Anime/Blogosphere Synchronicity

Okay, this is getting spooky. Warning: Big spoiler for the series .hack//SIGN.

As the series has progressed, it has become increasingly clear that the character Tsukasa, who mysteriously cannot log off an online game and instead lives within it, is actually a comatose patient in a hospital. In the episode run tonight on Cartoon Network, we finally learned that the patient was brought in bearing the signs of abuse. The patient's father tried to persuade the doctors to kill her, then broke in at night to try his hand at it. Fortunately, his attempt did not succeed.

This show gets more and more interesting. Tsukasa is constantly being tempted to give up and give in, to run away, to stay uninvolved, and to forget about the world outside. This is reinforced by a modern update of the Japanese folklore device of an unhappy ghost trying to drag the living after it. Meanwhile, Tsukasa and his very existence challenge other people to try to justify their own lives, the validity of their relationships, and the imperfect real world. If you like a show with lots of pictures and conversations, .hack//SIGN is for you.