Hunter x Hunter

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Talon87

Spoiler: show

I also thought Hina's servant was kind of cute, what with how she behaved and whatnot. It's too bad she's so insectoid and not more anthropomorphic like Hina.

I saw the servant as more masculine, hence ship fodder. XP

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by lilbluecorsola

I saw the servant as more masculine, hence ship fodder. XP

Ehh ...

Spoiler: show

I'm pretty sure it's a handmaiden. I mean, there's not much point in arguing over it when it's not like either of us can prove we're right, but my immediate and ongoing belief is that it's a handmaiden. Besides: it wouldn't make much sense for Hina, a girl who is concerned about her figure, to have a male servant with her in the bathroom and to furthermore exit the tub and show her nude body to a male servant. The scene makes more sense if the servant is the same gender as Hina and thus Hina doesn't feel like there's any sexual impropriety in what she does with that servant in the room.

[Talon87]

Episode 111:

Spoiler: show

This. episode. rocked. The production values were, for HxH, sky high. The drama dial was turned up to 11 without being off-putting. We got character backstory. We got world building. We got the complex emotions that come with lifelike villains. It was just great all around. It felt like an hour's worth of material yet at the same time ended far too soon. That's a magical combo when an episode can pull that off, and Episode 111 certainly did that for me.

The highlight of the episode for me was probably Neferpitou. From the way she was animated to the way she was portrayed, I just couldn't help feeling sorry for her the entire episode. Mere minutes before I loaded up this episode, I was thinking to myself how it would be pretty utter horseshit -- I even declared "I'll drop HxH for good if that happens! " -- if Togashi were to have Gon spare Neferpitou's life. But now, not even one hour after thinking those thoughts, I find myself all "Awwwwww! " at the prospect of her being about to die. This despite knowing what a monster she is! This despite knowing all of the horrible things she's done! Such is the excellence of Togashi's character writing and/or Madhouse's animation. That they get me to feel so, so sorry for this Chimera Ant as she gets utterly, utterly overpowered by Netero.

Netero was the second highlight of the episode, for obvious reasons. We finally get to find out a little more about his power. In finding this out, we also get to learn a little bit about his past -- what sort of man he was, what sort of world he came from, etc. We even get to learn that he had some sort of relationship with Zeno Zoldyck's grandfather -- on friendly enough terms that Killua's great-great-grandfather allowed Netero to stand mere feet from defenseless baby Zeno -- and that when Zeno was born, Netero was already an aged man.

This last point is interesting because, throughout the flashback, we're given enough information to piece together that Netero is currently between 110 and 120 years old. (He is said to have thrown 10,000 punches in under one hour for the first time in his life when he was exactly 50 years old. We're also told that he took over his former master's school of martial arts "over six decades ago". So if you trust that the choice of words of "over six decades ago" implies "less than seven decades ago", then it means Netero is between 110 and 120. Otherwise, he's at least 110 but who knows how much older than that.) So, if you assume that he's between 110 and 120, this actually makes Zeno surprisingly young. If he was a baby when Netero already looked elderly, then the most I'd be willing to assume would be that Zeno was born sixty years ago. (Going with the idea that the takeover of the school was between sixty and seventy years ago, and that Netero would've needed to age five to ten more years before he'd look appropriately old for the scene with Baby Zeno.) This means that Zeno looks much older than he actually is. Which in turn suggests the possibility for some sort of life-draining ability that he uses, something which has made him physically age far more than he should have by this point in his life. This would also fit really nicely with the idea Zeno expressed that his relationship with Netero is like that of yin and yang. We know that Netero has found a way to "slow down time" and allow himself to live much longer than an ordinary human being would live. So perhaps Zeno employs the opposite strategy. Perhaps he can accelerate time, at the cost of his own longevity, to get things done.

Or perhaps I'm reading into it a bit too much. Who knows. All I know is, it's cool to learn that when Zeno was just a baby, Netero was already likely 60 years old or older.

I still feel like Togashi is holding out on us though as far as showing us what Netero's powers are. Because while we've seen the rain of yellow dragon-arrows, and while we've seen the 10,000 punches, and while we've seen the punch he dealt Neferpitou that came from like fifty yards away, I'm still not really seeing any ability which strongly connects with the ideas of 心 kokoro spirit and of the Buddha that his character seems to be so much about. Yes, I appreciate the tie-in that Netero is sort of like a Bodhisattva what with his ability to punch faster than the speed of sound and with his ability to punch 10,000 times in under one hour. But I figure that that can't be all there is to the 心 / Buddha tie-in. There's gotta be something more to it. Guess we'll find out once the King arrives.

