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It’s not that often I can say this with anime, but I’ve truly never seen anything like what Hunter X Hunter is doing right now.
By my calculations something in the neighborhood of 20-25 seconds passed during the course of this episode. That means, in the last three, we’ve seen probably under two minutes of real-time covered if you don’t count the 60-year flashback in episode 111. I don’t think audacious even begins to cover this – it was audacious when Togashi tried it in the manga. For Koujina-sensei to adapt it in the same style for the anime is insane. And yet, somehow, it works.
I can easily see where this turn could be divisive among the fanbase. We’ve had copious amounts of narration and slowed time down almost to a stop. As a result of that there’s been very little in terms of the titanic clash we all know is coming, and we can go an entire episode (apart from a key few seconds at the end) without even seeing the characters who seemed most prominent at the end of the last one – The King, Komugi, Neferpitou, Netero and Zeno. And yet I don’t know that I would change anything, because this bizarre narrative device is really working – at least for me.
I think the most contentious part of all this is probably the narration – it’s certainly referenced often enough by fans of the manga. The reason this narration is so prevalent, I think, is because Togashi has twisted this story into a funhouse mirror of perspectives. We keep seeing the same moment – in truth, the same couple of seconds – play out in the minds’ eye of a large number of characters, and the narration provides what I see as a necessary anchor. Because of its presence rather than seeming repetitive or utterly chaotic, these perspective shifts are like planets orbiting around the narrator’s Sun. Effectively this part of the arc is an experiment – I suspect Togashi was conscious of the fact that he was in uncharted waters here, and fell back on the Narrator’s significant presence as a way to keep everything coherent.
A couple of things stand out for me in the situation on the ground. First, Killua could hardly have been proved more right by the way events have played out – you just can’t assume anything is going to go according to plan. Pretty much nothing has up to this point – but despite being the most adamant about expecting the unexpected, Killua still strays away from his own advice and wings it when he sees two soldier ants standing in Ikalgo’s planned path (it’s clear now what Ikalgo’s role in the plan is – or was). For Killua to actually leave Gon’s side at that moment was a bit shocking, even to Killua himself (having that moment play out in slow motion brilliantly conveys how surreal it feels to him), but it all ties back into the fact that Killua overthinks everything. When chaos breaks out I continue to believe Gon is the one who thinks most clearly, because he’s always sure of his purpose. Killua is always plagued by self-doubt, and it always intrudes when events force him to react in the moment.
Meanwhile Shoot seems to have been given a certain clarity of purpose himself by Gon’s display of clear-headed courage last week. Menthuthuyoupi has basically transformed into one of the Old Gods, and his massive attack destroys the main staircase and completely shuffles the deck. Shoot is badly injured, but never more sure of himself. Knuckle and Meleoron get in another attack on Youpi but his aura is so immense that Potclean has barely made a dent. Shoot’s fierce attack manages to buy time and get Morel his weapon back, allowing him to take the fight to Shaiapouf (more on him shortly). Cheethu and Brovada respond to the alarm that the two soldier ants raised before Killua eliminated them, and Welfin silently observes – aware that something isn’t right.
The battle has splintered into so many fronts now that I honestly feel that if Togashi had structured this traditionally it would be hopelessly confusing to keep track of. My suspicion is that Welfin’s nature – self-serving and secretive – will work to Ikalgo’s benefit here. Rather than act immediately on his (correct) suspicions, he’ll sit on the information and see how he can use it to his advantage. Meanwhile Togashi has deftly (once again) flipped expectations on their heads (poor Killua – nothing ever goes as planned for the boy who loves to be in control) by effectively taking Pitou out of the game and putting him on medical duty, and turning the drama queen Shaiapouf into the dangerous berserker. Pouf has, in a word, flipped out (OK, that was two). He’s consumed by self-loathing at having failed the King, he’s enraged at Komugi for having stolen the King’s attention, at the King for having allowed her to, and at himself for allowing his anger about it to cloud his judgment. I wouldn’t care to predict what Pouf will do now – as the Narrator tells us, Pouf’s emotions are both a source of great strength and great weakness (as he also said about Youpi’s magical origins).
