I saw Trilogy tonight in Osaka(spoilers inside)

[RaikenTB]

Forgive me if this belongs in the stickied Trilogy thread but I have a lot to report in this post. First off, I am an American currently studying abroad in Nagasaki Japan. I pre-ordered Trilogy at my local anime store way back when it was first announced. I often come to this site but never really bothered to post here. I've beaten the first 4 .hack games and also beat all 3 GU games in Japanese since I couldn't stand the English voices. Like everybody else I was frustrated when the release date was changed plus the concept of going to Tokyo during the times the movie was showing was impossible for me. However, when I learned it would be in Osaka I thought I might have a chance. My roommate had gone to Osaka earlier so I knew about this bus I could take from Nagasaki straight to Osaka overnight. I decided to wait until a week after the movie had come out so I wouldn't have to worry about the movie selling out before I got there. Shortly after arriving I found the theater and was surprised to see a large group of people already lined up to buy tickets. This was about 9 in the morning, an hour before the theater opened and way before when the movie would start at 8:20 PM. There was a large variety of people in line, from very young and very old. I spoke with the woman in front of me and she said she was waiting in line to buy a ticket for her daughter who was currently in school at the time(kids have school on Saturday in Japan as well). I was the only foreigner there.

(Please note the date on these photos is way off, I haven't gotten around to correcting it on my camera yet. They were actually taken on January 19th.)
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For whatever silly reason, I couldn't check into my hotel until 3 PM(I could store my stuff there for free though) so I looked around Osaka until then. When it was finally time for the movie I strolled down to the theater. As I figured, most of the adults I saw that morning weren't there so they were probably just buying tickets for their kids. While waiting I noticed some guy I could have sworn I recognized then I realized it was the president of CC Corp Hiroshi Matsuyama! I knew he had been at the premier of the movie when I first hit Tokyo but I had know idea he would be coming to Osaka as well let alone a week after the movie had been released here. He spoke with the fans after everyone gathered in the theater, asking which of them had played the games and watched Roots. Basically everyone had lol. He asked how old we were too. The vast majority of us were teens to early 20's but there were a couple of 30 year olds and one 40 year old woman who were also fans. We were allowed to take photos of him(everybody pulled out their cells phones lol). I managed to get a couple photos of the man myself but the lighting in the theater was bad and I thought it would be rude to use a flash so these pictures are absolute ****. I was still the only foreigner who was there.

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At last the movie started. For those dying to know the details, I've posted a summary of it in a spoiler box below. I've studied Japanese for 4 years already now so I understood about 90% of the dialog in the film. Personally I thought it was friggin amazing. The video quality was nuts and the action sequences amazing(Haseo vs Ovan was my favorite scene). The movie was very fast paced but I think they did a great job condensing the trilogy into one film. If you're a fan of the whole Haseo and Atoli pairing, you'll love this movie. Afterwards everybody slowly shuffled out of the theater and lined up to buy copies of the .hack//gu+ manga they were selling at the front desk. I had to chuckle at one girl who got emotional and cried after the movie ended(that's not all that uncommon here in Japan with anime movies, I saw a bunch of people get emotional during the middle of the new Bleach movie when I saw it a couple weeks ago). You could only order one book because afterwards you could get in another line and have Matsuya sign it for you! Needless to say this took forever(about an hour and a half) but I finally got to meet Matsuyama himself. He was very surprised to see me and asked me if I could understand the movie. I told him I understood it perfectly and that I thought the movie was spectacular. He thanked me and then asked where I was from. I told him America but that I came from Nagasaki since I'm currently studying there. He was pretty surprised by that as well lol(there was also a Japanese fan who came all the way from the Island of Shikoku!). He signed my book and I thanked him again one last time before leaving the theater. This whole conversation was in Japanese. Below is a picture of a flyer I picked up at the movie theater, my ticket stub and my signed copy of .hack//gu+ volume 1. It reads: "To Chris, Cyber Connect, Matsuyama Hiroshi, 2008. 1. 19.".

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Ok so on to the summary. I doubt I'll manage to mention every small detail correctly since I'm exhausted right now but here it is:

Edit: Ok since the spoiler tags don't work at the moment I'll just leave a large gap before the summary:



















Movie starts out with Ovan kneeling before Aina in her chair telling her how Haseo will succeed in the task Ovan has set out for him. Next it cuts to Haseo opening the doors to Hullz Grande cathedral upon when he finds Shino PK'ed although we see only blackness. Time skip to Haseo killing the PK's from the beginning of Rebirth. He kills everyone and the scene ends with him asking Bordeaux if she knows anything about Tri-Edge. Next we see Sakaki and Atoli discussing the problems PK's present in The World. Haseo arrives and the whole scene where he first meets them and mistakes Atoli for Shino at first plays out. Haseo receives a short mail from Ovan to meet him at the Cathedral.

