Hunter X Hunter - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Hunter X Hunter Here!

[Lantern7]

For anybody who missed the commercial from Toonami, here it is:

[Lantern7]

Interesting that this is a long-running anime. Maybe Toonami will shuffle it like Naruto and One Piece?

 

So far, HxH seems nice, but I feel like I'm ticking off a checklist . . . child protagonist, survivor of a slain clan, dude that vaguely looks like Santa Claus, child protagonist bringing people closer together, etc. As weird as Parasyte was, at least there were interesting ideas involved. And lots of bloodshed.

 

ETA: Like Parasyte, the closing credits for Hunter X Hunter appeared in Anime Lyrics 301. It's hard to forget "IT'S RAPE TIME!!!"

[Terrafamilia]

Apparently Capt. Hitsugaya has a new gig and will be showing up later, on a skateboard or something. And I think I caught sight of Ikkaku in the opening title sequence. :-)

[Sandman87]

I didn't enjoy this first episode at all. Toonami has my permission to drop the show.

 

 

Apparently Capt. Hitsugaya has a new gig and will be showing up later, on a skateboard or something. And I think I caught sight of Ikkaku in the opening title sequence. :-)

Good catch. The white haired kid does look and talk a lot like Captain Grumpypants.

[ZoqFotPik]

I've heard this show starts slow, but gets better. I don't know though, nothing in this episode grabbed me. Plus it's 148 episodes. Even with a great story, with that episode count there's bound to be a lot of filler. I think I'll give it a few more episodes then decide.

[lathspel]

It did have a lot of that "first episode" feeling.

But, I liked the idea of a protagonist who's not grouchy, mopy, or brash. He doesn't have any negative character traits to get over, except being young. As long as Gon can avoid being boring, I'm willing to give this one a try.

Also, no one called that the tall guy looks like Trigun (crossed with Nicholas D. Wolfwood IIRC)? 'Cause that's all I can see.

[Lantern7]

This week: Gon, Blonde Sasuke and Asshole Adult start taking unofficial tests for the Hunter Exam. They deal with subjective questions and a mock attack of fox demons. Apparently, Asshole Adult is a medic, in addition to possessing at least one knife. Gon uses his fishing pole. I'm hoping he levels up to something a little more battle-ready. I'm willing to bet that the weapon will be as cute as him.

[Sandman87]

This episode felt a lot like a Naruto filler episode, so...an improvement over last week. And like Naruto, Gon appears to have the ability to pass important tests by not answering. Come to think of it, Gon and his two fellow examinees are a lot like Squad 7: Cheerful dumb guy, aloof bishonen guy driven by revenge, and hot tempered medic.

[Matt K]

I kind of liked this week's episode.  The first episode I turned off pretty quickly but I ended up watching this week's and it was pretty enjoyable.  It took me a while to realize that the other kid (not Gon) character was a boy not a girl.  The adult guy sort of reminds me of Hughes from Fullmetal (at least in apperence) so I'm somewhat disposed toward liking him as well.

[Dilandau]

Quote

I've heard this show starts slow, but gets better. I don't know though, nothing in this episode grabbed me. Plus it's 148 episodes. Even with a great story, with that episode count there's bound to be a lot of filler. I think I'll give it a few more episodes then decide.

There's actually not a lot of filler in HxH at all. I know it seems that way because it has so many episodes, but the manga is actually longer than the anime, so the 2011 anime sticks to canon material and not filler. The only filler episodes I can think of off the top of my head are the recap episodes and there are only a few of those.

I watched the entire series multiple times and I will say I didn't like the first 3 episodes much. In fact I'm not crazy about the whole first arc (though it has its good moments.) But HxH is one of my all time favorite series. It gets better and better as it progresses.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Dilandau

[Vermicious Knid]

This is leaning more juvenile than I enjoy. And I really want to burn that ugly ass green outfit and the stompy boots.

[Lantern7]

I'm guessing the more adult stuff will come eventually. Violence and bloodshed . . . not expecting acting R-rated contact with those characters.

ETA: More table-setting this week, as we meet the other candidates for the Hunter Exam . . . including the skateboard-riding kid from the opening credits and the dude from the closing whose appearance screams "NEMESIS!" Also, you can sneak laxatives into soda cans. Thankfully, we don't get a repeat of the time Naruto drank spoiled milk.

[placate]

On 4/29/2016 at 2:34 AM, Dilandau said:

I watched the entire series multiple times and I will say I didn't like the first 3 episodes much. In fact I'm not crazy about the whole first arc (though it has its good moments.) But HxH is one of my all time favorite series. It gets better and better as it progresses.

