Hunter X Hunter 2011 – 17

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It seems pretty fitting that the “Hunter Vocabulary” this week was “too bad”, because that seems to be the mantra of anyone who crosses Killua’s path.

There was really no way this episode was going to live up to the colossal blockbuster that was  episode 16, and it didn’t really try.  There was considerable buildup to Killua’s quest for six points, as he’s been almost entirely unheard from during the entire trial, but in the end the only real surprise is that he managed to get his tag without killing anyone.  His target’s tag and two extras, in fact, as his target is one of three “brothers” who’s been stalking him, waiting for him to slip up (that’ll be a long wait).  The fact that no one died is partly due to Killua’s slightly out-of-character restraint, and due to the fact that the leader of the trio, #199, was smart enough to see when he was beaten and give up his tag without a fight.  Killua even took the trouble of deceiving the candidate who’d been trailing #197, the youngest of the brothers and the one stalking him, by getting him to chase after the one wrong of Killua’s “extra” tags.

Killua and Hisoka seem to be the most unbeatable figures in this contest, and aside from each other Gon appears to be the only one strong enough to cause either a problem (I don’t know about that “Gittrackur” guy though…) so there was never likely to be much drama surrounding Killua this time.  No, the focus quickly shifted to Leorio and Kurapika.  As you recall Kurapika already had his six points even with the “blood money” tags he gave to Hisoka, but Leorio is still sitting on three.  Kurapika is nothing if not loyal, following through on his pledge to help Leorio, but for four days they have no luck finding his target (or anyone else) until Gon drops in.

This was a quietly important ep for Gon, I think, in that we left him in a pretty bad place last time.  He’s sporting a nasty bruise on his cheek and no doubt some serious mental ones, too, but the point of is appearance, I think, is to show that he’s fundamentally unchanged.  He did his pouting and his stewing in the tree, but he’s still willing to go to bat for his friends and still possesses abilities that no one else in the group has.  He’s man enough to stop feeling sorry for himself and deal with reality, though he’s physically just a kid.  In short, he’s over it – though no doubt still nursing a grudge of galactic proportions – and he uses his super-smell to help Leorio track down his target, the young woman Ponzu who uses chemical weapons as her preferred method of attack.  Gon finds her in a small cave, where Leorio insists he go in alone and that the others not help him – a condition which they both flatly refuse.

This has to be awfully hard for Leorio.  He’s working with three kids, two of them preteens, and they’re all running rings around him.  Frankly he wouldn’t be alive without their help, and it doesn’t look like he’d have any chance to get six points without them either.  By the time they eventually follow him into the cave, Leorio is already in deep trouble, having been bitten numerous times by poisonous vipers belonging to Bourbon, the snake charmer – who’d apparently set up the cave as a trap and caught Ponzu in the process.  I’m not sure just what to make of this scenario, especially when Ponzu says Bourbon is dead and she’s just as trapped as they are.  I can only think that she was lured in by Bourbon and killed him using one of her own chemical weapons – not realizing that he’d made it impossible for her to leave without his calling off the snakes.

Things couldn’t look much worse for Leorio.  Not only is he riddled with venom – even after Gon tried to suck out the poison – but he can’t leave the cave to seek help, much less try and pass the test.  For that matter, if Kurapika and Gon can’t escape they can’t present their tags, either.  Gon being a sort of beastmaster himself would seem to be the most likely to be able to deal with the snakes – he’s already shown himself abnormally resistant to Geretta’s toxin too – but if anything, the dramatics of the scenario seem to be demanding that Leorio do something to redeem himself.  He’s been pretty much a useless appendage to this point and if he can only pass on the charity of the kids, he’ll be nursing a grudge as big as the one Gon is nursing against Hisoka.

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Guardian Enzo

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32 comments

  1. l
    leokiko
    January 29, 2012 at 11:12 am
    Reply

    Not much to say in this week's episode, huh. Great post as always Enzo, looking foward to the next episode.

  2. A
    Anonymous
    January 29, 2012 at 1:53 pm
    Reply

    they ruined hanzo.

  3. A
    Anonymous
    January 29, 2012 at 2:03 pm
    Reply

    Good Post, i really like your Hunter x Hunter Review, just a mistake, Kurapika is not a Kid, he is 17.

  4. admin
    January 29, 2012 at 5:48 pm
    Reply

    Compared to Leorio, 17 is a kid. And generally speaking, many people would consider 117 still a kid.

  5. A
    Anonymous
    January 29, 2012 at 7:13 pm
    Reply

    But Leorio is also in his teens, probably 17 too. Didn't he mention that in the first phase?

