Endrance in .hack//G.U. Returner at PopRot
Spoiler note: this guide discusses Endrance as they appear around .hack//G.U. Returner and the wider .hack//G.U. continuity.
Who is Endrance?
Endrance is a powerful Blade Brandier and Epitaph User whose cameo adds one of G.U.’s most memorable party members to the reunion. In Returner, the character functions less like a brand-new introduction and more like a continuity reward for viewers who already know the .hack//G.U. games or .hack//Roots.
Role in .hack//G.U. Returner
The OVA gathers familiar players at Δ Hidden Forbidden Festival after Ovan’s message pulls everyone toward a strange but celebratory in-game event. Endrance helps make the special feel like a reunion episode: short, nostalgic, and focused on letting the cast react to an AIDA oddity that is not simply another enemy to erase.
Personality and abilities
Class: Blade Brandier Real Name: Kaoru Ichinose Avatar: The Temptress, Macha A player with so much skill and power that he's considered superior even by the greatest players in The World. He is the Emperor of the Demon Palace in Lumina Cloth and has numerous fans. However, he's extremely cold and only ever shows emotion towards the cat he has on his shoulder. In real life he is a 20-year-old hikikomori and the former .hacker Elk. Endrance is obsessed with beauty. He sees the other players as nothing more than "ugly dolls" and treats them coldly. Though he is online almost constantly he never meets with other players, instead traveling through fields by himself. The only times he makes public
For PopRot readers, the key point is that Returner leans on already-established game roles: classes, Avatars, G.U. investigators, Twilight Brigade relationships, and Ovan’s long shadow over Haseo’s story.
Key things to know
- Appears in the single-episode .hack//G.U. Returner OVA.
- Connects the special back to the .hack//G.U. games and/or .hack//Roots.
- Best understood after the main G.U. story, because the OVA assumes viewers know why Ovan, Aina, Haseo, G.U., and AIDA matter.
Related PopRot links
- .hack//G.U. Returner at PopRot
- Episode 1: Returner
- Hidden Forbidden Festival arc
- AIDA Chim Chim and Avatars explained
Related PopRot Links
