Geez, I don't think I've posted here since Kite died (who apparently isn't really dead?) anyway, sorry about that guys, as an anime onlyh viewer I know my input to you guys is important but I guess I grew tired of saying how amazing this series is week after week. Regardless, since I'm posting now I might as well say what I thought about the Chimera Ant Arc.
You know, it's funny. Based on comments and input I saw from other people it seems as though alot of manga readers considered this one of the worst arcs but after the anime covered it they now consider it one of the best arcs while anime-only watchers considered this one of the best near the beginning and now consider it one of the worst. I guess it's an arc you appreciate with time, though I can see why many would argue its flaws. Another thing I found interesting was manga readers saying The Invasion was gonna be the fastest paced when it was adapted but actually was the most dragged out (Though, these were the same people commenting how long Greed Island was going to be when it was actually done in less episodes than Yorkcity, which in of itself is ironic because Greed Island is longer in the manga). The biggest problem I have with the Ant arc is the length. In both the anime and the manga the Ant Arc is basically as long as everything that has happened prior in Hunter x Hunter,
combined If this was the series finale It could and probably would be justified, but smacking this long ass arc mid-point in the series is just awkward, especially with so many of the series key players being left out (Kurapika, Leorio, Hisoka) but then again, I guess Togashi just has pacing issues (I mean, this is the guy who has a series, which is still amazing by the way, that has more than half of its content taken up by tournaments) *cough* Yu Yu Hakusho *cough* It's just awkward scrolling through the episodes and seeing a series that is still, for the most part, new and upcoming, still introducing its world, it's characters, and it's goals, suddenly have one arc that takes up half the show. I mean, how many arcs did we get before this? Hunter Exams, Zoldyck (if you want to even count that) Heavens Arena, Yorkcity, Greed Island, and then BAM. The monster. We're still getting into the groove of the series before we're hit with this monster of an arc imo. Disregarding the length though, that's where my complaints end for the most part. I heard the Ant Arc before it started was Hunter x Hunter "DBZ arc" and that it had lost its strategy, its adventure, it's complexity, and it's deconstruction of the shounen genre. Too this I say, "Come again??" This arc was basically the EMBODIMENT of everything HxH had built up and established prior to this arc. The Gon vs Knuckle fight and Killua vs Shoot? Are you gonna tell me that wasn't strategy? Meruem's development. Are you gonna tell me that wasn't complexity? Gons sick, twisted, and irrational development of a shounen "hero." Are you going to tell me that wasn't deconstruction? I just have no words for these people. Another thing I want to address is perhaps the most hated HxH character to appear thus far, Pouf. This is something I couldn't grasp. Whether it was online, or to people i knew in real life that watched the show, nobody was fond of Pouf and wanted him to die some sick, terrible death. Now, if I had to rank my favorite royal guards it would be Pitou, Pouf, Youpi, in that order. Not counting the King since I didn't really like his character. I loved his development, but his character felt bland to me, which is the same reason I rank Youpi last. Respect his judgement, but his character is bland. Now, why is Pouf your 2nd favorite royal guard you may ask? Why do you like him more than Youpi, and even *gasp* THE KING! Well, I loved Pouf because he was, well, an actual VILLAIN. Pitou came in touch with her (yes, I'm calling her a her. Idc what the manga says, in the anime she is a GIRL, and since I'm an anime only watcher. SHE'S A GIRL!!) human side. Youpi came in touch with his human side. And even Meruem came in touch with his human side. Pouf was the only one who stayed loyal to his roots and never faltered the entire arc and stayed a true ant. People want to say that Pouf was an ass and didn't care about the king and only cared about himself. No. It's precisely BECAUSE he cared about the king that he went to such extreme measures. This is the leader of his race we're talking about. Pouf is an ANT. Meruem is an ANT. If Meruem caved into his human side and disowned his Ant side, what's that say about the rest of the Ant race? That's basically a slap in the face for their whole