C&C - Hunter x Hunter - "Salvation × And × Future" [6/15]

[JoeMabbon]

Yeah, don't try to sneak in and get any lines, Colt.

Don't be sad y'all. We'll just have to wait for the continuation to come out sometime between 2019 and... does anyone know when the world ends?

2012.

 

[Light Lucario]

And then of course he resigns right after winning so none of this matters. Was the whole idea of this entire storyline that Pariston was a troll and just liked messing with Cheadle's head? Did we need 12 episodes for that to play out?

That was one of the impressions I got from Pariston. He seemed pretty much pretty slimy and underhanded with his methods. He always tried to look like he had the best interest at heart when he was really being selfish and focused on what he wanted. In other words, he's a politician. He was sad over Netero's death because he enjoyed toying with him as well. They still implied that he was responsible for Hunters going missing and I think he had some Chimera Ants too, so he was pretty shady from the start. I could see why they wouldn't want him in charge when everything he did and said always felt so manipulative and false.

I'm slightly less confused by the Zoldyck story, and at least I knew and cared about a few of the characters involved, but it was just as much of a mess in terms of logic and motivations. About the only person's motives I truly get are Killua (he genuinely loves and wants to protect his sister - or brother or whatever he/she is supposed to be, another pointless bit of confusion to add to everything else that served no purpose), and Hisoka (who barely does anything, but I get that he just wants to cultivate a situation where he ends up having the most fun fights for himself).

At one point, Killua actually says "now I understand how everyone in the family feels about Alluka", and they show that manga-style relationship chart of the Zoldycks, but even with that helpful chart (and yes I freeze-framed and read the whole thing), I can't figure out what any of them really want with her, or why they do what they do. Are the butlers really on Killua's side, or just pretending to be? Why does Illumi go to all the trouble to catch them, then just lets them leave when he has them cornered? By the end it seems clear that he wants to use Killua to control Alluka's power, but I can't for the life of me figure out how anything he did in this arc served that goal.

I'm not even going to deduct points for the even-more-confusing ruleset around Alluka's power, or why Killua is exempt, or how laughably convenient Alluka's introduction into the show is in the first place (Togashi writes himself into a corner with his main character - oh look main character's best friend has a magic sister with Thanos-level powers who we never heard of till right now - guess Killua didn't think the entire world was important enough to break her out when they were dealing with the ants, but to save one person, sure). I mean it's basically a magic show where weird magic stuff is always happening, so whatever. And I've seen enough of this and YYH to know how much Togashi loves his weird power-rulesets. But I at least need to understand why the people who are trying to stop/help Killua are doing what they do.

I don't think that Alluka's gender is that confusing. She identifies as a woman, while everyone besides Killua still refer to her with male pronouns. I'm not sure if it was necessary to make Killua's family transphobic, but I don't think it makes the situation any more confusing. I also figured that they wanted to use her powers for their own benefits. If they can use Nanka to follow any order without potentially killing themselves in the process, then that would make the Zoldyck family even more powerful and a bigger threat to the world.

Alluka's powers and the rules for them, on the other hand, are a bit more difficult to understand. At first, it seemed like there were some good limitations in place to prevent Alluka from being completely broken, but that kind of went out the window when Killua made an order instead of a wish without having any consequences. I really like Killua's relationship with Alluka and not sealing Nanaka was a bit of a twist too, but I also think that seemingly having little consequences for Alluka's powers poses a potential problem for the rest of the series. It gives them an easy instant fix it button for any serious injuries. Even though Alluka wasn't mentioned or hinted at prior to this arc, I didn't mind her being introduced as a way to save Gon's life. They obviously wouldn't kill Gon off, but I was okay with this solution in part because I thought it would be a one time deal. I thought that healing Gon would use up all of Alluka's powers so that she wouldn't be a target and the cast wouldn't have an easy instant fix it button to rely on in the future. Granted, based on the manga spoilers posted here, perhaps this isn't as big of an issue as I think it is, but that was something that came to mind during the course of this episode.

And then we have an episode like this particular one - which features a 9-minute monologue by a Koala I don't remember, talking about something that apparently happened 75 episodes ago I can't remember, and how all of this is supposed to somehow explain how and why Kite was resurrected in the body of some girl I can't remember. What the...?? I don't even care enough to figure this one out. Not the best way to spend half of your penultimate episode.

I think Ging mentioned something about how Kite's powers could have allowed him to survive or allowed for his soul to be reincarnated in a Chimera Ant. It wasn't entirely clear and Ging might expand more on that during the next episode, but I have more mixed feelings on that than spending half of the episode focusing on another Chimera Ant who wasn't even given a prominent role in that arc.

It seems to me the whole point of this last arc, other than writing Gon out of the corner Togashi put him in, was to finish the show (as we have no idea when there will be enough story material to continue) with a situation where Gon could finally meet Ging, which is certainly an appropriate stopping point. But I really feel like we could have done this in 3-4 episodes without nearly as much confusion. And all this isn't to say I wouldn't want to pick this up again if Togashi gets off his lazy butt and gets back on a regular release schedule. I have more than enough interest in Kurapika, Hisoka, Chrollo and the Phantom troupe to see what they might be up to. But no more weird politics please. And also I think I'm all Zoldyck'd-out. I don't know if I can keep caring about those characters at this point.