Haseo arrives and speaks with Ovan. Again this scene plays out like it did in the games and manga but in the middle of it we also see Haseo discovering Shino being PK'ed again, this time we see everything including Azure Flame Kite's departure and the slow, painful disenagration of Shino's character as she tells Haseo to save Ovan. Back to the present time Haseo walks into the church to discover Azure Flame Kite and is defeated. A very nicely animated version of this scene plays out.

Haseo awakens from being data drained in the serpent of lore. There Kuhn, Pai and Yata are waiting for him and explain that Shino is just one of over a 100 people who have been rendered comatose by Tri-Edge. If he wishes to become stronger he will have to awaken the power of his avatar. Kite tears his way through countless opponents in the Demon Palace Tournament but is defeated by Alkaid.

A frustrated Haseo runs into Atoli at Mac Anu's chaos gate as Pai and Yata watch from the Serpent of Lore. Eventually Haseo and Atoli go out to a field. Cue the scene from Rebirth where Haseo eventually gets pissed at Atoli claiming that strength is the only thing he needs and nothing else in The World is relavent. Atoli then leaves after Haseo tells her to buzz off. He is in his 2nd form at this point. We then see the scene from Rebirth where Ovan explains to Atoli that her similar character is what causes Haseo so much frustration.

Haseo goes to the Serpent of Lore and speaks with Yata and Pai about Atoli who has gone missing. They track her down to the area where the lockers containing AIDA are and Azure Kite arrives. Pai, Kuhn and Atoli retreat while Haseo summons Skeith for the first time and does battle with the Azure Flame God. Haseo is victorious but Atoli is struck by the AIDA that escapes from the lockers.

At this point Atoli descends deeper and deeper into darkness. As she falls she pops numerous bubbles that sound off painful memories she has from school. Back at the Serpent of Lore, Yata explains to Haseo that he must delve into Atoli's character in order to rescue her. During his journey to her, he comes across the bubbles from earlier and hears Atoli's painful memories. He eventually finds himself in a classroom with Atoli sitting on the opposite end. As he approaches Atoli turns revealing her AIDA-infected state and hurls all of the desks at Haseo. He gets up slightly injured and continues to advance towards Atoli, now in her fully-infected form. She hurls countless AIDA hands at him but Haseo continues to advance. Heavily injured he finally gets close to Atoli but still enraged, she pierces him with her own hand this time. During this both their bodies back at the Serpent of Lore disappear and reappear at a lost ground. Kuhn and Pai follow and are greeted by Ovan who was waiting for them.

Still determined to save her, Haseo embraces Atoli and her infection fades away. The two drift upward through the space where Atoli's bad memories were and embrace the whole time while talking. They find solace in each other knowing the other is there for them. They awaken in (can't remember the name of this lost ground but it's the one where Ovan was lost in Roots) and Ovan reveals that he is the true Tri-Edge. Haseo notices the fallen bodies of Pai and Kuhn which disappear shortly afterwards. Ovan releases his arm and attempts to cut Haseo with the Tri-Edge attack but Atoli jumps in the way and takes it instead. A rather gruesome scene plays where Haseo embraces Atoli only to discover her lower half has been severed off by Ovan. She eventually crumbles and disappears as well. Ovan leaves Haseo to writhe in agony at the loss of Atoli. From sheer rage Haseo morphs from his 2nd form into his new, violent form.

We see Ovan speaking with Aina again and soon afterwards Haseo literally punches his way into the space Ovan is inhabiting. Haseo summons a pair of massive swords as well as a portal that unleashes hundreds of swords that hurl themselves at Ovan. Ovan attempts to shoot down the weapons but they shield themselves so Ovan blocks them all with an AIDA shield. The weapons fall and litter the entire area. Haseo eventually loses his two swords and picks up numerous weapons from the field as he battles Ovan. Haseo eventually is defeated and finds himself chained to a large stone, still enraged. Suddenly Atoli appears and manages to put a stop to Haseo's rage and he reverts back to his original, 3rd form. This is only for a brief moment though as soon he soon fuses with Atoli and morphs into his final Xth form.

Haseo returns to Ovan again and the two summon their avatars. An epic battle follows with Haseo being struck by Ovan's cannon. Haseo remembers Shino told him to save Ovan and realizes what he has to do. He recovers and manages to pierce Ovan with data drain. Ovan complements Haseo on finally succeeding and explains how his rebirth ability will save his little sister and all the others. During this we see the flashback scene where Ovan is first infected with AIDA and PK's his sister. It works and we see Aina flying towards Ovan as his character begins to shatter. Back at the loss ground, Haseo is in agony over not being able to save Ovan but Atoli reveals that she can still hear him with the power of her avatar as well everyone else's voices.

As Ovan plunges further down a shaft Haseo follows after him attempting to grab his hand. Suddenly a barrier comes between them and the voice of Aura appears explaining to Haseo The World's countermeasure system. Still determined, Haseo summons everything he has with the help of everyone and manages to rip through the barrier although nearly destroying his own character in the process. He finally catches Ovan.

