Notes
This review is based on plot, characterization, emotional elements, episode and animation quality, and creativity. Each category can get two, one, or zero points depending on the category getting a plus which meant it really helped make the media better, a pass meaning it was acceptable but not overly great, or a minus which meant the category did so poorly it actually hurt the overall media and possibly other categories. Let's get the review on.
WARNING possible spoilers WARNING
The plot here isn't as complex as perhaps the past series, and it doesn't take a video game series or research to fully understand, however the anime was also rather short. Like 12 or 13 episodes short. Marathoning it in a day and still have time for other things short. The plot starts out when two kids, brother and sister, win character models modeled after legendary heroes Kite and Black Rose (from the video game series previously mentioned). New to the world, these two main characters end up facing off against a glitched monster, which causes Shugo (dressed as Kite) to be defeated as the monster was higher level then what was suppose to appear. He is revived by Aura an AI in the game world, and was given a hacked item, the Twilight Bracelet. Able now to data drain the large monsters that can't seem to die, Shugo and Rena the siblings, are dragged into a troubled conflict as a young girl and a rouge AI try to experience and study true death in the virtual world.
While normally I try not to spoil things, the ending has to be discussed. The plot is simple for a short series which is fine, but the idea that a young child was researching actual death is a bit of crazy that could have developed into something a lot more, but was quickly dealt with at the same time. The way it was presented was awkward and didn't seem to fit with the theme of the entire series nor the seriousness of death itself. It is a flaw, but not a overly huge one by any means, and can be over looked in the right mindset, heck it could just be me who feels this way about the ending, but including it or ignoring it as a flaw, the plot was still short.
The only time the two main characters weren't making me feel awkward is when one of them "dies" or is put into a coma by being killed in the game world by a glitched monster. Her personality is revived by Aura in a similar fashion to some of what happened in the first series, but Shugo really fights as hard as he can to find her. Other then that, the characters remain pretty childish and none of them build as characters. There isn't really more I can say about it, they straight up don't build as characters, the only character that seems to build would be the Rogue A.I. and it doesn't even have a lot of time to do so. This is probably the worst part of the anime.
This is going to quickly become a touchy subject. The stigma of a brother and sister having some type of relationship outside of family is frowned upon a bit less in Japan then here, but that doesn't make the weird moments between Shugo and Rena any less awkward. There is more ecchi moments in the anime for sure, and there are times it is funny, and times it is kind of awkward and that isn't apart of the Shugo Rena thing. Still moments of tension and seriousness do occur, and there are some actual funny moments as well. The action is okay though not great, and there is a pretty sad moment for Shugo which was really well done. There is good and bad here.
The animation is pretty good in the anime, and all the episodes are animated really well. None of them are a waste of time really excluding one overly long scene in an episode (that would be one of the overly awkward scenes I mentioned above too) but outside of that the episodes are all worth the time of the viewer if they are invested in the plot or characters, or just invested in the World of the anime in general, as it continues where the games and previous series left off, and there are some characters from the previous series and games that make returns which is really cool, and seeing their story is a nice touch to help the quality of even some of the slower episodes, though they weren't needed to carry the episodes either.
There are a large amount of creative elements in the anime. What the data drain move does is seemingly random depending on the monster Shugo does the move too which is cool. The monsters all have different creative elements to them, and the Rouge A.I. and its unique monsters have such a good design in the finale. The settings of the anime are well designed as well, and just wonderfully animated, and character designs are pretty good.
Overall, this is a creative anime with great design and presentation as well as great episodes to add more to the lore of this virtual series, but outside of the great animation and beatiful creative monsters, armors, and set pieces, there isn't much to this anime. The plot is okay but nothing great story wise, the emotional pull goes from funny to awkward at random, and the characterization is almost none existent outside of the characters existing. Unfortunately if you are a fan of characters more then anything else, I'd avoid this anime. Most of the characters are one trick ponies, and the ones that do grow, are incredibly predictable, outside of the struggle Shugo has with not being able to find Rena. The plot is a bit better but goes quickly, and the emotional pull has as much issues as it does good points.
If you are a fan of the .Hack series, this isn't a bad anime, but it isn't great either, and outside of some appearances of characters from the past, the main thing you will find is an addition to the lore of the series itself, which is one of the nicer points of the anime. If you haven't seen anything involving .Hack before, and are not a fan of the full series, .Hack//Legend of the Twilight will not help convince you to spend anymore time on the series itself. Due to animation and creative elements, as well as a few good emotional moments and an acceptable story, this anime is better then average, but it may be hard to see for story driven or character driven anime fans.