existence and reason for living. It's like, why should we exist if humans are clearly the dominate species? Also, Pouf reminded me of Light, who is one of my all time favorite anime characters. Pouf was calculating, charismatic, evil, and ruthless. I honestly don't see how anyone can hate him when he's doing his job. Another thing I should probably address is what people call "The Ass-pulls" aka,The Rose and Beast Mode Gon. Now, Gon. I can see why people would call it an asspull. One-shotting Pitou who killed Kite. Transforming out of nowhere to someone whose as strong as the King. Proving once again dat MAH ANGER can get you out of any situation in anime. Well, it's not an asspull. I can say it's not an asspull cause I'm deep into HxH, conversing with people on forums, on social media, and reading reviews from the hardest of hardcore Hunter fans. Therefore, I realize where this power came from. If you're just watching HxH straight thru and don't understand these concepts I can see why you'd be like "Wtf?" Hell, if I didn't research all I've researched I'd probably be like "Wtf?" so I guess only people who analysis this series to an insane degree would get it, but you have to understand....remember when Kurapika made a nen contract and basically gave up his ability to use OP attacks on anyone but the Phantom Troupe? (Well, most notably Chain Jail) and if he broke that rule he'd die? That's putting your life on the line to trap a hand full of people in a world that consists of millions. Of course the pay off would be great. That's how he was OP against them. How often have we seen Kurapika square up against non Phantom Troupe members since he's learned nen? Not often, have we? If at all. He took a shortcut. And was willing to pay the price. There's a right way to do things, and there's a wrong way to do things. There's a hard way to do things, and there's an easy way to do things. The hard way, is...well hard, and could very well take many years, but the incoming results are phenomenal and permanent. While the easy way, is...well easy, but at the end of the day the only person you're hurting it yourself and your wasting potential to get a moments relief. I'm speaking about both the real world, and Hunter x Hunter. Nen Contracts are a thing people. They've existed. And they're basically giving you the option to take the easy way out, if you so choose, but not without equivalent exchange (FMA anyone?) Gon basically sacrificed his ability to use nen...all his potential, everything he is, and everything he could become (Think DBZ Unlock Potential with Guru and Krillian, or Elder Kai and Gohan) AND sacrificed part of his life force. All in that VERY MOMENT for that power. He took the condition Kurapika made of death, and timed it by 6. When Gon said "I don't care anymore" he meant it. and thus...that monster was born. This may even be a bigger shocker, but I'm not that fond of Killua. My favs are 1) Gon. 2) Kurapika. 3) Leorio. 4) Killua. I will say, however, that Killua's development and closeness to Gon was amazing. Too see his only friend, his first friend, his
best friend, the friend who pulled him out of his shadows and accept him for who he is, enter a dark place like that. Seeing his mind desolve into insanity, and seeing his friend go through the same physiological torture that he had experienced all his life, and being able to do nothing about it, while simultaneously being the only person to notice that this isn't his happy go lucky friend must have been crushing. That bond being shattered was probably even more dramatic, if not as dramatic, and Naruto losing his one friend, having grown up alone and bonding with someone who had lost every bond he managed to create in his short life in one night. Gon telling Killua he didn't care about him or Kite...that was probably the worst most conflicting thing Gon could have said to Killua. Anyway, on the whole Rose matter, that wasn't a asspull either. They explained the rose for a reason, and when The King came back, stronger than ever, I honestly had no idea who would beat him, but then I remembered this is Hunter x Hunter and it screams "ANTI-CLIMATIC!" seriously, for those of you who expected some big flashy fight ending, after 75 episodes of Non Ant Arc Hunter, how could you expect any different?
Hunter Exams, the main character was unconscious, Killua killed someone, and everybody automatically passed on the spot. "Here's your Hunter licenses, now GTFO"
Zoldyck Arc "Oh, Hey Killua!! Just the guy we were searching for! Lets leave this place with no type of struggle what so ever. Go right through the front doors!".
