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Flower · 2014-04-22, 18:26

It would probably be better to keep the manga (r)elated discussions of the series in the Hunter x Hunter manga thread proper, okay?

I will move the manga related posts (save for the announcement, which I will edit redirecting conversation to the manga thread proper) to there for now.

Many thanks. ^^

Haak · 2014-04-22, 19:00

Overall that was definitely a very good fight but I actually enjoyed the preceding fights a lot more. I was hoping there would be a bit more character development between these two but I don't think we actually got a lot (at least not as much as others) and somehow I just found those fights had a lot more tension (perhaps because I was a lot more familiar with the "underdogs"). In fact I couldn't help but feel it ended a bit prematurely. It was over before I even knew it. (I think I may have hyped up this clash of titans in my mind for so long that I kinda screwed myself over with my expectations). The last few minutes was absolute perfection though. Seeing Netero so broken like that was pretty shocking but not nearly as shocking as the expression he made next.

Noble101 · 2014-04-22, 20:51

Another great episode. I liked how the fight wasn't dragged out like some other shounen anime but ended quick. The bomb really surprised me because I thought he was going to self-destruct. Those last few moments were really creepy and I'm not surprised the king felt fear. Now we just need to wait for Gon's fight with pitou and the rest of the royal guard. Poor pouf, you can tell he really loved the king with that look in the preview.

hamazura · 2014-04-22, 23:40

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win"

he already checkmated the king before battle!

vi3tboizz · 2014-04-23, 00:24

First time posting. The Episode really blew my mind.

