.hack//Quantum

.hack//Quantum (ドットハック クワンタム, Dotto Hakku Kuwantamu) is an animated three episode OVA series by Kinema Citrus studio in Japan and presented by Bandai Visual. The series was initially scheduled to be released in November 2010, but this schedule was later changed. The first episode was released on January 28, 2011 with the following two episodes to be released in one month intervals. Excluding the all-CGI animation movie .hack//G.U. Trilogy, this is the first animated OVA project to not be animated by long-time .hack producer Bee Train Productions Inc., nor directed by Koichi Mashimo. This project is also not related to a planned CGI movie tie-in to the newest game in the .hack series, .hack//Link.^[1] Masaki Tachibana of Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 directed the OVA project and .hack// writer Tatsuya Hamazaki scripted. Kinema Citrus animated the series and Kow Otani composed the music score.^[2] Yuuka Nanri will be performing the theme song for .hack.Quantum. At Anime Weekend Atlanta 2011, Funimation Entertainment announced that it had licensed the OVA series and it was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 14, 2012, making it the first in the franchise not to be licensed by Bandai Entertainment.^[3] The UK release was published by MVM Entertainment on July 9, 2012.

Story

The story follows three players – Sakuya, Tobias, and Mary – as they play the latest version of the world's largest MMORPG: "The World R:X", created by Cyberconnect Corporation. When these three friends take on a quest as a party, they become caught in strange circumstances of fate.

Main characters

Asumi Aida (相田 亜澄, Aida Asumi) / Sakuya (サクヤ, Sakuya)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Trina Nishimura (English)

A high school student living in Aomori, who formed a party with three of her friends in "The World R:X". Her player character, Sakuya, is based on the character Kite from the .hack games. Sakuya likes to say "Look before you jump" before charging off into dangerous places, and has a habit of picking up every item she stumbles across. Both Asumi and Sakuya share the same cheerful personality.

Iori Ikuta (生田 衣織, Ikuta Iori) / Tobias (トービアス, Tōbiasu)

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Anastasia Munoz (English)

Asumi and Eri's schoolmate. Her player character, Tobias, is based on the character Balmung from the .hack games. Also known as "Tobias the Informant", Tobias adventures with Sakuya with a pretty-boy look. She has a cool and calculating-nihilistic personality. In reality, Iori has an air of adulthood around her; and, unlike Tobias, she isn't picky about clothes, choosing practical wear over what is in-style.

Eri Etou (江藤 衿, Etō Eri) / Mary (メアリ, Meari)

Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura (Japanese), Lara Woodhull (English)

Childhood friend of Asumi, and schoolmate of both Asumi and Iori. Asumi is the one who got Eri into playing "The World". Her player character, Mary, is based on the character BlackRose from the .hack games. She adventures with Sakuya and Tobias. Her personality runs in contrast to the wild look of the Edge Punisher class. She would many times be misled into doing two people's tasks. In reality, she is much more serious than her in-game counterpart.

Staff

• Original Story - .hack Conglomerate - Quantum Project

• Planning:

Akira Ooshita (大下聡)

Satoshi Reisen (冷泉さとし)

Shirō Sasaki (佐々木史朗)

Kazuya Watanabe (渡辺和哉)

Takehiko Shimojima (下島健彦)

Naki Ogasawara (小笠原宗紀)

• Producers:

Makoto Yukawa (湯川淳)

Hisato Usui (臼井久人)

Shigeaki Komatsu (小松茂明)

Kazuhiko Shōbe (省部和彦)

Shigehiro Kurida (栗田滋弘)

Yūichirō Matsuie (松家雄一郎)

• Original Character Design:

Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (貞本義行)

Seiichirō Hosokawa (細川誠一郎)

Megane Kikuya (喜久屋めがね)

• Characeter Design - Atsushi Hasebe (長谷部敦志)

• Animation Director - Atsushi Hasebe (長谷部敦志)

• Writer - Tatsuya Hamazaki (浜崎達也)

• Monster Design - Kenji Andou (安藤賢司)

• Mechanical Design - Takeshi Takakura (高倉武史)

• Set Design - Yoshinori Hishinuma (菱沼由典)

• Art Director - Yūsuke Takeda (竹田悠介)

• Color Design - Rie Katō (加藤里恵)

• Editing - Hiroshi Okuda (奥田浩史)

• Director of Photography - Eiji Kimura (木村俊也)

• 3D Director - Eiji Inomoto (井野元英二)

• Sound Director - Kazuya Tanaka (たなかかずや)

• Music - Kow Otani (大谷幸)

• Music Producer - Keiichi Nozaki (野崎圭一)

• Music Production - Flying Dog

• Animation Studio - Kinema Citrus

• Production:

.hack//Quantum Production Committee

Bandai Visual

Showgate Inc

Flying Dog

Yomiuri Kōkokusha Inc

NEC BIGLOBE Inc

Kinema Citrus

• Director - Masaki Tachibana (橘正紀)

Ending Theme

Shizuku (雫 -shizuku-)

Vocals: Yūka Nanri (南里侑香)

Lyrics: Takumi Ozawa (尾澤拓実)

Composition:Takumi Ozawa (尾澤拓実)

Arrangement:Takumi Ozawa (尾澤拓実)

Episode List

Pre-orders of the theatrical release on Amazon.co.jp and animate come with a bonus Original Drama CD.

Manga

• The manga is serialized in Comp Ace as ".hack//Quantum+" (pronounced "Quantum Plus"). Illustrated by Nao Mitaka (三鷹ナオ), and will follow the story as written for the anime by Kinema Citrus.
• Another manga was released in March 2011, titled (introduc.hack//Quantum Ition) (.hack//Quantum I (イントロダクション)), and it was illustrated by SOGA Atsushi. This manga is a prologue to the events of the OVA series, and the first two chapters can be accessed freely in the Comic Gekkin website (owned by Bandai Visual).^[4] The third chapter can be accessed only from a NTT DoCoMo phone. Later, a printed version was released by Emotion Comics.^[5]

References

External links

• Funimation's Official Site
• Official website(Japanese)
• .hack//Quantum (OVA) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

.hack by CyberConnect2 Video games .hack G.U. Link Anime series Sign episodes Liminality Legend of the Twilight episodes Roots Quantum The Movie Other Characters Haseo List of media Project X Zone Project X Zone 2 Book Category