.hack//Alcor (Manga)
Publisher: Tokyopop
Release Date: December 2009
Price: $10.99
Creator(s): Amou Kanami and Izumibara Rena
Format: 176 pgs.; B&W
ISBN: 978-1-427-81596-5
Age Rating: 13+
ICv2 Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

Unlike most of the .hack manga volumes, this one is a simple stand-alone story about a girl who loves online role-playing games, but isn’t interested in the slash and kill aspects.  For her, role-playing, puzzles and non-violent quests are the reasons she plays.  Her challenge is to use her way of playing to achieve something worthwhile and memorable, in an environment of digital violence.

The .hack series is about a futuristic immersive online role-playing game that is tremendously advanced and even more addictive than the ones currently available.  The art is good, light manga art, but nothing groundbreaking.  The writing is very solid and well paced.

While technically an action-adventure story, the nature of the main character makes this more appealing to girls, especially ones from the growing pool of girl gamers.  The girl’s character, Nanase, looks like another character, Alkaid, who is a highly skilled fighter, and this mirroring makes the story an introspective one.  Nanase’s quest to find a way to help Alkaid without by using her wits rather than a weapon is very different from most game-based graphic stories.

While this is a stand-alone story, there are plot hooks clearly intended to draw the reader into other .hack volumes.  Tokyopop rated it as age 13+ due to mild violence and “fanservice,” as some of the game characters display a bit of cleavage.  Younger readers wouldn’t appreciate the story, anyway.

--Nick Smith: Librarian Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.