First off, the action itself was glorious. Fast-paced, exhilarating, well-choreographed, it was a pleasure to watch. I loved how the King’s matches with Komugi became so relevant to this episode, as they were largely the reason the King was able to gain the advantage on Netero at all. Instead of charging in blind, he actually had a strategy and an idea on how to take down his opponent. The board matches that contributed to his growing humanity helped him “win” here, which is significant for reasons I’ll get to later.
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The dynamic between the King and Netero continued to be fascinating. Netero, in keeping with his thoughts before, continued to refer to the King as an insect, one whom he wanted to crush. The King really was quite arrogant this episode, going on about how great he was and about how Netero had “earned” his respect. But then, why not? He WAS far more powerful than Netero, and like most kings, believed himself to be deserving of his status. The plan he outlined for the human race here is all the evidence you need as to why the King couldn’t be allowed to live, and why Netero refused to negotiate with him episodes earlier. Long story short, in Mereuem’s plan, he is still the King. He is still the ruler of the world, and the humans are still weaker. And they can’t have that.
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Netero was even more fascinating this episode than the one before. I’d noted to myself before, that Netero’s attack, where he always puts his two palms together before he made a move, resembled a prayer. It fit in very well with his spiritual nature. That’s why it’s so significant that even with his left arm cut off, he could still pray. To the end, Netero never strayed from his beliefs.
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Arms in general, or lack thereof, has been a recurring motif this arc. Let’s recap: Neferpitou cut off Kite’s arm, The King tore off his arm, Neferpitou cut off her arm, and and now the King cut off Netero’s arm. What’s even more interesting is that in every single one of these cases, it has always been the LEFT arm, every time, for four times. The people who do it are significant as well: Neferpitou and Meruem, who both happen to be the two primary antagonists of the arc, to Gon and Netero, respectively. They both tore someone else’s arm off, and both ripped off their own, though in the reverse order.
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Pitou cut off Kite’s arm out of a desire for aggression and violence, for no reason but to fight and have fun. In short, it was a hostile, vicious act. Later on, Pitou, after transforming into a different, better person, breaks her arm as a way of apology to Gon, of punishing herself. We had the same situation with the King, but in reverse order and in different contexts. The King first ripped off his arm in his match with Komugi, and just as in Pitou case, did it as a way of apology and self-punishment. In short, it was a gesture of humility and apology. Later on, in this episode, the King cut off Netero’s arm, but not because he was vicious or hostile; quite the opposite, his goal was to end the fighting. The fact that the order in which Pitou and the King dealt with arms was reversed is relevant to each individual’s character development. Pitou from malice to humility, the King from growing humility to greater humanity. It’s both clever and subtle.
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I’m not sure why Togashi consistently focused on the left arm and not the right. Both in general symbolize strength and support, but in different cultures and philosophies there are specific differences between what the left and right represent. In some cases the left represents judgement, power, enlightenment, etc. I could see why Togashi picked the left, but I won’t go into that here.
-
Netero’s final attack was incredible, because it’s so unlike what’s usually seen in this type of manga. It was far more than just a giant power beam; it was the perfect representation of Netero and his faith. The narrator described it as enveloping the King with an “indiscriminate love.” The attack is paradoxical: destructive, yet gentle, massive yet strangely silent, with a beautiful array of colors. It’s the perfect representation of destructive beauty, and fits with Netero perfectly, the way it devastated the place while seeming oddly spiritual in nature. And despite all that, it is still described as having a “murderous aura.”
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It’s contradictory, in a way, much like I found Netero. Here is a man whom obviously was strongly religious and spiritual, and had a very compassionate side. Yet, despite that, he used dirty tactics with the King, looked very malicious in his last moments, and in general in the past few episodes he has come across as rather hostile and sneaky than peaceful and honest. And despite the fact that he dedicated his life to training and that his appearance has strong Buddhist connotation, in the end he tells the King that if there is a hell, he’ll meet him there. So basically, despite all that he’d done, Netero ultimately saw himself as a rather evil man, someone who wasn’t going to a good place if the afterlife exists. I find that, coupled with his statement about the human race, really though-provoking.
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The conversation between Netero and the King about evolution was intense. The King was essentially saying that he is the pinnacle of the Ants’ evolution, an ultimate being of power, and that humanity by its very nature can’t do that, because of their individualism- basically addressing one of the biggest themes of the arc. Netero’s counter statement ties in thematically to something that’s been referred to the whole arc: both humanity’s good and bad. Humans can evolve as well, they can be individualistic while also working together. But that wasn’t the main point of Netero’s statement.
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If Netero had just said what he said, with nothing else added to it, it could have been interpreted in either a negative or positive light. It can’t be, though, because the imagery employed in that final scene is anything but encouraging or inspiring. It’s fearful, it’s malicious, it’s terrifying, it’s evil. Netero’s horrific expression, his dead eyes, the shadows, the ominous human skull- the evolution that Netero is referring to is not a progressive evolution in the way the Chimera Ants’ evolution was; it’s evolution towards greater evil, towards greater destruction. And that is what, ultimately, sets humanity apart from the Chimera Ants: their inherent individualism gives them the capacity to achieve more, to do more, than the Chimera Ants could ever hope to. In short, humanity, far more than the Chimera Ant’s ever can, has the greatest potential than any species on Earth to achieve greater levels of EVIL, of malice.
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Netero’s words are accentuated by what happens next: a marvel of technology, of human ingenuity: a nuclear bomb exploding. It obliterates everything, and its sheer destructive power makes it clear just how much humans can achieve. The tragic irony is that humanity itself was what crafted such an awful example of utter inhumanity. In the end, ironically, it was the humans who were the most inhumane, the most vicious, as has been the case in many ways since the Invasion started. And this inhuman device was aimed at the creature that had become the most human of all during the arc: the King.
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It’s named the Rose, which of course is just Togashi being consistent. Roses have been a recurring motif since the Invasion started. I think they appeared in the background at some point during Shoot’s fight with Youpi, but the first real, obvious example was during Knuckle’s and Youpi’s fight. Right when Knuckle was about to die, we see a light red rose appear, with its petals flying away. Light red roses, specifically, symbolize love, compassion, respect, as was entirely appropriate in Knuckle’s case. Pink roses appeared in the background last episode with Netero; appropriate as well, as those symbolize gratitude. And finally, this episode, the Rose bomb itself was colored a deep shade of red, not a lighter shade like with Knuckle. The reason? Dark red roses often symbolize mourning, and by extension death. And that was certainly a deathly explosion.

hamazura · 2014-04-23, 00:46

^
i want to read it but... ugh, i dont even want to write that much wall of text even if my english teacher would give me an A

* i read it! yeah! true, humans are the most inhuman creature and king meruem is the most human in entire series

Dengar · 2014-04-23, 01:41

I think the implication is more that humans can actually be both of these things.

