Hunter x Hunter

[Talon87]

Hmm. The latest episode (44) may have killed the series for me and made it very, very easy to put this one back on hold for months ... perhaps a year ... perhaps indefinitely. But maybe that's just acute disgust with the juvenile plot talking. Maybe I'll feel differently in a couple of days. Anyway, thoughts below:

Spoiler: show

Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I don't like Togashi's rationalization of how Kurapica can take on the Phantom Troupe members so soon. It reeks even worse of the same awful stench one found in Kishimoto's writing in Naruto where the author struggled to explain how inexperienced children could overcome seasoned veterans in one-on-one fights. I would have been perfectly fine with Togashi not having made Uvogin so powerful and Kurapica catching him. And I would have been perfectly fine with Togashi having made Uvogin as powerful as he did and then having Kurapica step back and say "Whoa, I need to train real hard if I want to bring these guys to justice." But instead we have a RIDICULOUS combination of the two. On the one hand we have Uvogin who is portrayed as being so powerful he can create blast craters in the ground with his fist, can spit bony fragments from his mouth so forcefully that even a top-notch nen practioner can't shield against it, and can holler so loudly as to rattle a person's brains inside their skull. (We'll come back to this one later if I remember to!) And on the other hand we have a boy who yeah is part of a tribe of capable warriors and yeah has started figuring out how to use nen but come on he's portrayed as still being quite green. So it's pretty fucking ridiculous to me that Togashi would have us suspend our disbelief beyond the breaking point and ask us to accept that maybe just maybe through the power of an oath he swore to his heart Kurapica might triumph! Oh come ON! What do you take us for? We're supposed to believe that no one has wanted something as badly as Kurapica wants these guys dead? We're supposed to believe that his desire for vengeance is so strong that through some arbitrary magical oath he swore to the gods of the universe that he's been given a power which so long as he uses it on legitimate targets is something years beyond his capabilities? I can't do it. I just can't. And I won't! This is retarded. It's the sort of crap you expect from a kid's show and ... well, I guess that's why it's shown up in Hunter x Hunter. The latest episode's cruelly reminded me that I've invested forty-four episodes' worth of my time in what is ultimately a story written for children, not adults. I hesitate to say "I've wasted my time" since that sounds so final but I'm pretty damn close.

Something else I didn't like about the episode was Uvogin's power level period. I know I said earlier that I'd have been okay with it so long as Kurapica hadn't then gone on to restrain him, but honestly, there are a lot of frustrations to be had with Spider #11. Let's start off with his screaming. The way sound works, it should've rattled his own unguarded ears just as badly as it rattled the porcupine's; and it should've jostled his own brain just as much. So there's that, first of all. Second, there's absolutely no reason to believe that he couldn't do it again in the car. Kurapica's chains weren't clamping his mouth shut or making it impossible for him to breathe. (Despite being in pain, he was clearly not distressed about his breathing.) So like, why the hell didn't he just holler again real loud and fuck up Kurapica's and Senritsu's ears or brains? Kurapica had one hand on the steering wheel and the other gripping tightly to the chains binding Uvogin: there would've been no opportunity for him to have guarded his ears from Uvogin's shouting. So this is a glaring plot hole I really can't forgive since it means Togashi thinks we're that fucking stupid and ADHD that we can't remember events that transpired not even five minutes ago. Now, let's move on to another of Uvogin's abilities, the mouth-gun. This is pretty fucking ridiculous. How do you fire projectiles from your mouth so forcefully that they can't be stopped by expert nen users? And assuming that you can, why doesn't the projectile tear apart your own teeth or tongue as you push it off and it leaves your mouth? C'mon, guys, I know we're not writing Ever17 here but I at least expect a little respect for basic science in the shows I'm watching! This was just stupid. Finally, we have his nuclear punch. I'm fine with a punch being really strong and theoretically not hurting its own owner ... but when that punch is portrayed as producing a shockwave so powerful it sends the rocky ground rippling up into the air, you have to wonder how come his own bones didn't get turned to powder right then. Again, you can handwave this away as being part of his nen training, but I guess what I'm trying to say it all adds up to is ridiculous power creep for this series. We've gone from having no nen to having nen to having Fate/stay nen. It's just silly. Like Doppel, I'm beginning to fear that the days of watching fun martial arts specialists in HxH are long past us and that from here on out we're just going to watch power escalation. "I can make a crater 40 meters across!" "Oh yeah? Well I can make one 150 meters across!" "Oh yeah? Well I can make one a nation across!" "OH YEAH? WELL I CAN DESTROY THE ENTIRE PLANET!" I've seen one too many shounen series self-destruct like this and I'm not sure I can bear to watch another one do the same.

Now, episode highlights. I liked the bit with Senritsu's melody and I appreciated Togashi saying that even calmed down Kurapica still would want to challenge the Phantom Troupe when he sees 'em. That to me is a nice way of demonstrating that he's not just irrationally going after them blinded by hatred. I also liked the part where, after Uvogin destroyed the Shadow Beasts, he started talking with some of his comrades. Shizuku was cute as always and I'm really curious to see what the happy-go-lucky blonde guy can do. It was interesting to learn that her vacuum can't be used to suck up living targets. I guess that's at least some relief for her victims: you won't have to worry about being eaten alive. ^^; One part I liked with Uvogin's fight was when he just leaned over and ripped off a chunk of Leech's head. It was grotesque but I thought it was a great way of demonstrating that these smug mafia soldiers were in way over their heads. And given what we'd just seen him do with the nuclear blast fist, it wasn't beyond belief for what this man might be capable of. "What? You think you're the only one who can use his teeth?" I do like the concept behind Kurapica's special attack -- that he's not killing the Phantom Troupe but instead he's bringing them to justice in chains -- and it reminds me in a good way of FSN Gilgamesh's Enkidu (the chains). While I might have complaints about the oath to the heart bit, and while I might wish that Kurapica had trained real hard to get good at mastering nen before taking these guys on, I do still like the idea that he's binding them in his own form of vigilante justice.

We'll see. Like I said, maybe after I cool down from watching this I'll feel differently. But for right now ... talk about disgusted. I'm very, very upset with Togashi's writing this week.

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by Talon87

Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I don't like Togashi's rationalization of how Kurapica can take on the Phantom Troupe members so soon. It reeks even worse of the same awful stench one found in Kishimoto's writing in Naruto where the author struggled to explain how inexperienced children could overcome seasoned veterans in one-on-one fights. I would have been perfectly fine with Togashi not having made Uvogin so powerful and Kurapica catching him. And I would have been perfectly fine with Togashi having made Uvogin as powerful as he did and then having Kurapica step back and say "Whoa, I need to train real hard if I want to bring these guys to justice." But instead we have a RIDICULOUS combination of the two. On the one hand we have Uvogin who is portrayed as being so powerful he can create blast craters in the ground with his fist, can spit bony fragments from his mouth so forcefully that even a top-notch nen practioner can't shield against it, and can holler so loudly as to rattle a person's brains inside their skull. (We'll come back to this one later if I remember to!) And on the other hand we have a boy who yeah is part of a tribe of capable warriors and yeah has started figuring out how to use nen but come on he's portrayed as still being quite green. So it's pretty fucking ridiculous to me that Togashi would have us suspend our disbelief beyond the breaking point and ask us to accept that maybe just maybe through the power of an oath he swore to his heart Kurapica might triumph! Oh come ON! What do you take us for? We're supposed to believe that no one has wanted something as badly as Kurapica wants these guys dead? We're supposed to believe that his desire for vengeance is so strong that through some arbitrary magical oath he swore to the gods of the universe that he's been given a power which so long as he uses it on legitimate targets is something years beyond his capabilities? I can't do it. I just can't. And I won't! This is retarded. It's the sort of crap you expect from a kid's show and ... well, I guess that's why it's shown up in Hunter x Hunter. The latest episode's cruelly reminded me that I've invested forty-four episodes' worth of my time in what is ultimately a story written for children, not adults. I hesitate to say "I've wasted my time" since that sounds so final but I'm pretty damn close.

