Hunter X Hunter (Original + Remake)

[VLordGTZ]

[Mas]

I never really liked Shalnark, but this was kind of cool.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I never really liked Shalnark, but this was kind of cool.

It looks like he was trying to go Super Saiyan right there.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

We've finally reached 100 episodes. I forgot about that whole "fart explosion" thing which was incredibly stupid, but only lasted for a moment, anyways. This episode was a great one for Killua, and brought up an unexpected face turn of one of the Chimera ants who has been tailing Gon for a while now.

[gunswordfist]

Just finished episode 101...how does Togashi right action this good? I have trouble calling it an action scene since it basically was a chess match. I also like how all 3 times Killua "flipped a switch", (including the last two episodes) an enemy would/try to do a hidden trick or attack to him. I like how he doesn't just have flat out invincible moments when he does that (even though when he got stabbed in the back and pretended to be poisoned was close but you know what I mean)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just finished episode 101...how does Togashi right action this good? I have trouble calling it an action scene since it basically was a chess match. I also like how all 3 times Killua "flipped a switch", (including the last two episodes) an enemy would/try to do a hidden trick or attack to him. I like how he doesn't just have flat out invincible moments when he does that (even though when he got stabbed in the back and pretended to be poisoned was close but you know what I mean)

Togashi is just really good at playing around with expectations. As for the whole dartboard thing, what made it so great is that Killua ultimately prevailed through experience and wit. The experience he had let him keep a cool head throughout the situation, and his wit allowed him to utilize what powers he had to make it through a seemingly hopeless situation. A more amateur writer would have just mad Killua have an easy time with the whole ordeal in order to come off like a bad-ass. But the thing that mad Killua awesome here is that he didn't have an easy time at all, and yet still prevailed despite everything working against him. I also like how he spared Ikalgo's life (showing just how muchness developed as a character) and how Ikalgo saved him at the end in return.

Oh, and I love Togashi's cartoony yet dark humor. Killua severs the heads of those two chimera ants while their guard is down, yet their heads can still function on their own, allowing Killua to explain to them just how he outwitted their asses, only to leave them bickering between each other until they presumably ran out of juice and died (which was cleverly not shown in order to keep the scene funny).

[gunswordfist]

Just finished episode 101...how does Togashi right action this good? I have trouble calling it an action scene since it basically was a chess match. I also like how all 3 times Killua "flipped a switch", (including the last two episodes) an enemy would/try to do a hidden trick or attack to him. I like how he doesn't just have flat out invincible moments when he does that (even though when he got stabbed in the back and pretended to be poisoned was close but you know what I mean)

Togashi is just really good at playing around with expectations. As for the whole dartboard thing, what made it so great is that Killua ultimately prevailed through experience and wit. The experience he had let him keep a cool head throughout the situation, and his wit allowed him to utilize what powers he had to make it through a seemingly hopeless situation. A more amateur writer would have just mad Killua have an easy time with the whole ordeal in order to come off like a bad-ass. But the thing that mad Killua awesome here is that he didn't have an easy time at all, and yet still prevailed despite everything working against him. I also like how he spared Ikalgo's life (showing just how muchness developed as a character) and how Ikalgo saved him at the end in return.

Oh, and I love Togashi's cartoony yet dark humor. Killua severs the heads of those two chimera ants while their guard is down, yet their heads can still function on their own, allowing Killua to explain to them just how he outwitted their asses, only to leave them bickering between each other until they presumably ran out of juice and died (which was cleverly not shown in order to keep the scene funny).

Oh yeah, ants can survive days headless. Heh heh

I liked Ikalgo's part in this as well. I thought Killua would be straight up heartless to all Chimera Ants but that was a pleasant surprise.

As for Killua experience, even though he did it at such a young age, I like how he had extensive training with darts instead of "just knowing it" or whatever. It was all well put together. I also like how the dart power was a nod to Sniper's from YYH.

[Mas]

Yeahh, congrats on 100 episodes, HxH!