I've seen the 90's version can you recommend when to pick up the 2011 dub?  I'd like to skip the hunter exam part.

[Dilandau]

7 hours ago, placate said:

I've seen the 90's version can you recommend when to pick up the 2011 dub?  I'd like to skip the hunter exam part.

The Zoldyck arc begins episode 22 so I'd say that's a good point to pick it up. Though if you want to get the setup for the Zoldyck arc you might want to start with episode 20. 

[Lantern7]

"Zoldyck"? Is that the final evolution of Psyduck/Golduck? </pokemongeek>

[Sandman87]

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura meet Kabuto, a bad guy pretending to be their friend who's taken the Chunin exam waaaay too many times before, and who rattles off the names of the ominous looking dramatis personae who will be their competition. No wait...that's another show. Same plot though.

[jbrecken]

It's tough that you can't use voice as a reason to suspect that blond guy's big secret is that he's really a girl, since our lead character also has a female voice actor.

[Sandman87]

It never even occurred to me that he might be a girl. I guess I've become used to women voicing children.

I almost forgot to mention: It would be amusing if some of the crowd of people who are following the examiner started doing the Young Shuffle to keep up with him.

[lathspel]

This seems a bit trope heavy, but I'm liking that the team has someone smart enough to not get stumped by anything for too long.  

Still trying to figure out Leorio's actual purpose.  I'm hoping it's an Imperial Arms belt and some cat ears.  

Not liking the website revamp, but at least I can login now.  

[lathspel]

I forgot to mention how happy I am that Ikaku from Bleach is still getting work.  

[Vermicious Knid]

Now off to the Forest of Death, er, the evil swamp.

[Lantern7]

Saw it last night before bed. Kinda hated how the laptop-carrying nerd got wiped out, because that's the guy I probably most resemble.And yeah, I think back to the Chunin Exams from Naruto. Maybe there will be applicant-on-applicant fighting, though I don't think we'd get a duel as cool as Rock Lee vs. Gaara.

How far did they end up running? 100 kilometers? I'm not familiar with the metric system, but I know that's brutal, even if you walk that distance. Without stairs.

[Sandman87]

100 km is a little over 60 miles, about two and a half marathons' worth of running. I've decided I don't want to be a hunter.

I feel sorry for that guy who got stuck behind the door at the end. As far as I'm concerned, he successfully followed the examiner and ought to be able to continue. Now he has to walk all the way back.

[ZoqFotPik]

Quote

I feel sorry for that guy who got stuck behind the door at the end. As far as I'm concerned, he successfully followed the examiner and ought to be able to continue. 

I bet they do something like that every year to show how brutal and unforgiving the test can be.

Edited May 10, 2016 by ZoqFotPik

[lathspel]

These are some pretty amazing 12-year-olds if they can run an ultra marathon and not really be breathing hard.  I think they should've given Gon the dinner, since of course Skate didn't really run the whole way.  

Gon's observation abilities seem like they will be key in the Fire Swamp.  "Rodents of Unusual Size?  I don't believe they exist."

[Sandman87]

4 hours ago, lathspel said:

 "Rodents of Unusual Size?  I don't believe they exist."

Yeah, but what about those Miniature Giant Space Hamsters?

[Lantern7]

This week: background characters are killed by the fauna and flora of Swindlers' Swamp, while the potential secondary and tertiary cast stays alive. Hisoka slaughters a bunch of dudes with a playing card (4 of spades), battles Gon, then carries Leorio to do who-knows-what with him.

While I'm thinking about it . . . are those badges or stickers? I'm hoping stickers, for Leorio's sake. Then again, he does seem like the type of guy to attach a badge to his bare skin. And his being a teenager reminds me of finding out that the Straw Hat crew was mostly teens before Nico Robin joined them.

[Sandman87]

It's really not that painful to pin a badge to your skin. You just have to make sure the pin is sterile, and that it's just under the surface layer of skin. Hardly any pain at all if you do it right.

I get the impression that Hisoka is going to turn out to be one of those Only Sometimes An Enemy, But Not Really characters.

I was wondering why the raven/crow kept popping up in the background. Turned out he was scoping out his next meal. Incidentally, real life ravens really have been known to deliberately use vocal imitation to set up situations where other animals get killed, thereby gaining a free meal.

15 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Hisoka slaughters a bunch of dudes with a playing card (4 of spades), battles Gon, then carries Leorio to do who-knows-what with him.

I had assumed that he was just going to carry him to the destination point until you put that image in my mind. That's taking "hunter x hunter" rather literally.

