(CR) Hunter X Hunter Anime (2011)

[MCAL]

Originally Posted by bakaouji

Didn't say it was an asspull (as in it couldn't be achieved). It's that Gon can do it without any training whatsoever. Maybe it's not an asspull, but it sure as hell feels like one. Also, the show has been insufferably schmaltzy for a while now but it definitely cranked it up to the nth power this episode and has reached a point where the overblown drama has become a parody of itself. It's a freaking joke and it's not funny.

But who said it needs training to be done. All you need is a good understanding of Nen (Which Gon has), the motivation to use it (Which Gon has, which is his hatred of Pitou) and the how to do it (Which Gon got from Kurapika at the very beginning of Greed Island arc). He's also had several weeks or so of his boiling hatred for Pitou too.

[bakaouji]

Originally Posted by MCAL

But who said it needs training to be done. All you need is a good understanding of Nen (Which Gon has), the motivation to use it (Which Gon has, which is his hatred of Pitou) and the how to do it (Which Gon got from Kurapika at the very beginning of Greed Island arc). He's also had several weeks or so of his boiling hatred for Pitou too. It's perfectly reasonable.

You make it sound so easy, which definitely seemed to be the case. And that's probably why it felt cheap to me. I mean, is this really the culmination of all that time Gon spent staring wide-eyed at Pitou while she was stitching up that poor girl? Oh wait, only an hour or so has passed since then. But weeks have passed for us and all that hatred I had for Pitou had long since dissolved because it's been so goddamned long that I completely forgot why Gon was so mad at her in the first place. This is the curse of slowing down time to a crawl.

So yeah, as you can see, my issue really isn't with the sudden power-up but that the show resorted to this boring conventional twist that every shounen show uses whenever the protag completely succumbs to grief. After all that build up--- Gon just flicks off Pitou like a mosquito. The impending danger is dwarfed in a second and I no longer fear for either Gon's life or anyone else's for that matter. It's so anticlimactic in so many ways that I no longer feel invested.

[kom]

That it was done without any training whatsoever is kind of the whole point though. This is not a battle, anyway. This is an execution. And there are consequences.

This episode is what the whole series has been building up to, in regards to Gon. It was only a matter of time until Hunter x Hunter's world broke him. Remember his battle/torture in the hands of Hanzo, showcasing his naive idealism (which maybe could work in another manga). Remember how devoted he is to who he considers to be his friends*. How the auction guy in York Shin felt that Gon doesn't know right from wrong - it's either "one of my friends" or "not one of my friends" for him really (innocent hostages: why not?). The questions he asked the Phantom Troupe. His relationship with Hisoka. The sacrificing of his arm in Greed Island, just to get a better hit on his opponent.
It's what happens when a very young person with no clear grasp on morality steps into an adult world with consequences. How does he cope? By becoming an adult himself. By any means necessary.
It's fairly easy to read the deconstruction in all that. But it's not just an empty, cynical deconstruction of battle shounen tropes. It's a coming of age story. A very disturbing one at that.

One complaint I have from the anime is that Gon's face after the transformation looks adult, or at least more adult than in the manga. Gon's face in the manga looks childish for a reason, and that is the same reason his clothes look ridiculous on his new body and his hair is like this: because this is supposed to be wrong and disturbing. There's nothing badass about this.

I have to say though that the sounds Pitou made while falling after getting kicked were fantastic.

*It is my opinion that he doesn't really know Kaito; he's friends with the idea of him - a mentor, a connection to his dad, a powerful hunter. And I believe this also plays into his relationship with Killua. For Killua, Gon is pretty much everything. He made him start to live for himself and one could even argue be more moral. For Gon, Killua is... a guy he met. It could have been anyone as long as they were fun and strong. That's my reading anyway.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by kom

That it was done without any training whatsoever is kind of the whole point though. This is not a battle, anyway. This is an execution. And there are consequences.