Although I do give you that Netero's point was that the King's hubris had gotten the better of him. It's like he was simply too young to understand that he could never win.

Gan_HOPE326 · 2014-04-23, 03:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noble101

Another great episode. I liked how the fight wasn't dragged out like some other shounen anime but ended quick. The bomb really surprised me because I thought he was going to self-destruct. Those last few moments were really creepy and I'm not surprised the king felt fear. Now we just need to wait for Gon's fight with pitou and the rest of the royal guard. Poor pouf, you can tell he really loved the king with that look in the preview.

In a sense, he did self-destruct, and it didn't work. Hyakushiki Zero was his whole aura channelled in a single shot. I'm pretty sure that's basically a suicidal attack, or at least one that would have depleted Netero's powers forever and leave him severely crippled. After the attack, he only was a shell of a man. He would have probably died alone, he just killed himself in order to make it quick and prevent the King from escaping.

Anyway, honestly, how BOSS can Netero be?
- I cut your leg!
- Just give me a minute, let me close my wound with the sheer strength of my muscles.
- I cut your arm?
- Do you think I can't pray without both arms? Let me shoot a fucking BEAM at you to prove you wrong.
- Your beam didn't work and now you're dying. Well, you humans are good but we're just better. But I'll be merciful on you.
- You're cute. Does anyone of you primitive, pre-technological ants know of a little something called a NUKE?

Anh_Minh · 2014-04-23, 03:55

I don't know why you guys are so appreciative of what's essentially a Deus Ex Machina. Netero lost the fight? It's ok, he had a bomb all along. One that's small enough to be completely hidden in his body, but powerful enough to do what his super-beam couldn't.

Also, it's apparently cheap. Why they didn't surround the palace with them and detonate them all at the same time and call it a day, we'll never know. (OK, maybe they didn't want that much collateral damage.)

hamazura · 2014-04-23, 04:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Also, it's apparently cheap. Why they didn't surround the palace with them and detonate them all at the same time and call it a day, we'll never know. (OK, maybe they didn't want that much collateral damage.)

"chairman netero bravely fought dangerous creature to save mankind and succeed"

sounds better than

"the goverment deploy nukes all over the east goruto to destroy dangerous creature"

Toto y Moi · 2014-04-23, 04:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by vi3tboizz

brilliant post

Fantastic analysis. If anyone hasn't done so, read this post. It takes three minutes and it's very well thought out.

Great episode, et cetera. The reason the bomb wasn't used in the first place is collateral damage. Anyone bombing a world leader's palace would be seen as a hostile aggressor and a threat to other nations. The world has no idea about the current situation, it could lead to world war if handled incorrectly. But a bomb exploding at a military testing ground is something expected.

Arkeus · 2014-04-23, 04:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Also, it's apparently cheap. Why they didn't surround the palace with them and detonate them all at the same time and call it a day, we'll never know. (OK, maybe they didn't want that much collateral damage.)

Because the palace was the seat of a country's leader, while there Netero used the bomb on a military testing ground.

Likewise, the palace had lots of ants of all stripes, and the less people with funky nen abilities around, the more likely there won't be some kind of teleport dodge of some kind.

Oh, and that bomb is deeply illegal in civilized countries, meaning that using it at all must be hidden.

Aesthetic Shampoo · 2014-04-23, 05:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Also, it's apparently cheap. Why they didn't surround the palace with them and detonate them all at the same time and call it a day, we'll never know. (OK, maybe they didn't want that much collateral damage.)

The King was the pinnacle of evolution for the Ants, and he just finished boasting about ruling over the humans. And yet he was brought down by a crappy low budget bomb that any small human dictatorship could make. in short, the King really underestimated humans. Even if they couldn't beat him with Nen, technology has always made up for out physical shortcomings.

Gan_HOPE326 · 2014-04-23, 08:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I don't know why you guys are so appreciative of what's essentially a Deus Ex Machina. Netero lost the fight? It's ok, he had a bomb all along. One that's small enough to be completely hidden in his body, but powerful enough to do what his super-beam couldn't.