I had a talk with one of my friends about this issue-

Spoiler: show

In the HxH world, there's a major police and power problem. I liken it to the big plot-hole in Harry Potter with the Avada Kedavra curse and say the 1600's Caribbean where the European navies were often not powerful enough to take on pirate fleets. Apparently, most of the characters who are strong in HxH are not members of the Hunter Association, and many current Hunters are quite weak and would be fodder for murderers like Hisoka. The only reason a character like Hisoka doesn't try to take over the HxH world is because he has no interest in it...which is a rather un-settling feeling in the event of someone powerful deciding to do just that.

Thus being, the idea that there's a certain level of experience that dictates how powerful one becomes is flawed. A power cap is set at birth and it's up to the individual to determine how quickly he/she meets that potential. What we're seeing out of Kurapica right now is his Mangekyou Sharingan/Super Saiyan: he found a way to cut corners and accelerate his own progression and become an elite, albeit a very specialist one.

The peanut gallery praised Togashi for cutting to the chase with such an idea, and frankly my only problem isn't that Kurapia found a way to make himself insanely powerful in a limited capacity (it's kind of a shock to see him totally eclipse Gon and Killua that tremendously, think Archer Arm Shirou starting from Day 1 in Fate) but that the whole matter seems reversible. If Kurapika were to change the object of his hatred, he could reform his conjuration into something else...so he can maintain this level of elite power against anyone he wants.

Hypothetically. Nothing implies Kurapika could, but the fact that no rules exist saying he can't doesn't rule out the problem.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Something else I didn't like about the episode was Uvogin's power level period. I know I said earlier that I'd have been okay with it so long as Kurapica hadn't then gone on to restrain him, but honestly, there are a lot of frustrations to be had with Spider #11. Let's start off with his screaming. The way sound works, it should've rattled his own unguarded ears just as badly as it rattled the porcupine's; and it should've jostled his own brain just as much. So there's that, first of all. Second, there's absolutely no reason to believe that he couldn't do it again in the car. Kurapica's chains weren't clamping his mouth shut or making it impossible for him to breathe. (Despite being in pain, he was clearly not distressed about his breathing.) So like, why the hell didn't he just holler again real loud and fuck up Kurapica's and Senritsu's ears or brains? Kurapica had one hand on the steering wheel and the other gripping tightly to the chains binding Uvogin: there would've been no opportunity for him to have guarded his ears from Uvogin's shouting. So this is a glaring plot hole I really can't forgive since it means Togashi thinks we're that fucking stupid and ADHD that we can't remember events that transpired not even five minutes ago.

I didn't see this as a plot hole, if he tries to breathe in deeply, the chain's going to tighten and make it even tougher for him to breathe normally. He wasn't gagged because Kurapika wanted to talk to him.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Now, let's move on to another of Uvogin's abilities, the mouth-gun. This is pretty fucking ridiculous. How do you fire projectiles from your mouth so forcefully that they can't be stopped by expert nen users? And assuming that you can, why doesn't the projectile tear apart your own teeth or tongue as you push it off and it leaves your mouth? C'mon, guys, I know we're not writing Ever17 here but I at least expect a little respect for basic science in the shows I'm watching! This was just stupid. Finally, we have his nuclear punch. I'm fine with a punch being really strong and theoretically not hurting its own owner ... but when that punch is portrayed as producing a shockwave so powerful it sends the rocky ground rippling up into the air, you have to wonder how come his own bones didn't get turned to powder right then. Again, you can handwave this away as being part of his nen training, but I guess what I'm trying to say it all adds up to is ridiculous power creep for this series. We've gone from having no nen to having nen to having Fate/stay nen. It's just silly. Like Doppel, I'm beginning to fear that the days of watching fun martial arts specialists in HxH are long past us and that from here on out we're just going to watch power escalation. "I can make a crater 40 meters across!" "Oh yeah? Well I can make one 150 meters across!" "Oh yeah? Well I can make one a nation across!" "OH YEAH? WELL I CAN DESTROY THE ENTIRE PLANET!" I've seen one too many shounen series self-destruct like this and I'm not sure I can bear to watch another one do the same.

His reinforcement ability, like Emiya Shirou's, is a convenient plot device to explain away his DBZ-like super strength. I don't think this is a power creep though - it's more like skipping to the final bosses of the manga in the second major arc. If Togashi revisits the rest of the manga he skipped, we should see some less outrageous stuff next arc.

The way Uvogin is being portrayed, he's probably the upper tier for a reinforcement user, and likely what we should expect out of Gon some day. The only reason Kurapika is dominating is because of a whole lot of weird stuff.

The whole match-up reminds me of something like this.

[Talon87]

Nah, I just can't buy that. Sorry. I'm glad those explanations work for you but they don't work for me. I am far removed from praising Togashi for (as you put it) "cutting to the chase." To me, what he has done is just plain ridiculous. This is Naruto on steroids, is what this is. And I can't accept your explanation about Uvogin's breathing either, sorry. A plot hole's a plot hole and that's a pretty damn insulting one. I don't really care about any of these characters the way I care about an Itou Kaiji or a Tanabe Ai (and I've had forty-four episodes to do it, too!) so I'm left only to care about the combat. Take that away from me too and I don't have much left to tune in for.

[Talon87]

I watched Episode 45 a couple of days ago, despite all the hullabaloo about dropping this series. I'm still not happy with HxH and it's still definitely dropped a letter grade in my book ... but I guess, to make a comparison once again with Naruto, if how pleased I was with this series up thru 43 (before 44) was comparable with how pleased I was with Naruto up thru the first half of the Fetching Tsunade arc of Naruto, then how pleased I am with the show now is comparable with how pleased I was with Naruto towards the end of non-Shippuuden Naruto and right before the Valley of the End fight (which was, and forever will be, fucking amazing). So yeah: Hunter x Hunter has lost its A-rank certification but I'm still watching, for now anyway, and thus I watched Episode 45.

Thoughts? It was okay-good. It's frustrating seeing just how powerful the Phantom Troupe members are depicted as being but only because I know that the anime is going to show Newbie Kurapica pwning most of them with his Chain Jail technique and that pisses me off. But were it not for Chain Jail, I have to say I'm pleased with how powerful the Troupe are depicted as being. In a world with such things as Hunters, with such crazy abilities as those we saw at Heavens Arena or during the Hunter Exam, you would have to be pretty goddamn untouchable to be a long-time group of bandits, particularly one with such notoriety as the Phantom Troupe has. So I'm pleased to see that even above-average Hunters are being decimated in less than a minute by these Phantom Troupe guys, even in situations where the numbers don't match up (like the 4-against-1 situation last time or the 6-against-3 situation this time). The series is kind of fucking with us though regarding Feitan: he's been alluded to doing stuff like three times now and we still have no idea what exactly it is that he can do. Is he hiding a creepy large mouth of needles behind that coat collar? Does he have a needle-tongue that he punctures people with? Why is his mouth hidden and what exactly does he do with it to torture people? Feitan's not the only one the series is teasing us with -- we barely know what any of the Phantom Troupe members can do, the only ones we know half or more about being Uvogin, Shizuku, and the pink-haired surgeon Machi. But Feitan specifically is starting to get on my nerves how much the story is teasing us with. Just show us what he does already. >_<

As for some more spoilery thoughts ...

Spoiler: show

Man, those bodyguards are just dropping like flies, aren't they? ^^; It'll be interesting to see the justification for retrieving the blue-haired girl now that the Phantom Troupe, or at least Uvogin, is after Kurapica.