  6. admin
    January 29, 2012 at 9:43 pm
    Reply

    Leorio is 19, actually (though damn, he sure looks older).

  7. A
    Anonymous
    January 30, 2012 at 3:20 am
    Reply

    Kurapika is close, just 1 year, to be an adult, he have just 2 years of differnce between Leorio.

    Kurapika is a Teenager not a Kid.

  8. c
    cacciato
    January 29, 2012 at 2:16 pm
    Reply

    I'm curious, why do you think Killua showing restraint was out of character? He had the same actions as in the manga. I think that the methods he used goes in line with his previous profession, and also serves to differentiate him Hisoka.
    Still though, after recently watching Gon and Leorio struggle so hard to acquire their tags, the ease with which Killua got his and sent not 3 but 4 applicants off track is amazing. You can tell that even now, he still finds the Hunter Exam pretty boring. It's a good thing he's on Gon's side, else the exam might have gone very differently.

  9. admin
    January 29, 2012 at 5:53 pm
    Reply

    Well listen, this is a kid who killed somebody basically just for bumping into him in the hallway, so he clearly has no aversion to killing. True, he got what he wanted – but let me put it this way, it certainly wouldn't have seemed out of character to me if he'd killed the first guy and said, "Now – do you want to give me those tags, or shall I continue?"

  10. u
    usasoldiern
    May 11, 2014 at 3:43 am
    Reply

    I hope you don't mind me posting this two years later, but I'm re-watching the series and am only just now reading your early posts.

    Anyway, on the airship Killua was simply pissed off because he had been made to look bad by Netero and was just frustrated. Those guys bumped into him and he took out his anger in the most violent way possible. Here, the brothers were lucky to meet him while he is in a pretty good mood.

  11. l
    leokiko
    January 29, 2012 at 2:57 pm
    Reply

    Killua is holding off because of Gon, that's the main reason.

  12. A
    Anonymous
    January 29, 2012 at 8:03 pm
    Reply

    This is incorrect. Think of all of the times in which Killua has killed thus far. The first time was out of frustration. The second time, necessity and the rules of the match. You're supposed to wonder why Killua held back at this point. Look at his demeanor throughout the scene with these guys. Killua doesn't take them seriously. The rules for when Killua does and doesn't kill still are unclear, at this point.

  13. l
    leokiko
    January 30, 2012 at 2:52 am
    Reply

    He is not bored when around Gon. He might still have the urge to kill because of excitement(after losing to Neteru, he killed some guys) but it's much less when with Gon.

  14. A
    Anonymous
    January 31, 2012 at 7:10 pm
    Reply

    hmmm i never really thought that his restraint was out of character… rather, i think he just does what he pleases, and atm, he doesnt feel like killing them, probably cause it would be boring to do so.

  15. admin
    January 31, 2012 at 8:33 pm
    Reply

    In any case, as an anime-only viewer you have to guess about Killua's behavior a little – we just don't know enough to say for sure.

  16. A
    Anonymous
    January 31, 2012 at 9:00 pm
    Reply

    Well said. Killua's actions are still unclear at this point. But we'll know soon enough. ^^

  17. A
    Anonymous
    January 29, 2012 at 4:55 pm
    Reply

    Here we go again with the 1999 version. Hahaha. But in the 1999 version, they showed how Gon went trough the process of recovering from his encounter with Hisoka. He was sulking for the past 3 days before he met with Leorio. He didn't even bother getting the badge while he was under the tree. He only took it on the third day. There was a flashback with Aunt Mito too.

    Gon also thought that time that he was weak and Hisoka only took pity on him and he couldn't do anything without his somebody's help. That's why he was so eager to help Leorio.

    But I like the 2011 version better. Just wished they showed a few parts were Gon was sulking and regaining his composure. But maybe there's gonna be a flashback next episode about this.

  18. admin
    January 29, 2012 at 5:50 pm
    Reply

    But you know, that's exactly the impression I got about what Gon had been up to, and what he was thinking. I like the fact that they didn't feel the need to spell it out, but trusted the audience.

  19. A
    Anonymous
    January 29, 2012 at 8:06 pm
    Reply

    Actually, Gon doesn't outwardly sulk. One of the largest differences in the characterization of Gon is that he's introverted in the manga/2011 series but an extrovert in the 1999 series. Those scenes showcasing his pain are well directed, but somewhat unlike him.

    The difference between this and the 1999 series is that Gon isn't sad about the encounter or afraid of Hisoka in the manga/2011 series. The encounter makes him a more angry person.