It's true that in a sense this is a Deus Ex Machina, or at least, something that wasn't foreshadowed in the least until now. However the point to me isn't strictly fight-related - from that perspective, it IS a way to solve an otherwise unsolvable situation. The point is how it breaks the usual shounen conventions. It's almost a meta moment. See, everyone here is assuming that this is going to be a fair superpower fight, like brave, manly men usually do in shounen anime. The viewers do, and the King does.
But the King is a child. He's immature and naive for all his godly power. Netero is not a child, he's an old man, and a man of necessity at it. He's not good, he's not fair, he's a nasty old man driven by instincts that aren't always good, a man who fights for fun, but is here out on a mission. And that mission is: kill the fucking ant. At any cost. No matter if it's ugly or unfair or downright evil, because this isn't a martial arts tournament, this is real life and humanity is at stake. So that's the beauty of the moment: Meruem and we all have been fooled into thinking that this battle would truly be left to decide to something as noble as a mano-a-mano fight between powerful martial artists. But that is all wrong. The fight had been decided all along. It wouldn't even have begun if the fat cats who sent Netero didn't know that their investment was safe and sound. In fact, Netero has been sent to do his job this way because he's been left alone, because obviously many hunters just wanted him to die and leave his seat. The ants are just a nuisance in a backward third-world country that no one cared about enough to send a proper extermination mission to. That's how far they are from humanity in terms of power, for all their sheer physical and Nen strength.

Anh_Minh · 2014-04-23, 08:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gan_HOPE326

It's true that in a sense this is a Deus Ex Machina, or at least, something that wasn't foreshadowed in the least until now. However the point to me isn't strictly fight-related - from that perspective, it IS a way to solve an otherwise unsolvable situation. The point is how it breaks the usual shounen conventions. It's almost a meta moment. See, everyone here is assuming that this is going to be a fair superpower fight, like brave, manly men usually do in shounen anime. The viewers do, and the King does.

We kinda do because the tech has been generally unimpressive. Zeppelins and some kind of 90's internet and cellphones.

Quote:

But the King is a child. He's immature and naive for all his godly power. Netero is not a child, he's an old man, and a man of necessity at it. He's not good, he's not fair, he's a nasty old man driven by instincts that aren't always good, a man who fights for fun, but is here out on a mission. And that mission is: kill the fucking ant. At any cost. No matter if it's ugly or unfair or downright evil, because this isn't a martial arts tournament, this is real life and humanity is at stake. So that's the beauty of the moment: Meruem and we all have been fooled into thinking that this battle would truly be left to decide to something as noble as a mano-a-mano fight between powerful martial artists. But that is all wrong. The fight had been decided all along. It wouldn't even have begun if the fat cats who sent Netero didn't know that their investment was safe and sound. In fact, Netero has been sent to do his job this way because he's been left alone, because obviously many hunters just wanted him to die and leave his seat. The ants are just a nuisance in a backward third-world country that no one cared about enough to send a proper extermination mission to. That's how far they are from humanity in terms of power, for all their sheer physical and Nen strength.

But that's the thing. Then why have a fistfight at all? If they have access to that kind of weaponry, wasn't there some smarter way to use them? One that wouldn't leave the Royal Guard alive and well and evolved? Not to mention all those other ants.

As for the need to hide the use of nukes by the "good guys"... They covered up the ants consuming two countries. Why can't they come up with something for that, too?

hamazura · 2014-04-23, 08:18

Arkeus · 2014-04-23, 08:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

We kinda do because the tech has been generally unimpressive. Zeppelins and some kind of 90's internet and cellphones.

The cellphones as a whole have been better than our own, you realize? The same for their internet, and Zeppelin is a cultural difference, not tech being 'lesser'.

Quote:

But that's the thing. Then why have a fistfight at all? If they have access to that kind of weaponry, wasn't there some smarter way to use them? One that wouldn't leave the Royal Guard alive and well and evolved? Not to mention all those other ants.

Because Netero wanted to have a bit of fun before dying. As for the rest, they were all about baiting the Royal Guards, which makes total sense. The royal guards winning the fights was always part of the plan.

