 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
I’m beginning to think my request to Nanika would be “Make Hunter X Hunter go on forever.”
Author’s Note: Please be very careful to avoid divulging any information about upcoming events from the manga. When in doubt, don’t post it, even if it’s remotely possible to view it as a minor spoiler. Thanks for your cooperation.
This isn’t getting any easier, I can promise you. When you find yourself tearing up during the opening credits, that’s a bad sign – and the next two weeks are going to be pretty rocky. It’s just hard to accept that this series is really ending, not just because three years is an enormously long time to bond with any set of fictional characters, but because Hunter X Hunter is so unique in anime. There just aren’t shows that do what it’s done for this long – it simply doesn’t happen. I know Madhouse is going to give H x H the sendoff it deserves because they’ve done pretty much everything brilliantly with this series, but that’s not going to make the moment any easier.
I can say with certainty that Hunter X Hunter continues to defy expectations right up to the end, which is fitting because Togashi is at heart a troll, and that’s why he writes great troll characters. Last week’s preview was a bit of a misdirection, because I certainly didn’t expect Gon’s tears to be accompanied by “Because of me, Kaitou turned into a little girl!” I could see where the reunion between father and son would be anti-climactic for some, because it certainly didn’t follow the conventional path. But since when do we wish Hunter X Hunter would follow the conventional path?
In reflecting back on that scene, it strikes me that Gon’s reunion with Leorio was much more like a father-son reunion – which is fitting, because Leorio (among others) is much more like a father to Gon than Ging is. Gon doesn’t call Ging “Dad”, and that’s as it should be – Ging isn’t his father in anything but the biological sense. And their reunion was much more reflective of the image of Ging that Gon had built up in his mind than any traditional paternal role – Gon was upset that he’d let Ging down by causing Kaitou to die, by not being strong enough. If he was upset because his father had avoided him for his entire life and never even visited him in the hospital, he didn’t betray it – but one suspects there was a whisper of that in Gon’s tears.
Let the record show, my heart is with the assembled Hunters who called Ging out for the douchebag of a dad he is, and it galled me to see Gon apologizing to Ging when it should have been the other way around. But the funny thing is, for all that their relationship is bizarre you can still see that they’re father and son in the way each of them is discomfited and unsettled by being in each other’s presence – no matter how much both of them try to pretend their biological relationship doesn’t matter, it does.
Togashi defuses the tension of the moment with a lot of humor, and keeps the focus on Ging’s command to Gon about how to apologize to a friend (and it’s not Kaitou with whom we’re going to see it most powerfully followed – Gon is fully aware that he has unfinished business with his most important friend) but the fact is, Ging was already planning on escaping before Gon could return from the errand he was sending him on and it was only the angered intervention of the other Hunters that momentarily at least caused him to relent. The most heartbreaking part of all this to me is the way Gon reveals just how much of a child he still is, his eagerness when he tentatively asks if he might speak more with Ging after he gets back – as if that were some onerous request. It’s very good that Gon has the friends he does, because I don’t think his relationship with his father is ever going to be emotionally rewarding, and Ging certainly isn’t going to be a mentor to see his son through into adulthood.
Once again Togashi ties in Gon’s drama with that of the election, which is still foremost on the minds of Pariston and Cheadle. Cheadle sees opportunity here, to try and exploit Gon’s adorableness and popularity to create an emotional groundswell for Leorio – but as usual Pariston is many steps ahead of her. He intercedes and effectively asks Gon to be the one to choose the next Chairman, recognizing both that in the heat of the moment his choice will sway the voters and that he’s likely to choose Pariston. He tells Gon Netero is on an “extended vacation” (I’m surprised he didn’t say “gone to a farm in the country to play with other Hunters”) – an obvious lie Cheadle might have stepped in and corrected but didn’t. Maybe it’s better that Gon doesn’t have the guilt of Netero’s death to deal with on top of everything else just at this moment, but the truth is still going to hit him hard when he hears it.
It’s not a surprise when Gon chooses Pariston – he’s shocked even to hear that Leorio is running, and Leorio (truthfully) denies any interest in being Chairman. Gon’s reasoning is perfectly Gon – that’s not Leorio’s dream, and it’s more important that he follow it than become Chairman. And it’s no surprise that afterwards, the vote is lopsided for Pariston (72.1%). What Pariston does next is a surprise on some level – hell, even Ging admits he didn’t see it coming – but in a sense, perfectly in-character. He appoints Cheadle (not Mizaistom, who he’d earlier touted as the best candidate when it suited his manipulations) as his Vice-chairman, then resigns. The master manipulator, a troll to the end. In the final analysis, Pariston really did have no interest in dealing with the headache of being Chairman, just as Ging said – he just wanted to manipulate the process and have a good time.
