.hack recap: When we left off the
Crimson Knights were guarding the Chaos Gate and Tsukasa walked
through a solid stone wall, following Macha's advice.
(I recommend actually buying .hack//Sign since my words don't really do it justice. One can get either the DVD this episode is on, or the full series as a set.)
.hack//Sign, Episode 2: Guardian, 10:24-14:53
Tsukasa appears in a brightly colored
lightly wooded place. There are scattered leafy trees, there's a
stream, there's grassy ground, and the purple sky matches his eyes.
(I very much doubt that similarity is significant, plus the sky is
yellow near the horizon.) The place has a soft white glow about it
which washes out the colors in places.
There's a floating teddy bear, and a
colorless girl floating above a bed. She's mostly white and off
white, but hints of color dance across her body and her clothing.
She's a young child. She's asleep, and she's important.
Tsukasa
asks, “Who are you?” and gets no answer. Unlike DVL we will
eventually learn her name, which is Aura*.
When
looking for a good .hack site which has, sadly, gone offline I ran
across a not so good site with the same name whose author thought
Aura and Tsukasa were the same person. They're not. Tsukasa is a
human being, Aura is an AI, Tsukasa is a teenager, Aura is a young
child. Tuskasa has lived a difficult life that has provided him with
painful memories, fear, and depression, Aura has never been awake
before and thus has no past experience to be affected by.
That
said, given that real-world Tsukasa is a girl in a coma, and Aura is
(at the moment) a girl whose eyes never open, there is room for
confusion and such confusion will show up in the series at least once later
on. It will then be shot down with force** about equivalent to the
look River gave Simon when he asked, “Am I talking to Miranda
now?”
Anyway,
you've met Aura, she's important, she's asleep. It will take most of
the characters most of the series to learn those two things. So
we'll talk about it in greater depth later, for now we're moving on.
-
Mimiru,
Bear, and BT are discussing Tsukasa. The Crimson Knights haven't
seen Tsukasa since he ran away earlier, but a day has passed since
then. Since the knights are guarding the Chaos Gate on the server
where he warped*** that means that Tsukasa has not logged out or
changed servers in a day.
BT
suggests that perhaps he simply reset his computer rather than log
out. Which is a reasonable thing to assume when the alternative is
to believe Tsukasa has stayed logged in continuously.
I
don't really like BT as a character, and at some point I'm going to
have to take some time to explain why, but in this scene, a scene in
which she is factually wrong repeatedly, I do actually think that she
comes off quite well. Her points are completely reasonable, her
thinking is crisp, and better still she isn't backstabbing or
scheming to backstab.
Even
though she happens to be wrong, I think she makes a definite positive
contribution to the conversation.
Mimiru
flashes back to Tsukasa asking her if she could log out.
Bear: I'm also worried about
that.
BT: What's “that”?
Mimiru:
Is it really possible for someone to be unable to log out?
Simple
answer: Yes. A more detailed answer will require us to consider
philosophy and the nature of reality and stuff.
In
theory I've got a head start on this because I already wrote on this
topic for a thing that happens in the 14th
episode. I was in the shower and suddenly it hit me that the
eponymous Castle in the episode Castle was probably a liminal space,
and once I got out of the shower I wrote an entire post on that
topic, and then realized that it'll be a very long time before it's
time to post it. (To recap, it's in episode 14, we're in episode 2. I've been doing this for more than month now.)
Anyway,
it got me thinking about what the space would on the limit between,
which led into thinking about the allegory of the cave and the nature
of reality and whatnot. Hopefully some of that will come in handy
here.
Anyway,
philosophy.
I
had a philosophy professor once who described the root of various
schools of ancient Greek philosophy as the attempt to answer the
question of what is really real. Is the world as we see it real?
Are numbers real? Is the plenum real? Is fire real? What about
water? Change? Ideas? Atoms? What's really real?
The
Daily Show
I saw today began with one of Zeno's paradoxes. From our perspective
it looks like someone smashing face first into calculus about 2000
years before anyone was ready to tackle the subject, but for Zeno it
was proof that the world as we know it wasn't really real. It
couldn't be, because it didn't make sense. It led to paradoxes.
For
other philosophers there were other ways of looking at the question.
If we consider the sentence, “The ball is red,” (and assume it to
be true) what's real? The ball? Red? Most modern people would, I
think, answer that the ball is real. It's a physical object, it has
measurable properties, it can be poked. All of that points to real
for a lot of people. Red, on the other hand, is just a concept.
But
some people give a different answer. The ball, after all, is
ephemeral. Maybe at this time tomorrow it won't be red, maybe it
won't be a ball. It is subject to change and destruction and the
only thing that we can say about it for sure is that it's not likely
to remain as it is for very long. Probably hasn't been this way for
long either. (As Mr. Squid said to Mr. Sperm, “You were not here,
you know, scarcely a billion years ago.”)
