Hunter X Hunter (Original + Remake)

[LumRanmaYasha]

Pitou had the least personality and character of the three, imo. Youpi had interesting character development in his fight, and Shaiapouf was an excellent scheming villain to love to hate, but Pitou rarely showed much personality, except for that scene where Gon confronted him and he was desperate to fulfill his order to heal Komugi.

[Spark Of Spirit]

He was also the only one to actually lose in a proper fight, too. That's quite odd for shonen for the bad guys to not be beaten in a fight, so I have to give Togashi credit for that.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Pouf was the worst ant. Everyone knows that.

Also, Pitou did have personality, CX, and unlike the other 2 Royal Guards, it was strongly implied that Pitou, despite being devoted to the King, also had interests of his/her own (remember, the gender is kept ambiguous in the manga). Whereas Youpi's personality was just being easy to anger until he got a little smarter, and Pouf was just overly-devoted to Meruem (ultimately to his detriment), Pouf also showed a side to his/herself that wanted to break free and indulge in its own personal interests, like fighting strong opponents and such. Pitoun even showed a level of respect for strong opponents,which gave him far more nuance than the other 2 Royal Guards who were only devoted to the King. Yes, Youpi developed a sort of respect for Knuckle and the others, but it was very late in the arc by that point. Hell, Pitou even decided to be honest with Gon about not being able to restore Kite before trying to kill him. To Pitou, he owed him at least that much for allowing him/her to heal Komugi. Such a thought never would have crossed the mind of Youpi or Pouf. They would have just blindly killed Gon on the spot.

Now Pouf is the weakest link among the Royal Guards. I like what Togashi was going for with having his devotion to the King ultimately be a fault of his character, but there was really nothing more to him than that. There were no sublet implications of any greater depth or nuance to his character, and while I could see both Pitou and Youpi developing further had they lived longer, I can almost guarantee you that Pouf would not have changed at all. He was ultimately just appalled of the King's admiration for Komugi as he believed that the King had no equal, and that's it. He didn't learn anything about the King or about himself at all, unlike Pitou and Youpi.

So in other words, both of you guys are incorrect in your analysis, since what I just said is fact and not opinion, you may both feel free to be ashamed of yourselves for not being as smart and awesome as me. I encourage it.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Hmm, I didn't consider those aspects of Pitou's character before, and I suppose they do make him a more layered character than I had thought. That doesn't change the fact that, despite his shallowness, I found Pouf's over the top devotion to Meruem and his schemes to keep him and Komugi apart more entertaining to read/watch. 

[gunswordfist]

What? Pitou only gave respect to Gon and that was after Youpi's fight. She said she enjoyed the fight against Kite but I saw no respect given. Blindly killing Gon would have been better anyway. It was kind of stupid that she gave Gon all those chances to live. Gon was knee deep in plot armor.

Pouf also showed respect to an opponent. He didn't just speed blitz Morel because he respected his experience as a Hunter. There wasn't even a fight. He basically stalled him out and then he mugged him from behind. I personally liked that. In fact, Pouf never had a proper fight. He kept on gauging all the opponents and scheming. His only real faults are his devotion could get downright comical (I like some of the zany scenes he had though. Like when he called himself the king of idiots or something for going to the wrong room.) and his plans laughably backfired at times which makes you kind of question his intelligence. He was almost certainly smarter than he thought he was.

Hmm, I didn't consider those aspects of Pitou's character before, and I suppose they do make him a more layered character than I had thought. That doesn't change the fact that, despite his shallowness, I found Pouf's over the top devotion to Meruem and his schemes to keep him and Komugi apart more entertaining to read/watch. 

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[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

What? Pitou only gave respect to Gon and that was after Youpi's fight. She said she enjoyed the fight against Kite but I saw no respect given. Blindly killing Gon would have been better anyway. It was kind of stupid that she gave Gon all those chances to live. Gon was knee deep in plot armor.

Pitou showed respect to Kite after he fought him, saying that he was strong and that he/she enjoyed fighting him. That is respect. Respect isn't just letting someone live. Respect is acknowledging someone's strong points, even if they are an enemy. That was why Kite was made into a training puppet to begin with, because Pitou recognized his strength. Watch the anime again or read the manga. That was clearly stated.

Pitou also didn't give Gon all of the chances to live. Pitou didn't know that Gon could pull out a trump card like that. Gon defeating Pitou was bad plot writing on Togashi's part. Not bad character writing.

Pouf also showed respect to an opponent. He didn't just speed blitz Morel because he respected his experience as a Hunter. There wasn't even a fight. He basically stalled him out and then he mugged him from behind. I personally liked that.

