The next chapter in the .hack//SIGN saga unfolds continuing right from where the first volume had left off. As a result of BT and Sora's cooperation with the Crimson Knights (against Subaru's will) Tsukasa had been captured and imprisoned. Even his Guardian was not enough to protect him. But getting into this second volume, it didn't take too long for Twin Blade Sora to play the double agent and stage a jailbreak. But before it began, Tsukasa and Subaru began to establish a very important bond between them...

.hack//SIGN's second volume continues its tradition of high quality all around, despite the slow-moving plot. The focus of this volume feels much more heavily centered around character development than the first, having gotten the first major series of plot arcs out of the way. The Crimson Knights have been kept at bay, making it safe for Tsukasa to wander about as he pleased at last.

After the aforementioned events of the sixth episode, Tsukasa loses all trust in those whom he had begun to consider friends, and goes into hiding again. Mimiru ends up reflecting on her friendship with Tsukasa, and gets caught up in helping a newbie Twin Blade named A-20. Her ineptitude ends up providing Mimiru with new motivation to help Tsukasa. I personally enjoyed this episode for the insight it provided into how Mimiru really feels about Tsukasa, while A-20 joins the cast as a minor character, used primarily for comic relief. She sticks out like a sore thumb, considering that .hack//SIGN is hardly a comedy, but she serves her purpose well. We're told once again that we can't give up on Tsukasa just yet. The next episode covers Mimiru's long wait for Tsukasa to come out of hiding. This was probably by far the slowest episode in the series yet, and quite possibly the slowest one in the whole show. If any episode is a test of a .hack fan's patience and love of insightful dialogue, this would be it. It's episodes like this that are to shoulder the blame for the complaints of those who feel that .hack//SIGN is too slow, but it's an important episode for Mimiru in particular, showing how set she really is on being a good friend to Tsukasa, and helping him through this nightmare he's living. The truth strength of Mimiru's will really shines.

The remaining two episodes take on something of a theme of parental failure. In episode nine, a girl has to be away from the game for awhile, so she asks Tsukasa to take care of her pet Grunty/Puchiguso. While he's looking after it, the rest of the cast busily continues their investigation of Tsukasa, trying to determine why he can't log out, and Tsukasa and Subaru's thoughts lean towards each other. Tragedy strikes when the girl's Grunty falls ill, and Tsukasa sets out to find a Purple Cherry on a snowy field, putting forth his best effort in a show of personal strength never really displayed before. The episode ends on a very somber note, as we see Tsukasa and Mimiru talking closely, and the show drives home the degree of pain Tsukasa truly endures. This was easily the most depressing episode on this volume, with its central theme of failure. Everyone feels like they can't take care of anybody sometimes, and the way that feeling was presented through Tsukasa was even more hard hitting.

The fateful first meeting of Tsukasa and Subaru.	Tsukasa, wavemaster and Veterinarian extrordinaire.

The final episode on this volume continues the aforementioned theme of parental failure, getting into Bear's problems with his family. He projects his problems into a lecture he gave Tsukasa, which caused even more problems. After talking a fair amount with Mimiru and BT, it becomes Bear's turn to re-evaluate his relationship with Tsukasa, just like Mimiru had several episodes before. Aside from that, we see the Crimson Knights beginning to come between Tsukasa nad Subaru. Earlier in this volume, at several different points, there had been scenes in which Mimiru attempted to figure out just what Bear's job in the real world is, and although it had been hinted at, it becomes much more apparent in this episode, focusing much more on the development of his character. Bear begins to stand out all the more once he's really determined his place and what he wants to do with Tsukasa. He has issues acting as a father figure, but he continues to stand out as the elder in the cast throughout the series. This episode foreshadows the next one quite a bit as Bear and Mimiru keep Tsukasa from going back into hiding, trying to draw him out further as though he were a normal player.

As with the first volume, the visual quality of the show is top of the line, blowing away most other TV series with its fusion of CGI and general animation. The backgrounds in the towns and fields look as good as ever, and the characters stay true to their designs. As always, .hack//SIGN is a real visual treat.

The music quality hasn't dropped at all either. Yuki Kajiura's music contnues to keep the series' network game atmosphere perfectly intact, and sets the mood even better in several of the more emotional scenes. As with the first volume, there is again an isolated score audio track for Kajiura's fans to enjoy.

Bandai's tradition of generosity with the extras on .hack//SIGN DVDs continues with second volume as well. They provided more liner notes to explain in-game terminology to those unfamiliar with the games in the DVD case, and on the DVD itself is a character design art gallery, a rather useful .hack series timeline, and the first collection of commercials for the series from Japan, in addition to their usual trailers.

All in all, Bandai has outdone themselves once again with .hack//SIGN volume 2. The translation quality by far surpassed that of all fansubs ever produced of the series, the extras provided were all well thought out once again, and the aesthetic qualities of the series continue to be top of the line. .hack//SIGN volume 2 is a superior release in the anime industry today, and if you've enjoyed any of the series so far, you owe it to yourself to get this release. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, .hack is a puzzle, and each game and volume of anime is a piece of that puzzle. You aren't the kind of person who gives up on a puzzle early into it, are you? If there's one place that obsession needs to go, it's to get more .hack.

Distributor: Bandai Entertainment
Creator: Project .hack (Bandai)
Released: 2002

Video Quality: A+
Audio Quality: A+
Presentation: A+
Content: A+
Overall: A+