Title |
Original Air Date |
|
| 01 |
"Welcome to The
World" |
April 5, 2006 |
| Haseo
starts playing and experiences PKers (Player Killers). After they
kill him, Ovan revives him. Then almost all the players in the
world start asking him about Ovan. |
| 02 |
"Twilight Brigade"
|
April 12, 2006 |
| Haseo shows
obsessive behavior toward Ovan's mysterious guild. He asks around
to find more about it. At the end of the episode, he meets Ovan by
a portal. Ovan asks Haseo to join his clan. Haseo responds by
saying, "I'll think about it." |
| 03 |
"Join" |
April 19, 2006 |
| Haseo is
given an invitation to join the Twilight Brigade as well as one to
join TaN. After expending a little time with Shino, Haseo makes his
decision. |
| 04 |
"Forefeel"
|
April 26, 2006 |
| Shino takes
Haseo to another Lost Ground, and later do training. SakiSaka gets
suspicious about why Haseo joined and why he talked to Gord about
the guild. Later Tabby gets pked by Ender. |
| 05 |
"Distrust"
|
May 3, 2006 |
| Due to a
series of events, Tabby starts believing Haseo is a messenger for
TaN and soon later Haseo leaves the Twilight Brigade. Haseo is then
seen by Tabby and Shino talking to a TaN member who called
him. |
| 06 |
"Conflict"
|
May 10, 2006 |
| During a
meteor shower, SakiSaka's loyalty is put into question, as Ender
attacks he and Tabby. The game experiences glitches, and Haseo
displays a new ability when he arrives to help the two. |
| 07 |
"Intrigue"
|
May 17, 2006 |
| While
investigating the Lost Grounds, Haseo experiences a major glitch in
The World. Also, we learn more about the Virus Cores. On a team
search with Tabby and SakiSaka, they find common marks in the Lost
Grounds, where they had found virus cores. Haseo notices something
weird about the lines, and the three mysteriouly vanish (presumably
teleported). |
| 08 |
"Starting"
|
May 24, 2006 |
| Haseo,
Tabby, and SakiSaka find out the lines they found are portals.
Continuing their search of the Lost Grounds, Tabby and SakiSaka
encounter a glitch, while Haseo is confronted by Ender. Haseo
notices the multiple colors of the Virus Cores, in comparison to
the pillars from one of the Lost Grounds. This news comes as a
breakthrough to the Key of the Twilight, as Haseo finds another
Virus Core. |
| 09 |
"Melle" |
May 31, 2006 |
| The
Twilight Brigade attempts to bring together all of the Virus Cores.
SakiSaka is given the last Core by Tawalaya, while Gord and B Set
show up to help the Twilight Brigade, who are being attacked by
TaN. They are then transported to an unknown location, while Ender
and her TaN subordinates follow. (Known as "Melee" inside North
America.) |
| 10 |
"Missing"
|
June 7, 2006 |
| The
Twilight Brigade holds against TaN while Ovan goes to find the
Twilight Key. Passing through a door, he steps into a trap (later
we find out, knowingly) set by Naobi and the rest of the TaN.
Later, Shino threatens TaN with revealing certain illegal
activities online, if Ovan wasn't returned. TaN disbands, and Ovan
is left captive, his PC data being read by Naobi. |
| 11 |
"Discord"
|
June 14, 2006 |
| Gord is
thinking of quitting the game. Several TaN members are getting
banned because of their illegal activities that Shino handed in to
the administrators. |
| 12 |
"Breakup"
|
June 21, 2006 |
| The guild
called the Twilight Brigade is being disbanded by Shino. Gord and
B-Set quit the game because Ovan is no longer there. Haseo promises
to stay with Shino even if there was no guild. Shino decides to
wait for Ovan to return. |
| 13 |
"Tragedy"
|
June 28, 2006 |
| Tabby
notifies Haseo that Shino has entered the Cathedral alone. When
Haseo goes to meet her, he finds that Shino has been PK'd and her
character data disappears. |
| 14 |
"Unreturner"
|
July 5, 2006 |
| Haseo gets
upset about Shino and blames himself. He gets a call from Shino's
mother and cannot tell her anything about her daughter's coma.