This episode is what the whole series has been building up to, in regards to Gon. It was only a matter of time until Hunter x Hunter's world broke him. Remember his battle/torture in the hands of Hanzo, showcasing his naive idealism (which maybe could work in another manga). Remember how devoted he is to who he considers to be his friends*. How the auction guy in York Shin felt that Gon doesn't know right from wrong - it's either "one of my friends" or "not one of my friends" for him really (innocent hostages: why not?). The questions he asked the Phantom Troupe. His relationship with Hisoka. The sacrificing of his arm in Greed Island, just to get a better hit on his opponent.
It's what happens when a very young person with no clear grasp on morality steps into an adult world with consequences. How does he cope? By becoming an adult himself. By any means necessary.
It's fairly easy to read the deconstruction in all that. But it's not just an empty, cynical deconstruction of battle shounen tropes. It's a coming of age story. A very disturbing one at that.

One complaint I have from the anime is that Gon's face after the transformation looks adult, or at least more adult than in the manga. Gon's face in the manga looks childish for a reason, and that is the same reason his clothes look ridiculous on his new body and his hair is like this: because this is supposed to be wrong and disturbing. There's nothing badass about this.

I have to say though that the sounds Pitou made while falling after getting kicked were fantastic.

*It is my opinion that he doesn't really know Kaito; he's friends with the idea of him - a mentor, a connection to his dad, a powerful hunter. And I believe this also plays into his relationship with Killua. For Killua, Gon is pretty much everything. He made him start to live for himself and one could even argue be more moral. For Gon, Killua is... a guy he met. It could have been anyone as long as they were fun and strong. That's my reading anyway.

Just one joke I wanted to make. Agree it's just an execution. Aside from the Chairmen v King, this arc doesn't really have many fights . It has narration .

It certainly made sense, both what happened and the consequences. Was it the most entertaining thing? Not so sure. At this point didn't care that much about Gon's side of things and having him go SSJ Gon on Pitou in a brutal execution didn't exactly add much outside of the story perspective.

Gon sacrificed a lot and certainly that wasn't lacking emotional impact. He's just been a black hole for so long that I almost don't mind. Though I wonder if he really needed an 'adult mode' in order to have the same impact story wise.

Well back to the other side of this story. Might not take that long to wrap things up depending on where things go.

[Ryuga]

It's been stated by various chars that Gon (along with Killua) has immense potential. He made a vow, brought it out, and absolutely clobbered Pitou with it. It's fitting that he took the form of an adult. Literally forced to grow up by his experiences and molded himself into something based on someone he respected.

There's something sad in all of this. A kid so consumed with guilt and hate, he thought the only he could redeem himself was to sacrifice everything.

[bakaouji]

Just wanted to ask-- is the Election Arc as dark as this one or is it a lot lighter in tone? Also, is it very long?

[HandofFate]

What we all been waiting for.
Gon should mellowed out and ate a snickers.

The focus is Gon, but I felt the manga gave a bit more attention to Pitou's utter devotion to the King. There was some lines, but I felt the devotion as strongly as Gon's breaking as well.

Gon using up all his lifetime supply of nen and potential is a big cost. But not anyone can just do it. To make such a nen pact, you need to have the conviction and willpower for it. Not everyone can do this.

And for those that can have that willpower, their lifetime potential wouldn't be able to beat even some of the ant generals we came across. Like that Pon girl and Arrow dude, if they even had the conviction and sense to do it, they still would have gotten killed just as easily cause their potential is garbage.

I like that finally in Shonen, a kamazaki attack exchanging their life energy to take down their enemy ACTUALLY WORKED!

[akumaten]

Since that part of the manga, I always wanted to say this

I really wanted to see Gon defeat Pitou....

Spoiler:

But not like this.... . Despite what he did, I gained sympahy for Pitou, he didn't have a vendetta on Kite or Gon, he was doing his job to protect the King. For Gon, he may never use Nen again. He just gained it a year or two ago. This is what vengeance gets you

And to those who want who went "I want to see this fight, last episode was boring wah, wah wah"

Spoiler:

You are missing the GODDAMN point

[sikvod00]

*waits to see what Haak's new avatar will be*

[Jetzero Infinity]

Originally Posted by bakaouji

Just wanted to ask-- is the Election Arc as dark as this one or is it a lot lighter in tone? Also, is it very long?