On a related note: Anyone else notice that in the closing credits there's a shot where Hisoka appears to have bright light shining out of the front of his pants? He looks very pleased with himself too.

Edited May 15, 2016 by Sandman87

[lathspel]

I think it can't be a sticker - Leorio's pretty sweaty at this point.  

Yes, Hisoka in the closing credits seems like he's part of the anti-Cover revolutionary squad from Kill la Kill.  A lot of strategically placed lens flare....

I really can't stand the intro to this show, but I like the current (chopped up) end credits.  And I'm still liking where the show is going in general.  

Edited May 18, 2016 by lathspel

[Lantern7]

This week: The applicants fight and cook comically oversized boars, only to fail en masse at the hands of a demanding gourmet hunter. This is also the first time I've seen a woman in this arc, aside from the monster test Gon and friends took. Anyway, a bigwig determines that she's being too harsh, and everybody gets a second chance by retrieving spider eagle eggs from Split Mountain. The kicker . . . they have to get those from a crevice with updrafts, which doesn't happen all the time. Cue the would-be hunters plummeting to their deaths. Between those suckers and those that didn't take part (including Todo the wrestler, who also got knocked the hell out by the pudgy judge), 42 candidates remain. Bad news: no new episode next week, as we get a Samurai Champloo marathon for Memorial Day weekend.

[Sandman87]

"Gourmet hunters"? Isn't there some other anime show where the characters hunt down dangerous beasties in order to eat them? And come to think of it, isn't there a reality show in the US with a similar premise?

Judging by their reactions, I guess that none of the examinees knew that pigs eat meat. Heck, even I know that.

[Lantern7]

32 minutes ago, Sandman87 said:

"Gourmet hunters"? Isn't there some other anime show where the characters hunt down dangerous beasties in order to eat them? And come to think of it, isn't there a reality show in the US with a similar premise?

Judging by their reactions, I guess that none of the examinees knew that pigs eat meat. Heck, even I know that.

Indeed. If the anime is as nuts as the manga, I think Toonami should give space to Toriko.

[Vermicious Knid]

I had to look up the spelling of the blond boy's name, because that's just...unfortunate to English speaking ears. But, I didn't know this was from the same manga-ka who created Yu Yu Hakusho, which I liked enough to read the entire manga.So I have hope it will improve. He's been working on it on and off for 18 years and not finished the story yet, although they created one for the anime.

[lathspel]

It's nice to see that Head Captain Yamamoto is still getting work.

I liked this ep overall, although it didn't ring true that all three of Gon's friends jumped in the canyon after him.  It didn't make sense for their character types, to me.  At least Leorio would've complained about it first.  

[Terrafamilia]

So the white-haired kid is an assassin kid! From a long line of assassins. Who wants to become a hunter so he can legally hunt down and kill his family, and collect the bounties on top of it. It's like if Ash made friends with Ritchie and it turned out Ritchie fed his pokemon on the entrails of his enemies.

[Sandman87]

I got the impression that it was less about "kill my family", and more about "get so strong that my family can't control me." Although I guess killing his family would tend to take care of that second one.

Kids, if an old man invites you to his playroom for a bit of ball-grabbing, call the police!

Looks like Kurapika and Liorio aren't going to fall for any of the Rookie Crusher's (or whatever his name is) tricks.

On Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 8:53 PM, lathspel said:

It's nice to see that Head Captain Yamamoto is still getting work. 

The show is starting to look like a Bleach reunion. I guess that's ok, just so long as the three plush pests from the Bount arc don't show up.

[lathspel]

That looked like a demon hand.  Perhaps he wants power over his family so he can get a curse lifted?

I enjoyed the sight gag of the hunter with no mouth eating dinner.  They never quite showed how he did it.

[Sandman87]

I missed that completely, but you're right. Maybe he just sticks the food up his nose. That would be sufficiently bizarre for anime. Or, along a similar line, maybe he "eats" by inhaling the odors from food. Kind of like a gourmet breathairian.

[Lantern7]

Interesting episode. Nice to see White Hair get some backstory. He's kinda like Sasuke crossed with Gaara, with a little Naruto sprinkled in.

[lathspel]

I still think having Tonpa go first was the right call - get your weakest link out of the way first.  

I bet he is kicking himself that he didn't get tortured - he left some "messing with the rookies" on the table there.

I think that whenever our squad talks to each other first, they are going to do ok. 

[Sandman87]

Even money says that The Rookie Crusher ends up getting hoist by his own petard eventually. He's got a big karmic debt to pay off by now.

