We follow a player in The World known as Tsukasa who is a Wavemaster class, think of it as a mage. He stumbles across a hidden power in the game where he has the ability to basically hack a player and send them into a coma in the real world. Well he’s not really in control of it so its not like he just goes around using it. The kicker is that he soon finds out that he’s really in The World and can see, taste, touch, and feel everything as if he were there, and he’s not able to logout. Living the RPG fantasy out pretty much.

Tsukasa befriends a girl by the name of Mimiru who is a Blademaster class, warrior; she is interested in helping Tsukasa find answers to why he’s trapped in the game while being there for him at the same time. Mimiru is often in company with Bear, another Blademaster who is trying to help Tsukasa also.

BT is also a Wavemaster, who associates with Bear. She often uses people and then betrays them later anyway, but it all turns out well in the end. But we hate her in the meantime too.

Crim is apparently a max level 99 character who once belonged to the order of the Crimson Knights who are a group of players who take it upon themselves to keep the peace in The World. He got bored with it and quit :D He now is interested in finding the Key of the Twilight. (oh right I didn’t explain that part yet).

*Key of the Twilight* is supposed to not really exist in The World, but it’s a secret item that’s never been found that’s supposed to grant the user immeasurable power. Tsukasa is believed to have it.

Lady Subaru is the head of the Crimson Knights but is recently having issues with some of the members thinking that they can do as they wish. She’s also kind of in love with Tsukasa or something…there’s strong emotions there I don’t know what else to say about it.

Sora is a big jerk as you’ll soon notice. He’s a Twin Blade who likes to be a player-killer. He’s also a level 99 so he does as he pleases. He can be found associating with BT from time to time. He also wants the Key of the Twilight.

So the story is about these characters, their backgrounds, and their search for why Tsukasa can’t logout and a mysterious girl named Aura and her connection to the World. Also, random Data Bugs (monsters in the game who have infinite stats) start appearing more and more. We also get help from an elite hacker by the name of Helba. The World is tearing itself apart more or less and why is it happening and we need to fix it theme.

The game series picks up right where the anime leaves off; there’s a little transitioning differences but oh well.

I liked this anime mainly because I’ve played the games and its really cool to think you’re playing in an anime, or something like that, I’m not sure on the logic of it. Hrm, its like watching a fantasy novel or video game come alive…Lord of the Rings, should’ve thought of that. It’s like that, but in anime form obviously. It also has an underlying creepy and at times melancholy feel to it for the drama part, but that only makes it more interesting really. There’s definitely not a whole lot of this type of anime out there, so even if for only adding this genre to your repertoire, its worth seeing. Especially if you like video games. And if you happen to hate video games, well please mail your complaints to me where they will be promptly ignored :D Later days fantasy players.

-Kyo-