The Election Arc is a bit lighter and it's really short. They'll be stretching it a bit to make it work for 12-13 eps which is what we're likely getting for it

[frubam]

Yeah, totally surprised about my feelings about this episode. When the main protagonist finally unearths his new power, its something to celebrate; we(the viewers) are in awe about said powers as the protag unleashes it upon his foe(s), saying how 'cool' it is. Two of many examples is when Ichigo used his Bankai for the first time against Byakuya, or any of Naruto's stints, like using the Rasengan for the first time against Kabuto during that Kanade/Jiraiya/Orochi skirmish.

But that's not what I felt here. Honestly, I don't know WHAT I felt. Just sadness. No triumphant victory, no celebration of the awesome power Gon acquired, just pure sorrow =0(. The victory felt empty. All of his hard work and training were exchanged for an instant of power. To give up everything to defeat his foe was always something Gon would do, but those reasons were more positive; things that build his character.

If what Pitou said is true, then Gon won't be able to use his Nen again(she said he exchanged his life, but no way Gon will bit the dust, but then again, this is Togashi =01). I can imagine him having to go through some kind of tribulation to get it back(like removing the hatred from his subconscious or something), so hopefully it doesn't last too long. Kil is only half as fun w/o Gon around, and vice-versa =03.

[rickiminato]

many years waiting for this moment on the anime pitou vs motherfucking gon.
.for perform this transformation gon had to give all his talent and never used nen,
in that form gon have a equal power to the quimera king, that was the reason why pitou was afraid of gon

[NinjaRealist]

Originally Posted by bakaouji

Just wanted to ask-- is the Election Arc as dark as this one or is it a lot lighter in tone? Also, is it very long?

Spoiler:

It's dark. A lot of people die in exceedingly horrific ways.

But it's way shorter than the CA arc.

[Sugetsu]

What a brilliant, sublime, masterful (and all other positive adjectives you can think of) episode! Togashi you truly are a genius at what you do, but it wasn't only you who made this episode what it is. Madhouse has earned my respect as well. The new sound tracks in this episode, the animation sprites, the pace, the voice acting... EVERYTHING was done just right. This is best episode in the series so far. Everyone who made this episode possible deserves a standing ovation.

Spoiler:

The part where Gon loses his arm was specially well made.

Bleach, Naruto, dragon Ball Z and Saint Seiya step aside!

Edit: What a great day today turned out to be. Now I am in the processes of reading the latest Berserk chapters after Miura took such a long hiatus.

[ChainLegacy]

I like it. Probably the best episode of the Chimera Ant arc. My favorite aspect is that this pretty much confirms that had Gon naturally matured into an adult he would be as strong as the king (or stronger considering we don't know if this is his total upper limit or just the limit he could achieve through nen sacrifice). Yes, I'm a power level nerd, but hey. I come from a Dragonball Z background. Hunter x Hunter is one of the most intelligent shounen battle series, but it's still a shounen battle series at the end of the day.

Oh, and the melodrama did detract from the badassery, but c'mon. Pitou, who was shown to be leagues above a powerhouse hunter like Kite, was absolutely helpless. Still pretty badass, even if they wanted us to think otherwise. I think Gon basically let the arm thing occur in his psychotic state of grief.

[hamazura]

Originally Posted by bakaouji

Just wanted to ask-- is the Election Arc as dark as this one or is it a lot lighter in tone? Also, is it very long?

its dark, awesome and its the most important arc to develop HxH story into Season 2 (well fvk togashi for 2323820873 years hiatus we cant get it earlier )

[supermegasonic]

i still kinda think that "for the king" logic was over used, and kinda stupid for this last part.
yes i get it. you have a raging testosterone filled body for the king. now just stay dead

now I'm beginning to understand why ppl in anime love the "he won't die even if he get's killed" line, cuz that's actually the case sometimes, lol

[kakakka]

It fits here perfectly for me. Because Nen+emotions don't die off; they become powerful after death.

[Clarste]

Yeah, they've said before that nen gets stronger after death: that's why the Spiders aren't just hunting down Kurapica. Since Pitou has a nen ability that controls her body for fighting, it's only natural that she would get stronger after death too.

Narratively it serves the same purpose as showing the entire "fight" from Pitou's perspective in the first place.

[Guardian Enzo]

Broken or missing right arms in H x H so far: Gon (x2), Hisoka, Kaitou, Meruem, Netero, Neferpitou.