C&C - Hunter x Hunter - "Some × Brother × Trouble" [9/24]

[veemonjosh]

Opening theme: "Departure!" by Masatoshi Ono [VERSION 1]
Ending theme: "Just Awake" by Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas​

THE FINAL 9 EXAMINEES:

Spoiler

Gon Freecss (Erica Mendez)

Examinee #405, Gon is a young energetic boy from Whale Island who has set out into the world for the first time to become a Hunter and find his father. Gon was the first pass the Hunter Exam, due to Hanzo forfeiting their match after several attempts to make Gon do the same.

Kurapika (Erika Harlacher)

Examinee #404, Kurapika is the last living member of the Kurta clan. He intends to become a Hunter in order to gain the resources necessary to track down and eliminate the Phantom Troupe, a gang of mercenaries that killed his family for their scarlet eyes. Kurapika passed the Hunter Exam due to Hisoka forfeiting their match, but not before he whispered something into Kurapika’s ear.

Leorio Paradinight (Matt Mercer)

Examinee #403, Leorio is a hot-headed participant who has joined the Hunter Exam to help pay for his medical studies, so that he may become a doctor and help children in poor nations. Leorio passed the Hunter Exam due to interference from Killua in his match against Bodoro.

Killua Zoldyck (Christina Vee)

Examinee #99. Killua belongs to a family of assassins and joined the Hunter Exam for fun, but soon met Gon, the first friend he ever had. Killua made it to the final phase, but lost as his first match turned out to be against his brother Illumi, who had taken the Exam in a disguise. This shock, as well as fear of his brother, drove Killua mad, causing him to kill Bodoro. As a result, Killua was disqualified and went back home.

Hisoka Morow (Keith Silverstein)

Examinee #44. A dangerous unpredictable character, Hisoka works on unknown motives. He passed the Hunter Exam by intimidating Bodoro to surrender.

Illumi Zoldyck (Chris Hackney)

Examinee #301. Killua’s brother who entered the Hunter Exam under the alias “Gittarackur”. It was this revelation, along with a threat from him to kill Gon and the others, that caused Killua to forfeit their match. Illumi is also an ally of Hisoka.

Hanzo (Ray Chase)

Examinee #294. He's a ninja; He passed the Hunter Exam by intimidating Pokkle into surrendering.

Pokkle (Bobby Thong)

Examinee #53. Specializing in using a bow and arrow, Pokkle's dream is to become a Beast Hunter. He won the Hunter Exam due to Killua’s interference.

Bodoro (Doug Stone)

Examinee #191, now deceased. A kung fu master, he had a soft spot for children and didn't wish to fight Gon or Killua. Ironically, it was Killua who killed him, ending the Exam.

Episode 21: "Some x Brother x Trouble"
Chapters adapted: 37-38
Corresponding 1999 episodes: 30-31​

Last time...

Spoiler

Gon woke up after having been knocked out by Hanzo, awakening to the sight of Satotz at his bedside. He informed Gon that the Exam was over and he had passed. Describing the rest of the Exam, Satotz said that Hanzo, Kurapika, and Hisoka had all likewise passed their matches in the first round. Killua was up against the pin-faced Gittarackur, who, to Killua’s shock, turned out to be his older brother Illumi in disguise. Illumi threatened to kill everyone in the room, as well as Gon, if Killua didn’t fight, but Killua was too scared and chose not to fight regardless. Illumi reassured Killua that he was just kidding (taking it as a test of whether Killua really valued his friends or not), but it took such a toll on Killua that he began to go crazy. Leorio was put up against Bodoro, but Killua interrupted the match and brutally killed Bodoro. This ended the Hunter Exam, automatically passing Leorio and Pokkle while disqualifying Killua, who promptly left to go back home.

Gon, upset not just at how the final phase played out, but especially for what Illumi had caused Killua to do, stormed off to a meeting area where the passing Examinees were gathered, in order to confront Illumi.

This time…
The Hunter Exam arc concludes!

No spoilers.

 

[JShaggy]

Last time: Big brothers are suffering. Just ask Killua. Or Sasuke.

 

[Kitschensyngk]

You actually expect him to straight up apologize?

 

[animePWNS]

Something familiar about that world's continents...

 

[Kitschensyngk]

Plus with the card, you can buy four oil changes and get the fifth one free.

So he's gonna hunt Pokemon.

Anyone else reminded of that "too-to-roo" catch phrase form Steins;Gate?

 

[PhenomsServant4]

Shouldn't you at least wait until your arm heals?

 

[Kitschensyngk]

Wait, it's NOT over? But didn't you say he passed?

Or was that metaphorical, like "life is a test" or something?