The bit with Hisoka and Kurapica was interesting but I was hoping for something more than "I want to beat him because he's so strong." Kudos to the anime for GOOD LORD making it uncomfortably clear how sexually aroused Hisoka gets by even the mere thought of fighting strong people. But no kudos for withholding the truth behind Hisoka's involvement with the Troupe. We know (from the Heavens Arena arc) that Hisoka isn't the real Spider #4. Even if it was none of Kurapica's business, it would've been nice of Togashi to have used this conversation as an excuse to inform readers about how Hisoka came to be in the Troupe, who the real #4 was supposed to be, and whether the boss is aware of this (and just humoring Hisoka) or whether he's unaware that Hisoka isn't who he claims to be. Hisoka selling out the Phantom Troupe to Kurapica also seems kinda crazy: he doesn't yet know about Kurapica's Chain Jail technique and so surely he can't believe that this blond boy is going to be able to help him take on the Troupe's leader 4-against-2 if they head back to base right now. That would just be silly.

Speaking of Chain Jail and Hisoka, I just realized something: calling it right now that it's going to be a dramatic twist where Kurapica attempts to use Chain Jail on Hisoka and it backfires since Hisoka isn't truly a member of the Phantom Troupe. Whether he'll actually use it and we then have to confront the question of him dying or not or whether he'll catch himself before he uses it, who knows, but I'm just calling it right now that this is probably going to come up. Even if it's in the most light-hearted of ways, like Hisoka revealing to the heroes that he isn't a Spider and Kurapica then being all like "Oh, phew. ^_^; And to think I almost used Chain Jail on you! ^^;"

[Doppleganger]

I alluded to this earlier, but it's pretty darn scary how the Phantom Troupe is so ridiculously powerful. It makes one think that the Hunter Association is probably full of weaklings and its grip on power in the world might only be due to the apathy of such monsters as the spider.

But Talon, which Hunters are you referring to? Certainly not the body guards right?

[Talon87]

No, I was referring to the Shadow Beasts, the Injuu, the Hunters in the mafia's employ.

[Doppleganger]

Yeah, those guys. I don't think they're Hunters, I think they're just Nen users. I seem to remember someone making a big deal out of Kurapica and Senritsu as professional Hunters and the other lot as amateurs.

[Talon87]

Episode 46 is a bit of a tease. If you haven't watched it yet, you can easily wait until next week's episode before tuning in. The sneak peek from last week doesn't show up here until the final moments of the episode (with the ending credits' theme song playing right after), so yeah, just thought I'd let you know.

That stated, it was mildly enjoyable and had some nice exploration of plot arcs that've been on the back burner for well over a month now.

Spoiler: show

Kurapica's revenge: it was good to see some referring back to Kurapica's stated goal of getting access to Neon's father so that he could (1) ingratiate himself to the man in order to get a list of other parts collectors who may have some of Kurapica's tribe's eyes and (2) execute the guy. In fact, it was good to see Neon period since she's been missing for like three to four weeks now.

Gon, Killua, and Leorio: and it was good to see these guys again too. Sure, their story arc isn't quite as interesting at the moment as Kurapica's, but I'm still interested in Gon getting his hands on Greed Island and trying to get one step closer to his father, so it was nice to see attention return to these guys if even only for just a bit. Kudos to Leorio for his clever plan of getting the mafia to notice them and offer them the big bucks but even bigger kudos to Killua for being smart enough to realize what the so-called "hunt and seek" flyers were really all about.

Uvogin & Co.: it's interesting to learn that even if everyone in the Phantom Troupe is beyond the level of a typical Hunter that some of them are licensed Hunters while some of them are not. You'd think the Hunter Association would've revoked the Spider members' licenses but I guess not. Maybe they can't prove those individuals are Spiders? Maybe the blond guy stole someone else's card and wasn't using his own now-invalidated account? Who knows.

Anyway, I tuned in this week for {you know what} but it looks like it's not going to get started until next week so until then!

[Doppleganger]

Leorio's been awesome the whole arc. Even if he hasn't done much in the way of fighting, all three of the main characters are being overshadowed by Kurapika right now, so I mind it less. And he's shown himself savvy in so many other ways he's been a real treat to watch.

[Talon87]

Episode 47. What should have been a really exciting episode was instead one I calmly enjoyed while half-paying attention to the bowl of udon and the cheese-and-toast sandwich I was eating. And the main reason for this was no suspense. I enjoyed the episode, don't get me wrong, but only as much as one can when the episode is a 1v1 fight that you 99.9% know the outcome to. More after the break.

Spoiler: show

It's not just me of course: every single regular here is old enough and smart enough to realize from ten miles away that Kurapica was going to win this fight. In a sense most fair to Togashi, you could even say that determining the winner or loser this week was never the point of this chapter. Instead this chapter was all about revealing multiple hidden truths about Kurapica's abilities. This was basically a chance for Togashi as an author to say, "I know none of you are going to be on the edge of your seat wondering who wins so I might as well take this time to have Kurapica utterly pwn Uvogin, thereby allowing me to shower you with all these gifts of information, and then the next time you see Kurapica take on the Spiders you might actually worry about the outcome as I reveal that they can circumvent some or all of his amazing tricks." So for that I enjoyed the episode. You know me: I always welcome new information in series I'm watching. But in the end I just couldn't get very excited about this episode and that really hurt it for me.

Let's look at some of Kurapica's new tidbits, shall we?

Specialist: it's revealed this week that Kurapica in his normal, gray-blue-eyed form is a Conjurer but that Kurapica in his special, red-eyed state is a Specialist. Supwise~! :3 This is kinda cheap but all on its own I don't mind it too much. However ...

Specialist ability: ... Kurapica's ability is just out of this world insane. MAX proficiency in ALL FIVE of the other nen categories? Are you freakin' kidding me!? As if Chain Jail wasn't already broken enough (so broken I lost all most of my respect for this series), we now have a total scrub who is superior to a seasoned veteran of any one particular nen class? Cooooooooooooome oooooooooooon! This is WAY too overpowered! Cool, I guess, but way too overpowered! How stupid is it going to be when they reveal in his next Phantom Troupe fight that despite this amazing power level of his he isn't good enough to go toe-to-toe with some of the others? GET REAL! >_<

Kurta stuff: We find out that Uvogin didn't even remember Kurapica's clan until he saw Kurapica's red eyes for himself. Even being told about the red eyes wasn't good enough to jog his memory: he had to actually see them before he could remember Kurapica's kinsmen. We also find out that Kurapica seems to have been an especially powerful Kurta (see above) given that it's not implied that all Kurta were masters of all five nen categories when in their red-eyed states. (If they were, then it's fucking horseshit to suggest that an entire tribe would get done in by twelve Spiders but that Scrub Kurapica could handle Uvogin 1-on-1.) So it seems like not only were the Kurta powerful but Kurapica specifically was powerful amongst his own people. Uchiha Sasuke to a tee, like Yuki's been warning since before we started watching the series.

Conjured chains: we knew Kurapica was a Conjurer but I think even we kind of fell for the trick that the only chains he'd conjured up were the visible ones. Other people who didn't know what we knew mistook him for a Manipulator handling real chains. And it was revealed this week that that had been his plan all along: conjure two sets of chains, some always visible and some usually invisible, and fool people into assuming that the only chains you've got are the visible ones. It's very clever and something that, despite frustrations vented above, I'm only too happy to congratulate Togashi on. Wish we had more like this.