One thing I'm a little bothered by, though, is the apparent difference in power level between Neferpitou and Netero. When Netero first spied Neferpitou alongside Morel and Knov, he told Knov that he didn't believe he could defeat Neferpitou in a one-on-one fight. Never mind the King: he wasn't confident he could beat Pitou. Yet here, in Episode 111, we see Netero absolutely clobbering Neferpitou. He even laughs in Neferpitou's face when she launches her ultimate defense and tells her that not only did he prepare for everything but that the specific counterattack she decided to go for was a very poor choice indeed. I mean, c'mon! I feel like I've been lied to or cheated. Right on up until Episode 111, it felt like the Morel + Gon + Killua + Knuckle + Shoot + Meleoron + Ikalgo + Knov + Palm + Netero task force was going to be necessary to take down the three Royal Guard members plus the King. But from what Episode 111 has shown us, it's seemed like Netero can handle Neferpitou just fine on his own, that Zeno should have absolutely no trouble with whichever of the two remaining Royal Guard Ants he decides to take down, and that once each man is done with his first kill he'll move on to his second. Something like this: Netero, Neferpitou; Zeno, Shaiapouf; Zeno, Youpi; Netero, King. Two old men, two Ants apiece, no sweat. I dunno. I think it's cool that Netero is as powerful as he is. Not to mention it's much needed to make sense out of why he would be the chairman of the Hunter's Association in a world with people like Ging, Chrollo, and Feitan running around. But I feel like we were lied to for the sake of building up drama over the past twenty episodes. That we were given the impression that this was a near-hopeless situation, only for it to be revealed that LOL NOPE this mission is going to be a piece of cake.

This was a pretty awesome scene. And a somewhat funny one. The look on Youpi's face. Just imagine: guarding the stairs to the 2nd floor, expecting absolutely no intruders -- because seriously, who would be dumb enough to challenge the King? -- only to be moshed out of nowhere by six or seven opponents. Given that Knuckle intends to go with Meleoron straight for the King's chambers and given that we know that Gon's beef is with Neferpitou and that Killua is tagging along with him, this likely means that the ones to fight Youpi will mostly be Shoot and Morel. At least until Shaiapouf arrives, anyway, at which point I guess all bets are off as to who fights who. But at least for right now, I don't expect Youpi to be fighting anyone other than Morel and Shoot. Guess we'll see.

Though I do wonder where Ikalgo is running off to. Is his mission to rescue Palm? Is it to find Bizeff? Is it something else? Obviously he's a man on a mission but what that mission is exactly isn't entirely clear.

I was quite surprised by the final cel of the sneak peek for next week. I did not expect Komugi to die so soon. I expected she would either a) die before the King but only very late into the conflict or else b) survive the King. I did not expect her to die this soon. Perhaps she's not actually dead. We won't know until next week. But either way, it's pretty clear what the effect of Netero's air raid on the castle is going to have on the King: MAX RAGE, MAX REVENGE TIME. Perhaps Togashi felt, as a writer, that it was necessarily to destabilize the King in this manner since otherwise readers might have a hard time buying some of the foolish actions he's probably going to end up making, actions which will ultimately cost him the fight and thus his life. Again, I guess we won't know until we find out by watching.

[Doppleganger]

Power levels:

Spoiler: show

Zeno is much weaker than Neferpitou. Good eye for catching he's in his 60's though (67 to be exact). The beginning of old age, although he's not anywhere close to Maha or Netero's age or ability.

Cool story: Maha is 98, Zeno is 67. Maha is Zeno's grandfather, meaning that Maha and his son/daughter were between the ages of 13-18 when they authored the next generation. How did this happen? Togashi originally decided Maha would be Zeno's father. Then he changed his mind and made him his grandfather!

Neferpitou is a lot stronger than she demonstrated in her bout with Netero. There are times when Pitou gets scared, and she loses a lot of her edge against an unusually powerful opponent. Think of humans squashing bugs, then suddenly a guard dog appears. They'd be more than a little surprised and taken aback by something that doesn't die with the flick of a finger.

