Hunter X Hunter (Original + Remake)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It was annoying having to wait 2 weeks for another episode, but this week we got a new episode and it didn't disappoint. I really like how this arc has the fighting and action scenes (as great and entertaining as they are) take a backseat to the story, character development, and favors a battle of wits over a battle of fists and energy. We've basically reached the climax of this arc (well, the next episode is going to be the climax), but just observe how different it is from what you'd expect to see in a regular shonen series. Rather than having the protagonists face off against the villains in a big battle, this arc instead is going to head off on a hostage-exchange of all things, with both sides trying to deceive the other, and the protagonists not afraid to use underhanded tactics of their own. Its not really a battle between good guys and bad guys, but rather the main characters and an opposing force (though to be fair, the protagonists are clearly much closer to being good guys in this case).

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm....kind of disappointed, to be honest. I felt that this episode was way too rushed in order to get finished with this arc, and there were a lot of great moments in the OVA that I felt worked because it wasn't rushing itself to get to the next arc and was instead really focused on building up the drama of the situation in a way that really made an impact. Pakunoda's death in the OVA was a genuinely sad moment for a character who up to this point was supposed to be one of the "bad guys," but in this anime's version of the episode I didn't feel anything for her. To be fair, that's kind of how it was in the manga as well, where it kind of felt like it just moved things along to get done with the arc, but that's why its not always best to follow the manga to the letter, and I kind of liked how the OVA took its time with the end of the York Shin City arc. I'm not saying that I'd want the end of it to be more than one episode in this anime, but I would have appreciated it if they ended off the episode with Paku's death, and then started up the GI arc with the next episode. The thing about the narrator saying that the GI arc starts with the next episode is that he's technically wrong as it already started with Gon and Killua making it to the auction. York Shin City arc at its heart was Kurapika's story, and the arc was concluded with Gon and Killua being returned to him and Leorio safely, and Chrollo departing away from the rest of the Phantom Troupe.

Well, at any rate we are finally done with the York Shin City arc, and on the whole I think this anime did a really good job of adapting it, rushed ending aside. Now we'll be moving onto the Greed Island arc!!!!....Oh wait, that's not so exciting....

Here's a neat looking poster for it, though:

[Spark Of Spirit]

Why does Ging look like Elc?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Huh? He's always had that look that he's got in that poster. The hair-style and face are the same as ever. If he happens to look like another character from another anime that's just a result of his character design. It has been established that if you cover up his hair, he looks quite a bit like Yusuke from YYH.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I know, it's just the way he looks in that poster. Freaky.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, it looks as though we'll finally be getting to see the Chimera Ant arc animated not too long from now.

This should certainly be interesting. If the anime catches up to where the manga is at and ends right after a certain scene of the mini-arc, then I'd be completely satisfied with that ending. Really, I believe that the manga should have just ended after that scene to begin with. I'm not really too sure what's left to accomplish with this series past that point.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, Greed Island is almost done. In another 3 weeks, we'll finally be getting to see the Chimera Ant arc animated. Is anyone else but me going to watch that? I figure Desensitized might want to see whether the anime can improve on the flaws in that arc, just out of curiosity. At least, that's what interests me the most in regard to seeing that arc finally being animated.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, yeah, we've finally gotten to that point where this new anime adaptation of Hunter X Hunter has actually managed to reach the whole purpose for its existence in the first place (or at least it will by next week).

Since nobody other than me is ever going to watch the rest of this show, anyways, if you ever have the slightest bit of interest in checking out some portion of this series, then next week's episode may not be such a bad starting point. For one thing, a portion of it will cover an important part of the beginning of the manga that was cut out of this anime's first episode, so it'll probably get you familiar with Gon and his whole motivation for becoming a Hunter, and the rest of the episode will be an introduction to the Chimera Ant arc, in which you probably won't need to know a lot about previous story arcs to get the gist of what's going on (though you probably would be perplexed as to the abilities of characters in this show if you don't know what the fuck Nen is).