Quote:

As for the need to hide the use of nukes by the "good guys"... They covered up the ants consuming two countries. Why can't they come up with something for that, too?

...Because both of those countries had next to no countact with the outside. They can cover up a lot of people dying, but they can't cover up a nuke being used in the center of a government.

Gan_HOPE326 · 2014-04-23, 08:37

I don't think it was much about covering up the use of nukes as it was about not killing all the population gathered in the capitol. Being willing to cover up shit =/= being completely heartless monsters. Plus the nuke was probably a last-ditch plan, I don't think Netero wouldn't have been happy if he had just been able to whack the King to death - they simply weren't sure of how strong he would have been. Also something else that yadda yadda manga spoilers we'll discuss that after we see it.

Gaulek · 2014-04-23, 08:46

It isn't an asspull.
It was foreshadowed:
Netero said he will need to sacrifice someone to win.
When the fight begin. Netero said :" This is a testing ground for military heavy weaponry"

When creepy Knov come back. Knov said: "I have received word from a messenger of the president. He has taken the king to appoint location"
"It doesn't matter what the guards do now .. They will be too late"

Clarste · 2014-04-23, 09:02

This was foreshadowed at the very beginning of the arc. The guys in suits told Netero that the Hunter Association would take full responsibility for the methods used. In other words, "do what you have to do but we'll make you the scapegoat for it." The method was obviously going to be something horrible and indefensible in world politics.

2014-04-22, 18:26	Link #4421
Flower Blooming on the mountain Join Date: May 2010 Location: Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light....	It would probably be better to keep the manga (r)elated discussions of the series in the Hunter x Hunter manga thread proper, okay? I will move the manga related posts (save for the announcement, which I will edit redirecting conversation to the manga thread proper) to there for now. Many thanks. ^^ __________________

2014-04-22, 19:00	Link #4422
Haak Me, An Intellectual Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: UK Age: 33	Overall that was definitely a very good fight but I actually enjoyed the preceding fights a lot more. I was hoping there would be a bit more character development between these two but I don't think we actually got a lot (at least not as much as others) and somehow I just found those fights had a lot more tension (perhaps because I was a lot more familiar with the "underdogs"). In fact I couldn't help but feel it ended a bit prematurely. It was over before I even knew it. (I think I may have hyped up this clash of titans in my mind for so long that I kinda screwed myself over with my expectations). The last few minutes was absolute perfection though. Seeing Netero so broken like that was pretty shocking but not nearly as shocking as the expression he made next. __________________ MAL \| AnimeSuki Choice Awards 2020 Winners

2014-04-22, 23:40	Link #4424
hamazura whatever Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: wherever	"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win" he already checkmated the king before battle! __________________

2014-04-23, 00:46	Link #4426
hamazura whatever Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: wherever	^ i want to read it but... ugh, i dont even want to write that much wall of text even if my english teacher would give me an A * i read it! yeah! true, humans are the most inhuman creature and king meruem is the most human in entire series __________________ Last edited by hamazura; 2014-04-23 at 01:04.

2014-04-23, 08:18	Link #4436
hamazura whatever Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: wherever	__________________

2014-04-22, 20:51	Link #4423
Noble101 Member Join Date: Jan 2014	Another great episode. I liked how the fight wasn't dragged out like some other shounen anime but ended quick. The bomb really surprised me because I thought he was going to self-destruct. Those last few moments were really creepy and I'm not surprised the king felt fear. Now we just need to wait for Gon's fight with pitou and the rest of the royal guard. Poor pouf, you can tell he really loved the king with that look in the preview.