Red,
on the other hand, is by definition eternal and unchanging. If all
red things should be destroyed, that doesn't harm the concept. If
the concept should be forgotten, that doesn't change the concept. If
the meaning of the word should change, that doesn't alter the concept
because what we mean by red (right here, right now) will always be
what we meant by red in this time and space. It may be differently
labeled, or forgotten, or recategorized, but the concept as it exists
now will always be as it exists now. If a year from now people
should mean something different when they think “Red” that
doesn't change the concept because the fact that they're thinking
something different means it is a different concept they're thinking
about. That's what “different” means in this context.
So
some people concluded that the idea “Red” was more real than the
ball. The ball partakes in and approximates the underlying reality
that is red. Or something like that, other people can explain it
better.
The
same would be true if I had used the balliness of the ball. Under
this way of looking at things a red rubber ball is an imperfect
expression of the underlying really real ideals of red, rubber, and
ball.
Anyway,
I bring all of this up because the answer to Mimiru's question very
much depends on what's really real. BT is going to give one answer,
Bear will give the opposite. Their disagreement is predicated on
their different answers to the question of what is really real.
So,
is it possible for someone to be unable to log out?
BT:
No way. Because... the question is, can you stay logged
in? People have to go to work or school, and sleep as well. Even if
you can't log out, all you need to do is reset your terminal.
This
is a perfectly reasonable answer. We can even add to it. You have
to eat and drink, for example.
BT
assumes that what's really real is the real world. And why not? It's called the real
world ffs. Surely the name itself is all the proof that we need that
that's where we should be basing our answer.
So
in the real world this is all just a computer game. Step away from
the computer, you step away from the game. If your parents come in
and say, “Off to school with you,” then you're going to have to
log out. If you refuse, they'll yank the power and you'll be out.
If you stop going to work, what happens then? Assuming that food and
drink aren't a problem for you, eventually not paying your bills will
catch up with you and when your power or internet bill isn't paid the
service being cut will kick you from the game.
That's
if you're trying to stay logged in, if you're not then as BT
suggests, you could just pull the plug. That was Mimiru's idea as
well.
If
the real world is the only real thing, then the game is just
something on the internet you connect to via your computer. Cut the
connection and you've separated from the game. Simple as can be.
BT
first thinks about the real world concerns that would pull one away
from the game, then she thinks about what is necessary to separate
from it, assuming that it is just what it appears to be from a real
world perspective.
Bear
has a different perspective.
Bear:
What if one couldn't reset the the terminal?
BT:
Huh?
Bear:
What if the main body... in front of the terminal... is lost?
This
is already a massive difference from an earth-only perspective
because if you assume that the so-called real world is the whole of
what is real then that's already impossible. The game is not The Matrix, to play you need control of your body because you need to
operate the controls with your hands.
BT
doesn't address that difference in perspective, and instead continues
to look at it from the same perspective as before.
BT:
Either way,
resetting should be possible. Someone simply has to turn of the
power. Who does it is not an issue.
Again,
this is a completely reasonable thing for her to say. It should be
true. If you look at how the game physically works, cut the power
and one isn't playing anymore. It also happens to be wrong.
We
know that what's happening with Tsukasa transcends what should be
possible because he can experience things never programmed into the
game. The most obvious example being pain. BT doesn't know that and
has no reason to suspect it.
Bear
isn't convinced by this, and BT asks for an explanation. This is
when we get to Bear's metaphysics.
Bear:
A long time ago when we didn't have games that everyone
could play together I played an RPG with a character that saves the
world from evil. Whenever I got in a bad situation, I simply pushed
the “reset” button. But when I did, this thought always crossed
my mind. I wondered what happened to the world I reset.
BT:
But...
Bear:
It's only a delusion. But thoughts turn into reality. So
the world I abandoned by resetting might be engulfed by evil. I get
the feeling that it's not just a matter of turning on and off your
terminal.
What
the subtitles translate as, “a delusion,” the dub translates as,
“a virtual world,” that might be a useful thing to keep in mind.
Anyway,
Bear isn't in the position of someone who says that the ball isn't
real, but he does appear to be in a place where reality includes
things one cannot poke. He accepts that the real world is indeed
real, but he also allows for the possibility that there is more to
reality than that. The World (the game) is a program on a computer,
but it might also be something else, and just separating yourself
from the computer program might not be enough to separate yourself
from that something else.
This
is where the allegory of the cave becomes somewhat useful.
The
game world is an expression of an idea, but it isn't a complete
expression of that idea and certainly is not perfect. There was an
idea of what The World would be, and various people worked together
on the development team of the game to construct an approximation of
that idea. They couldn't build an actual world, so instead they did
what they could on computer. The result falls short of the idea in
various ways.
For
one thing, whether you're there or not depends on whether your
computer is on, I somehow don't think that the world the developers
thought up in their imagination was one where people could simply
disappear if there was a power outage on earth. For another it's
incomplete. It has depth and color, but not smell or tactile
sensation. All sorts of limitations would be placed on the game,
technology, and the amount of time that could be spent on
development, and what is marketable, and so on.
What
results, the game everyone is playing, is a mere shadow of the idea.
But the idea can be gleaned from that shadow. When your character is
harmed you know the idea is that it hurts, even though it causes you
no pain, for example. When you're surrounded by snow, you know the
idea is probably that it is cold****, even though you don't feel
cold.
