(CR) Hunter X Hunter Anime (2011)

[Student no.0]

I'll just go with referring to Pitou as a male, but chances are I'll change my mind and refer to him as a 'her' anyway. Man, Attack on Titan and HunterxHunter are really stepping up on the creepiness level. Kind of relieved to see Colt survived Rammot's attack.

[HybridBloodsZak]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

Too much filler in this episode. And this time it really was pointless.

The lion ant reaction (his retreat) could have come out right after the battle from last week, which is like it happened in the manga. There was no need to pull yet another fight out of their asses for this. That was just pointless padding.

It's a pity they decided to do this, because if they didn't add that filler fight, they could have ended the episode right after THAT scene, which would have been a freaking awesome cliffhanger.

In my opinion, Hagya's extra scenes helped hammer the point about Nen and it's relation to a person's will which makes a prominent return this arc. Frog was intimidated from Kite's scythe last week, same thing happens to Hagya, culminating with Rammot completely broken from Neferpitou's Nen/intent. Similar things happen in the future

Maybe I'm alone in thinking this but Madhouse has actually been refining the character arcs of the Chimera Ants for the better* These chapters** for the first part of the arc I thought were oddly paced for HxH starting and ending at weird times. They returned to "normal" after that. I prefer having next week's events happening all in one episode ending with that infamous manga panel of 199(Which is the same title of next week's episode so it most likely will)

E.g Colt
(185-199)(76-85 Anime Equivalent)

[Funkatron]

Originally Posted by HybridBloodsZak

In my opinion, Hagya's extra scenes helped hammer the point about Nen and it's relation to a person's will which makes a prominent return this arc. Frog was intimidated from Kite's scythe last week, same thing happens to Hagya, culminating with Rammot completely broken from Neferpitou's Nen/intent. Similar things happen in the future

Maybe I'm alone in thinking this but Madhouse has actually been refining the character arcs of the Chimera Ants for the better* These chapters** for the first part of the arc I thought were oddly paced for HxH starting and ending at weird times. They returned to "normal" after that. I prefer having next week's events happening all in one episode ending with that infamous manga panel of 199

E.g Colt
(185-199)(76-85 Anime Equivalent)

I liked that the whole theme of the episode was about being outclassed. Hagya was ready to prove his superiority till he realized that "special" humans outclassed him and Rammot was ready to climb up the ladder to become king with his new power when he realized he was nothing compared to Neferpitou. I suspect this will lead up to Gon, Killua and Kite realizing they are now outmatched by the nen-awakened Chimera Ants. I think this plays off how the episode started: recap of Kute's uneasiness and his whole "I think I'm missing something" monologue.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by HybridBloodsZak

In my opinion, Hagya's extra scenes helped hammer the point about Nen and it's relation to a person's will which makes a prominent return this arc. Frog was intimidated from Kite's scythe last week, same thing happens to Hagya, culminating with Rammot completely broken from Neferpitou's Nen/intent. Similar things happen in the future.

IIRC, in the manga Hagya watches what happens with Frog personally (from a safe distance, but he's watching), so there is no need for another fight. The themes you're talking about are hammered well enough that way. Putting yet another fight just to get the same result is redundant.

Spoiler for not spoiler but to be safe:

Furthermore, now the climax of the current storyline will be placed at the beginning of next episode, which isn't the best option storytelling-wise. Without the filler, they could have had that moment at the end of this episode (as an awesome cliffhanger), and begin the next one with the aftermath. If I was witting the script I would have done it that way for maximum dramatic impact.

[HybridBloodsZak]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

IIRC, in the manga Hagya watches what happens with Frog personally (from a safe distance, but he's watching), so there is no need for another fight. The themes you're talking about are hammered well enough that way. Putting yet another fight just to get the same result is redundant.

Spoiler for not spoiler but to be safe:

Furthermore, now the climax of the current storyline will be placed at the beginning of next episode, which isn't the best option storytelling-wise. Without the filler, they could have had that moment at the end of this episode (as an awesome cliffhanger), and begin the next one with the aftermath. If I was witting the script I would have done it that way for maximum dramatic impact.

There's your issue right there, this isn't the manga but the anime.... Comparing apples and oranges

That beginning scene shows Hagya's squad wondering what happened to the Frog's squad because they hadn't arrived yet. All they can see is the aftermath of the rare humans strength. Hagya didn't know at the time how strong Gon and co truly are.