Netero vs. Chimera Ant King: the King has raw power, but Netero has comparable raw power and ridiculous technique to go along with it. It's a different flavour of fight from The Third Hokage vs. Orochimaru.

[Talon87]

Someone made an offhand remark about where the anime is right now relative to the manga in a comment I just read while looking for animated gifs from Episode 111. So I decided to non-spoilery check for myself by incrementally page downing on Wikipedia's list of HxH chapters until I felt like I reached a spot I didn't recognize or I reached this week's episode. Once I hit the chapters that are all named numerically, I of course lost my footing, but I decided to risk it -- call it a hunch -- and press onward. Sure enough, I came out the other side right where we are right now. And so I quit reading any more chapter titles (successfully; no damage) and noted what volume this was. The top of Volume |spoiler|. Then I paged down, not looking at chapter titles, until I reached the final volume in the article. Compared numbers. Discussing my findings below. (Click at your own risk, Yuki Reader!)

Spoiler: show

Apparently we're at the top of Volume 25 already. Okay. I would expect that, given that HxH began airing in October 2011 and it's already January 2014. (Man, where does the time fly!? ) What I guess I wouldn't expect ... is the fact that we're already to Chapter 261 or thereabouts. Damn. I'm guessing it has something to do with HxH chapters being shorter than average or something. (I'm used to manga tankoubons coming with six to eight chapters, but Togashi's appear to come with as many as thirteen.) Anyway, what this means is that we're an awful lot closer to that lol-so-far-away benchmark of Chapter 300 I mentioned a year and a half or two ago.

Cutting to the chase: we're at the top of Volume 25, and it looks like the last manga tankoubon to come out was Volume 32. This means we have a little under eight volumes' worth of material to still enjoy before we catch up. (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 = eight volumes total.) Furthermore, if you do the math and figure that we're 2¼ years out from when HxH 2011 began airing and that during that time we've covered roughly 24 volumes' worth of manga, that means that we cover roughly one volume per month. (27 months, 24 volumes.) That in turn means that we can expect to catch up with the manga, assuming no new manga volumes come out between then and now, in probably 10-12 months.

That also, more reality-shockingly means that we probably have around 50 or less episodes to go before we're caught up. Consider that the Chimera Ant arc alone has probably been around 25 to 30 episodes thus far (I've lost track) and that we've still likely got another 10 episodes to go before we finish it, and what does that mean? It means we've probably only got one final beginning-middle-and-end story arc remaining before we catch up with the latest story arc in the manga. ^^;

So damn. Damn, I say, and damn again. I didn't think we were this close to the end, but apparently we are. I thought we were maybe only 60% of the way through. I thought we still had 40% of the chapters remaining for us. But no. We're closer to 75% of the way through, with only 25% of the chapters remaining.

One final bit of bad news, a poisonous cherry to top this sadness sundae: do you know when the last tankoubon was published? Right, Volume 32. The one I mentioned being the latest volume. Do you know when it hit the streets in Japan? December 28, 2012. ^^; There hasn't been a single new tankoubon of Hunter x Hunter in over one year.

[Doppleganger]

To be fair, where Volume 31 ends is probably a magnificent place to end the series. If you want closure in HxH, you got a heavy load of it with that volume, plus the promise of greater things to come. It'll still probably kick the audience in the dangles but to me it's an awesome high note for the series to end on, should that happen and we don't delve into filler.

[Talon87]

WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!? >_> You may as well spell it out to us that

Spoiler: show

Gon meets Ging with words like those. Obviously I don't know and have to hope I haven't been spoiled, but that's the only possible way your words could make sense given that that is *THE* series' biggest carrot on a stick. Jeez.

(will delete if he deletes; will keep if he keeps)

[Doppleganger]

I think you're a bit too trigger-happy with that imagination!

I'm not implying anything of the sort. Just think about it this way. How can there be greater things than what you listed in your spoiler box?

No, the stuff I'm talking about needs a lot more elaboration to frame it into context...a lot of it is tied into the circumstances behind the Chimera Ant Arc. Going further would have some pretty fat spoilers.

[Talon87]

Okay, well ... say nothing more. >_> It's seriously bad enough you've given away something of that nature.

Spoiler for another anime inside; only Doppel should click

Spoiler: show

Pretty much eviscerates any chance I had to be surprised 50 episodes from now. Frankly poisons my entire 2014 as every single time I tune in now all I'll be able to think is "one episode closer to the inevitable Kaiji S2 season finale."