But
while everyone else is interacting with shadows, Tsukasa has somehow
ended up interacting with the things casting those shadows. He's
interacting with the substance of the idea. For everyone else it's
just a projection, an illusion, for him it's real. While everyone
else is stuck looking at shadows on the wall, he's become trapped in
the place where those shadows originate. He's still in the cave, but
he's in the part of the cave where the actual objects are.
Tsukasa
isn't trapped in a game on a computer. He's trapped in the ideal of
the game. He hasn't been in contact with a computer since he became
trapped, and all of BT's objections don't apply to him because he's
operating on an entirely different level.
Mimiru:
That guy... I wonder if he's in trouble.
That
depends on what you mean by that. Overall, yes, absolutely.
Deep, deep almost unrelenting trouble. Plus he's in a coma. At this
specific moment, no. He's actually pretty good. Moments like this
are the reason that “unrelenting” above was preceded by “almost.”
What's more, he's about to get some really good advice. Oddly
enough, he'll get it from a source that has the opposite of his best
interest in mind.
-
*
What are some associations for that name? For me it's Latin. Aura
means a wind or breeze. It's also the plural of gold and very close
to the word for ear which allows for some impressive punning. Of
course it also happens to be an English word, and given the
scattering of English throughout the series, perhaps those should be
the meanings one looks to.
Anyway,
using her name doesn't seem as perception changy as using DVL's name.
**
Which turned out to be overkill in that case, for reasons I'll
describe when I get there. Tsukasa was still right about the answer
to the question but, because of things he was wrong about, it wasn't
nearly as absurd a thing to ask as he thought it was.
***
As near as I can tell, there's an error in the dub and the subtitles
here. They're talking in the grassy place above the clouds/mist/fog
which is a root town of a server. The root town of the server
Tsukasa is on is Mac Anu, the place that looks like Venice. So
they're on a different server than Tsukasa. Yet Bear says, in the
subtitles, that Tsukasa must be somewhere, “on this server” when
he should have said, “on that server,” and the dub increases the
error by making it, “here, on this server.”
****
Though that isn't always true. Today there was plenty of snow on the
ground, but it was warm.
-
I just wanted to notify you that ironically I just started my own .hack//SIGN rewatch after so many years, considering that this show was a huge formative influence on my life as a young teen and is pretty much the anime that got me into anime. I just happened to stumble across this blog and it's wonderful, and I really like your thoughts! So expect to hear from me soon as well :)
ReplyDeleteOn another note, what do you think about the transition of scenes very quickly from one 'random' scene to another? I was watching the first couple of episodes and I personally find it fascinating that the show, instead of delving into Tsukasa's storyline as the prime and constant POV of the story, rather takes a branched view and goes into 'segments' instead. It's also interesting because we never really see how Bear and B.T and/or Mimiru technically ~meet~ but they end up chatting together and talking about Tsukasa. Rather than it being mindless gossip though, it's very realistic conversation, and so we're forced to have this sort of layered opinion on who- or what, rather- Tsukasa is. It reminds me a bit of this Bollywood movie I had seen a couple of years back, called Yuva which followed these stranded, individual storylines that all come to merge at a certain point in the movie. The difference between that and .hack//SIGN however, is the fact that the 'independent' storylines don't focus on the characters- they all revolve around Tsukasa, but hardly vary. I think it's intriguing to have the storyline change from one POV to another, not only so we get a more detailed account of what's going on in the first place, as well as skewed information and perception of the characters- which ties back to the idea of what we determine as real and true in front of us- but it also allows for some really fantastic development of the characters. Just some random thoughts!
The first episode I ever saw was Epitaph (Episode 9). It had two threads running through it. One was The Key of the Twilight, the other was Tsukasa trying to save a grunty. So you'd cut between those two threads, but with the The Key of the Twilight thing you have five people involved.
DeleteSo in various scenes we hear from BT, Crim, Subaru, Bear, and Mimiru. They each bring a different perspective to the matter.
Crim's original solution was to just look for it, since talking about it was getting nowhere. BT tries to go back to the source of the rumor.
Mimiru looks at it from a fairly straightforward logical perspective. Bear points out that something that seems contradictory at first can actually be consistent, and does it by analogy to biology. He also comes to some of the same information as BT, but from a completely different direction.
And when BT and Subaru talk about things we also get a certain amount of insight on Crim.
On top of all that, we've got several different motivations at work. Bear and Mimiru are interested in the Key of the Twilight because of Tsukasa, BT is interested in Tsukasa because of the Key of the Twilight. Crim is interested in The Key of the Twilight because of Subaru and his past history of looking for it. Subaru was originally interested in it because of the larger flow of events which has the potential to change The World and affect all in it, but her interest is increasingly shifting towards "for Tsukasa".
The same exposition could be carried out from one perspective, but you'd never get so much insight into the various characters without shifting between viewpoints.
And really I was just talking about the first half of the episode in the above. We also get Sora in the second half. And you have to remember that interspersed through all of that is what Tsukasa is doing.
So I think that that the viewpoint switching really defines the series, and provides a lot of information that would be lost with a tighter focus on a single viewpoint.