“Killua x and x Hisoka”

I thought long and hard about how I ought to go about commemorating the incredible three years of anime that Hunter X Hunter has given the world.  I knew I had to do something special for the occasion, because there’s been nothing in my blogging career quite like the relationship this site has built with this series.  The question was, what should that something special be?

The most obvious choice was a Top 10 Episodes list, and that idea is part of what I finally settled on.  Maybe that was too obvious – I think most of what ended up on that list would have been unsurprising to those who’ve been following my posts on H x H.  There were some very interesting ideas posted in the comments section – the problem being most of them were completely unrealistic in terms of the commitment in time they’d have required.

In the end, I settled on what I’m calling “Memories x and x Milestones”.  It’s not a collection of episodes, but of watershed moments in the history of the Madhouse adaptation.  Obviously these are associated with an episode or episodes, but they aren’t necessarily my favorite eps – rather, a collection of events and introductions that prove especially memorable and/or crucial to the story, and my brief musings on why I think that is.

I didn’t start out with a set number in mind – I went through every post and let the memories come flooding back, and singled out what I thought was especially noteworthy.  Just as obviously I could have easily chosen a ridiculous number – a hundred, you name it.  Hell, there were stretches of “Chimera Ant” where every episode could have made the cut.  So yes, this collection is a somewhat arbitrary group, and makes no claims to be authoritative – it merely reflects one viewer’s thoughts and feelings in looking back on the greatest shounen manga adaptation in history.

With that, the first snapshot I chose is Episode 3.  Looking back on my viewpoint at the time, it was the first episode where I really felt the stirrings of something special in Hunter X Hunter.  Most importantly in terms of the series, it was the introduction of two characters who would change the dynamic of the story completely – Hisoka and Killua (this was indeed the week of the Transmuter).  Each of them made an immediate impression, especially Hisoka – who by starting to build his body count in his very first appearance made it absolutely clear that we were in for a darker ride than it might have appeared after the first two episodes.

Killua’s immediate impact was subtler, but even absent a detailed knowledge of the story it was clear he was destined to play an indispensable role – he seemed very much the “photo-negative of Gon” in so many ways, right off the bat.  How little did I know then about just how deep and profound their relationship would turn out to be…