[Doppleganger]

If you feel that way I wouldn't look at the episode count of anime ever again! It'll just throw you into a depression!

There's a lot of major surprises to come in upcoming arcs, especially after the Chimera Ant Arc. I feel you'll be quite pleased as things are pretty heavy right now.

[Talon87]

Not really. There's knowing the end is coming (by virtue of knowing the series' length), and then there's knowing that a specific outcome is coming (by someone having told you what you can expect by series' end). You're trying to equate the two but you can't.

Spoiler: show

There is a world of difference between knowing that we're to catch up with the ongoing manga in fifty episodes -- no big deal -- and knowing that when we do catch up it'll provide so much satisfaction and closure as to be a great place to put the series down forever if need be -- a huge deal. The former knowledge offers no spoilers about existing plot threads being neatly wrapped up while the latter knowledge does. Obviously it could not, by definition, be a perfect place to put the series on hold if any of the following were true ... and thus they are very likely all true and you're just damage controlling at this point:

• resolution of Chrollo Lucifer's situation
• resolution of Kurapica's relationship with the Phantom Troupe
• Gon meeting Ging
• the big tournament we heard about from Wing ages ago

It should go without saying that you should neither confirm nor deny any of these. Confirming they don't happen by Episode 161 is just about as bad as confirming that they do: the fun of discovery, the enjoyment of surprise is snuffed out either way. But suffice to say that I don't think there's any other way for what you said to hold true -- either these things happen, making what you said true, or else they do not, making what you said rather wrong.

[Doppleganger]

OK, again, looking too much into what I said.

Remember back when at the end of the Hunter Exam, where Gon/Leorio/Kurapica ran in traffic toward the setting sun, intent on retrieving Killua? I said at the time:

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

EPISODE AIRING THIS WEEK!

I liked it a lot, but not a ton happened. It's really a perfect way to end the first season, rather than that break we had last week. Would have felt a lot more closure with this episode and the wait wouldn't have been as painful.

I hadn't read ahead at this point, but IMV if HxH had ended with this episode, I would have felt it enough closure to not care that there was anything more.

The scene in the manga is similar and so is my attitude toward it. If I suggest how similar you'll probably try to link it with various ongoing mysteries.

I would normally not comment on this issue anymore for fear of touching on spoilers, but there really isn't any spoiler material I can think of that would ruin the experience for you, and rather the misconception will sour your current enjoyment of the story and you'll be disappointed when my hyped ending doesn't meet your expectations. Because it definitely won't, it's very much like that season one ending that ended one adventure with the promise of a new one.

[lilboocorsola]

Whatever it is, it'll probably be better than the first animé's cliffhanger downer ending. XP

Also since I'm posting, wanted to say I appreciate your explanation of power levels, Dopple. And one thing I particularly liked about episode 111 was:

Spoiler: show

Neferpitou's creative use of her healing ability to stop herself. That must've hurt though. >.<

[Doppleganger]

Curiously enough, HxH is pretty much not a power level show until this arc, because it's mostly about technique. If you think back to Kurapika vs. Uvogin, Uvogin was a much more powerful Enhancer than Gon is right now, but Kurapica's technique allowed him to kill Uvogin rather easily.

But when it comes to Netero, Chimera Ant King class guys, their Nen is so immense that the technique technically doesn't matter unless against an opponent of similar caliber, much like in Dragonball Z. The Chimera Ant King himself doesn't use too many techniques, although the ones he does use are pretty scary in concept. I don't think the "ultimate one" used techniques either, meaning he's probably an Enhancer too.

[Doppleganger]

Wikia claims Hisoka is one of the "primary antagonists of Hunter x Hunter".

I ask the floor, do you agree or disagree?

[Talon87]

I guess I would agree in the same sense that someone might have claimed that "Orochimaru is one of the primary antagonists of Naruto" even during the lowest points of his relevancy in the series. Or rather than say that "I guess I would agree," perhaps I should say "I can see where they're coming from" instead. Because ...