Phyllo is with Haseo most of the time and Tabby starts a guild with
Sakisaka but he resigns his guild and leaves to a new game, which
made Tabby all by herself in the game making her lost without
anyone but Haseo. |
| 15 |
"Pad" |
July 12, 2006 |
| Tabby meets
two new members of the The World. She helps them play the game but
says she can't do better like Shino and Sakisaka. Tabby meets Kuhn
with Phyllo and Kuhn trains the two newbie brothers and Tabby about
the game and how to level up in the game. Haseo is still angry
about what happened and remembers the deletion of character data of
Shino's and wants revenge on Tri-Edge. |
| 16 |
"Resolution"
|
July 19, 2006 |
| Ovan meets
Taihaku and while that happens Taihaku goes to the Forest of Pain.
Haseo hears about Phyllo encountering Tri-Edge and talks to Phyllo
and he tells Haseo don't blame himself for her coma. Haseo fights
and loses to Phyllo who tells him not to fight Tri-Edge because he
will most likely become "Unreturned." Haseo then hears about the
new quest and takes it to become stronger and defeat
Tri-Edge. |
| 17 |
"Painful Forest"
|
July 26, 2006 |
| Saburo
befriends Tabby, who still worries about Haseo. Yata and Pi try to
figure out Phyllo’s relationship with Ovan because he is the only
survivor of Tri-Edge. Taihaku and Haseo are in the Forest of Pain.
Pi tells Subaro to make contact with Haseo in the forest and see
what he does in there. Ovan fights Tri-Edge. Taihaku completes the
quest and Tabby decides to go to wait for Haseo. |
| 18 |
"Limit" |
August 9, 2006 |
| Taihaku
gets his reward a new and rare Steam Gunner weapon. Tabby waits
with her friend for Haseo to exit the quest. Haseo made it to the
end where he sees a man and he request Haseo to answer his
question, Haseo says something negative about his daughter and
exited the quest about 30 seconds before the game ended. Haseo
appears to Tabby but this time Haseo is different than usual; the
shock somehow boosted Haseo to his 3rd adept rouge class, Flick
Reaper. |
| 19 |
"Violation"
|
August 16, 2006 |
| Tawaraya
returns as Tohta to finish up some business and finds out that
merchants that buy rare items with real money and have driven up
the prices. He sets out to stop them while Yata continues to watch
Haseo. |
| 20 |
"Pursuit"
|
August 23, 2006 |
| Haseo goes
half-crazed, searching for information on Tri-Edge by hunting and
pking PCs. Saburo fights Haseo, trying to bring out the factor that
Yata and Pi are interested in but fails. Taihaku talks to Phyllo
about the Forest of Pain and Haseo. Tohta makes contact with Haseo
and earns his trust. |
| 21 |
"Defeat" |
August 30, 2006 |
| Haseo
fights Midori who easily dodges his attacks. Haseo wants
information from her because she is a survivor and witness of
Tri-Edge. He continues to pk PCs, frustrated that he cannot meet
Tri-Edge. Meanwhile, Tabby and Seisaku start a guild to help Haseo
and the PCs that he pks. |
| 22 |
"Bonds" |
September 6, 2006 |
| Tabby and
her guild fail at their debut to heal people; Tohta makes them to
level up. Kuhn awakens his power and is scouted by Pi to join her
guild. The Paw Squad start to heal Haseo’s victims and he does not
stop them. |
| 23 |
"Trial" |
September 13, 2006 |
| Haseo
starts to pk the PKers hoping to come across Tri-Edge who is a
PKer. All the PKers band together to fight Haseo. Kuhn is
introduced to Yata’s guild, Raven. The Paw Squad goes to heal but
Haseo kills everyone and all but Tabby leave the guild because they
don’t want to help Haseo anymore. |
| 24 |
"Confront"
|
September 20, 2006 |
| Haseo is
now “The Terror of Death” and refuses to listen to anyone or accept
help. Tabby is lost as to what to do. Haseo meets Ovan and is sent
to the Cathedral where he fights Tri-Edge. |
| 25 |
"Truth" |
September 27, 2006 |
| Seisaku
talks to Tabby who decides to stop relying on Haseo. Ovan tells
Phyllo something shocking. Phyllo entrusts to Tohta a heavy burden.
