You know a show is kind of slow...

...when it makes the first disc of ".hack//SIGN" seem like "FLCL" in comparison.

I mean seriously, I'm at a loss for how I can explain what I, a fellow who usually finds Mashimo's slow-paced expositions "exquisite", see as being a stilted effort at best in these first 5 episodes of "Tsubasa Chronicle". .hack had a lot of "standing around and talking" (oh, so much talking), but here, it's a lot of "standing around" and, well, standing around! And when there is "talking", it's either somewhat-forced backstory, or rather inane quips that maybe seem a little redundant at times (particularly when it's pointing out something that white furball is doing).

The only exception is when there's an exchange with Sakura. She's the beacon of hope I'm clinging to in this show, because she's 1) adorable, and 2) the only one so far who's "alive". Which is ironic as she's spent most of the series totally comatose so far, but really, when her eyes are open, they're sparkling and engaging.

Syaoran is probably a distant second on the "life-o-meter", and that's only when he's interacting with (or watching, or thinking about) Sakura. When he's in every other situation, he's rather flat. Even when he's supposedly "intense" when squaring off against those so-called opponents (and some of the dumbest magical powers ev-ar), it really doesn't go anywhere. It comes across as "standing around". "Staring". And that's about it.

.hack at least had the advantage of not being quite so "kid's show" with its incessant talking and talking. Tsubasa's plot and dialogue is just aimed at a lower common denominator it seems, and it's suffering because of it. And I don't think that it's a translation issue, either.

I am going to see this one through, though. Something's got to happen one of these episodes!