Heavens Arena *POW* "Got you Hisoka! Damn, I lost. Oh well, f*ck the floor masters, f*ck the money, f*ck everything. Onto our next adventure!"
Yorknew City "Naaah, we're not going to solve this with some big flashy fight. Lets NEGOTIATE!" Even
Greed Island which arguably had the most climatic ending was basically Gon and company shortcutting by taking all the cards GENTHRU and company had acquired and claiming them as their own. So if you were expecting anything else from the Ant Arc ending, tough balls. We got something so much more deep and meaningful. Overall, if I had to rank my favorite Hunter arcs it would be Yorknew City > Chimera Ants > Hunter Exams > Greed Island > Zoldyck > Heavens Arena. But, yeah. Even though it was long, the Ant Arc was still a great story, and a welcome addition to Hunter x Hunter.
Now, about the newest episode. I felt weird getting more feels from the Reina reunion than Killua grieving over Gon but i guess that was just me. At first I thought Colt had kidnapped some random girl and was calling her Reina because he thought that was his sister (since she looked like her) but after reading around I realized that was the baby fetus Colt had pulled from the Queen. (Man, they grew up fast) and yeah, if that is Kite why didn't Madhouse give her White hair to match his White hair when he was human. Also, Kite seems alittle hyper from the mellow, calm cool collected Kite we know. Good lord...that ending though. GING!!!!! As much as I just went over how I like the Ant arc, I haven't been this hyped for a new episode of Hunter x Hunter in a long, l
ooooooong time. A new arc after more than a year? And it's brightly colored? HELL YES. I was re-watching some of the Hunter Exams and found I enjoyed it alot more simply because it was a change of pace from the edgy dark stuff I got in the Ant arc week, after week, after week, after week. This introduction to characters we haven't seen in a long time, and cast of colorful characters all sitting around each other conversing just got me so hyped and idk why. Also, I've heard good things about this Pariston Hill guy and I can't wait to see what kind of character he is.
btw, was I the only one confused about the Zoldiacs? When they first said Zoldiacs at the end of the episode I thought they were referring to the Zoldycks and I was like "This isn't Killua's family...maybe this is another branch to their family" then when I saw Ging I was like "Ohhh, maybe these guys are the guys the Zoldiacs summoned to be apart of this election" Regardless, I didn't understand that the Zoldiacs were something completely different from the Zoldycks. Have they ever been mentioned in the story prior to this? Kinda seemed random. Please use more diverse names if we're going to do this Togashi.
Last comment: How much you wanna be the New Opening (aka, Departure Version 1) is going to be the best Opening (scene and animation wise) we've gotten in the series thus far? Idk why, but I just feel like MADHOUSE if really going to outdo themselves this time with the scenes they choose to put in this new "YOU CAN SMILEEEEEE AGAIN" after having "YOU CAN TRYYYYYY AGAINNNN" for so long. (It's also pretty funny that Departure Version 2 has been used in the series more than Version 1 at this point)
Also, incoming ANOTHER f*cking Yuzu song -__- He was okay for Ending 3 and Ending 5, but they REALLY didn't need for him to do a cover of Ending 4. I would have preferred them used the original female singer for Ending 4. Quite frankly, I'm tired of Yuzu. Out of the 5 endings we've had, 3 of them have been Yuzu. And how much you wanna bet Ending 6 is going to be Yuzu too? Either MADHOUSE is dick riding Yuzu, or Yuzu is being selfish and hogging HxH because he likes being the singer for the series. Regardless, kinda tired of him.
But anyway, yeah, that's what I have to say about the arc and the episode etc. Hopefully this post will make up for not reviewing/commenting on the episodes in so long
Can't wait for next week. I am curious to see the new visuals of Departure considering how different this arc is compared to what we were used to. They can't show Gon and Killua running happily again, right?