A great anime adaptation isn't a 1;1 panel by panel copy/paste, it's about adapting the spirit of story to fit in an anime context. The theme of this episode ,going off of what Funkatron said, was about being outclassed in the presence of a greater force(Nen). Before Rammot was overwhelmed by Nen, Madhouse shows the same thing happening to Hagya for two fold which are imo

1.Give a sense cohesion between the two separate parties
2.To have a "B Story" of the episode for pacing purposes so they can put all of next week's events in one episode(Rest of 198/199) which in my opinion makes more sense considering how they've been structuring previous episodes

Now whether you liked/disliked is your opinion but I thought it complemented Pitou's introduction well

Also your climax happening at the beginning of the episode I don't agree with, the "climax" is seeing what happened as a result of what you're referring(End of 199). Don't forget the preview for next week shows some more insight into Kite so THAT EVENT probably won't happen at the beginning but maybe around half way

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by HybridBloodsZak

There's your issue right there, this isn't the manga but the anime.... Comparing apples and oranges

I'm not really comparing. In many cases I like what Madhouse did with the series. The changes they did previously make sense in the context of the anime. It's just in this particular episode when I feel the changes aren't working as well.

Originally Posted by HybridBloodsZak

Also your climax happening at the beginning of the episode I don't agree with, the "climax" is seeing what happened as a result of what you're referring.

What you're talking about there is not climax. It's aftermath. The climax is the moment when the dramatic tension is at its highest. The scene I'm talking about is definitely the climax. PM if you want to discuss this further since this is getting really off-topic.

[freeofgreed]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

If people want to call Pitou a female despite Togashi saying otherwise because it's more comfortable for them, that's their business. But I don't quite understand this notion of couching it in the fact that the Chimera Ants are gender-neutral. Not only are they not gender-neutral, there's no reason they would be gender-neutral - real ants aren't, nor are any of the beasts these ants are feeding the Queen.

Agree'd 100%. I don't even know why people are even attempting to debate this. If it's from word of god, there is no debate about it, period.

Originally Posted by zeniselv

the databooks had some retcons, if i remember correctly, to the point character nen classification had been changed, the zoldyck family tree had been modificated, and not tho mention killua's brothers names, also togashi is known to lie in the afterwords and interviews when talking about future events or character traits/characteristic(tough this is something a lot of mangakas tend to do).

Wouldn't that support the fact that pitou is a male even more? Since Togashi had the chance to retconn Pitou's gender but deliberately chose not to.

Originally Posted by frubam

Well, I'd say that the ants are in actuality gender-neutral,

The chimera ants are definitely NOT gender-neutral. If they were, there'd be no reason for the King to exist. Also in the last episode Banana states and I quote "The Kings travel and mate with different organisms, so as to breed new queens." Would be kinda hard to do that if he didn't have a penis.

Spoiler:

anyone who has this arc in the manga should know that the king is definitely able to procreate

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by freeofgreed

The chimera ants are definitely NOT gender-neutral. If they were, there'd be no reason for the King to exist. Also in the last episode Banana states and I quote "The Kings travel and mate with different organisms, so as to breed new queens." Would be kinda hard to do that if he didn't have a penis.

Except what exactly a penis is varies drastically from species to species? Either he has some kind of morphing omnitool or, more likely, he goes for some kind of traumatic insemination whereby he ignores the specific anatomy of the female.

Either way, it's nothing sexy. I think we should stop trying to apply human standards to them.

[freeofgreed]

Originally Posted by Clarste

Except what exactly a penis is varies drastically from species to species? Either he has some kind of morphing omnitool or, more likely, he goes for some kind of traumatic insemination whereby he ignores the specific anatomy of the female.

Either way, it's nothing sexy. I think we should stop trying to apply human standards to them.

Whoooosh! Missed my point completely. My point wasn't whether or not the king had a penis or an omnitool or whatever, it was that the ants can (but not always) reproduce sexually which wouldn't be possible if they were genderless.

Also why should we stop applying human standards to them? That is one of the major underlying themes of this arc...

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by freeofgreed

Whoooosh! Missed my point completely. My point wasn't whether or not the king had a penis or an omnitool or whatever, it was that the ants can (but not always) reproduce sexually which wouldn't be possible if they were genderless.

Also why should we stop applying human standards to them? That is one of the major underlying themes of this arc...

I wasn't saying they were genderless, I was saying they were ants. For every bit of humanity they've acquired, they show another aspect of themselves that's truly alien to us. Or they vacillate back and forth like Rammot does. Or they apply human virtues like love and devotion to ant society, like Colt does. Not to spoil anything, but the theme isn't so much "they're no different from us" as it is "not quite human, not quite insect".

I mentioned earlier that there are Australian ants that are all perfectly fertile but will never breed as long as their queen is alive. They won't even think about it. They have their working ant-parts (which again, look nothing like human parts) but have no motive whatsoever to breed. Biologically female but mentally... ant. Ant is a gender now because ants are nothing like humans. Even the chromosomal definition of what "male" and "female" are is different. The show speaks of chimera ant kings breeding with other species, but semantically that's impossible. That's just what it means to be a "species". If we saw something like that in real life we'd call it a parasite without hesitation, and if we studied them enough to discover that they used the hosts DNA to form their child we'd call it a virus. That's not sexuality or gender, that's something entirely alien to our human experiences.

