.hack//sign

I am not too impressed with this anime series. Well, having a series based on some guy trapped in a MMORPG should in my imagination, be pretty damn interesting. Sadly, it fails in its first episode.

Let's start off with what you see in the first episode. Some mage guy wakes up dazed. Please note he stays this way- timid, squeaky and dazed/stoned/zombified. OK, he's in some mage gear- note the funny rattle staff thing he holds (much like the Mage rattle thingy in Gunbound =P). Some female player in stereotypical female warrior gear (armour that doesn't really protect the body) appears and says hi to our mage protagonist, and is very friendly and lively unlike mage boy. If I were in a VR MMORPG and was stupid enough to be a weak mage that posesses incantations of mass destruction, I would most definitely forge alliances with any tanky warrior I can get my hands on. What does mage boy do? "huh?... leave me alone, go away" *teleports*

Eventually fighter girl finds mage boy again, and he tells her something about logging out... he can't. Even though its said in Jap, it sure doesn't sound like a freaked out person, or a calm one either.
"...I can't log out... so go away, leave me alone"
"I want to help you"
"...leave me alone"
"You're a loser you know..."
"leave me alone"
What a farking idiot? Wouldn't a more normal character go "OH MY FUCKING GOD, I'M TRAPPED!!!! I CAN'T LOG OUT! HELP!!"
"I want to help you"
"AIEEEE! Oh, you don't think I'm crazy?"

Come on, where's the liveliness in this series. The episodes better improve, and mage boy better get some life in him.