Aura cancelling: talk about another broken ability. This one, though, I am fairly certain will be the first one Togashi happily explores the dismantling of in future fights with the Spiders. He'll probably give us some Phantom Troupe member who despite being weaker than Uvogin has some ingenious way of getting out of chains that doesn't require much or any nen. But until then, this ability's pretty fucking broken. lol "I wrap my chains around you ... and now you can't use nen anymore." It reduces pretty much any adversary of the classes we've seen recently back down to the classes we saw during the Hunter exam. In other words, it pretty much ends the fight. As if you needed any proof I'm right, it's precisely the moment when Uvogin learns about the nen cancellation from Kurapica that he tries desperately to flex his way out, fails, and then loses all hope of winning this fight. Until then he'd been pretty cocky even with the chains strangling him but once he learned he couldn't get his nen back it was all over.

Super healing: it's demonstrated that Kurapica can use one of the nen categories he's a master of during his red-eyed state and can couple it with one of his chains to basically heal ~any wound instantly. This is showcased with him healing a pulverized arm in a matter of seconds. The overpowered just keep getting more and more powerful, don't they?

Assassination technique: we're shown that Kurapica has a trick where, once your nen is down (and thus you have no chance to shield yourself against it), he can send a nen chain directly into your body. It then ensnares your heart and Kurapica says "Unless you answer me honestly your heart will be crushed." He's then free to ask any question. Most of the people he'll be using this on won't answer, obviously, knowing they're going to die anyway and being loyal to their own beliefs and teammates, but what that basically means is this is an unstoppable killing blow. I guess you could say that it's kind of a moot point since once you lose your nen you're pretty much boned anyway? But like, this is ridiculous overkill. This basically says "If your nen is spent then I can assassinate you from long range."

Kurapica's teacher: we're shown that Kurapica didn't cut off ties with his teacher after all when his teacher told him to drop the chain idea. Instead it was his teacher who gave him the knowledge about what it'd take to create Chain Jail. (Figures he had to learn it from somebody!) And it was his teacher who found out that Kurapica become a completely different type of nen user when entering his red-eyed state, going from the Conjurer class to the Specialist class.

Kurapica planned this all out: we're told through a series of flashback visuals and dialogue in the present that Kurapica basically wanted to fight Uvogin first, wanted to fight him 1-on-1, and is very pleased with the results (obviously ). Kurapica figured he personally had the best shot against an Enhancer. He also figured his chains' physical strength had the worst chance against an Enhancer so it's pleasing to see that even a super strong Enhancer can't muscle his way out of 'em without nen. He's even glad to see that his own Enhancer punches (when he's in his red-eyed state, of course) are strong enough to deal internal organ damage to a super muscular man, concluding it means he shouldn't have to worry about bringing along special weaponry for killing people. (Watch this come up later, of course. )

So yeah. We learned a ton about Kurapica this week. So much that I am sure I've probably forgotten to mention something. But let's wrap this up, shall we?

The fight between Uvogin and Kurapica was sadly not very exciting. In some series you know the outcome of the fight but the fight is still edge-of-your-seat awesome. That was the case for me with F/Z's fight between Rider and Archer. It was also the case for me with F/Z's fight between Kirei and Kiritsugu. Part of it is that you simply don't know how the winner's gonna win or the loser's gonna lose. And while that should've applied just as much here, I can't tell you why but for me it didn't. With this fight I felt like we were going through a very mild ballet. It wasn't bad. I'd rank it no lower than a MyAnimeList 6/10. But nor would I rank it any higher than a MyAnimeList 7/10. It was okay. Mildly entertaining while I ate my cheese-and-toast sandwich and my bowl of ramen. So anyway, Kurapica ends up beating Uvogin but is unable to get any additional information from him. Then we cut to the Phantom Troupe and we see their boss explaining to them how Uvo's done something rash and how they should expect that he might not come out of this alive and, should that be the unfortunate case, there will be a change in plans. One wonders if the boss will try to recruit Kurapica. (Doubtful?) Or if he is even more eager to try his hand at beating powerful opponents than Hisoka is. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

No Gon, Killua, or Leorio this week but that was to be expected and quite frankly I'd have been upset if the tempo of this episode had been interrupted with them needlessly popping up for five minutes of screen time.

Not much else to say. I kinda rambled. (What? Me?) So I'll end it here.

An okay episode. I wanted it to be great and sadly it wasn't but it looks like it's setting us up for much more exciting things down the road.

[Talon87]

So, I was looking up who provided the voice of Daichi in Hime-chan's Ribbon because I was watching again some of the old episodes I have and man oh man did his voice strike me as being incredibly familiar-sounding. Well, the bad news was that I turned out to be wrong I guess: his voice actress only ever lent her voice to five anime productions, of which Hime-chan's Ribbon is the only one I recognize. But the good news, if you want to call it "good news" , is ...

... I discovered the existence of the Hunter x Hunter musical. Y'see, she played Madam Isabel (who I presume is the woman standing up in this video?) according to her ANN page so I decided to do a search and sure enough someone had uploaded bits and pieces to YouTube. Like that one. Or this one which features the main four. Or this one which shows the end of one of the musicals. Yes, that's right: musicals. It turns out that there were several musicals. One of them took place at the end of the Yorknew City arc (which we're on right now). Another one of them dealt with the Killua Retrieval arc. And apparently there was even a third stage production too. And who knows how many more they might end up doing.

The point is: there are Hunter x Hunter musical productions in this world. What next? Jiraiya: the Musical?

[Talon87]

Episode 48 was a surprisingly fruitful, entertaining episode for Team Gon. There was one thing though which really soured the episode for me:

Spoiler: show

The fact that Gon would sell his Hunter license for 100,000,000 jennies. Not only does it bother me immensely that he would sell it period, it bothers me that he would sell it for so little. Even if that's all people are willing to pay for a Hunter license I don't care: these boys already have something like 2 billion jennies saved up, they don't need an additional 100 million to go around asking questions. Which is worse? To go from 2 billion to 1.9 billion but keep your license? Or to stay put at 2 billion but lose your license? It's not rocket science. -_-; I would have been more okay with this if two things were evident. First, that it was an emergency situation, life or death, and Gon had to get cash fast no matter how little and no matter the costs. Second, that we actually saw him sell it, thus implying that this is an important scene we may, may see come up again later with a Retrieve Gon's Hunter License Card arc. But no. The way they depicted it it seems like Gon's Hunter license is as gone and forgettable as the toilet paper he wiped his ass with last Tuesday. And that really bothers me.

Aside from that, I enjoyed the episode. Not spectacular, no, but not a disappointment either.

[Doppleganger]

Wow, my post from last week just disappeared. Did it even make it through?

Talon - remember, people can't aren't Hunters can't do anything with a Hunter's License. Or rather, that's a bit confusing - can they? That was said somewhere in the show, but I distinctly remember Satoz implying Gon should protect the license with his life. Perhaps he meant that semantically?

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Wow, my post from last week just disappeared. Did it even make it through?

Talon - remember, people can't aren't Hunters can't do anything with a Hunter's License. Or rather, that's a bit confusing - can they? That was said somewhere in the show, but I distinctly remember Satoz implying Gon should protect the license with his life. Perhaps he meant that semantically?

This is what they said:

• your license card is pretty much what makes you a Hunter. You can't do shit without it.
• we will not reissue you a card should you lose it
• There is a huge market for Hunter license cards. If you should choose to sell yours that's your prerogative but we will never issue you another one.
• Because of this huge market, people will go to great lengths to steal your Hunter license card. Don't expect them to feel sorry for you and give it back. If your card's stolen, as far as we're concerned it deserved to be stolen and you don't deserve to be a Hunter.
• You can never take this test again. We let people who fail take the test again, but people who pass are done for life. They can never take it again. So don't think you can take the test again to get your card back.

Spoiler: show

So basically, Gon is fucked now. All the doors that were opened to him with a Hunter license card are now closed. Sure, he can tell people he's a Hunter and he can demonstrate his immense power to them ... but he is eternally on the same level now as Uvogin and other powerful non-Hunters. He is no longer on the same level as Shalnark, Kurapica, or other powerful Hunters.