If you look at the “Election” arc as a story of manipulators in Pariston and Illumi, this seems to be the difference – with Illumi, the manipulation is directed towards the goal of gathering as much power as possible. With Pariston conventional power is irrelevant – the power he enjoys is the ability to mess with people, to pull their strings for its own sake. There doesn’t have to be a reason for it. It’s clear there was an understanding between he and Netero on a very deep level – that the two of them are more alike than those like Cheadle would care to admit. For now Pariston is content to leave the Chairmanship as a tainted prize for Cheadle, but with a promise that if she lets things get boring, he’s going to take her down – and it’s one that if I were in her shoes I would take very seriously. In a sense Pariston is even more dangerous than Illumi because it’s his lack of ambition that makes him powerful – ultimately the actions of someone like Illumi can be predicted more easily than someone like Pariston, because he has a specific and conventional goal in mind.
In fact, Togashi has saved the biggest emotional moments of the episode not for Gon and Ging, but for Killua and Alluka (and Nanika). There’s a certain inherent limitation to this for me, as I don’t have the long-fostered investment in this relationship that I do with Gon and Killua or Leorio, or even Ging – whose presence has always been a major part of the series, even when he wasn’t present. And there’s still a bit too much of the plot device in Alluka’s character – Alluka’s nature is not easy to justify within the series’ mythology (at least not without a better explanation than Togashi has provided), and Alluka’s power is a bit too convenient for the purposes of what Togashi needed to accomplish in this arc to be fully believable.
If the scenes between siblings are not as emotionally powerful for me as the true blockbusters of the series, they still pack a punch. For me it’s less about the relationship than about Killua himself and what it says about him. It seems Killua has indeed left Gon’s side before he woke, at least nominally to deal with Illumi – though it seems very likely he also simply wasn’t ready to deal with that moment. As Illumi theorizes about the nature of Something’s power, Killua and Alluka wait inside the pop-up hospital for his arrival. There’s no confirmation that Illumi’s theory – the crucial element of which is that when Killua (and likely only Killua) issues commands instead of making wishes, there is no resultant cost to be paid – is correct. But the lack of denial makes me suspect he’s effectively on-point. And with the ability to manipulate this power Killua is basically omnipotent – which makes Illumi that much more desperate to in-turn control Killua.
It must be said that we have no reason to suspect that if he’d wanted to, Killua couldn’t have simply ordered Nanika to kill Illumi – to erase his entire existence. But instead, he orders Nanika to send Illumi home, leaving him as a potentially deadly threat to the life he hopes to lead with Alluka at his side. Killua still views Illumi as a brother, and as we now know he’s one of the most sentimental people in the cast. That’s what makes his next order all the more agonizing for him – he commands Nanika to never appear again, convinced it’s the best thing for Alluka’s happiness. This despite Nanika’s repeated declarations of love for Killua – as “Killua”, not “Onii-chan”. It rips Killua’s heart out to do this, but by now Killua must have more scar tissue than heart left, given how many times he’s done that to himself.
In the end it’s Alluka who convinces Killua of the error of his ways. The message here seems to be that Nanika is very much as “real” as Alluka is – that where the true sibling begins and ends is not so easy to see. Was Nanika created by Alluka as a way to try and please Killua, to earn his love, as Killua theorizes? Who knows – there are still far more questions than answers with this character(s). The point is that here and now, both Alluka and Nanika are real and both love Killua – and that Alluka considers Nanika a separate and distinct person, and one whose feelings are worth caring about. In the end Killua – as usual in his post-needle form – elects the more difficult and dangerous but potentially rewarding course, that of allowing both Alluka and Nanika to exist in the visible world. There’s far more to this story than what’s happened so far, though how much of it we’ll see depends on Togashi-sensei’s health.
All of this – Leorio, Ging, Alluka, the Chairman election, Hisoka and Illumi – all of it is preamble to what’s indisputably the main event of this arc. That of course is the reunion of Gon and Killua, and to say that it’s a crucial moment for Hunter X Hunter is an understatement of biblical proportions. If the quest for an absent Ging was the literal driver of the series, the relationship between these two remarkable children is its heart and soul, a real and tangible thing, present through almost all of the story. Really, there can be no more deferring to bigger things ahead, no more deflection – for Hunter X Hunter, even as it continues in manga form, this is the climax. That makes next week’s episode fundamentally different than every one that’s come before, and given what this series has already delivered that thought is hard to wrap my head around. Even when I think I know what to expect from H x H I’m often surprised, and next week I don’t even know what to expect. The only thing I can be sure of it that it’s going to be an emotional experience that’s going to hit like a ton of bricks, and no amount of steeling myself for the moment is going to dull the impact.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Preview:
 |
 |
 |
Kamen Rider Kekkaishi
September 10, 2014 at 4:56 amEnzo, I gotta say thank you for your reviews. This episode just really hit me the ride is almost over and your reviews these past three years have been a treat.