  20. admin
    January 29, 2012 at 9:42 pm
    Reply

    TBH, I think he does sulk a little bit there – it's an angry sulk, but still a sulk. And I think that's OK – he earned it.

  21. M
    Mira
    January 30, 2012 at 11:19 am
    Reply

    Both Gon and Killua showed different sides of their characters here. Killua's actions were surprising because he could've killed those three brothers and still get the tags. But he didn't, and even gave them a chance to retrieve their tags. I think it comes from seeing how well the brothers got along even though they were bullying the youngest one. So while he /was/ toying with them, I think the brothers unexpectedly gained his respect? I also liked that he felt Hanzo's presence, no ordinary kid all right.

    Gon definitely showed something interesting here, the first thing he does is find Kurapika and Leorio, not Killua. I think after being beaten to the ground by Hisoka and Gereta, he needed something to make himself feel useful again.

    The subtleties in this shounen is really refreshing!

  22. admin
    January 30, 2012 at 5:08 pm
    Reply

    The only thing I'd question, Mira – did Gon find them, or did they happen to stumble upon him?

  23. A
    Anonymous
    January 30, 2012 at 7:17 pm
    Reply

    Gon didn't look for them. He just happen to see them near the shore. But I think Gon was expecting that to happen. Since he eagerly wants to help his friends as a sort of remedy to what just happened to him. The line, "That's why I'm here" or "That's what I'm good at" was a giveaway. In the 1999 version, Kurapica sorta noticed what Gon meant by those words.

  24. M
    Mira
    January 30, 2012 at 9:21 pm
    Reply

    Slightly spoilerish but in the manga, Gon admits to Kurapika that he /was/ looking for Kurapika and Leorio because he was feeling bad about himself. So he needed to be with someone. It might have been by chance that these guys actually met by the shore but yes– Gon was searching for both.

  25. A
    Anonymous
    January 31, 2012 at 11:43 am
    Reply

    Oh I see. I haven't read the manga yet. But I'm planning to do so now. But I won't read pass the 2011 version. I'm also re-watching the 1999 version along side the 2011. I'd like to compare the 3.

  26. T
    Tai
    January 30, 2012 at 6:51 pm
    Reply

    Ah…I could have sworn I posted a comment yesterday, oh well.

    But finally they got to the Bourbon snake trap episode. I always liked this part of the 4th exam. In the previous version, Gon went to find Kurapika and Leorio because he thought by helping them out he can redeem himself from the Hisoka incident. It was more revealing in the 1999 version how Hisoka affected Gon (the whole recovering episode and all), but the 2011/manga version definitely displays it better in my opinion.

    I won't mention about the whole Killua part since everyone else already mentioned what I would have said XD but regarding Leorio and being dependent on everyone, yes he like that in the beginning but later on you can see how capable he is on his own.

  27. A
    Anonymous
    January 30, 2012 at 7:21 pm
    Reply

    I think you posted as an Anon in your previous post. The one with the "outwardly sulk".

  28. T
    Tai
    January 30, 2012 at 8:40 pm
    Reply

    Nope, that wasn't me XD my internet connection must have been acting up the other day, it happens at times.

  29. A
    Anonymous
    January 31, 2012 at 9:10 pm
    Reply

    am i the only one who thinks 1999 version was the best !!? the part where Gon went trough the process of recovering from his encounter with Hisoka in the old version made me cry at that time specially with the awesome amazing sound track , this new version has awful music and no sad scenecs makes the anime wierd for me .

  30. A
    Anonymous
    February 1, 2012 at 11:50 am
    Reply

    You're right about the music. The 1999 version really brings out the emotion through it's soundtrack. Although both versions has it's points. It would be better if you would treat the 2011 version as a new anime and just enjoy it. I like the 1999 version but the 2011 version is not bad. I'm actually enjoying it. I think it's not weird, it's just straightforward.

  31. A
    Anonymous
    February 1, 2012 at 12:42 pm
    Reply

    Woah! Spoilers! hahaha. But then again it's all expected. Yeah, I'm also expecting all the fight scenes. I also hate those still pictures like in Fairy Tail. They make the fight scenes look crap. But 2011 version of HxH has less of those. I can only remember the still picture in ep 1 were Gon fell off the ship. Hopefully there won't be any of those in the upcoming battles. I know it's a way of cutting the budget but seriously! 😐

  32. admin
    February 1, 2012 at 4:40 pm
    Reply

    Sorry, too many manga spoilers in that one.

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