.hack//Cell - Novel Review

.hack//Cell as a novel brings more of a structure of the problems of identity into focus that range within the thought of these kinds of perceptions. Unlike previous .hack stories which approach the idea of the changing an ideal of what someone is like in the real world, this story tends to push that motivation a little further in deciding if the real world, for some people, truly exists. What, at one point, seemed like perhaps lazy storytelling actually became more of a "Matrix" moment emblazoned in the thought that "there is no spoon". Midori is a girl who, within The World, has become a variation on a professional victim, preferring to offer her services to make other players stronger. The reality is that this is an antithesis to her nature in far reaching capacities. She seems to have one connection to the real world in the form of a person named Adamas. In a quick set of events, she finds herself confined to a hospital with no direct idea of her ailments. The doctors do not know how to treat her or, in fact, what is wrong with her. The only resolution seems to be to immerse herself in The World where a demonlike presence threatens to overtake her. The most interesting parts of the novel is when she begins to lose her grip on humanity. The loss of reality is conveyed in a very real sense through her emotions until there is nothing left...which is a fairly intense way to end this type of book. It is much more mature than it gives itself credit for. Out of 5, I give it a 3 1/2.