This episode covered the rest of chapter 8, all of chapter 9, and 7 pages from chapter 10. It corresponds to most of episode 8 in the Nippon Animation show.
This guy is a creeper.
So, anyways, the beginning of the episode has Killua tell Gon to move up in the ranks. The Madhouse version doesn't have Killua mention that Hisoka is itching to kill, and a few lines of dialog were missing. Killua's missing lines are unfortunate because they contained some information that's sort of pertinent to understanding his character.
All of the traps in the Swindler's Swamp are more similar to their manga incarnations. I think that it's a good thing they expanded that sequence. 220 applicants didn't make it through the second half of the first phase, but the 1999 show sort of doesn't emphasize the impact of that swamp enough. I like how dense the fog is in this version as well. It makes more sense, considering that it's significantly denser. But I find it stupid that Kurapika's able to jump like 100 feet in the air for some reason.
I laughed at Gon and Killua getting swallowed up by that frog, though it didn't happen in the manga. I'm glad that the laxative juice got some use.
Anyways, the scenarios from here on out are pretty different. In the 1999 series and anime, Leorio gets injured by a random attack from Hisoka. Because Gon is carrying Leorio's briefcase filled with weapons, he can't defend himself.
So what's with the random gang of martial artists trying to threaten and defeat Hisoka? This guy is Cherry. He was originally in the manga, and Tonpa introduces him as a past applicant. He's established in the 2011 version as a past applicant too, having failed and trying again. In the 2011 version, Cherry and his goons are judging Hisoka for his murderous behavior; playing examiner, if you will. So then Hisoka plays examiner in his own way. Cherry is every bit the coward he is in the manga.
In Nippon Animation's version, Cherry was introduced in episode 6 by Tonpa...and never seen again. The director seemed to favor including Pokkle instead of Cherry in that scene. Hisoka doesn't kill Pokkle afterward.
In the manga, Hisoka starts murdering random applicants--playing proctor because he's a psychopath.
The intent of this scene is different in both adaptations of the anime. In the manga, Hisoka starts killing applicants in extremely gruesome ways. Blood is spurting out of necks, men are clearly suffering slow deaths. Hisoka only aims for the neck or the face, cutting heads in half and slicing open everyone's necks. But he does this with grace; he fights in a "pretty" manner.
The Nippon Animation version tries to capture his acrobatics, but the animation is so poor (alongside cheesy sound effects) that it isn't that impressive. There isn't a drop of blood, and each one of his attacks is animated via freeze frame. The Madhouse version is almost equally as bloodless, and the motions he takes are completely different. He slices open everyone of Cherry's goons' necks, but in one swift, graceful motion.
Hisoka doesn't do his crazy laugh during his murders; the image is moved to the ending theme.
Cherry dies. In the manga, he's hunted down by Hisoka after their confrontation (while he's carrying Leorio...).
Leorio's battle with Hisoka is pretty different in Nippon Animation's version. He's more of a badass. He's got this yankee look on his face and isn't taken down as easily. Essentially though, the same things happen.
It's Gon's fight with Hisoka that's extended instead of Leorio's in the 2011 show. Here's something I think that both anime series got wrong. See Gon's face when Hisoka has him by the neck? His expression doesn't change the entire time he confronts Hisoka. He doesn't say a word to the magician either--he's driven by both awe and fear. I really liked that in the manga, and I think that it was an extreme oversight on both series' parts. But at least he's significantly less afraid of Hisoka than in the 1999 version. More on that in the future.
I don't think that Hisoka is choking Gon in the manga; he has the kid by the neck, but Gon's standing up while Hisoka's crouching. I always saw it as him examining the boy's face instead of something violent. A disturbing predecessor to violence.
Many of you have a problem with Hisoka's voice. I just wanted to interject that the way he speaks in the 2011 version is more in line with the way his lines are written. He talks in a feminine manner. It's supposed to be sort of sexy, which is why it's disturbing that he's speaking to a little boy.
I just realized that the narration in the Madhouse adaptation sounds like an animal planet nature show. I like it.