2014-04-23, 00:24	Link #4425
vi3tboizz Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2014	First time posting. The Episode really blew my mind. First off, the action itself was glorious. Fast-paced, exhilarating, well-choreographed, it was a pleasure to watch. I loved how the King’s matches with Komugi became so relevant to this episode, as they were largely the reason the King was able to gain the advantage on Netero at all. Instead of charging in blind, he actually had a strategy and an idea on how to take down his opponent. The board matches that contributed to his growing humanity helped him “win” here, which is significant for reasons I’ll get to later. - The dynamic between the King and Netero continued to be fascinating. Netero, in keeping with his thoughts before, continued to refer to the King as an insect, one whom he wanted to crush. The King really was quite arrogant this episode, going on about how great he was and about how Netero had “earned” his respect. But then, why not? He WAS far more powerful than Netero, and like most kings, believed himself to be deserving of his status. The plan he outlined for the human race here is all the evidence you need as to why the King couldn’t be allowed to live, and why Netero refused to negotiate with him episodes earlier. Long story short, in Mereuem’s plan, he is still the King. He is still the ruler of the world, and the humans are still weaker. And they can’t have that. - Netero was even more fascinating this episode than the one before. I’d noted to myself before, that Netero’s attack, where he always puts his two palms together before he made a move, resembled a prayer. It fit in very well with his spiritual nature. That’s why it’s so significant that even with his left arm cut off, he could still pray. To the end, Netero never strayed from his beliefs. - Arms in general, or lack thereof, has been a recurring motif this arc. Let’s recap: Neferpitou cut off Kite’s arm, The King tore off his arm, Neferpitou cut off her arm, and and now the King cut off Netero’s arm. What’s even more interesting is that in every single one of these cases, it has always been the LEFT arm, every time, for four times. The people who do it are significant as well: Neferpitou and Meruem, who both happen to be the two primary antagonists of the arc, to Gon and Netero, respectively. They both tore someone else’s arm off, and both ripped off their own, though in the reverse order. - Pitou cut off Kite’s arm out of a desire for aggression and violence, for no reason but to fight and have fun. In short, it was a hostile, vicious act. Later on, Pitou, after transforming into a different, better person, breaks her arm as a way of apology to Gon, of punishing herself. We had the same situation with the King, but in reverse order and in different contexts. The King first ripped off his arm in his match with Komugi, and just as in Pitou case, did it as a way of apology and self-punishment. In short, it was a gesture of humility and apology. Later on, in this episode, the King cut off Netero’s arm, but not because he was vicious or hostile; quite the opposite, his goal was to end the fighting. The fact that the order in which Pitou and the King dealt with arms was reversed is relevant to each individual’s character development. Pitou from malice to humility, the King from growing humility to greater humanity. It’s both clever and subtle. - I’m not sure why Togashi consistently focused on the left arm and not the right. Both in general symbolize strength and support, but in different cultures and philosophies there are specific differences between what the left and right represent. In some cases the left represents judgement, power, enlightenment, etc. I could see why Togashi picked the left, but I won’t go into that here. - Netero’s final attack was incredible, because it’s so unlike what’s usually seen in this type of manga. It was far more than just a giant power beam; it was the perfect representation of Netero and his faith. The narrator described it as enveloping the King with an “indiscriminate love.” The attack is paradoxical: destructive, yet gentle, massive yet strangely silent, with a beautiful array of colors. It’s the perfect representation of destructive beauty, and fits with Netero perfectly, the way it devastated the place while seeming oddly spiritual in nature. And despite all that, it is still described as having a “murderous aura.” - It’s contradictory, in a way, much like I found Netero. Here is a man whom obviously was strongly religious and spiritual, and had a very compassionate side. Yet, despite that, he used dirty tactics with the King, looked very malicious in his last moments, and in general in the past few episodes he has come across as rather hostile and sneaky than peaceful and honest. And despite the fact that he dedicated his life to training and that his appearance has strong Buddhist connotation, in the end he tells the King that if there is a hell, he’ll meet him there. So basically, despite all that he’d done, Netero ultimately saw himself as a rather evil man, someone who wasn’t going to a good place if the afterlife exists. I find that, coupled with his statement about the human race, really though-provoking. - The conversation between Netero and the King about evolution was intense. The King was essentially saying that he is the pinnacle of the Ants’ evolution, an ultimate being of power, and that humanity by its very nature can’t do that, because of their individualism- basically addressing one of the biggest themes of the arc. Netero’s counter statement ties in thematically to something that’s been referred to the whole arc: both humanity’s good and bad. Humans can evolve as well, they can be individualistic while also working together. But that wasn’t the main point of Netero’s statement. - If Netero had just said what he said, with nothing else added to it, it could have been interpreted in either a negative or positive light. It can’t be, though, because the imagery employed in that final scene is anything but encouraging or inspiring. It’s fearful, it’s malicious, it’s terrifying, it’s evil. Netero’s horrific expression, his dead eyes, the shadows, the ominous human skull- the evolution that Netero is referring to is not a progressive evolution in the way the Chimera Ants’ evolution was; it’s evolution towards greater evil, towards greater destruction. And that is what, ultimately, sets humanity apart from the Chimera Ants: their inherent individualism gives them the capacity to achieve more, to do more, than the Chimera Ants could ever hope to. In short, humanity, far more than the Chimera Ant’s ever can, has the greatest potential than any species on Earth to achieve greater levels of EVIL, of malice. - Netero’s words are accentuated by what happens next: a marvel of technology, of human ingenuity: a nuclear bomb exploding. It obliterates everything, and its sheer destructive power makes it clear just how much humans can achieve. The tragic irony is that humanity itself was what crafted such an awful example of utter inhumanity. In the end, ironically, it was the humans who were the most inhumane, the most vicious, as has been the case in many ways since the Invasion started. And this inhuman device was aimed at the creature that had become the most human of all during the arc: the King. - It’s named the Rose, which of course is just Togashi being consistent. Roses have been a recurring motif since the Invasion started. I think they appeared in the background at some point during Shoot’s fight with Youpi, but the first real, obvious example was during Knuckle’s and Youpi’s fight. Right when Knuckle was about to die, we see a light red rose appear, with its petals flying away. Light red roses, specifically, symbolize love, compassion, respect, as was entirely appropriate in Knuckle’s case. Pink roses appeared in the background last episode with Netero; appropriate as well, as those symbolize gratitude. And finally, this episode, the Rose bomb itself was colored a deep shade of red, not a lighter shade like with Knuckle. The reason? Dark red roses often symbolize mourning, and by extension death. And that was certainly a deathly explosion.

