Episode
41:
Gon's punch to Hisoka hurt his hand a little. In the manga it didn't.
Also a note on the soundtrack here: It felt very similar to a bunch of Madhouse's soundtrack like
Fanfare!,
The World of Adventurers,
Hunter yo Eien Nare!, or
Boys, Be Courageous!.
Episode
42:
Next problem, we have Machi coming to watch the match. Some may ask what's the problem, but her presence here makes a plothole for future events.
Here's an error. You can see the gap where the stone block that Gon used in the previous episode is right behind him. It wasn't like that in the previous episode. And there were those who outraged and called Madhouse names just because they forgot the hole Majitani made in episode 10 and yet, here we have similar errors. Those hypocrites!
The guy sitting next to the announcer wasn't like the one from the manga, but instead he was a guy wearing a Togashi avatar mask.
This moment was closer to the manga than the new version.
This moment was cool
Some minor differences here. Hisoka elbowed Gon with his right instead of the left, and he made two more strikes after the double smack on Gon's back.
A difference in the order of events here. In the manga, Gon circles around Hisoka for a bit before answering Hisoka's taunts. In the anime He taunts him first and then circles around Hisoka after he got the gum on his cheek.
We talked about this scene previously.
In the manga, we see the gum after Gon uses gyo. In the anime we see it beforehand.
After realizing the he got into a trap, Gon tries to yank the gum off by running. In the manga, Hisoka pulls him instantly. In the anime he also gives Gon not just one, but two punches.
Hisoka talks a bit about the atmosphere and how it was similar to the final exam. This scene was not in the manga.
Hisoka explains the gum to Gon. We talked about this scene previously as well.
This scene was not in the manga.
Gon's rush attack got extended a bit. Gon's monologue was before Hisoka's instead of after the attack like the manga. The animation and the effects like the sweat drops were superb. In my opinion, this was better than the new version.
When Hisoka tells Gon to look to the right, we see the rock hits his head from the back. In the manga we see from the front.
Hisoka's explanation for the trick was verbal only and wasn't like the manga.
Episode
43:
We see another error here. As we all remember, There were two block used in the fight and we did see two gaps, however in this episode we see one gap only.
Everything else has been covered in episodes 33 and 34 from the new version.
Episode
44:
Gon tries to ask Killua if he'd like to come to Whale Island with him in a bashful way like he feels ashamed of asking him. In the manga it was Killua who suggested the idea to gon.
As they leave we get to see one last look at the workers there, Killua does a prank on one of them. Nice touch (If we ignored to misused ren)
Until we get to... *sigh*... the elevator girl again...!! Just look at it... The same backgrounds, the same angles, the same poses, and even the girl's rage and the boys' bruised faces were recycled from previous episodes! Oh, and apparently she can use nen as well...! At least that's the end of this overused joke.
So overall, there were minor differences and doesn't affect that much (Except Machi and the change of events and the the final elevator scene), but for the fight itself, I say the old version did it better in the second part.