Also good job on your talk in the last RC podcast. It looks like you convinced at least one of them to check it out so mission accomplished.
admin
September 10, 2014 at 5:14 amThanks. But you know I've heard that before, and the follow-through wasn't there. People are sincere, I'm sure, but when it comes time to commit to 140 episodes they look at Gon and Killua again and say, "I just can't do it."
I do my bit – once I make my pitch, the rest is up to them.
Merry Smithy
September 10, 2014 at 5:28 amNo, Enzo… That wish would turn Togashi into Tite Kubo or Kishimoto… Think of the consequences!
Simone
September 10, 2014 at 8:21 amTurn Togashi into Tite Kubo? For all her overpoweredness, I don't think even Something can do something like that.
Dee Juusan
September 10, 2014 at 5:30 amYet another amazing post!
I specifically liked the part where you talked about Killua and Alluka.
While this arc was updating in chapters, I loved Alluka and Killua a lot. Maybe it was the fact that I had to wait weekly filling the gap with much discussion with other readers, and maybe it was because I was too biased to my fav character (Killua) and just loved anything written about him as long as he appears that much. Maybe I was just younger.
The thing is, I read this arc in the manga again before it started as anime and I found myself not liking this duo, Alluka and Killua, as much as I did before. To me, it was another view on the same development that happened to Killua in the ChimeraAnt Arc and Alluka didn't do much to leave a mark and seemed so one-note to me that this emotional touching scene wasn't much of an impact. I enjoyed it in the anime, with the music and the awesome animation, it was really an eye-candy but at its core, it wasn't a life changing moment. I have a bit to say about it all but maybe it's better to leave it till next episode.
Side note; I've always enjoyed (as a manga reader) your predictions and last words about what's to come and how you want to see it played out. Smiling in pride for you when you're right and grinning in pride for Togashi when you're not XD (sorry;;)
One last thing; are you going to continue with the manga (the few chapters out there) after this arc or no plans for that just yet?
admin
September 10, 2014 at 5:46 amIt was certainly my plan to continue with the manga, but it doesn't make as much sense to do chapter posts as long as the back has Togashi sidelined. I haven't really decided yet how I'm going to handle it – I may do a block post on all of the post-"Election" chapters, and then cover new ones as they happen.
Merry Smithy
September 10, 2014 at 5:39 amIn regards to Illumi, I think the nuance in Killua still viewing him as a brother is not necessarily that he cares about Illumi in the slightest, but that he respects the Zoldyck family rules.
Killua most likely detests Illumi enough to kill him, but not enough to kill the rest of the family and butlers (because they would likely pursue him immediately) just to be rid of him.
admin
September 10, 2014 at 5:45 amI don't see it that way, at least not entirely.
Nero
September 10, 2014 at 7:37 amI don't think he detests him, I don't think Killua detests anyone in his family, they are still family, he just doesn't want to be controlled by them. Nobody in his family detest him despite his attitude of spoiled brat, yes, he is spoiled. If Killua was detesting them he would be a monster in my eyes, he is not a pure child either.
Simone
September 10, 2014 at 8:20 am> I'm beginning to think my request to Nanika would be "Make Hunter X Hunter go on forever."
'Kay.
Now give me your eyes, your eardrums, and your internet connection.
admin
September 10, 2014 at 8:44 amI'll make it a command.
Simone
September 10, 2014 at 10:54 amGeez, Enzo-chan, who do you think you are, Killua? It takes a life of being a devoted and loving onii-chan to get that kind of special treatment from your almighty imouto and her demonic powers ^^.
Kurama Hitsugaya
September 10, 2014 at 8:54 amIt astounds me how some people on the internet defend Ging as being a good father because of his apparent creation of Greed Island for Gon, as if creating a game for your son filled with monsters and serial killers where there's a 99% chance that he's going to die is good parenting.
admin
September 10, 2014 at 9:09 amThe general tolerance for Ging's horrible parenting among fans is surprise to me. He's cool and a badass, so I guess that's a kind of cute girl armor. I certainly don't think Togashi wants us to believe Ging is a good parent – I'm pretty sure those shouting Hunters are there to make a point.
Simone
September 10, 2014 at 10:58 amWell, from Goku onwards, whose idea of father-son time was sending a clueless Gohan in a desperate fight for his life against the strongest enemy they had ever faced trusting in him to awake his locked potential BEFORE he got killed, the bar for anime parenting has been set rather low. It'd be interesting to make a ranking of 'worst anime parents'. I think Gendo Ikari and Ragyo Kiryuin would secure the first two places, Emperor Charles Zi Britannia probably a close third, but Ging definitely has to be somewhere in the top ten.