2014-04-23, 01:41	Link #4427
Dengar Kamen Rider Muppeteer Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Unknown Age: 39	I think the implication is more that humans can actually be both of these things. Although I do give you that Netero's point was that the King's hubris had gotten the better of him. It's like he was simply too young to understand that he could never win.

2014-04-23, 03:55	Link #4429
Anh_Minh I disagree with you all. Join Date: Dec 2005	I don't know why you guys are so appreciative of what's essentially a Deus Ex Machina. Netero lost the fight? It's ok, he had a bomb all along. One that's small enough to be completely hidden in his body, but powerful enough to do what his super-beam couldn't. Also, it's apparently cheap. Why they didn't surround the palace with them and detonate them all at the same time and call it a day, we'll never know. (OK, maybe they didn't want that much collateral damage.)

2014-04-23, 08:37	Link #4438
Gan_HOPE326 Maddo Scientisto Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: UK	I don't think it was much about covering up the use of nukes as it was about not killing all the population gathered in the capitol. Being willing to cover up shit =/= being completely heartless monsters. Plus the nuke was probably a last-ditch plan, I don't think Netero wouldn't have been happy if he had just been able to whack the King to death - they simply weren't sure of how strong he would have been. Also something else that yadda yadda manga spoilers we'll discuss that after we see it. __________________ ---- What if Goku was super smart and had a thing for philosophy? Find out in The Optimised Wish Project! ---- My other fanfiction can be found here.

2014-04-23, 08:46	Link #4439
Gaulek Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2013	It isn't an asspull. It was foreshadowed: Netero said he will need to sacrifice someone to win. When the fight begin. Netero said :" This is a testing ground for military heavy weaponry" When creepy Knov come back. Knov said: "I have received word from a messenger of the president. He has taken the king to appoint location" "It doesn't matter what the guards do now .. They will be too late"

2014-04-23, 09:02	Link #4440
Clarste Human Join Date: Aug 2004 Age: 37	This was foreshadowed at the very beginning of the arc. The guys in suits told Netero that the Hunter Association would take full responsibility for the methods used. In other words, "do what you have to do but we'll make you the scapegoat for it." The method was obviously going to be something horrible and indefensible in world politics.