I think this (YET AGAIN >_> *GROAAAAAAAAAN*) bears resemblance to Naruto. In Naruto, Kishimoto has the boy ninja officially being a genin (the lowest rank of ninja there is) but explains that it's due to extenuating circumstances. His first (and to date only) chuunin exam was interrupted by an attack on the village. He then missed the next three years' worth of opportunities to test because he was off training with his mentor in the wilderness. He missed the next year's opportunity because he was far too busy trying to save people and this and that. And I don't think there's been another one since (and even if there were he wouldn't enter it). So basically we have this boy who is clearly well above entry-level chuunin and who is honestly already at the power level of an entry-level jounin if not an intermediate or advanced jounin ... who is officially a genin. That's how I see the situation with Gon. I feel like Togashi copied Kishimoto / Kishimoto copied Togashi once again and we have the two stories being insanely similar to one another. In Hunter x Hunter we're given a boy who we're to believe is one of the world's most capable youths and who, as he gets older and more experienced, has it in him to become a legendary figure, and yet officially he's not even a Hunter, something which as we press further and further along HxH's power creep is the bottom rung of the power creep ladder.

It just ... really irritates me. I understand what Togashi is wanting to say but I hate him for trying to say it in this frustrating manner. I would've appreciated a much more acceptable scenario which led to the same end result. This is just ... just ... so infuriatingly stupid. I mean, you'd have to be fucking retarded to do what _________ did.

[Talon87]

I watched Episode 49 last weekend. It was an excellent episode and really deserves to be talked about; unfortunately, my mood really sours every time I try to discuss it (owing to some unrelated stuff that happened last weekend) so I'm going to skip over it for now. Sorry, Episode 49. You are awesome.

Episode 50 was a very solid episode. It was good. 7/10. Not great, not average, but in between. Good. It had a few problems I'll be discussing but on the whole I was very pleased with it and will be discussing those points too.

Spoiler: show

In this episode, the boys finally meet (most of) the members of the Phantom Troupe. They discover that Hisoka is a member and almost blow his cover but some nice damage control on Killua's part convinces the Troupe that Gon's surprise was directed towards Shizuku instead. I like Shizuku a lot based on what we've seen so far so I was really disappointed ^^; when they introduced this idea of her having a memory that's so completely shot to hell. I am 100% okay with her not remembering Gon. There are loads of ways you could argue that, one of the easiest being that Shizuku, like anyone else as strong as she is, simply doesn't remember people who don't leave a big power level impression on her. Yeah, Gon beat her in arm wrestling, but she wasn't trying that hard and was even using her weaker arm. What I'm not okay with is arguing that her memory is so bad that she would even argue with Franklin regarding the fact that she used her right arm to fight Gon. "Why would I do that? " she asks him. "Just drop it," says Feitan. "Once Shizuku's forgotten something it's gone for good." "Yup! ^-^" she beams. Ugh. Why you gotta do this to me, Togashi? Why you gotta go and make Shizuku into someone whose memory is so bad it's questionable that she could even form deep, substantive relationships with people?

Then Killua has to watch as Nobunaga tortures Gon in his own way by forcing him into repeated arm wrestling matches, all of which Nobunaga bloodily wins. But when Killua's life is endangered and Nobunaga then reveals to Gon that he cares about human lives in at least some instances (see: his shedding of tears for Uvogin) Gon gets so angry with the Troupe that he beats Nobunaga. That I thought was pretty cool ... but it introduced another of the episode's weaknesses and the one I am most bothered by. ^^; Why oh why would the Phantom Troupe allow these children to live at this point!? It boggles the mind. Let's rewind to the auction, shall we? When Franklin, Feitan, and Shizuku killed everybody at the auction, the writer was making a very clear statement: yes, these characters could have allowed their victims to live, but they chose not to because it would invite unnecessary risks and they care little enough for others' lives. That is what Togashi was saying with that chapter. For all that Shalnark and Nobunaga may care about Uvogin and shed tears for him, they're not the sort of people who are willing to be merciful if it means endangering the success of their mission. Now tell me: why would such people allow two children who have demonstrated they are just barely beneath Phantom Troupe power level to live? Why risk it? Why would you risk that they might escape and bring others to the secret hideout? Why would you risk that they might grow up, get stronger, and then come back one day and defeat you? You wouldn't! You'd kill them right there on the spot! The only justification I can come up with for why the children's lives were spared (putting aside the obvious IRL reason of "But they're the main characters! ") is that maybe just maybe the Phantom Troupe members have all got a soft spot for children. That's about it. And the only reason I can even get away with saying that is because there were no children in the auction house. But even that doesn't seem likely when you consider that Kurapica is only like 14 years old and they have no qualms about referring to him as "the chain bastard" and wanting to kill him. So like ... yeah. You don't write your main character defeating the 8th most powerful member of a ruthless criminal organization if you want that organization to then turn around and spare the kid's life the very same chapter.

But then we transition to some good stuff. We learn a lot of stuff about the Phantom Troupe, some of it interesting, some of it probably being important for plot developments down the road. For instance, we learn that Nobunaga is pretty much only good in one-on-one duels (which we already could've guessed just by looking at him). We learn that Pakunoda may have the ability to read people's minds. (If not, she's got some other skill which allows her to bluff that first talent.) We learn that infighting amongst Phantom Troupe members is something of an issue and is officially disallowed. We learn that they're supposed to resolve infighting with coin tosses. It's further confirmed for us that whatever it is that Feitan actually does with his body the end result is physical torture of his victims (broken bones, pulled fingernails, etc). We learn that Nobunaga and Uvogin have been members of the Phantom Troupe since the group was formed. We thus learn that the Phantom Troupe is not a centuries-old brotherhood with the current leader only its latest in a long line of excellent nen users but is instead a criminal organization which formed in Gon's father's lifetime. So on and so on and so forth. Most of these were little things but they were welcome table scraps for we who are so starved for info on the Phantom Troupe's members. Probably the most relevant one for later is the coin flip thing. I have no doubt that Togashi did not introduce that just as a plot device to resolve Nobunaga vs. Feitan in this one scene. I am pretty damn sure he planted that as a seed expressly so we could be all "OH WOW! THE COIN TOSS! " down the road when, for example, the boss loses a coin toss with his troupe but still presses on with his desire anyway.

In this episode we once again see that Killua is very analytically intelligent compared with Gon whereas Gon is very "thinking outside the box" intelligent compared with Killua. Killua's moment of brilliance is when he deduces that the chain user is probably Kurapica. Gon's is when he uses lateral thinking to solve their dilemma of how to escape from Nobunaga. In fact, if I can just skip ahead to that escape scene, I'd like to say that this was a real highlight of the episode for me. Most anime would've had the kids do their "lol we broke the side walls " escape trick and ended it at that. But HxH went not one but two steps beyond that to establish just how crafty these kids were. First was the whole bit about making decoy holes in the walls of the building to fool Nobunaga. This was good and definitely fooled me too. But second and even better was when they shouted out to one another about how they could take on Nobunaga 2-against-1 like this, Nobunaga fell for it, and yet in reality the kids took that opportunity to "ZETSU, ON!" and get the fuck out of there. Nobunaga wasn't the only one caught by surprise: my brain was trying to decode what my eyes and ears were showing me for like a solid 5 seconds as we saw Gon and Killua leaving the building. Very well done, Togashi. These kids are clever and it's great to see shounen heroes who use their brains to get out of tough situations and not just their brawn.