This is where you're mistaken. THAT is not respect. Pouf was showing no admiration or acknowledgement of Morel as a fighter. He didn't care. His goal was only to get to the King's side and he didn't want to risk getting trapped in Morel's strategy, so he instead outwitted him. That isn't respect, just strategy. The reason it was respect on Pitou and Youpi's part was because they did things they otherwise would not have done out of some courtesy for their opponents, even if it wasn't necessarily sensible. Pitou wanted to tell Gon the truth because Gon kept his word to him and didn't kill Komugi. Youpi could have easily killed Morel and Knuckle after Knuckle removed his ability from Youpi, but he kept his word out of admiration for all of the effort they put into fighting him and how they almost defeated him. Pouf just flat-out didn't give a shit about Morel, and as proof of this he questioned Youpi on why he let Morel live later on, and seemed concerned with the fact that he spared them out of respect. Once again, go back to the anime or manga. It's in there.

Hmm, I didn't consider those aspects of Pitou's character before, and I suppose they do make him a more layered character than I had thought. That doesn't change the fact that, despite his shallowness, I found Pouf's over the top devotion to Meruem and his schemes to keep him and Komugi apart more entertaining to read/watch. 

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It was entertaining until it dragged out as Pouf was basically resorting to making it into a game to hide his secret from Meruem, at which point I found it was pretty stupid writing on Togashi's part, especially since Meruem found out anyways, and not through some subtle detail that Pouf missed, but because Werefin just flat-out reminded him that Komugi existed, making the whole scheme feel unrewarding for being dragged out so much.

[gunswordfist]

That barely counts. Youpi put on a much better display of respect. He didn't wait for them to be dead to acknowledge their efforts. How late in the arc it was doesn't discount it.

Pitou could have easily killed him at the palace. Pitou could have killed him instead of healing her arm. Pitou just sat there and watched him powerup. I'm referring to examples before he became adult Gon. After that she started to make more sense like how she tried to attack him from behind twice, once after death. And yes, Pitou sensed that his will could be a threat. That's the whole reason why she tried to kill him. She basically just stood there until he found a way to pull it off.

Pouf didn't kill Morel because he thought he was harmless without his pipe. He lost respect for him after he literally acknowledged his abilities when he was studying him. He said something along the lines that he was impressed with his fortitude while they were in Smoky Jail.

It sucked that his game ended so quickly. Again, I already said Pouf could look pretty much stupid at times but I enjoyed him being the only villain antagonizing the Hunters in the palace at times. Besides Gon vs. Pitou, those were my favorite parts near the end of the arc.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I notice that you arguments are based entirely on assumptions, GSF.

Pitou realized that Gon could be dangerous, but it was made clear that he/she didn't understand what that meant. At the time it was just that Pitou fully believed Gon on his threat of killing Komugi if he/she didn't cooperate. It was never indicated that he knew that Gon could power-up to a level strong enough to kill a royal guard. And standing their that whole time healing him/herself taking so long was only a product of the anime being ridiculously dragged out, hence why I say the manga for this arc is far better. In the manga that was literally just a few panels that took place over a few seconds. Pitou's natural instinct was to heal first and then take out Gon.

And if we're talking about stupid, once again, you just personally admitted that Pouf was guilty of that on more than one occasion, so I don't see your point there. We were talking about respect, not which Royal Guard was smarter than the other. Saying things like "that barely counts" without giving proper explanation why just feels like argument for the sake of argument. I explained already why Pitou's actions qualify as respect, and those aren't the only examples. Another scene had the narrator clearly spell out that he was in awe of Netero's power when he briefly made eye-contact with him, and recognized his ability, yet another form of respect.

Pouf respected absolutely no one but the King himself. That was in fact the very basis of his character. His over-obsession with the King was ironically a hindrance to him. I don't really see how you can change that around from what it was clearly intended to be.

[gunswordfist]

Wait, if Pitou can respect Netero's ability in an action that took less than a second then why doesn't it count when Pouf was analyzing different aspects of Morel and showing respect for that? I'm not talking about Pouf respecting anyone as a person, just as a fighter. Pitou didn't respect Netero that much either.

Oh boy. The first example I named was after Gon turned his back on Pitou to walk away. The other 2 examples I named were AFTER Pouf told Pitou that Komugi was safe and before Pitou decided to heal herself. She should have made Gon drop dead after she got the phone call and then ran back to the palace. It was stupid.