[Spark Of Spirit]

I might check it out, but I'm not sure. Maybe I'll wait until Knuckle shows up.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

For what its worth, this anime adaptation probably has the best iteration of the Greed Island arc. Its still the worst arc in the series, but something about this adaptation made it more tolerable for me than the old OVAs or the manga. Part of that may be because it really sped things along with this arc to get done with it faster (I got the impression that the staff behind this anime weren't big fans of the arc, either). Perhaps they can improve the faults of the Chimera Ant arc as well. Then again, seeing as how Togashi hasn't written any new material in well over a year, now, this anime adaptation might try to drag out the arc to keep the show running for as long as possible, but they do have a satisfying spot to end the series at with the Chairmen Election arc, so they could still keep up the good pace that they've had for this series with the Chimera Ant arc, and just end the show on a dignified note, rather than delving into filler territory.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Interesting....

It's worth mentioning that this episode made a few notable changes from the manga. First off, the meeting with Kite was handled really differently than how it was in the manga. You saw a few brief glimpses of the flash-back of where he saved Gon, but that was actually covered in more detail in the very first chapter of the manga, as well as the first episode of the 1999 anime. Gon had been saved by Kite, and learned his name there, as well as the fact that he was Ging's student. Kite was also the one who gave him Ging's double-star Hunter license in the first place, which is what really inspired Gon to become a Hunter like his father, and like Kite. So, when he and Killua meets him in the manga, Gon instantly recognizes him and they hit it off like old friends, rather than just mere acquaintances In this episode, they changed it so that Gon never really knew anything about Kite other than the fact that he saved him when he was younger. Its not a huge change, but its worth mentioning.

Also, this episode added 2 scenes that were never in the manga. The part where Kite attacked those "Chimera Ants" that were going after Gon and Killua never happened in the manga. They don't meet any creature from that species until they get to NGL. In addition to that, the whole flash-back scene where Kite meets Ging for the first time was also added in for the anime. For what its worth, I actually like both of those additions, but it makes me wonder if we are going to get a lot of filler scenes like this as the arc progresses, in order to draw out the length of the series for as long as possible until it catches up with the manga. That kind of seems to be the intention, in this case.

All in all, it was a decent episode for what it was. Every arc in this series starts out slow and gradually builds up the tension, and this one is no exception. I just hope that they don't drag things out too much in later episodes, because it would be really disappointing to see the Chimera Ant arc anime adaptation, which HXH fans have been waiting so long for, succumb to the issue of bad pacing. We'll have to wait and see if that happens as the arc progresses, though.

One thing I want to point out is to really pay close attention to Gon's character in this arc. You'll see for once that his thick-headed attitude and way of thinking may have some seriously negative repercussions for him at this point in the series. I've mentioned this before, but what's especially interesting is how this repercussions end up affecting his character.

The last thing that I wanted to comment on is that, while I'm still not a fan of them sticking to the same opening theme yet again (at this point its safe to assume that they'll just be using it throughout the entire series), I really do love the visuals that they use for it this time around. Its completely different from previous openings, without any recycled animation, and it really does a good job of hyping up the allies and villains that you will encounter throughout this arc.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Man, I'd watch this if Crunchyroll's video player didn't keep freezing on me. Seriously annoying. I'll need to find some other way to watch it. Although, I'll probably wait until they get to Knuckle and Shoot so that I can marathon the early, slower portion of the arc in one go.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Knuckle is easily the best new character in that arc. His introduction into the story instantly made the arc better for me, and it had already gradually been getting better by that point (the only part I downright hated in the beginning was with Meruem slaughtering innocent people for no reason other than for Togashi to put in some shock value). After Knuckle stepped into the picture, the arc got downright awesome from that point and pretty much maintained that quality until after the 2nd hiatus, wehre the pacing became drawn out again. Then the arc got awesome again....then it got annoying when Netero was fighting Meruem and it became apparently just how overpowered Meruem was. Then the arc was good again until Gon pulled a BS power-up out of nowhere. Then the arc concluded with a pretty good and satisfying ending. Its a lopsided arc in terms of quality, to be sure, but I still feel that, looking back on it, the good far outweighs the bad for me.

[Rynnec]

I don't really watch this show (waiting for a dub and possible TV airing), but I just had to link this video, I think a lot of people here will get a kick out of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf0zZw6GYdI

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I don't really watch this show (waiting for a dub and possible TV airing), but I just had to link this video, I think a lot of people here will get a kick out of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf0zZw6GYdI

This just made my day!