I really appreciated this episode for establishing that even though Gon had managed to beat Shizuku and Nobunaga once each at arm wrestling that neither of these two boys were a match for a Phantom Troupe member even when it's 2-against-1. For all my (still legitimate) complaints about HxH's infuriating power creep with Kurapica two months ago, I'm glad to see Togashi reining it back in now and saying, "Y'know, these kids are lucky that they even managed to escape. They would've been killed, easily, had they tried to muscle their way through to the door." It was great even to see him giving me a bit of dessert by canonically establishing that Killua knows himself to be weaker than Hisoka. Maybe he'd said so before before the Heavens Arena story arc? I don't really recall? But I've always felt like Togashi was kinda dicking around with the idea that Killua as he currently is is a match for Hisoka as he currently is and I didn't like that. So it was great to see Killua establish in this episode that, yes indeedy, he's as powerless against Hisoka as he is against Illumi. Which, duh, makes sense considering Hisoka and Illumi respect one another so clearly they must be on roughly equal footing power level-wise.

I also liked how this episode is going to finally bring the fantastic four back together. It's been a long time coming but it looks like he's finally written up a justification in his own mind for why Gon and Killua would seek Kurapica out and why Kurapica would tag along with the boys instead of worrying about his Nostrade employers. That stated, the sneak peek for next week's episode does not inspire confidence. ^^; A, it seems like it'll be all about Killua's father, grandfather, and the Phantom Troupe's boss (and thus have nothing to do with Kurapica or Gon & Killua). B, it looks like it's going to be one of those "kinda sorta boring to watch but chock filled with good backstory" transitional episodes. ^^; So that's a little disappointing. But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Finally, I want to say that this episode delivered as far as substance goes. Yeah, it's not like a whole bunch of epic stuff happened. And no, it wasn't as exciting as last week's episode was. But I definitely feel like I got my money's worth (so to speak). When it ended, while I of course wanted more I did not feel like it had been a shallow episode with little meat to its bone. No, it was pretty meaty. Not, like, super meaty or anything. But decent. Not skin and bones.

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Talon87

Episode 50 was a very solid episode. It was good. 7/10. Not great, not average, but in between. Good. It had a few problems I'll be discussing but on the whole I was very pleased with it and will be discussing those points too.

Spoiler: show

Killua has to watch as Nobunaga tortures Gon in his own way by forcing him into repeated arm wrestling matches, all of which Nobunaga bloodily wins. But when Killua's life is endangered and Nobunaga then reveals to Gon that he cares about human lives in at least some instances (see: his shedding of tears for Uvogin) Gon gets so angry with the Troupe that he beats Nobunaga. That I thought was pretty cool ... but it introduced another of the episode's weaknesses and the one I am most bothered by. ^^; Why oh why would the Phantom Troupe allow these children to live at this point!? It boggles the mind. Let's rewind to the auction, shall we? When Franklin, Feitan, and Shizuku killed everybody at the auction, the writer was making a very clear statement: yes, these characters could have allowed their victims to live, but they chose not to because it would invite unnecessary risks and they care little enough for others' lives. That is what Togashi was saying with that chapter. For all that Shalnark and Nobunaga may care about Uvogin and shed tears for him, they're not the sort of people who are willing to be merciful if it means endangering the success of their mission. Now tell me: why would such people allow two children who have demonstrated they are just barely beneath Phantom Troupe power level to live? Why risk it? Why would you risk that they might escape and bring others to the secret hideout? Why would you risk that they might grow up, get stronger, and then come back one day and defeat you? You wouldn't! You'd kill them right there on the spot! The only justification I can come up with for why the children's lives were spared (putting aside the obvious IRL reason of "But they're the main characters! ") is that maybe just maybe the Phantom Troupe members have all got a soft spot for children. That's about it. And the only reason I can even get away with saying that is because there were no children in the auction house. But even that doesn't seem likely when you consider that Kurapica is only like 14 years old and they have no qualms about referring to him as "the chain bastard" and wanting to kill him. So like ... yeah. You don't write your main character defeating the 8th most powerful member of a ruthless criminal organization if you want that organization to then turn around and spare the kid's life the very same chapter.

Spoiler: show

I thought Nobunaga made it clear he took a personal liking to Gon's character after Gon defeated him. The others were divided on the subject too, hence the coin toss. As for why some/most of them would agree to release the kids, Shalnark said their main focus should be the chain-user for now. *shrug* It seems they don't take a threat seriously unless/until it interferes with their goal or kills one of their own.

Originally Posted by Talon87

In this episode we once again see...

Spoiler: show

...that Killua is very analytically intelligent compared with Gon whereas Gon is very "thinking outside the box" intelligent compared with Killua. Killua's moment of brilliance is when he deduces that the chain user is probably Kurapica. Gon's is when he uses lateral thinking to solve their dilemma of how to escape from Nobunaga. In fact, if I can just skip ahead to that escape scene, I'd like to say that this was a real highlight of the episode for me. Most anime would've had the kids do their "lol we broke the side walls " escape trick and ended it at that. But HxH went not one but two steps beyond that to establish just how crafty these kids were. First was the whole bit about making decoy holes in the walls of the building to fool Nobunaga. This was good and definitely fooled me too. But second and even better was when they shouted out to one another about how they could take on Nobunaga 2-against-1 like this, Nobunaga fell for it, and yet in reality the kids took that opportunity to "ZETSU, ON!" and get the fuck out of there. Nobunaga wasn't the only one caught by surprise: my brain was trying to decode what my eyes and ears were showing me for like a solid 5 seconds as we saw Gon and Killua leaving the building. Very well done, Togashi. These kids are clever and it's great to see shounen heroes who use their brains to get out of tough situations and not just their brawn.

Heh heh, I knew this was coming so I was looking forward to the comic clever tactics. =3 This is one of the shining examples of how smart some of the "fights" in HxH are, IMO.

Spoiler: show

That being said, I felt it was a little rushed compared to what I remembered. ^^; But still awesome. \o/ Totally forgot about Nobunaga trying to lock the doors too when they could just bust through the walls, hahaha. XD What an idiot, which is also what I was thinking when he fell for their second trick since I knew what they up to. ^~

[Talon87]

Regarding what you said about Nobunaga's intentions:

Spoiler: show

No, of course, he did make that clear. But what I am saying is that as a completely separate matter from him seeing Uvogin in Gon we have the problem of the Troupe having a mini Uvogin who might team up with the Chain Bastard. They can't possibly allow that. It's stupid to allow mini Uvogin to grow up to become a big Uvogin and allow that big Uvogin to come back and get them. If Gon had been some lamo grunt trying to get rich quick, fine, spare him. But the moment it's clear that this kid has excellent control over nen, I would think they'd be like "Sorry, kid. =\ Wrong place, wrong time" and off him.

As for the coin toss, I didn't take that as a contest of whether or not Nobunaga could do what he wanted with the boys. I took it as a contest strictly between Feitan and Nobunaga. Nobunaga says "Don't lay a finger on them," Feitan says "Oh but I will." Feitan loses the coin toss, thus Feitan cannot lay a finger on them, not that nobody else can't either. I'd think that if Franklin had stepped up and said, "Um, I'm going to kill them, Nobby," then they would have had to have done another coin flip. And so on and so forth. The odds of the boys surviving thanks to Nobunaga would've been less than one in two hundred (assuming at least nine Phantom Troupe members there including Nobunaga who doesn't flip against himself). That was my problem. That the only person whose life was about to be ended, maybe, was Gon's and even then only because Feitan's a sadistic little fuck. None of you other Troupe members have a problem with keeping these kids alive? Seriously?

[Talon87]

Episode 51 was very good. Thoughts.

Spoiler: show

Chrollo and Neon:
I thought it was an interesting surprise that Neon had fallen into the hands of none other than the Phantom Troupe boss himself, Chrollo Lucifer. It was admittedly pretty foolish of Neon's bodyguards to let her go into the bathroom completely unaccompanied. (At least send one handmaiden in with her! ) Chrollo did a good job of buttering up the ridiculously naive, chatty Neon and got her to share her special gift with him ...

