Hunter X Hunter (Original + Remake)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

This week's episode was fantastic. I may just copy and paste my full thoughts on it from the TZ HXH thread, but for now I'll just say that it was really well-done.

I specifically thought it was a nice touch in having Kurapika actually show some remorse for his fallen teammates once he learned that they were killed by the Genei Ryodan. They may have been minor characters, but Togashi just killed them off like usual and then had everyone else completely forget about them once they found out that they were dead. Over here there's a few seconds  in which Kurapika takes some time to remember them and he even shows some rage at Uvogin for killing them. Those are a pretty meaningful few seconds to me, and it makes Kurapika's character feel a bit more appealing, IMO. I only bothered to mention this because I figured that its something that Desensitized would also appreciate being that he and I both strongly agree that Togashi is a complete ass-hole when it comes to killing off characters without any sense of remorse or class.

Of course, this was the episode in which another certain member of the Nostrade family's team of bodyguards (Kurapika's team, basically) gets killed off. Its a really well-done death scene which I love for the shock factor that it has to it since it happens to suddenly, but while It was done relatively well in this episode, I feel as thoug hit was done a tad bit better in the 1999 anime without the use of any music building up to the assassination and with the guy standing up after being stabbed in the back (literally) and trying to use the last of his strength to attack the Genei Ryodan (which is of course a futile effort that ensures him an even quicker death, but at least he died with some dignity that way).

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, the first movie trailer for this feature was put up recently. Going by the way things look, it would seem that its either retelling a portion of the York Shin City arc OR actually adapting a later part of the arc. Its probably the former, though, since it showed a clip of Uvo in it and if it was a later part of the arc it would be after his death (then again, that scene with him in it could just be a flashback). Either way, its adapting canon material, as it would seem, so it may just be something interesting after all, rather than the half-assed garbage that most movies based off of shonen TV anime turn out to be.

[Rynnec]

I have to pity the poor pathetic saps who watch shounen movies for anything other than the fights.

Aren't movies that adapt canon material generally inferior to the source material though? Usually they blitz through most of the character development and plot.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I have to pity the poor pathetic saps who watch shounen movies for anything other than the fights.

Aren't movies that adapt canon material generally inferior to the source material though? Usually they blitz through most of the character development and plot.

Though they usually get a better budget than TV anime. And besides, do you want a filler movie?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, the One Piece movies do it horribly. I think 2 of the Dragon Ball movies did something along those lines, but they changed things up greatly half-way through and told completely alternate stories that were still completely entertaining (IMO).

I haven't seen any other shonen movies that just condense major arcs into a movie, though, so I can't really comment on that.

I do think that if HXH were to do it with the York Shin City arc, it would unquestionably be inferior to the manga and anime arc, but it would at least make for better and more intelligent material than any other feature-length shonen movie.

[Rynnec]

I have to pity the poor pathetic saps who watch shounen movies for anything other than the fights.

Aren't movies that adapt canon material generally inferior to the source material though? Usually they blitz through most of the character development and plot.

Though they usually get a better budget than TV anime. And besides, do you want a filler movie?

Only if they expand on an aspect of the verse that the original source material couldn't be assed to explore.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

OK, Somebody other than just me seriously needs to be watching this show. Its just too good for me to be the only one appreciating this reboot. This week's episode convinced me more than ever that the staff behind this anime knows what they are doing. I'll say that this episode managed to surpass a fight and a death scene that I already loved the interpretation of in the 1999 anime adaptation, so that's saying a lot right there.

In this particular episode we see a so-called shonen "good guy" basically being portrayed as anything but good. Even though he's killing a bad guy for revenge and retribution on his crimes and the crimes of the group that he comes from, he does so in a very savage way (which he of course hates doing, but feels as though he has to), and if you were to look at his actions from a neutral perspective and going by just this episode alone, he'd clearly seem like the bad guy. That's especially true when the so-called villain turns out to be the one staying loyal to his team by remaining tight-lipped while literally being beaten to death for information on the rest of them. The reason I like stuff like this is because its out of the norm for its genre BUT doesn't feel forced just for the sake of trying to stand out. Its backed by good writing, strong themes, and the violence doesn't actually feel pointless as there is a legitimate reason for it.

