.hack//Legend of the Twilight: The Complete Series

Relying heavily on the role-playing video game subculture for its storyline, this anime series centers on 14-year-old twins Shugo and Rena, who win a contest featuring a grand prize that allows them to take control of the online avatars of Kite and BlackRose. Due to a fractured family, the twins do not live together, but in the digital parallel universe called The World, they are able to maintain their sibling bond. The World, however, is no paradise, and Shugo and Rena find themselves in constant battle with bizarre monsters and nefarious hackers, with the twist being that events in the make-believe game can have real-world impacts, such as leaving a player in a coma. Unfortunately, Shugo and Rena are much too cutesy to be readily embraced as anime action heroes, and their wired adventure quickly grows tedious. Compiling all 12 episodes from 2003 in a dual-language edition, rated TV-14, extras include a character art reel. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: .hack//G.U.: Trilogy: The Movie, .hack//Roots: The Complete Series, and .hack//SIGN: The Complete Series are also newly available.] (P. Hall)