... while I do agree with them that Togashi clearly intended Hisoka to be a pretty big player in this story, I'm not sure I agree with their conclusion that he's a primary antagonist. Certainly he's an overall antagonist to Gon in that (short run) he represents a height of excellence Gon hopes to achieve yet thus far has not and in that (long run) so long as Hisoka lives Gon's life will be in danger since Hisoka is one of those The Most Dangerous Game types who lives for the thrill of mortal combat. In these senses, yes, he's clearly what one would label as an "antagonist". But as far as whether he's an antagonist in the lay sense of the word (i.e. a villain, an enemy, a nemesis, a rival) ... I'm not sure he fits any of the colors of that label fully. Sometimes he's a villain, other times he's a hero. Sometimes he's an enemy, other times he's an ally. I'm not sure anyone really sees him as a rival, not even Gon who would have the most reason to (since Hisoka's level is where Gon has been desperately trying to get since the fourth round of the Hunter exam).

Long story short, "I agree but with caveats."

[Doppleganger]

Interesting. I don't see Hisoka as an antagonist at all, if anything he's closer to a protagonist behind Killua, Kurapika and Leorio.

A villain, yes. But in all of the arcs for HxH, has Hisoka ever really fulfilled the antagonist's role of hindering the protagonists?

Probably early in the Hunter Exam, when he didn't have much of a vested interest in Gon or his friends. But ever since then, Hisoka has helped more than hurt:

-his presence at Heaven's Arena helped Killua and Gon awaken their Nen
-he sabotaged the Phantom Troup's efforts in Yorknew, aiding Kurapika
-he allied with Gon/Killua in Greed Island to defeat Razor

He clearly had alternative motives for each of these incidents, but the fact remains he was a positive asset to the heroes, quite the opposite of what an antagonist represents.

Spoiler? Future Arcs?

Spoiler: show

That said, it's too bad he doesn't make an appearance during the Chimera Ant Arc. I'm sure he would have gone bonkers seeing The Chimera Ant King, Netero, Neferpitou and the 'Ultimate One'.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

That said, it's too bad he doesn't make an appearance during the Chimera Ant Arc.

PLEASE . QUIT . SPOILING SHIT. ^^;

Every time I ask, I feel like I'm being a nag: but for fuck's sake you really don't seem to get the message! ^^; I want you to discuss this series with us, honest I do, but if I have to choose between you sitting the discussions out or you joining them but giving everything away one surprise after another, I'm going to choose the former! :\ Well, more realistically, I wouldn't ask you to leave: I would leave, as the only other soul using this thread right now is someone who tends to rather discuss the series with me on Skype than on UPN, meaning I really have no benefit in continuing to monitor this thread if monitoring it simply means I'm going to be spoiled on everything.

[Doppleganger]

What spoiler?

This?

Spoiler? Future arcs?

Spoiler: show

"That said, it's too bad he doesn't make an appearance during the Chimera Ant Arc. I'm sure he would have gone bonkers seeing The Chimera Ant King, Netero, Neferpitou and the 'Ultimate One'. "

Calling that a spoiler is a pretty big stretch. We're at - quite clearly - the climax of the anime Chimera Ant Arc, the big boss fights with the Royal Guards and the Chimera Ant King. Both the Neo-GL and Gorteau are completely isolated from the world, so no one outside of the Hunter's Association top brass knows what the heck is going on in there. And Hisoka loves strong fighters, it's only natural he would salivate at the idea of seeing such powerful fighters in one place.

I still think you're a bit too trigger happy with the spoiler accusations. I don't think I've dropped anything series-ruining for you. No outcomes, no deaths, no twists - at the very worst, it's been very small details that could spell the difference between a great series and a merely good one. And, from what I've read of your posts, HxH isn't even in the "great" category of Level E, it's closer to good/mediocre territory. So I can't empathize with this hostility. Especially not when in this particular case, it's really nothing.

[Talon87]

To you who knows all the surprises (or lack thereof), it's nothing. To us, who are still wondering things like:

• Will Hisoka show up?
• Will Chrollo Lucifer?
• Will the other Phantom Troupe members?
• Will Kurapica?
• Will Leorio?
• Will Ging?
• Will some of Gon's other past encounters, like Wing, Zushi, Razor, or Genthru show up?

We have to wonder. We do wonder. It's this wonder that gives rise to excitement. It's this excitement that helps to pump up the show an extra notch each week. Take all of the suspense away -- take away any and all opportunities to be surprised by Togashi and his publishers -- and you reduce this series to the kids show it is, predictable and flawed.

So no: in some ways, you're right that ruining this series isn't as bad for me as ruining one I care more about; but in other ways, you're dead wrong that I have less to lose from your spoilers with this one. Kicking a 9 down to an 8 is bad, but kicking a 6 or a 7 down to a 5 is terrible.

