Now those were the last two people I expected to see in this arc… They call this arc “Chimera Ant” but there was nary a mention of the buggers in this episode.  Rather, it focused completely on Gon’s fight with Knuckle – and in the process re-examined some old themes […] Read more

Madhouse continues to illustrate what happens when brilliantly written shounen is elevated to high art. Of late, Hunter X Hunter has taken on that peculiar quality that great anime sometimes does, where a 22-minute episode seems to last about five minutes.  It’s a product of not-wasted time, I suspect – […] Read more

If you were expecting Togashi to keep the morality of this arc simple, you were definitely barking up the wrong tree.  The guy doesn’t do simple. There was really no way the “Chimera Ant” arc could remain as relentlessly dark and morose as it was for it’s first ten episodes […] Read more

Nothing changes the mood faster than the welcome return of an old friend. If anyone ever needed a mom, Gon and (especially) Killua did, right about now.  And with the return of Biscuit Krueger, we have – I would argue for the very first time – a change of tone […] Read more

Togashi isn’t making my job any easier. God damn – how many gears does this man have?  How is it possible to reach into the well time after time and not only never come up dry, but with sweeter and sweeter water at every turn?  Every time I think Hunter […] Read more

So far, the only light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. “The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way of our return.  We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.  […] Read more

For the first time this week, Hunter X Hunter put me in mind of The Princess Bride. I’m a big fan of anime characters who don’t speak all that much, but when they do you damn well better listen.  Kaitou is rapidly stamping himself as one of those.  He’s a […] Read more

Now that’s what a call a severing crime edge.  Kiri, I hope you were watching. We’re reaching the point now where I think it’s permissible and even necessary to start asking – is this the greatest Shounen Jump adaptation ever?  The greatest shounen adaptation ever, period?  It’s a sort of […] Read more

I get the feeling we’re not going to get too many breather episodes in this arc… If the comparative frolic of “Greed Island” already feels like it happened years ago, “Heaven’s Arena” and the “Hunter Exam” seem like a thousand lifetimes away.  There are times when I find I almost […] Read more

Once again, that’s 10:55 AM.  On Sunday.  Sleep well tonight, Kids. Hunter X Hunter continues to pretty well re-define excellence, in ways old and new.  Of course it’s still brilliant both in terms of writing and the execution of the adaptation – but that’s been true for the last 20 […] Read more