I think the octopus is my new favorite chimera ant now next to Colt, and I can't wait to see more of him and his interactions with Killua. Avoiding the manga is getting harder and harder.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I love how Komugi, who is ironically a weak blind girl, is essentially so much better than Meruem at something that she has more influence on his character and his actions than even the strongest Nen users around (who incidentally don't even hold his attention). Meruem believes himself to be so divine that he's naturally the best in everything. Just finding out that there's someone better than him in something as insignificant as a mere strategy game is a big deal to him, as it totally crushes his own deluded life philosophy.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I love how much of a gamble Knov (Novu) has to take in order to even set the first part of a plan in motion. It takes a lot of strategizing and a big risk, and with Pitou's En being temporarily down, he has the rare opportunity to set up portals in the palace itself, but if he's caught, he's a dead man. Togashi is really good at writing intense and thoughtful situations like this. I also love how he doesn't ignore the outside world, and made note of Senator Bizef as the guy who communicates with outside countries so that they don't get suspicious of what's going on.

Also, Meruem continues to evolve into a more fleshed out, 3-Dimensional character, which is always great. And it's great how Komugi isn't exactly the type of character that you expect. She's naive, yet also rightfully insiteful, not just in terms of the game that she plays, but also in terms of knowing just how to talk to Meruem. There's a lot of layers to this part of the story, especially regarding Meruem's character development. And it's not something that so clearly changes him from a bad guy into a good guy (which would be the stupid thing a lot of amateur writers would do with this situation), but rather it just forces him to adopt a new philosophy, one that could lead him to a potentially more dangerous goal if it comes into fruition.

Yep, this is definitely my favorite anime that's currently airing.

If there's one criticism I have for it, though it's that the Chimera Ant arc's heavy use of narration and exposition clearly makes it work better in manga form. I do wish the anime could have improved on the manga by cutting out a lot of the narration and finding a way to show a lot of what the characters were going through without directly having to explain it. Even as far as the manga, goes, it is the one noticeable weakness of Togashi in this arc (a problem that he never had before this point), and while it doesn't kill it for me, it does feel like it's robbing the reader/viewer of the opportunity to interpret things form themselves. I also can't stand the HXH fans who so blatantly defend this and say that Togashi is a genius and that I just can't appreciate his work (those of you who know me know how laughably absurd it is that I, of all people, don't fucking appreciate Togashi). I'm just calling this out for what it is: lazy writing. Mind you, it's not bad writing, because Togashi is adding in sensible and interesting plot points while fleshing out his characters in very thoughtful ways. It's just that I wish he could rely on visuals a bit more, and less on blatant exposition.

[Spark Of Spirit]

How have they adapted the... dicier parts of the arc so far?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

How have they adapted the... dicier parts of the arc so far?

They just toned it down, is all.

The girl getting stabbed by Meruem's tail only shows the silhouette. Any of the brain for flesh eating is cut out. And Pokkle getting minced and diced into a human meatball is cut out (and only disturbingly implied, instead).

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, for anyone who's keeping up with the current anime, what's your opinion on it, so far?

I do really like it, but I feel that the Chimera Ant arc has had some pacing issues, and I don't really see why they have to drag things out when they already have the arc completed in the manga. Togashi is clearly not going to end his hiatus for a long while, so the best thing that the anime can do is to end at that one certain point in the Chairman Election arc that makes for a good stopping point, and possibly make a new anime a few years later to cover stuff that Togashi writes after he ever decides to get off of his lazy ass and continue the story (and hopefully finally finish it, this time).

Overall, though, it's my favorite currently running shounen anime. The story-lines are mostly great and the characterization is brilliant. The animation quality has gone down since the Greed Island arc, but it still remains to be a notch above the abysmal quality of most other long-running shounen series. I've also grown to like the soundtrack for this series, but I still feel that the 1999 anime's music was way better, on the whole.

[VLordGTZ]

I think the current anime is really good. I like that it toned down some of the more violent scenes of the Chimera Ant arc (such as Meruem killing that little girl) since those scenes were just present for needless shock-value in the manga. 

[gunswordfist]

I just finished Knov and Morel.

I am liking this arc so far and since HXH is the only currently running anime I watch, it's my favorite of that type.

My only have exactly one complaint: when they left after they saw the first Royal Guard. Specifically the slow episodes in between them being off the mission. They could have met Knuckle, Shoot, Palm, Knov, Morel and the Chairman at the meeting point where they met 3 of them or Killua could have stayed in enemy territory with an unconscious Gon and the 6 could have eventually found them (I'd prefer the latter). I could have lived without Knuckle vs. Gon and Killua could have just had the rabbit guy fight to help get over his strong urge to run from stronger opponents.

So that would be the only pacing problem I have had with CA. I like all of the tension buildup and strategy laying.