Video:

This series is a mixed bag. I'll agree with the previous reviewer that the entire thing is clearly a TV rip, but quality is anything but consistently crisp and clear. Episodes 1-4 are pretty standard TV quality, mostly free of ghosting, but everything 5 and onward is just horrid. Most of the time the screen is entirely too bright, as if it were being played from an old VHS, and detail is especially lost during fog-like effects. That's not the only thing that changes once you get to episode 5 ...

Audio:

I watched most of the series on my DVD-ROM with headphones. There is some distinct snowy background noise at higher volumes, but for the most part the audio remains in clear stereo. I did not experience any instances of the audio completely dropping out or the sort.

Subtitle:

This suspiciously follows the same pattern as the video. Episodes 1-4 are near fansub quality; a few questionable sentence structures here and there, but nothing you'd get completely lost in, with the biggest problem only being capitalization errors. Most of the names are correct, and for the rest the translator at least made an ATTEMPT at romanizing what was being spoken (i.e.: Balmung is something like "Barmuku," Reki is "Leiji"). The only gripe that I had was that every time Rena would say "onii-chan," the subtitles would translate it as Shugo's name. Episode 5 until the end is another story. They must have switched translators or something because Shugo and Rena suddenly become something like "Xuhu" and "Nanla," "onii-chan" is finally translated as "brother," Shugo's "Data Modify!" is translated a different way in practically every episode, and Engrish becomes much more regular. There are a few instances in the last two episodes that just leave you scratching your head, and right when the dialogue actually matters. The rest of the character names are still for the most part consistent, but Ginkan's name is translated to something in Chinese (completely destroying the "Ginkan and kinkan" pun in episode 8) and Subaru's name is something completely different. It's not even "Une" (Subaru's name in MI's previous .hack//SIGN release). Also, the moon bunny theme behind episode 5 or 6 is completely lost. I'd probably rate the subtitles slightly above average if it weren't for these plagues that had to infest the second half. One last note - Episodes 1-4 have OP/ED karaoke, while the remaining episodes do not.

Comment:

Do NOT watch this series without seeing .hack//SIGN first, or at least avoid episodes 3 and 8 at all costs until you do. Most fans will probably also insist that you play the PS2 games before this since it's almost a direct continuation, but I was able to handle most of it with my only previous .hack experience being SIGN and knowing bits and pieces of the plot and characters in the games (although I would have never known that Mirielle is Mistral's daughter if I hadn't talked to someone who has read the Legend of Twilight manga, as it's never brought up in the TV version of it) Episode 3 of Twilight is a complete replay of episode 9 of SIGN with a twist - namely the ending of the SIGN version being done justice. I especially liked it since it's not often when what you personally think is one of the most depressing scenes in anime history is redone the way I would have if I could go back and change it ^^; I just think you would have totally missed the point without seeing that SIGN ep first. And episode 8 of Twilight .. I will eternally hate Project Hack for what they did here. This is DEFINITELY something you'll completely miss without seeing SIGN. Otherwise you'll have just another random death and simply be left with, "Uh ... what's 'Subaru' ?" Oh, and in the final episode, please don't have a heart attack whenever the ED sequence comes on like I did. It's not quite over yet. ;)

Video:

Crisp, clear video. Possibly tv rip? But still nicely done.

Audio:

No background noise, hissing or any other noticeable annoying little things that can get on your nerves.

Subtitle:

Very few errors ... some typos on names here & there and missing ending of a word once in a while. But they're understandable and much better than Hack//Sign subs were so don't worry.