Tabby and Saburo talk about Haseo and life. |
| 26 |
"Determination"
|
September 27, 2006 |
| Haseo has
emerged from inactivity after his defeat at the hands of Tri-Edge.
He encounters Tohta and learns about Phyllo, missing him. Tabby
meets with Haseo to let him know of her real life ambitions. Once
Haseo is left alone, the episode recaps the events during the
series between Shino and Haseo, leading into a scene in which Haseo
sees a "ghost" of Shino. The episode ends with a brief glimpse of
Haseo in his Xth Form from the G.U. games, with the avatar Skeith
in the background. The image transitions back to the present Haseo,
and Haseo looks into the distance, with renewed determination to
continue his search. |
| 27 |
"Returner"
|
N/A |
| This
episode takes place after the G.U. game trilogy. The
characters of both Roots and the games receive an email
from Ovan
requesting them to visit the festival held on a secret location.
There, they encounter many old friends, as well as an AIDA who appears to be non-hostile. At the
end of the episode, Ovan is reunited with his sister Aina, who has
been comatose since before the beginning of the series. This
episode was shipped to people who had completed all three
.Hack//G.U games as a reward and was thus not included in the
original series. However it was only made available to the japanese
customers, and there are no foreseeable plans to bring "Returner"
to other parts of the world. |
Music
Opening Theme:
Ending Theme:
- "National Awakening Catharsis" (亡國覚醒カタルシス, Bōkoku
Kakusei Katarushisu
?) : Eps. 01 - 25
- Lyrics by: Arika Takarano
- Composition and arrangement by: Mikiya Katakura
- Performed by: ALI
PROJECT
- "KING KNIGHT" : Ep. 26
- Lyrics by: Arika Takarano
- Composition and arrangement by: Mikiya Katakura
- Performed by: ALI
PROJECT
Original Soundtracks
There are currently two soundtracks released - .hack//Roots OST
I & .hack//Roots OST II.
- .hack//Roots OST I track list
- GOD DIVA
- from midst of town
- young knight and priestess
- Indian summer
- little reliance
- in The World
- friendly like in a childhood
- be elegant
- 白堊病棟 (Hakua Byōtō / Whitewashed Hospital)
- indulgence
- shining of breast
- immoral cascade
- 殉教者の指 (Junkyōsha no Yubi / The Martyr's Finger)
- lost ground
- sluggish heart
- dwindled bible
- wolf in winter
- Silly-Go-Round [TV Ver.]
- 亡國覚醒カタルシス [TV Ver.] (Bōkoku Kakusei Catharsis [TV
Ver.] / National Awakening Catharsis [TV Ver.])
|
- .hack//Roots OST II track list
- KING KNIGHT
- illness and ruins
- Ash Wednesday
- no fragrance
- get gold
- obliged with virus
- forest cruise
- onetime killer
- huge knives
- 埋葬の森の黄昏坂 (Maisō no Mori no Tasogare Saka / Twilit Hill
in the Forest of Burial)
- give honour to our fellow
- early times
- cultural pride
- the last statement
- new species
- eternal solitude
- northern ground
- children's requiem
- isolation
- out of order
- final catastrophe
- 汚れなき悪意 (Yogore Naki Akui / Unblemished Malice)
- previous notice
|
References
- Specific
- ^
ref name=K-zone Philippines ISSN 3398-3658
- General
- Yuki, Masahiro. "The Official Art of .hack//Roots". (May 2007)
Newtype USA. pp. 101-107.
External
links
| .hack franchise |
|
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