Anyway, it isn't for you to decide whether these spoilers are severe or not: it's for me to decide whether I even want you to spoil me or not. And I've told you. Numerous times. To please knock off spoiling us on this series. If you refuse to listen -- whether maliciously or not, it really doesn't matter at this point -- then I'm left with no alternative but to abandon the thread. If you won't be cooperative when asked, and if I'm certainly in no position to force you, then you leave me with no other choice: it's either be spoiled (no thank you) or check out.

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by Talon87

We have to wonder. We do wonder. It's this wonder that gives rise to excitement. It's this excitement that helps to pump up the show an extra notch each week. Take all of the suspense away -- take away any and all opportunities to be surprised by Togashi and his publishers -- and you reduce this series to the kids show it is, predictable and flawed.

While I agree with this in principle, it's pretty clear that since Greed Island, the focus of the story has been on Gon and Killua. Leorio is off studying medicine, and Kurapika is doing...something. Togashi gave us these excuses as a reason for why those characters aren't present right now. Togashi's also not an amateur writer, so you can rule out cases of Hisoka, Kurapika, Leorio parachute dropping into the East Gorteau capital and wasting all the Chimera Ants with AK-47s.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Anyway, it isn't for you to decide whether these spoilers are severe or not: it's for me to decide whether I even want you to spoil me or not. And I've told you. Numerous times. To please knock off spoiling us on this series. If you refuse to listen -- whether maliciously or not, it really doesn't matter at this point -- then I'm left with no alternative but to abandon the thread. If you won't be cooperative when asked, and if I'm certainly in no position to force you, then you leave me with no other choice: it's either be spoiled (no thank you) or check out.

What I've told you is not a spoiler. You'll agree with me at the end of the arc, I'm sure. Just sit tight and enjoy the next viewing of When Faeces met Fan, because the cocktail of nutsy stuff about to explode in your face will make Hiroshima look like Pop Rocks.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Togashi's also not an amateur writer, so you can rule out cases of Hisoka, Kurapika, Leorio parachute dropping into the East Gorteau capital and wasting all the Chimera Ants with AK-47s.

Yuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... (Ep111)

Spoiler: show

no.







Zeno Zoldyck has words for you.

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Wikia claims Hisoka is one of the "primary antagonists of Hunter x Hunter".

I ask the floor, do you agree or disagree?

For the first animé, I'd lean towards "yes" since he's one of the few recurring characters throughout the series who does take on an "antagonistic" role at times. Clearly he's been overshadowed - if not outclassed - by the Chimera Ant King at this point, and even by the Phantom Troupe before that. And as you've said he's more often helped Team Gon (not necessarily "Good"/been on their "side") than harmed since the Hunter Exam.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Yuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... (Ep111)

Spoiler: show

no.







Zeno Zoldyck has words for you.

Well he didn't use a parachute or guns. *shot*

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by Talon87

Yuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... (Ep111)

Lightning isn't going to strike twice!

...

Anyway, new episode out (112). Only by Horrible however. I think I'll watch this battle alongside everyone else!

To be honest, I thought this episode was really rough. Has everything been like this - mostly static animation with narration? :/ The manga was still far worse, but when you consider the episode captured about 10 seconds of real-time, it still feels slower than it was.

[Talon87]

Episode 112:

Spoiler: show

This episode was nearly as excellent as last week's. Excellent episode. Filled with drama, excitement, and great scenes. Loved it.

Youpi proves to be ever so slightly better than feared but is still my least favorite of the three Royal Guard members. Neferpitou, on the other hand, makes herself that much more my favorite of the bad guys with each passing week.

The bit with healing Komugi rather than having her be irretrievably dead feels like a bit of a copout but it was something you knew was going to happen from the moment they established that Neferpitou had reached the King's location.

The bit with Shoot was good.

The bit with Knuckle was good but unexpected. Kind of surprised he would not stick to the plan like this. I realize that he wanted to show his friends that he and Meleoron were still alive, but still. That stated, this seems like a pretty good way to justify why we won't be losing Knuckle -- as he's not likely to be confronting the King anymore.

I liked everything with Netero and Zeno on up until the part where they let their guards down. Felt like something they'd never in a million years do.