This would also be a perfect time for them to be confronted by a logic puzzle, like the classic about the fox, the hen, the sack of corn, and the rowboat. In this case the problem that needs to be overcome would be "Tonpa will screw us over if we leave him by himself for even a moment", or something like it.

I'm always going to wonder what would have happened if they had gone left instead of right at the first intersection.

[Terrafamilia]

5 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

I'm always going to wonder what would have happened if they had gone left instead of right at the first intersection.

I wouldn't put it past them that it would have been a false choice. No matter which way they chose they'd end up where they did.

[Sandman87]

Sure, why not? It would be pointless, but so was the first choice; "Do you want to proceed?"

 

More thoughts:

I wonder if Tonpa has ever considered what would happen if any of the rookies that he's sabotaged should ever come back in a later year and pass the exam. He'd have to worry about a Hunter being pissed off at him.

Last week's episode was yet another Naruto shout out: Grab the Ball = Grab the Bell.

Have we been told yet what the exact benefits of being a Hunter are? Seems kind of vaguely defined.

[Lantern7]

This week: With Tonpa fucking up their chances, it up to the actual heroes to even the odds. First, Gon engages in a battle of wits with an arsonist.Unfortunately for the arsonist, Gon's simple-mindedness doesn't mean he's a moron. "My candle is burning faster? Okay . . . I'll just blow yours out, because there's nothing in the rules against it!" Then a musclehead tries to intimidate Kurapika. The guy has the mark of the guys who killed Kurapika's family. That is as intelligent a move as a guy with an ice gun deciding to challenge Batman under the name "Joe Chill." Prediction: Leorio will mess up against the lady prisoner, and Killua utterly destroys the final opponent. Then we find out why the Heroes' scoreboard is stuck on "1" after Kurapika's win.

Wait . . . so the bad guys get a year off their sentences for every hour that passes? That isn't a good incentive. If they run out the clock, that's a little over 14 years per prisoner . . . and these are guys (and girl) who are serving the equivalent of multiple life sentences.

 

On 6/16/2016 at 9:22 AM, Sandman87 said:

Have we been told yet what the exact benefits of being a Hunter are? Seems kind of vaguely defined.

From what I gathered, there are a lot of privileges to being a Hunter. I think some get a license to kill, which Kurapika wants. And if Leorio is correct, there's money, cars and high-shelf booze.

[ZoqFotPik]

On 6/16/2016 at 6:22 AM, Sandman87 said:

I wonder if Tonpa has ever considered what would happen if any of the rookies that he's sabotaged should ever come back in a later year and pass the exam. He'd have to worry about a Hunter being pissed off at him.

Based on laptop kid, he doesn't just sabotage them, he tries to break them mentally so they never try again. Since he's only after the thrill, my guess is he doesn't think about it much. He's a junkie needing a fix.

16 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Wait . . . so the bad guys get a year off their sentences for every hour that passes? That isn't a good incentive. If they run out the clock, that's a little over 14 years per prisoner . . . and these are guys (and girl) who are serving the equivalent of multiple life sentences.

Honestly what else are the prisoners going to do? This is a society that thinks nothing of putting 12 year old kids into life and death situations. I can't imagine how they treat prisoners. Also, since the warden seems to be a Hunter, it's possible that the prison is regularly used in the exam, giving prisoners multiple chances to reduce their sentences.

Edited June 19, 2016 by ZoqFotPik

[Matt K]

I thought they were looking at 68 years off their sentence, since if they win they get all off their remaining hours off as well.  Since their test started with about 68 hours left in their exam.

[Lantern7]

I was averaging out the time subtracted from the prisoners' sentences.

How much money do you think it would take for somebody to get as far as Tonpa? Dude must be loaded. I mean, you gotta factor in travel costs, lodging on the way to the tests, missed income from not working . . . and the laxative-laced sodas. Those can't be cheap to make.

[Sandman87]

Q: What's Tonpa's favorite soda? A: Orange Crush!

Since they're...paying homage...to Naruto in so many other ways, maybe Tonpa is doing what Kabuto was doing; being bankrolled by someone like Orochimaru so he can gather intel on the examinees who survive.

[Lantern7]

This week: the sociology of the majority! Also, Leorio almost violates the Hippocratic Oath (if that exists here), and Hisoka is still in god mode because it's still early in the anime. Of course he'll take out an ex-examiner with four blades and reach the bottom of Trick Tower. He probably also killed four other guys to do it.

If you want more passengers on the HxH train, spread the word: there's going to be a marathon next week.