Neon's prophecy for Chrollo:

The calendar loses a precious component.
The remaining months gather to mourn.
The mourners play a melody,
while the eleventh moon quietly rises.

The chrysanthemum withers and falls,
to lie on the ground beside bloody Scarlet Eyes.
But you will remain supreme
even after losing half your limbs.

Enjoy the interlude.
Seek out new allies.
East is the direction to go.
You will find one who awaits you.

Now I worry that this is why Yuki was all sorts of "^^;" when I kept asking her the other day on Skype about certain Phantom Troupe members' future developments. When the prophecy mentions Chrollo losing half of his limbs, like most prophecies I doubt it means he will literally lose two arms, two legs, or an arm and a leg. Instead it seems to suggest that half of the Phantom Troupe members are going to die tonight and that while Chrollo will emerge victorious (in what sense!? He's lost half his team and for what!?) he'll then head to the East, lay low for a while there, and try to recruit new team members. Here are my predictions then about who will die given my conversation with Yuki the other day. Don't click if you don't want to be the least bit influenced by what we discussed!

Spoiler: show

1. Shizuku. ;_;

Yuki: Based on the storytelling, if I had to pick a person from the Phantom Troupe I felt some sympathy for, it'd be Paku.
Talon: D'awwww. No sympathy for amnesia vacuum cleaner librarian chick? ;p
Talon: *turns out Shizuku is a psychopath*
Yuki: She's physically cute, but I have less background basis to go on for her.

[...]

Talon: I am curious to know though
Talon: Of the twelve Phantom Troupe members (counting Hisoka as one; if we learn about the guy he replaced then you can feel free to bump it to thirteen), how many backstories have you seen?
Talon: Like, we didn't even get one for Uvogin before he died. lol
Yuki: So I'm allowed to spoil the number?
Talon: And I still know pretty much nothing about the little muppet or the mummy.
Talon: Well, if it's not 13
Talon: then no you're not. xfd
Talon: Though I guess I've put you in a bind if even the numerator answer to that question is greater than 13. lol
Talon: I assumed it was going to be something like 6/12 or 7/13 or something.
Talon: Not 14/15 or 17/22. ^_^;
Yuki: I was hesitant to say anything earlier regarding Shizuku which is why I backtracked and tried to pick my words carefully. ^^;
Talon: ...
Talon: I'm not sure you should have just said that.
Yuki: Well now see what you made me do. =3=
Talon: Since that, in combination with what you said earlier, now gives me the impression that the reason you know so little about her background is that SHE'S DEAD.
Talon: And I will be one sad panda if she dies so soon. >_>
Yuki: Er...
Talon: Though that might explain why I found so little fanart of her. >_>
Talon: >___>
Talon: >_______________>
Yuki: *shuts up before she makes things worse*
Talon: We'll leave it at that. lol

2. The little muppet / Cousin It character.
3. The boxing guy with the mummy-like bandages all over his body.
4. Franklin ('cause let's face it: this guy's pretty lame )
5. ???
6. ???

I'm not sure whether five will die or six will die. When we started off we had thirteen Phantom Troupe members. One of them has already died (Uvogin) bringing our count down to 12 members when Neon gave her prophecy. But you can't count the boss himself as one of his own limbs -- if he died, he'd lose a lot more than just a limb ^^; -- so that brings us down to only 11. Then, Nobunaga is back at base, leaving us with only 10 troupe members here besides Chrollo Lucifer. So half of 10 is 5, quite cleanly, but who knows if Nobunaga might not show up later, thus bringing the number to 12 (if Togashi was counting Chrollo in their number) and signifying that at least one other person will die. For now though, I'm going to assume it's just going to be five people who die. Shizuku ( ;_____; ), the little muppet, the boxing mummy, Franklin, and somebody else. Who? I have no clue. If Nobunaga shows up, then I'd guess either Nobunaga or Phinx. If he stays back at the base, then I guess Phinx. But that's a really rough guess. It could be anybody. Well ... maybe not anybody ...

I doubt the following people will die tonight:

1. Pakunoda. Because Yuki talks about liking her so much and that she has a good backstory and stuff. True, we could learn all of that in the span of one episode and then she dies but for now I'm doubtful she dies any time soon.

2. Machi. Seems like such a cool, important character to have around. Can't see her dying tonight. Will be disappointed if she does.

3. Hisoka. Very, very doubtful he'll die tonight.

I guess the one thing from the spoiler box I can include out here is my prediction that neither Machi nor Hisoka will die as these predictions have got absolutely nothing to do with anything I've discussed with Yuki. So there're those.

Who is the person Chrollo is prophecied to find in the East? Who can say. I doubt it'd be Gon's father but wouldn't that be a trip? If anything I think it'd be more likely to be a main character (perhaps even Kurapica or Killua) or a main supporting character we've yet to meet.

Who is the eleventh moon? Is it Chrollo? Kurapica? Killua? Somebody or something else entirely?

If Chrollo emerges victorious, and if he's lying next to "bloody Scarlet Eyes," that would seem to imply that he and Kurapica stalemate one another or that Chrollo does in fact win but not without being brought to his limit by Kurapica and that perhaps Chrollo decides to spare the boy's life in the hopes that maybe he'll join the Troupe someday, just as Nobunaga was thinking about for Gon. But that strikes me as awfully naive ^^; so I guess I'll just have to go with "I don't know what's going to happen" for now and hope for something better than what I just said.

Chrollo's ability:
I'm hoping that Chrollo Lucifer has more up his sleeve than these jesusfish jesuspiranha-eels. Will be pretty disappointed if the supposedly strongest member of the Phantom Troupe only has this as his ability. Yeah, it's pretty damn creepy, but it feels like the sort of ability I'd have expected them to give to someone like Feitan. I don't see how it affords him that much of a combat advantage unless we're to assume that the fish can shield him adequately or can lunge for their prey far faster than a person can ward them off or evade them. Guess we'll just have to see. But yeah, that was pretty crazy to see what he did to that second guy (the one who was tracking him).

That's a lot of text so I guess that's good enough for now. On to next week I guess.

[lilboocorsola]

I had forgotten most of what happened in this episode, including:

Spoiler: show

The prophecy and the Phantom Troupe's motives. I knew Chrollo kidnapped Neon though. Tbh I felt that part was sort of rushed, don't remember whether there was more build-up in the original.

I also definitely recalled the composing scene on the rooftop after seeing it in the old OP so many times. \o/ Even though I feel like the old series went into more detail showing off the Troupe's skills, I liked the orchestral montage here. Not sure how I feel about it extending into the ED, but eh, why not.

The guy getting eaten alive also stuck in my memory. XP Speaking of which, thanks to Talon I spoiled myself on something regarding Chrollo's abilities that would've been more fun to rediscover myself. =3= Oh, well.

Aside: It's hard for me to take Chrollo seriously this time when I keep hearing him as Tamaki. ^^;

Also I don't know whether it's the first time I understood it or not, but XD at the joke regarding Silva's name actually sounding like a color. It initially went over my head yesterday too, had to say "wait a minute" and rewind.

Another funny thing I noticed is when Neon told Chrollo not to tell her about the fortune, but he still asked a question regarding a specific line anyway. *shrug* I feel like that might've been an oddity in the original too. ^^;

[Talon87]

Well that sure wasn't what I was expecting. Episode 52 came and went, a teaser episode with some excitement in the final third but unfortunately coupled with a cliffhanger ending. It'll likely be Episode 53 which excites me more of the two as we see the outcome of 52's fight revealed plus the return of a major character we haven't seen in half a year.

Spoiler: show

I didn't expect Chrollo to be fighting so soon.

