.hack//Legend of the Twilight
.hack//Legend of the Twilight is a short manga series and its anime adaptation that follows the adventures of Shugo and Rena, a pair of twins who have won two limited edition clone accounts of the heroes Kite and BlackRose from .hack//IMOQ and, like their predecessors, find themselves sinking into the vast mysteries of The World alongside a werewolf, a happy-go-lucky treasure hunter, and a mysterious Rogue AI girl named Zefie.
However, unlike most of the other .hack titles, it remains fairly lighthearted throughout the series and focuses more on the game itself rather than the circumstances that led to the playing of the game, spending less time probing the effects of loneliness on the human psyche and more time crawling through dungeons and having fun with events. In other words, it's a lot like playing an MMO with some of your best friends.
Canonically it is currently the last story set in The World R:1, taking place in 2014.
For those seeking to complete their .hack//LoTT experience, you'll have to read both the manga (the canonical version of the story) and view the anime due to significant plot differences.
- Beach Episode: Initially played straight in chapter seven, but quickly subverted as Mireille and Ouka drag the rest of the cast along to do a Special Event.
- Bowdlerisation: The punchline of one 4Koma has Hotaru saying "I have them / they're attached", which some readers interpreted as a reference to having testicles. The English version quietly changes this line to "I'm very lucky".
- Brother-Sister Incest: Implied Twincest between Shugo and Rena in the anime version such that the series has arguably become infamously immortalized because of it.
- Costume Inertia: The series somehow manages a Beach Episode that subverts this, where Shugo suddenly realizes that Ouka, being a Cool Big Sis, should naturally appear in the slinkiest swimsuit of any of the girls — until she shows up in wolf shape (which, granted, means she's technically naked).
- Flower From the Mountaintop: Hotaru asks Shugo help her get a Pfenix Feather from a high-level Cerberus to save a sick baby grunty, even though they are both at very low levels. She goes with him, and they get the feather in time to heal it.
- Gecko Ending: The anime follows the manga up until episode 6, but then creates its own storyline afterward since the manga was still being written.
- Overtook the Manga: See Gecko Ending above.
- "On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase: Each preview with "I have special event information".
- Real Money Trade: Hotaru doesn't have any gold, so she considers paying real money in return for medicine for the Team Pet. Shugo quickly talks her out of it. It turned out that the "gold farmer" she was speaking to was an admin in disguise, who was actually manipulating them into rejecting the offer and instead going to fight the ridiculously high-leveled monster in the field that had the medicine.
- Running Gag: Shugo would sooner or later get one of his front teeth knocked out because of some Amusing Injury for most of the episodes.
- Sexophone: Ouka's themesong is called "You Want To Have Me As Your Pet, Don't You...
- Shiritori: Shugo plays this with Zefie. You cannot beat someone who can instantly look up every word that exists.
- Solomon Divorce: In the anime, Shugo & Rena seem completely unable to meet outside of The World.
- Team Shot: The manga has a page at the end called "Unplugged", showing the players behind the characters standing in a pose like this, including both the antagonists and protagonists. This is also the first time any of their true appearances are shown.
- Unusual Ears: An event prize is a set of Moe Moe fetish items, including cat ears; Shugo begins to idolize the programmer, while the girls are mortified.