Now, I feel that this is something that Togashi often tends to forget in the Chimera Ant arc, but that's at a much later time. As for the York Shin City arc, I still say (and after watching this episode, I am more convinced than ever) that its the best arc that he's written since the Chapter Black arc of Yu Yu Hakusho.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just watched this week's episode, and this show is still really good.

I remember on the podcast Dr. Isomniac mentioned to me that he thought most people hated the new show, but on the contrary a lot of people have really enjoyed it. People who really like the manga prefer this adaptation in particular since its more faithful to the characters. People who started with the 1999 anime are biased for that version.

As for me, I love the 1999 anime but this version has been getting better as it goes along, and unlike the 1999 version this one will get to make it a lot further along in the story than that anime did.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, the series has just aired 50 episodes so far. At this point, the events of next episode or 2 will finally cover up to the end of what the original 62-episode TV anime covered. That said, the manga was still covered further in anime form through the OVAs, so it'll still be another 20-30 episodes before it finally catches up to and passes what the original anime iterations covered of the manga. After that we'll finally get to see the long-awaited anime adaptation of the Chimera Ant arc, which while I do think its quite a bit overrated by fans since I see more flaws in it than most other people, its still a great arc on the whole that really deserves to be told in animated form.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

AWESOME EPISODE! Its worth noting that this was also my favorite segment from the 1999 anime, so I'm REALLY glad to see that they didn't drop the ball here. I also think it was a really cool touch to have the requiem music play over the end credits in place of the normal ending them. Its just a great way to end what I personally consider to be the best episode that has aired so far for this reboot.

Also, now I can say with much more certainty that the next episode will officially cover everything that the first TV series covered, and everything after that will be adapting material that was first adapted in the HXH OVA series. When I stop to think about it, we'll probably be at the Greed Island arc in just a few more months, and we'll probably be done with it well before the end of next year. Assuming that the show doesn't go into any fillers, we'll finally be able to see the adaptation of the long-awaited Chimera Ant arc star up by around the 3rd or 4th quarter of next year.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

And I also just noticed yet another YYH nod in this episode:

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Man, this show has been on a streak of completely awesome episodes, lately. Of course, it owes a lot of that to great source material, but still, the staff for this show clearly shows a ton of effort in making this adaptation as good as possible.

[Avaitor]

FINALLY watched the first episode, and if I have enough time later tonight, I'll get onto the second one too.

I really liked the '99 anime, but this is really good too! I know you told me about the poor reception the 2011 version has been getting, EK, but I was surprised to find so many negative comments. Granted, I'm not familiar with the actual manga, but even when comparing both shows, this was a fun pilot that stood up in its own rights and had me on the edge of my seat throughout.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm glad to see that you liked it!

As for the poor reception, I don't think I ever said that it was received poorly (that was Dr. Insomniac if you're referring to the podcast from out top 65 list). This new anime has actually received generally positive reception from fans. It received mixed reception at first because people were skeptical of how bright and cheery it looked, but as of right now if you go onto any anime discussion board and look into a talkback thready for this series, you'll see that most people are genuinely praising it to the extent that Brotherhood got praised over the original FMA anime.

As for the manga, the '99 anime didn't change the story or anything, but it swayed the main characters a bit more towards being definitive good guys, whereas their attitude, feelings, and actions can be a bit more gray in the manga and this 2011 anime (they are still pretty much the good guys, though, whichever way you choose to look at this series). I think the character that really got misinterpreted in the '99 anime is Gon, though. That series portrays him more like a goody-goody protagonist. While he is initially "pure" as a character, it doesn't mean that he's pure good, but rather that he has an unbiased view of the world, and doesn't judge people as good or evil but rather to the extent that they genuinely interest him.

Putting my nerd talk aside, though, I still love the '99 anime and that's not going to change, but the reality of the situation is that this new anime will get to cover much more material from the manga than the original anime ever had the opportunity to, so this is certainly the version to stick with. I think you'll like what you see of the alter arcs as well, Avaitor. This anime does not shy away from going into dark places despite how it may seem initially, and if you can believe it, this one is actually LESS censored than the '99 version.

[Avaitor]

You know, it's too bad that we don;t do AV Club-style reviews for episodes of each series, otherwise we could do what they do with Game of Thrones- have 2 different reviewers for the show, one an expert of the franchise who tries to compare how the show is tackling the source material (that'd be you), and the other more of a newbie, who can only use vague-ish memories of the older series to compare the show initially (me).

That would make for a great compare-contrast series of articles.