I didn't expect that it would be Killua's father and grandfather who took Chrollo on instead of Kurapica. Obviously Kurapica will be fighting Chrollo before this arc ends so we know that Chrollo must somehow survive Zeno Zoldyck's attack and escape from Zeno and Silva. Or kill them both? (Unlikely but possible. Zeno seems to be being thrown away by Togashi but Silva he seems to want to save, maybe, for another day.)

The ability to steal others' abilities, sealing them within a book so that he can make use of them while they cannot, ... Chrollo's definitely one-upped the nen ante considerably. Though I'm confused by the mantle since the book flipped open to a picture of Owl (the mafia guy with the magic bag) so I thought that that mantle was Owl's bag and that Chrollo had summoned it from the book. If it's Chrollo's own mantle, then they shouldn't have shown that picture of Owl. ^^;

lol wow @ Silva's great big orbs of energy.

Honestly wasn't that impressed by Zeno. ^^; So he has a nen dragon. So what. ^^; Chrollo's fish alone were more impressive. (Surprised he hasn't summoned them!) And Killua seemed to be a much better combatant than Zeno. Physically, anyway. Sure, sure, he's an old man but still.

Gon and Killua got some screen time and finally got in touch with Kurapica. But poooooor Leorio. The butt monkey, as Doppel put it, of HxH indeed.

I guess next week is a new OP and ED. It should make clear for us whether we're going to be here in Yorknew for the next 26 episodes or not. I'm guessing (hoping? ^^; ) not.

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Talon87

Well that sure wasn't what I was expecting. Episode 52 came and went, a teaser episode with some excitement in the final third but unfortunately coupled with a cliffhanger ending. It'll likely be Episode 53 which excites me more of the two as we see the outcome of 52's fight revealed plus the return of a major character we haven't seen in half a year.

Spoiler: show

The ability to steal others' abilities, sealing them within a book so that he can make use of them while they cannot, ... Chrollo's definitely one-upped the nen ante considerably. Though I'm confused by the mantle since the book flipped open to a picture of Owl (the mafia guy with the magic bag) so I thought that that mantle was Owl's bag and that Chrollo had summoned it from the book. If it's Chrollo's own mantle, then they shouldn't have shown that picture of Owl. ^^;

This is the part I spoiled myself on. ^^;

Spoiler: show

Totally forgot Chrollo could steal others' abilities. Though it makes sense given a future development. I'm pretty sure the mantle was stolen from Owl, whether it was the magic bag itself or one of his other abilities. Don't recall if the first animé made it clearer.

Also, thanks to the preview, I now remember what the long-haired dude's role is. \o/

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by lilbluecorsola

Also, thanks to the preview, I now remember what the long-haired dude's role is. \o/

(Safe to click once you've seen the sneak peek for next week's episode)

Spoiler: show

Will laugh if it's revealed that this "purpose" of his you speak of is to be defeated by Illumi.

Will be "Holy shit " shocked, and a bit upset at you for hinting at the possibility , if it turns out that the little muppet is Illumi. Though that seems like a ridiculous stretch. 'Cause how in the world could you have forgotten something like that!? *shakes head left and right Itsuki-style* Just no way.

[Talon87]

Episode 53 was full of surprises. A lot happened in this week's episode, for which I am grateful. Unfortunately, the overall plot didn't move forward much at all. ^^; And judging from the combination of Neon's prophecy several weeks ago and the fact that they didn't treat us to a new OP this week, it's looking like we're going to be in the Yorknew City arc for at least another 3-4 weeks. More after the break.

Spoiler: show

The Zoldycks vs. Chrollo Lucifer: this fight did not end as I expected it to. First, neither party died. (I was expecting Zeno to die and Chrollo to live.) Second, we didn't get to see how Chrollo lived. Third, we didn't get to see how Zeno lived. Fourth, the Zoldycks quit attacking Chrollo once they learned that ...

Illumi killed the Ten Dons: Huhwhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!? XD Totally did not see that coming. Very, very funny that Chrollo would hire an assassin to do a job for him. You'd think he'd have had one or two of his Troupe do that sort of thing. One wonders how far in advance he called Illumi and asked him to undertake this assignment. Regardless, lol @ how the dad and grandpa knew about it. And d'awwww @ Killua's adorable younger sister ... who ... frustratingly we still know nothing about. ^^; Was she there helping Illumi? Was she there observing her Onii-chan and learning from him as he worked? Who knows. Regardless, what a surprise then that Zeno and Silva gave up fighting Chrollo once they learned that their employers were dead. I liked that Chrollo didn't pursue fighting them either. I enjoyed the mutual respect the parties seemed to hold for one another.

The Auction, Part II: So then, to my surprise, the auction is back on ... but it comes as no surprise to anyone that once again the Phantom Troupe is involved. This time, for whatever strange reason, they decide not to slaughter the mafia and steal the items in haste. Instead, they dick around with the little muppet's ability being shown off this week: apparently he can make a copy of any entity his left hand comes into contact with so long as it's not alive. This seems kind of cool, I guess, but I fail to see how it would've earned the muppet a spot in the Phantom Troupe's lineup. IIRC you had to defend your spot in a 1v1 fight to the death. So I'm surprised no one's challenged the muppet and won. Vice-versa, if the muppet himself wasn't one of the original twelve members, it becomes even more surprising: because how in the world did he manage to slay an existing Troupe member with his ability? Sure you can make a copy, but like, how does that help you when fighting a Uvogin or a Shizuku or a Nobunaga? I can see how you might try and stall them or startle them but I sure as hell don't see how you'd beat them. Anything you might beat them with by having made a copy I figure you'd just as easily beat them with by using the original. In any event, Chrollo assigns the muppet to make copies of the items the mafia is bidding on. The Phantom Troupe keeps the originals while they auction off the replicas. One assumes the replicas will vanish after some point in time. Still, I'm kind of surprised they didn't just slaughter the audience and make off with the originals (as planned originally). They've already slaughtered half the mafia, all of the Ten Beasts, and all of the Ten Dons. It's not like the mafia has any muscle left to throw at them. ^^;

Kurapica getting fooled: this kind of annoys me. I appreciate it from the perspective that it means Kurapica isn't always figuring out the plot at impossibly fast speeds. But I don't care for it from the perspective that it feels like stalling on Togashi's part. I was hoping Kurapica would look at the copies of the Kurta eyes and recognize that they were fakes. Or that he'd do the same thing with the fake bodies of the Phantom Troupe members. But no, he got straight-up fooled and as a result is now in an emo mopey phase. "B-but Iiiiiii wanted to kill them! " Dude, shouldn't you just be grateful that they're dead?

Neon and her father: this episode pretty much seals the deal that Neon's father only cares about her prophesying talent and not as a daughter. Which I guess sets us up for the inevitable "He dies but Neon lives and joins Kurapica, at least for a time" plot development. We'll see.

Leorio and Zepile: so we see these two for the first time in a while. Not much to say here, unfortunately. ^^; Gon and Killua just clue Leorio in about stuff we the audience already know.

End of episode + sneak peek for next week: Kurapica kicks the mafia asshole dude's butt before then getting very depressed back at the hospital when he hands over the Kurta eyes to Neon. Senritsu picks up on this and suggests Kurapica take a rest. He phones Gon but then hangs up without explaining anything other than the Phantom Troupe all being dead. And then it's the ending credits. With the sneak peek, it looks like we advance to the next day. Kurapica rejoins his friends from the Hunter exam. (I wonder how he pulls that off considering his Nostrade duties!) The Phantom Troupe is shown back at their hideout. We see Shizuku looking at one of Neon's written prophecies. (She probably got it from a mafia person. I doubt Chrollo would just show them his. Though ...) Nobunaga pulls his sword on someone. And that's it.

[Doppleganger]

I wanted Chrollo to die. :/

[lilboocorsola]

Just a note: This is about where the old series ended. The rest of the arc was covered by the OVAs.