But whatever, you don't have to agree. I'm going to watch the scene of Pouf prancing around in a colorful background again. Pouf rocks!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh boy. The first example I named was after Gon turned his back on Pitou to walk away. The other 2 examples I named were AFTER Pouf told Pitou that Komugi was safe and before Pitou decided to heal herself. She should have made Gon drop dead after she got the phone call and then ran back to the palace. It was stupid.

Uh, in that case you just flat-out ignored my point about Pitou NOT killing Gon right away go be upfront with him about Kite. I clearly hammered out that point. Pitou even said that he wanted to tell this to Gon since Gon had kept his word about not killing Komugi. Of course it wasn't the sensible thing to do, which is what Pouf would have done in Pitou's place. That was the whole freaking basis for why I said that was essentially out of Pitou's respect for Gon. I just love how you completely ignored a point that I already addressed.

[gunswordfist]

So it was respectful, yet stupid? Either way, Pitou shouldn't have used Doctor Blythe (sp?) before attacking Gon nor should she have just stood there while Gon was powering up.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Once again, I love how you try to change the subject to draw attention away from the intent of why you started arguing with me in the first place when you can't come up with evidence otherwise to prove your original point. Is there a point to all of this, GSF, or are you just trying to drag out yet another debate just for the hell of it?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, this is what I posted on another site in regard to which version of this arc I prefer:

I don't know if I agree. In the manga, while I didn't like the idea of having so much heavy narration about what was going on, I didn't mind it as much because I was still reading it all and I've read certain other manga and comics that use heavy 3rd person narration, so I could get over it. I was hoping that the anime could find some way around that, but they didn't and I have to say that it just felt so awkward having the narrator suddenly tell us most of what was going on, having more dialogue than the actual characters. In books and comics you can get away with that. In anime, TV shows, movies, and such, I firmly believe in the "show don't tell" philosophy of story-telling (except for when heavy exposition is absolutely needed, of course). Having the narrator have to tell us what a character was feeling, for example, rather than actually show what they are feeling through good animation and voice acting, feels rather cheap. An example of where an exception was made was that scene in which Killua broke down in tears in front of Palm. No narration was needed to tell us what his character was going through. But there are so many other times when the narrator cuts in, and I quite frankly just got sick of hearing that voice all of the time.

Combine that with the fact that the anime really made me realize how slow-paced this arc really is in the second half. In the manga I could read it at my own pace, so I got through it much quicker. Watching it in the anime, though, I honestly felt like the second half of the arc dragged on longer than it needed to. That's just my opinion, anyways. I will say that I think the first half of the arc was somewhat better in the anime (especially the first third).

[LumRanmaYasha]

Yeah, I think they should've cut out the narration in the anime too. There were much more appropriate ways to get the same ideas and feelings across using the medium than having the narrator explain everything.

[gunswordfist]

More random thoughts:
Anyone else thought Meruem was supposed to have some similarities to Raizen? Youpi's powers remind me of Elder Toguro's. I love Shoot's powers so much. I honestly think they may be my favorite set of powers in the entire show. I like how Togashi took a non-combatant in Gatekeeper from Chapter Black (forget his real name) and gave them to a Hunter. Also, the main reason why I like Shoot so much is his flashback that was short and sweet and made me feel for the guy. In fact, it wasn't even a flashback, they just went over how he has been scared during his whole life and how his friends have been urging him to come out of it. Then he has his coming out party against Youpi of all people. I thought that was beautiful. I thought Knuckle was alright but Shoot is my favorite hero from Chimera Ants.

I hope Hisoka's past isn't like Werefin's and Meruem when they were human. Quite a few characters in this show have been abused as kids. I was going to group in Razer and Binolt (scissor dude from Greed Island. I only remember his name because his music on youtube rocks) but I seriously doubt he wasn't at least an outcast as a kid. I forget if those two were also physically abused. Anyway, my only reason for wanting it to not be like that is I want his to be different.

Edit:
I didn't really care for Pitou going from psycho torturer to caring protector of an innocent. The how, I mean. She literally went from never blinking to crying when she saw Meruem hold Komugi. Then her features started softening up out of nowhere. I do like how she changed based off of interactions with Gon, it's just I thought her initial jump between being two different characters had no good setup. She's also my least favorite Ant out of the Royal Guards and The King and the only one I'm not a fan of. I wouldn't be surprised if she was at least the favorite Royal Guard for most fans. She got the most screen time and fans tend to like psycho characters like that, I think.

I also suspect that Feitan's Pain Packer ability was developed from child abuse but I'm guessing I'm just asking to have a spoiler mentioned so I won't go into that.