Didn't think I would talk this much about the Dot Hack franchise.
Shugo and Rena are twins separated by their divorced parents, one day they win the Avatars of the Legendary Dot Hacker heroes Kite and Black Rose entering the Online game The World.
The game itself suffers from unusual problems when the monsters seemingly can't be destroyed, when Shugo is killed in battle, he is revived by Aura and given the Twilight Bracelet once owned by Kite allowing him to use Data Drain, an overpowered ability to reduce monsters to their lowest level by rewriting the code.
As the issue worsens, Rena is kidnapped by a mysterious entity reducing her real life self into a coma. Shugo joined by Mireille, Hotaru, Ouka, Sanjuro and Balmung, set out to prevent the collapse of the World and save Rena.
There's a bit more to this adaption over Hack Sign as it shows us alot more game in this anime about an online game but is severely let down by failing to utilize it's more human moments effectively and ultimately leading it's cast on a wild goose chase not helped by botched antagonists, there's no lead up or any foreshadowing to the final boss not to mention Shugo being woefully bad at the game and Rena forced to play the damsel in distress despite looking like the smarter character.
The dub is very grating, I don't want to hear the names Shugo and Rena for a long time.
Speaking of Shugo and Rena, enough with the sister complex already, it's creepy, nor do I appreciate you trying to sneak in fan service.
Legend of the Twilight has the bonus of being one of the first manga I ever read, while that story is vastly different to the anime, I can't look at either of them with any fond memories; My nostalgic side questions why I liked this series, might be because the secondary cast more than makes up for the poor leads and each one has a more interesting story to tell.
Final Verdict: A little more active than Hack Sign but still suffers from the constant missed opportunities presented in it's narrative. A better writer could save this franchise easily such is the curse of Dot Hack's writing.
