Postscript
It was October, 2002, when I first heard .hack would be an exciting multimedia ptoject by Bandai, with character designs by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, script by Kazunori Ito, and Koichi Mashimo as animation director. Below is the exchange between myself and the Editor-in-chief (EIC) at the time.
EIC: The game will be developed for PS2. There will be anime segments and a total of four volumes.
Author: What an incredible plan!
EIC: And, Kadokawa (the publisher) is also on board.
Author: Ah, in that case, it'll be pretty troublesome.
EIC: And, I want you to write the original story for me comic version.
Author: Great. Can I see the game version?
EIC: It's in development. rt's supposed to be released next year.
Author: What about the anime?
EIC: Right now there's nothing tangible to show yet.
Author: Then how do you know what the story will be?
EIC: (Laughs) That's why I'm asking you!
Apparently, the plan was to make a graphic novel based on the original game. By poring over the material I received, I tried to captllre the flavor of the characters in the game, which was still being developed.
The following week, during the first meeting, I was presented with what they wanted the overall direction of the TV anime to be. Since the anime was going to take place before the game, they wanted me to write a story that took place in the fllture. I put together a plotline for both the anime and the game. When I met with Bandai the following week, I was told to set the story in the past instead of the future. Now I knew why the EIC asked me to take the job. Because I live only two train stops from his office!
Living nearby is convenient in many ways-for them. It's easy to make me work harder!
After many twists and turns, the concept for the comic version was settled on as a comedic love story that takes place four years later. Meanwhile, this project had already existed for three years before I joined on. So I'm a bit of a newbie myself.
The first time I met Ito was during an event in May. The first time I met Mashimo was in July at an interview session for an anime magazine. Sadamoto is the only person I haven't met, but I quietly worshipped him from afar during Kadokawa's New Year's party.
Now let's talk briefly about the novel ...
I had read the scripts for Sign, the TV anime version, so that I could reflect on them within this story. By the way, the novel takes place shortly before the TV anime version does.
The world of .hack is consrantly being created as each new media interacts with rhe other. I hope you enjoy it!
Lastly, lowe a great thanks to many people. First, I'd like to thank Uchiyama-sama of Bandai and Marsuyamasama of CyberConnect2, who gave me great advice along the way. I also owe a big thanks to Kazunori Ito-sama, the script writer, who, in my opinion, is the originator of .hack. Next, I'd like to thank Rei Izumi-sama for the wonderful illustrations. Finally, thanks to anyone and everyone involved with this project. There are still many headaches, but let's continue to do our best.
Thank you all very much.
Tatsuya Han1azaki
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