Recovery History
Initial Research
The search for the missing Comptiq next-issue teaser began, and its page number was identified.
Lost Ground Entry Published
Artifact Sourced
A reader reached out after seeing the Lost Ground entry, confirming that they owned the magazine containing the missing page. The images were sent two days later.
Artifact Preserved
The recovered pages have been documented and added to Data Flag.
Research Notes
The Next Issue section spanned two pages, with the teaser appearing on the left-hand page, numbered 533.
Published in the November 2001 issue of Monthly Shonen Ace, this teaser announced an upcoming project that would later become known as .hack. As far as currently known, it represents the earliest public teaser associated with the franchise.
The page itself has not yet been recovered, leaving the wording and imagery used to introduce the project unknown.
On October 5, 2001, CyberConnect2 published an announcement on its official website.
In that announcement, the studio directly referenced the teaser:
Everyone... have you noticed...?
In the Next Issue preview section of the "November issue of Monthly Shonen Ace"...
There was a small teaser for a brand-new project... A huge new project!!
Sources
- The teaser's existence is confirmed by CyberConnect2's official announcement, viewable in or .
- Its placement on page 532 is confirmed by the of the November 2001 issue.
- The issue is identified by its .
- The release date is verified by the official Kadokawa product page.