.hack//Sign Avatars

.hack//Sign is an anime series created by K?ichi Mashimo and produced by studio Bee Train and Bandai Visual, that makes up one of the four original storylines of the .hack franchise. Twenty six original episodes aired on TV and three additional bonus episodes (Intermezzo, Unison, and Gift) were released on DVD as OVAs. The series features character design by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, known for his work on Evangelion, and screenplay by Kazunori Ito, who penned Ghost in the Shell.

.hack//Sign explores how technology, such as the Internet and online games, can be used to escape reality and serve to isolate each other from making social connections. Conversely, it also shows how this technology can work in the opposite way, assisting people in forming the social ties a human needs to grow and mature. The series focuses on a Wavemaster (magic user) named Tsukasa, a player character of a virtual-reality MMORPG called The World. Tsukasa wakes up to find himself in a dungeon in The World, but he appears to have no recent recollections as he wonders where he is and how he got there. The situation gets worse when he discovers he is not able to log out and is trapped in the game. From then on, along with other players Tsukasa embarks on a quest to figure out the truth behind his abnormal situation.