I'm not sure if Hunter x Hunter has ever really had a regular release schedule given how often it has been on hiatus. I don't think that the frequent breaks are simply the result of laziness either. That could be a factor, but it seems more to do with his health combined with the absolute brutal work environment manga authors tend to have. I certainly don't blame fans for being upset with how often he goes on a break. Hunter x Hunter has a relatively small amount of chapters, at least for a long running series, despite going on for so long, but at the same time, I'm sure it isn't easy for Togashi to work if he does have frequent back problems or other health problems. I'll save my thoughts on the Election arc as a whole after the finale, but I definitely have some mixed feelings on it as well.

Anyway, I thought that this episode was pretty good. I think that the scene between Kite and the other Chimera Ant would have been better if they had been able to do something like that during the wrap up of the arc, or at least not in this episode. It felt a bit out of place when the focus throughout the arc had been on the election and saving Gon. It was seemed like setup for a potential future arc involving Kite and the other Chimera Ants. It isn't bad setup, but it is weakened knowing that this is the second to last episode and who knows when we'll have payoff for this setup in either the manga or a potential anime continuation.

I also have strong mixed feelings on Gon being able to talk to Kite again. On one hand, it was nice to see them reunite, they both recognized their limitations as a result of what happened in the Chimera Ant arc and it did help Gon after feeling so heartbroken over what happened. But on the other hand, that's exactly the problem. Gon doesn't really have to deal with losing Kite or what happened. Kite did die, but having him come back as a Chimera Ant kind of negates the immense grief Gon had over his death and he doesn't have to deal with that loss. It just seems kind of an easy cop out solution. Instead of Gon having to grieve and accept Kite's death, he's able to talk to him and heal. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad if Kite had a bigger role/presence in this arc or if we would potentially see Kite with a bigger role in the not too distant future, but it looks like she's going to live in this house for awhile. This might have also worked if it didn't happen so soon after Gon lashed out at Pitou for killing Kite.

I did like that Kite's friends were living at the house. That was cute touch. I'm still upset that Colt didn't get to say anything and especially that he still doesn't know that his sister is back with their mother. I still expect that will be dealt with in a future arc, but who knows when that is going to happen. Colt trying to raise the last Chimera Ant that the Queen gave birth to isn't way to send off his character, but I was expecting a lot more after how much focus he got during the previous arc.

I was also pretty annoyed that Gon met up with Killua and Alluka off-screen and especially that Leorio didn't send them off before they went to find Ging. After how heartbroken Leorio was over Gon nearly dying and how desperate he was to find some way to save him, I would have thought that he'd at least send them off, if not come along for the ride if he didn't have to get back to his studies. He managed to say goodbye to them before Greed Island, so I don't know why that wouldn't happen here, especially when he would be even more concerned for his friends' safety after they both could have died during the Chimera Ant arc. It was upsetting not only because of this being the second to last episode, but it also feels like Leorio might not get much of a sendoff despite how much screentime he got during this arc. I also would have thought that Gon and Killua reuniting after he first recovered would have been emotional for both of them. Although, Killua guilt tripping Gon for making him feel depressed during the Chimera Ant arc was pretty funny and kind of made up for missing that reunion.

Gon and Killua deciding to split up seemed a bit odd to me. Gon instantly got along with Alluka and they'd be a cute traveling trio together, but maybe Killua didn't want to risk having Gon be in danger simply because Alluka is with them. Plus, having the two main leads go their separate ways does feel pretty fitting for near the end of the series. I'm not sure if it made as much sense in the manga though. I liked the special ending theme for their separation. Gon and Killua have been together for the whole series and rarely have been apart from each other. They work so well together that it's hard for me to imagine how Hunter x Hunter can work without them traveling together. I think that they're both interesting characters individually too, but their friendship has been such a major aspect of both their characters and the series itself. It's a pretty big shakeup for the series. Overall, it was a pretty good episode.

 

[Lawren22]

I've seen it ponted out by people before that on the episode where Gon brought Killua to Whale Island he asked Killua if he would travel with him until he found his dad and Killua found what he wanted to do. Both have happened now(Gon found his dad and Killua decided he wants to look after Alluka) and that probably is the main reason for thier separation they both finshed the goals of their journey together. Thought I will say I find this another way that Alluka is an easy cop out for Togashi.

 

[Light Lucario]

I've seen it ponted out by people before that on the episode where Gon brought Killua to Whale Island he asked Killua if he would travel with him until he found his dad and Killua found what he wanted to do. Both have happened now(Gon found his dad and Killua decided he wants to look after Alluka) and that probably is the main reason for thier separation they both finshed the goals of their journey together. Thought I will say I find this another way that Alluka is an easy cop out for Togashi.

Oh yeah. I remember that scene. I thought that Killua deciding to be a Hunter was the answer to finding out what he wanted to do instead of protecting Alluka though. I think that they would need a better reason than that to split up, especially when Alluka wasn't even hinted at before this arc. Considering that Gon nearly died and Killua was completely set on saving him, one would think that they wouldn't want to be separated from each other again, or at least not this soon. Killua could still travel around the world with Alluka and Gon.

Having Gon and Killua going their separate ways might help with giving the anime a good stopping point, along with Gon talking to Ging more, but I think that there needed to be a bit more setup for their departures instead of just having it suddenly happen.