.hack//G.U. - Related Media

Related Media

As part of a larger multimedia franchise, the games have inspired a variety of subsequent novels, manga, and film. A anime TV series sett before the events of .hack//G.U. was produced by Bee Train under the title of .hack//Roots. The series depicts Haseo's first experiences playing The World. It lasted for twenty-six episodes that aired in Japan between April 5 and September 26, 2006. .hack//G.U.+ serves as a manga adaptation of the game's story. It was published in the .hack//G.U.: The World magazine starting in November 2005 with art by Yuzuka Morita and story by Tatsuya Hamazaki. It was collected in a total of five tankōbon volumes published by Kadokawa Shoten between June 26, 2006 and March 23, 2009. Tokyopop licensed the series for English publication in June 2007 and released all of its volumes, from February 12, 2008 to September 1, 2009. Lesley Smith from Newtype wrote ".hack//GU+ is yet another outlet for the story to shine combining a compelling mythology with the manga format."

A novel series written by Tatsuya Hamazaki and illustrated by Yuzuka Morita of the same name retells the story of the games with slight modifications, such as depicting Epitaphs as weapons instead of physical Avatars and a further exploration Haseo's background who gains a new armor. It is composed of a total of four volumes published by Kadokawa Shoten between April 1, 2007 and August 1, 2008. Tokyopop published the novels in North America between February 10, 2009 and April 26, 2011. Cyberconnect2 also produced .hack//G.U. Trilogy, a computer animated film adaptation of the games that takes numerous liberties with the story. The film was first screened in Japan in a Tokyo theater in December 2007. Bandai Visual later released it in DVD and Blu-ray format on March 25, 2008. In May 2011, Bandai Entertainment announced they licensed the film for an English release but only with Japanese audio accompanied by English subtitles on August 18, 2009. The games' sequel is .hack//Link, a manga series that takes place three years in the future with a new version of The World.