Skip ahead to awhile later and we see Atoli heading to Hullz Granz. There Haseo is waiting for her. Haseo jokingly says he's not too mad at her for being late and the two begin to discuss things when Shino suddenly shows up. She asks if she's interrupting anything and tells Haseo thank you. Before walking out of the church she tells Atoli to take care of Haseo. As the scene ends, Haseo and Atoli holds hands.

Cue the end credits. Afterwards a short scene with Aina running through a field of flowers plays. She heads over to a tree where Ovan is waiting for her. The end.

[dan_omac]

God I wish I could speak/understand Japanese and had been there to see it.

I guess I'll just have to wait...

[d5t]

Hey RaikenTB,

Awesome story! I would love to post your writeup on the front page of dothackers; let me know if that's OK. I'll credit your real name if you wish and link it back here.

FYI, time for me to fix the spoiler tags; hopefully there's an updated mod of it for phpBB.

[Aina]

That sounds very fun. I can't wait to watch it! (^.^) I probably will get the Blu-ray version once the DVD store in my local mall gets it.

[RaikenTB]

Ok since spoiler tags don't work currently I removed it and just added a large gap before the summary. Feel free to publish my story on the front page. My name is Christopher.

[A.R.T]

Say, did Sirius at least get a cameo in this movie? If Alkaid was in there, he can't be too far behind..

[RaikenTB]

Nope, not that I can remember. He might have for literally a couple of seconds when we see everyone Atoli can hear with her epitaph.

[Mellow Grunty]

How wonderful, no Sakubo or En, heck not even GABI or anybody from Moon Tree. (excluding Atoli and Sakaki) Then why is the AIDS there? Heck, why the hell did Haseo even enter the Demon Palace in the first place if En wasn't there? IT'S COMPLETELY WORTHLESS. Stupid fanservice.

I'm gonna go cut myself. >:

(Ah well, at least there's still a crapload of delicious HaseoxAtoli scenes, yeah, I'm buying this.)

[.hack//BICTIOUS]

It said right there he entered to get stronger. >> He figured fighting a bunch of strong people would boost his level.

[Dead]

ooh delicious! wo i had to stop myself from reading too much of the spoiler(i want to be suprised) Lucky guy got to meet Piros himself!

[Orion]

So did the movie use the same soundtrack as the games? How was it?

[|kenji|]

really NO Endrance and NO Sakubo??? are they kiddin???
FAIL! FAIL! FAIL! FAIL!
ç________________ç

[Vahn Staffear]

How wonderful, no Sakubo or En, heck not even GABI or anybody from Moon Tree. (excluding Atoli and Sakaki) Then why is the AIDS there? Heck, why the hell did Haseo even enter the Demon Palace in the first place if En wasn't there? IT'S COMPLETELY WORTHLESS. Stupid fanservice.

I'm gonna go cut myself. >:

(Ah well, at least there's still a crapload of delicious HaseoxAtoli scenes, yeah, I'm buying this.)

The AIDS is like fire, and the rapid fanbois are the fuel. The AIDS will never die D:

Well at least ElkAIDS is only there for like 20 seconds and out for the rest of the movie and that is great that there is a crapload of delicious HaseoxAtoli scenes : )

[RaikenTB]

So did the movie use the same soundtrack as the games? How was it?

It used at least a few songs from the games although I think they were redone a bit for the movie. Can't remember which songs exactly.

[Kiru]

...
Yes.
Amazing Haseoli everywheres. This movie is fukken amazing and I haven't seen it yet.
I can't wait, I will joygasm as my ears listen to the cries of a million Alkaid fans.

[CalistoDivinity]

...
Yes.
Amazing Haseoli everywheres. This movie is fukken amazing and I haven't seen it yet.
I can't wait, I will joygasm as my ears listen to the cries of a million Alkaid fans.

All that needs to be said.


fukken win.

[Starman]

Thanks for typing all this out for us to see, RaikenTB.

[luffywang573]

well thanks chris that great information u gave us. i envy u so much cause that autograph i want it so badly hope someday it happen to me also that live in japan for study. i had put ur exprience in my qzone(like a myspace), to show others how cool it is. u can view it http://user.qzone.qq.com/810896023, but it in chinese thought.

[DarkBoySabata]

I Envy u, i wanna see trilogy so badly. But No Cubia, aw man Cubia deserved a 2nd chance since he like the Darkside of The 8th Epitaph or maybe the one who mostly use Data Drain more and he was like the final boss of vol.3. I mean how cool and scary will be if we see Cubia Beta and Cubia Core with Haseo body on top. but not bad im so going to buy me a blue ray Disc mwuhahaha.

[mr.classybear]

Im kind of dissapointed with the movie. It sounds like they left out a bunch of impotant charecters.