R Lawlied
September 10, 2014 at 11:30 amGing is terrible father, but he is a great character.
And that's what matters.
Hangman
September 10, 2014 at 11:53 amI don't see what makes Ging such a great character tbh. When he was first introduced he seemed sharp and ahead of the curb (BEANZ MAH BOI), but after that he just comes across as a convoluted, well, jackass. He was responsible for GI too.
R Lawlied
September 10, 2014 at 7:01 pmI think his "jackassesness" is what makes him interesting XD. Sure, I would hit someone like that in the face if it were in real life, but this is 2D, hating a character because of his moral ground is a bit exaggerated IMO.
Dunno, maybe because I have read the next arc which fleshes him out that I come to appreciate his character more.
Hangman
September 10, 2014 at 11:22 pmI don't hate the character for being jackass per se, but for being (in my view) needlessly convoluted in his actions.
Nadavu
September 10, 2014 at 10:16 amone question, at least, has been answered – Hunter x Hunter apparently stands for Gon x Killua, rather than Gon x Ging
R Lawlied
September 10, 2014 at 11:33 amWhat the hell Phink's doing there? lol
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RLEfIHl5Rf4/VA_Q8PrpkPI/AAAAAAAFPO4/nJeneHVpF8o/s1600/Hunter%2BX%2BHunter%2B-%2B146%2B-%2BLarge%2B09.jpg
admin
September 10, 2014 at 11:54 amSaving a few Yen for Madhouse on character models, as Phinks isn't a Hunter…
melodic thoughts
September 10, 2014 at 3:28 pmThis is such a tearjerker episode. Seeing Gon revert to his child self after so many episodes of missing him – He's just too adorable (and Ging is still a jackass, though I wouldn't expect any less. I would more annoyed to see him act nicer than this).
I also don't buy so much into Killua x Alluka (when comparing to general HxH standards). A bit too many tears and not enough of their siblinghood. And yes, I agree it feels a little too convenient, though in the next arc, they might shed some background on Alluka. Since she looks to be staying in the series for some time to come
rigelein
September 10, 2014 at 4:13 pmIn the manga, it was implied that Pariston said that Netero was in eternal rest after defeating the King. Cheadle's comment was Pariston was horrible for bringing that up, at that moment.
Killua: "Nanika, heal Togashi-sensei's illness/laziness and make HxH go on a weekly basis." Man, I evaded HxH for years for this reason. I knew I would be heartbroken if I read it again. Lol.
admin
September 10, 2014 at 11:04 pmFair warning: I may be instituting a ban policy for any post mentioning "Togashi" and "laziness" in the same sentence. Still undecided.
rigelein
September 11, 2014 at 4:48 amSorry bout that. I was unsure which one to put. Feel free to edit. The reason of hiatus is still a mystery to me. Many say it is the second one.
admin
September 11, 2014 at 6:17 amI was half-kidding, but I seriously get pissed off by all the Dragon Quest jokes. Seriously, you think a guy who puts this much obsessive care into every element of his story is lazy? Right now he's out with back issues and as someone with a serious chronic back problem myself, I can easily see how it could make drawing a weekly manga completely impossible. Has that been the issue all along? Who knows – but it's certainly a lot more likely than the laziness theory.
rigelein
September 11, 2014 at 11:40 am"Seriously, you think a guy who puts this much obsessive care into every element of his story is lazy?"
Agree. Or he's just pure genius. 🙂 Surely, he knows what he wants to do with the story, and he knows what he's doing, the way I see it. It's just that, I think, this is not his utmost priority in his life.
Well, I said sorry cause I realised that I was a bit inconsiderate when I said that.
About the back pains, I saw his video while making sketches, man, I could see why he has some issues. Seriously, someone give him an ergonomic working table and chair.
Zeta Zero
September 14, 2014 at 1:03 amYou're considering a thought police ban?
gedata
September 10, 2014 at 6:26 pmI knew the convenient nature of Alluka's power would at least draw the slightest bit off criticism from you eventually. Nevertheless Togashi still managed to write in a plot-device that at least carries it's own intriguing story and possible implications/tie ins for future arcs
R Lawlied
September 10, 2014 at 7:33 pmTogashi's charm comes from the fact that he seems to challenge the shonen genre by writing what is seen as tired shonen conventions into something different with his own fresh spin.
(Tournament arc? Check, rescue arc? Check, training arc? Check, trapped in game world? Check, monster busting? Check, "asspull" power-up? Check, wish-granting plot device? Check)
admin
September 10, 2014 at 11:04 pmAlready criticized it, so this post is nothing new.
Zeta Zero
September 14, 2014 at 4:22 amPariston resigns. Like a boss.