I just had to let that one sink in for a bit. Normally the longer the buildup, the more likely the payoff is to be a letdown. It’s an inevitable part of fiction of every stripe, anime not least. But when you’re talking about Hunter X Hunter the normal rules […] Read more
As if Meruem needed any more power-ups… No real surprises in the poll – I kind of figured “Chimera Ant” and “York Shin” would go 1-2. I didn’t necessarily expect “Hunter Exam” to finish so far ahead of “Heaven’s Arena” – which I think is the most underrated arc in […] Read more
Every so often Killua reminds us of the first line of my post from way back at Episode 33… This has been an amazing trip, this “Chimera Ant”. I look back now and it’s been almost exactly a year since the journey started (Episode 76, to be precise) and to […] Read more
Well, damn – I hardly know where to start with that one… This is a snippet of what I wrote two weeks ago, after the blooming of the miniature rose: I’m very, very reluctant to try and dig into the deeper meaning of what we saw… It will simply invite […] Read more
Not more damn analogies, Enzo! When literalism fails you, a writer must look elsewhere for means to get their point across. Togashi-sensei, Koujina and Madhouse keep pushing me, forcing the linguistic equivalent of Chimera-paced evolution in the effort to communicate how mind-bogglingly good this series is. And since Togashi himself […] Read more
To try and do justice to “Chimera Ant” – how can it be done? At the moment I can only think to borrow the words of Dave Eggers – it is indeed a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. I’m pretty much incoherent after that whopper of an episode, so you’ll […] Read more
HE IS BACK Update: the official return date is the 6/2 issue of WSJ. The tagline: “What is being aimed for is darkness. What is being hunted is hope. What blocks the way is endless despair.” Hunter X Hunter is returning to Weekly Shounen Jump, starting in June. This time […] Read more
“Idiot”, my ass… I’m not patient or fastidious enough to regularly track who the animation directors for specific episodes of Hunter X Hunter are, but I’m assuming they brought out one of the big guns – Mori Tomoko or Abiru Takahiro, maybe – for this one, and likely next week’s […] Read more
Never underestimate the power of a crying child to reach a woman’s heart. And if she’s a shotacon, well, so much the better… There was pretty big news in the world of the Hunter X Hunter anime this week, though it’s of the unofficial variety and thus may qualify more […] Read more
Togashi Yoshihiro continues to be the sorting hat of mangaka. with the help of Madhouse and Koujina-sensei. This is a landmark episode of Hunter X Hunter, though only for personal reasons. It’s the first time in at least a year (to be honest I can’t remember the last time) that […] Read more