Given all that, it seems to me that Morel is the best – or worst – possible opponent for Pouf at the moment. No one in the cast excels at head games the way Morel does, and he’s currently captured Pouf inside a prison of Deep Purple’s smoke. Pouf is desperate to get back to the King and has become completely unbalanced, and if Morel can survive the raw power Pouf’s anger and desperation will call up, his impatience will likely be Morel’s greatest weapon. But I don’t think that’s going to be easy, and if Togashi were a more conventional writer I might suspect that Morel and Shoot both raised death flags this week. The next moments are going to be key for Morel – the longer the fight with Pouf drags on, the more the balance should shift in Morel’s favor.
My favorite part of the episode, though, is the last minute-and-a-half (which depicts about five seconds of actual time). Gon has arrived (Killua has fallen behind as a result of his deviation from the plan, and whether he catches up to Gon in time is an open question) at the second-floor balcony from which he planned to jump to the third floor. But the “idiot” is as usual thinking with perfect clarity, and deduces from the location of Morel’s smoke cloud that his target isn’t on the third floor. The scene from here is nothing more than Gon’s face as he sees the King appear on the opposite balcony, and Netero’s when he too appears and notices Gon staring at him. No words (or narration) are needed – the two faces tell everything. Gon’s initial shock, Netero’s GAR smile as he gives Gon a thumb to tell him where Pitou is, and the pure rage that suffuses Gon’s eyes at that instant. That look in Gon’s eyes is what this arc has been building towards, and while it may be a while yet before we see him unleash it, the full measure of what Gon has become and the extent to which his feelings can fuel his power are about to be put to the test. It’s the ultimate shounen moment in a story that subverts every shounen trope in the book, but that’s the nature of Togashi’s genius.
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Simone
January 22, 2014 at 9:44 amThis episode was the first one where I felt like they could have changed something in the narration. The difference between manga and anime after all is that the latter has color schemes, animation, and sound/music as additional tools to communicate the emotions of a character at a given moment. In this sense, some of the narration could be made redundant, and more could be left to the viewer's understanding. Of course that would mean going from a narration heavy slo-mo episode to an almost silent slo-mo episode, so I can see how that might not work for everyone (it would for me though).
ishruns
January 22, 2014 at 9:50 amThe look Gon gives is one of the most angry, GAR and powerful in probably all of anime history. It just says so much. Not something a Kaji Yuuki character could do.
admin
January 22, 2014 at 10:44 amSorry Riliane – that's a bit more specific about upcoming eps than I'd like to get.
hgfdsahjkl
January 22, 2014 at 12:53 pmpouf's VA is awesome
admin
January 22, 2014 at 1:32 pmI'm not a fan of Hatano Wataru generally – mostly because he tends to be so monotonal and listless – but he is really good here. generally speaking the cast has been phenomenal pretty much from day one.
gedata
January 22, 2014 at 1:15 pm"By my calculations something in the neighborhood of 20-25 seconds passed during the course of this episode"
The manga's timer was at close 9 seconds near the end of the episode if I'm not mistaken
Korey
January 22, 2014 at 2:23 pmFinally caught up on HxH! Such a bittersweet achievement… now I have to wait that torturous week between episodes. u________u
Dying for some action, tho. As unique as these past couple episodes have been, all this build-up is driving me bonkers. xD
elianthos80
January 22, 2014 at 5:38 pmGon's face! Kil's face! Netero's face! Pouf's face (and the dance moves. The nuttiest and prettiest) ! Youpi's everything (I had a Parasyte moment there)! Also oh s**t Ikalgo that's an awful pinch.
…Hmm my neurons are a bit overwhelmed right now. What an episode. Ahah.
Still.Oh. My.Gon. And butterflies overload ( :,D ).
And yet I am having a hard time picturing Gon still fury battle-ready mode as soon as he's presented with Pitou healing Komugi. What that will trigger should be interesting to behold to say the least.