It's amazing what a narrator doing a good job can do for a series. Kaiji had this in spades, and I noticed by the end of this week's episode how Episodes 111 and 112 had been so narrator-rich compared with previous episodes. Obviously there will be people who will complain about this -- obviously there is some preference for dialogue over narration -- but there are a lot of benefits to having scenes be narrated, stretching them out but making them so, so well-marinated, rather than just having them slapped straight onto the grill with no marination time at all, over and done with in just ten seconds. There's a line that must be monitored between good exposition and bad exposition. All too often writers will fall into the trap of writing things expositorily when they should not, when they should have us learn things by showing us rather than by telling us. But that doesn't mean that you should never ever ever explain what the viewer is seeing happen on onscreen. There are times in storytelling where it's good to not only show people what's happening but to explain to them what's happening, to explain to them the nature of and the gravity of the events they're witnessing. Fukumoto, an expert writer, understands this very well. He masterfully walks the line, never crossing it, and delivers highly dramatic scenes that are filled with drama-intensifying narration. I am reminded of that here, with these past two episodes. They were pretty great exercises in how to use narration properly imo.

So now to respond to Doppel's question.

Spoiler: show

First off, Horrible Subs (which in turn is nothing more than a CrunchyRoll ripper) is the only fansub group out there that works on HxH to my knowledge. So it's watch HxH on CR's site, watch CR rips of HxH provided by Horrible Subs, or don't watch HxH at all.

Second, no, the anime hasn't been quite this slow (in terms of the passage of time in-universe) or narration-heavy until recently. Specifically, Episodes 111 and 112 have been the slowest in terms of how much time has passed in-universe between the start and finish of each episode. But the episodes leading up to this point (perhaps ~106 through 110?) have also been rather slow in-universe, all taking place within a day ... perhaps not even a full day but only a 12-hour period.

Third, from my brief foray into the Wikipedia article the other day that listed off chapter names, it seems pretty obvious to me that you're not really in a position to be bitching about this though -- at least not as far as the source material goes. Why? Because from what I saw, it looked to me like Togashi allocates entire tankoubons' worth of chapters to single days during this second half of the Chimera Ant story arc. How many chapters had names like "Day 7 Part 8" and "Day 9 Part 10"? It seemed to me like a lot of chapters did. Like, several tankoubons' worth. Not only that but Togashi also seemed to slow the passage of time down in-universe just as has occurred in the anime -- Day 1 might have been one chapter, Day 2 might have been one chapter, Days 3 through 5 might have been two chapters, Day 6 might have been four chapters, and then Day 7 onward began to be very long, with the final one or two days being insanely long. It seems like that's exactly what's happened in Madhouse's adaptation. So ... if you want to complain about it, by all means please do; but if you want to blame it on the anime being slower than the manga, by all means please don't. Because you cheated had the liberty of reading the entire manga at your disposal uninterrupted whereas the anime can only give you one chapter a week. I think you'd find the manga to be a very different beast if you were to only allow yourself one chapter a week around this same point in the story. Maybe I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, having not actually read the manga, but I got the impression from the chapter titles that I glimpsed that the anime is giving us something like two or so chapters per episode, not one -- meaning that at only one manga chapter a week, you'd actually be making less progress each week than the anime, not more! Anyway, you seem to be aware of this ("The manga was still far worse"), so perhaps this entire paragraph's unnecessary.

Fourth, it's kind of clear that Madhouse is taking advantage of the heavy narration to animate things a bit more statically such that they have the budget they need for the really big fights where lots of motion will need to be animated to satisfy viewers. It's a shame, sure, but we don't live in a world where these studios have limitless resources. Time, money, manpower: all are limited. If I'm not mistaken, they did similar things during the Yorknew City arc, making a lot of use of panning or static shots everywhere else such that during the few big fight scenes (Kurapica vs. Uvogin, Chrollo vs. the Zoldycks) they had their full budget and team at their disposal.

Fifth, I won't lie: I can be a bit fickle on this point. Sometimes I enjoy the super-dramatic, drawn-out style like what we're seeing here. Other times I'm joyous when a studio does what Studio David did with JJBA and condenses the source material into a hyper-concentrated form that leaves each episode feeling about as rich as two hours' worth of most anime episodes. So apologies to you there if it seems like I'm saying one thing today in this thread but I'll be saying another in the JJBA thread once Stardust Crusaders starts up. Fickleness is annoying, I realize, so I'll apologize for mine.