Which is exactly why applying human psychology to these inhuman creatures makes for such a compelling story. Because they're not human.

[freeofgreed]

Originally Posted by Clarste

Biologically female but mentally... ant. Ant is a gender now because ants are nothing like humans. Even the chromosomal definition of what "male" and "female" are is different. The show speaks of chimera ant kings breeding with other species, but semantically that's impossible. That's just what it means to be a "species". If we saw something like that in real life we'd call it a parasite without hesitation, and if we studied them enough to discover that they used the hosts DNA to form their child we'd call it a virus. That's not sexuality or gender, that's something entirely alien to our human experiences.

I see what your saying and I agree with most of it however I feel as though your applying way too much real world biology into this. As I've already stated the ants definitely do have genders in the humans sense. Maybe not in the real world but in Togashi's fictionalized one they do. You mentioned that they'd be called parasites in the real world, but I feel as though your focusing too much on the "ant" part and not enough on the "Chimera" part.

They are Chimeras first and ants second. Togashi is obviously using the term in the fictionalized sense, which gives him the freedom to make them as different from their real world counterparts as he wishes. Also just from what we've seen so far the ants already have a unique reproductive cycle different from real world ants. Which is why it's pointless to continue trying to compare the two when it comes to their sexuality.

Spoiler:

Also you mentioned something earlier about you being a manga reader, and if you are, you of all people should know that there is proof that the ants are both capable and have shown sexual desire in the human sense.

[SHINOBI-03]

A little experiment I just did

[CJ_Walker]

Originally Posted by Clarste

Except what exactly a penis is varies drastically from species to species? Either he has some kind of morphing omnitool or, more likely, he goes for some kind of traumatic insemination whereby he ignores the specific anatomy of the female.

Either way, it's nothing sexy. I think we should stop trying to apply human standards to them.

Actually, the Chimera's aren't gender neutral. Think about it, they are pretty much merged with humans. . .

I won't say anymore for the fear of spoilers, but yeah, it gets made clear later on (although at this point in the anime even(and manga at this point) it was made clear already. . .just that you and a few others refuse to see it)that the ants are NOT gender neutral.

Anyway you're gonna have to watch over some episodes to determine what I'm talking about as to where it was made clear. I really don't want to spoil this for you so I'm leaving it at that, this arc is pretty much the best arc of the series, so please do your own research.

Sorry buddy.

P.S. Also this:

Spoiler for Not a spoiler just putting this there for emphasis to what's already been aired.:

Originally Posted by Clarste

I think we should stop trying to apply human standards to them.

Please pay closer attention to this show, you're already missing a lot . Please.

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by CJ_Walker

Actually, the Chimera's aren't gender neutral. Think about it, they are pretty much merged with humans. . .

I don't know who you're talking to since I never once said they were gender neutral?

Originally Posted by CJ_Walker

Sorry buddy.

P.S. Also this:

Spoiler for Not a spoiler just putting this there for emphasis to what's already been aired.:

Please pay closer attention to this show, you're already missing a lot . Please.

Thanks for the thought, but actually I've read the manga. Like a dozen times. This is my favorite arc too. Yes, the ants are becoming more humanlike, but I think if you ignore the fact that they're not human you'll miss quite a lot of the themes involved. Perhaps you should pay more attention?

[Funkatron]

Hunter x Hunter: the Game of Thrones of anime

Spoiler for I think I'm strong:

[Dagger]

Was sure this would happen eventually, but never dreamed it'd be so soon...

[Clarste]

Spoiler for episode 85:

Death Flags: the episode

[Funkatron]

Originally Posted by Clarste

Spoiler for episode 85:

Death Flags: the episode

Spoiler for Episode 85:

More like "Death Flags: The Anime"

[zeniselv]

Tgis episode really sets the tone for what the rnarrattor mentioned a couple of episodes back of this being the cruelest travel of the 2, it really feels like trolling when the scene of gon saying they are going to save kite, and the scene that follows, but it does show a very important aspect of gon's personality.

Spoiler for here is a cool gif someone made of the confrontation.:

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

I expected a certain someone to kick the bucket, but I didn’t expect him to get a “nice boat” ending .

Originally Posted by Clarste

Spoiler for episode 85:

Death Flags: the episode

Originally Posted by Funkatron

Spoiler for Episode 85:

More like "Death Flags: The Anime"

Nope, it's Hunter x Hunter: Death Arc .