Togashiiiii D:
Gary Cochran
January 22, 2014 at 6:43 pmI wonder what happened to Palm?
pitchan
January 22, 2014 at 8:13 pmI was just going through Hunter x Hunter reviews, and I stumbled into your first impression for this series on google…wow you were almost ready to drop it in ep 3!!! Sure has come a long way :O
I like the past 2-3 eps, but man its all going so slow and is ending on cliffhangers! Can't wait though, to see what happens next :O
Simone
January 22, 2014 at 8:29 pm"It gets better" is one of the things I hate hearing the most (Sword Art Onlineeerggrghehhh), but boy isn't it true in HXH's case.
admin
January 22, 2014 at 11:23 pmEh… My ep 3 review was pretty glowing, actually, and the one where I said I'd pretty much decided to keep blogging H x H. I don't think 3 episodes is such a long time to figure that out.
LOLinflames
January 23, 2014 at 4:18 amjust read your 2nd and third episode review on this show and wow seeing the evolution of these posts is like watching the show itself evolve from its simple premise to what we see now
Stöt
January 22, 2014 at 8:14 pmThe episode was great and all, but when it replayed Killua's slow motion running towards the soldier ants, I just felt that it wasted precious seconds out of the shortest 24 minutes of my week.
l3reezer
January 23, 2014 at 2:28 amI have to admit, back in my high school days, being told by teachers that certain Shakespeare plays were masterpieces of dramatic and climactic tragedy build-up, I didn't really understand, mainly because of the rather dull over-arching narrative in all of them that was wholly off-putting to me. But these last few episodes of Hunter have made me appreciate proper, foundational exposition, and hey, it definitely has an amazing story to boot.
That being said, my patience has completely run thin with the people on the episode pages just writing these episodes off as trash just because they have concentrated narration and no action. Divisive among the fanbase, indeed, but I don't even know if you can call those people fans if they're just flat-out bagging on the smallest discrepancies that don't tailor to general interests.
admin
January 23, 2014 at 6:05 amI share your pain, but I just chalk it up to the fact that H x H is still definitionally a shounen. And as such, there will always be viewers who want to judge it by conventional standards. It hurts that so many who claim to like the series are (to me) missing the sheer genius of the way this arc is executed, but it is what it is – that's why art is subjective.
sonicsenryaku
January 23, 2014 at 7:47 amIn the defense of those who probably havent liked the last couple eps, I wouldnt say someone who is bagging on eps of a series they love is not a proper fan. You can be a fan and still dislike certain eps of a series that you love dearly…that seems very realistic to me versus fans who love every ep regardless of its quality.
Now obviously, the quality of HunterXhunter is still in rare form but people like what they like. There will be times where people will enjoy a slow-paced narrative style with lots of introspection and a genius lay-out and appreciate it but not everyone wants to see that and that's understandable. From i can tell, people love HunterXHunter for being an exceptionally well-written shounen with thought-provoking battles and a tightly-paced narrative. HunterXHunter has build-up, but that build up is paced so well, with the tension in each arc becoming that more heavy and intricate upon every plot progression, that when the shit hits the fan, you end up appreciating it that much more. It's that formula that togashi (and now Madhouse) weave so passively that makes HunterXHunter as appealing as it is.
But in these recent eps, the progression has sort of changed for our current scenario, and in a show that is airs weekly, you gotta give your audience a bank for their buck in terms of progression. So while i feel that these last eps have done things differently and has been received with mixed reception with the weekly fan base, maybe it might be easier to appreciate just what this last eps have done if someone perhaps marathoned the series. I feel like the fans are anticipating the big pay off and are losing patience because they gotta wait another week to get back to what they deem as HunterXHunter being in top-form. Most people watching this series look for on a weekly basis some sort of satissfying plot progression or a significant event and when that doesnt happen, they get discouraged, and that's understandable. But as already stated, art is truly subjective.
Unknown
January 23, 2014 at 5:51 amI think Pouf's problem is that his love for Meurem is that of a mother for her son.
melodic thoughts
January 23, 2014 at 3:16 pmi truly loved this episode but my excitement definitely died down a little from last week (last week's ep is too epic, really). I loved this narrative style, but i hope it will get a little faster-paced next episode. heavy narration can't really sustain for very long, in my opinion
noodles
January 24, 2014 at 4:20 pmyes yes yes that gif is finally going to be animated for real soon. i think.
whemleh
January 29, 2014 at 3:51 pmWow. Pouf is a Poof. Can't think of anything more substantial to say. Other than Gon gave me chills.