 

[Magmaster12]

Good luck Pokkle here's hoping you don't die a terrible death.

 

[PapaGreg]

Good luck Pokkle here's hoping you don't die a terrible death.

Wait have you seen this series before

 

[Radical]

Episode 21 was pretty sweet,

Illumi may be horrible/vile/sadistic, but yet such an awesome interesting sadistic antagonist, he's like the awesome Itachi.

Killua's character arc is gonna get awesome/interesting to the next episodes which Killua is an interesting cool complex character.

Rest In Peace Bodoro, you'll be missed.

Gon's awesome moment mad at Illumi and breaking his arm, Gon has amazing potential of an awesome hero next to Ash, Yugi/Jaden/Yusei/Yuya, Vash, Luffy, Gintoki, Michiko/Hatchin, Eren, Shinichi, Saitama, and Mikazuki.

Gon wanting to go to Kukuroo Mountain to save Killua, pretty awesome.

The whispering Hisoka is a great foreshadowing moment.

Hisoka's creepy obsession of Gon, hehehe, so awesome.

Both Hanzo/Pokkle, awesome new friends to Gon.

Gon wanting to search for Ging was great.

Gon/Satotz's chemistry was great, nice that Satotz is very kindhearted/compassionate and knowing about Ging becoming a Hunter was great.

A sweet ending with Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika off to Kukuroo Mountain to save Killua, I'll enjoy the next awesome arc involving Killua's horrible scumbag family, great major antagonists.

 

[JoeMabbon]

This arc is over, but I feel like there are so many things we haven't even touched on.

Wait, it's NOT over? But didn't you say he passed?

Or was that metaphorical, like "life is a test" or something?

Good question, I have no idea. Maybe the life of a hunter is full of tests and trials?

 

[PapaGreg]

This arc is over, but I feel like there are so many things we haven't even touched on.

Like what

 

[JoeMabbon]

Like what

• What's the deal with Gon's father?
• What are the obligations of a hunter to the organization?
• Why are Hisoka and Illumi working together and what is their connection?
• What did Hisoka say to Kurapika?
• Did Killua suffer a nervous breakdown or something more serious?

 

[StorytellerMJ5]

• What's the deal with Gon's father?
• What are the obligations of a hunter to the organization?
• Why are Hisoka and Illumi working together and what is their connection?
• What did Hisoka say to Kurapika?
• Did Killua suffer a nervous breakdown or something more serious?

Pretty much all of those things will be answered eventually. Some not for a while though. They're not going to give away all the answers away this early. This show is pretty long.

 

[ensatsu-ken]

Not a whole lot to this episode other than being the wrap-up to this arc. So, for all intents and purposes, this is the official end to the Hunter Exams. Yes, I know that Satotz says that the real exams aren't over yet, and that will come back into play, but there aren't any more predetermined "phases" or trials for the passing characters to go through anymore, and they (along with us as the audience), can finally begin to explore the world at large.

Overall, I find it to be an enjoyable but also very flawed arc. You can really tell that Togashi was going all over the place trying to find an identity for this story at this point. That said, where it really succeeds for me is at setting up the core protagonists and their character arcs. In that regard, what we've seen here will be expanded upon throughout the rest of the series. And in that regard, despite its faults, this arc cements its value within the story by essentially giving us a solid starting point for the series to really kick off from.

The next arc is the Zoaldyck Family arc and is rather short at only four episodes, but it's still an important piece of Killua's character arc, so I will have a few interesting things to say about it over the course of the following month.

 

[TheCtes]

This episode is somewhat nice and refreshing after the major disappointment I thought episode 20 was. I really like the Hunter Exam arc overall, but episode 20 almost ruins it all to get to more exciting events an episode sooner.
The fourth phrase remains my favorite of the exam, but I like the third one too. It might feel dragged when they're in the room waiting, but otherwise I thought it was good. The fifth had a lot of potential, but is ruined by spoiling the outcome after one match and then rushing past everything when they could have easily fit it all into the same amount of time and actually have it be exciting too, or simply use one more episode. Leorio getting a freebie is the biggest disappointment. It really feels like Bodoro had to be the one to die just so Leorio could advance without doing anything, because it's very random.

One can't help but wonder how things go if Killua simply defeats Pokkle instead of quitting that match. Though the end up this arc was terribly anticlimactic, it does hyåe future arcs rather nicely.

 

[Light Lucario]

I thought that this episode was pretty good. Gon confronting Illumi like that was pretty impressive, especially when he did manage to break his arm in spite of being injured himself. I know that he's already been shown to be quite strong, but dang. I also liked how both Leorio and Kurapika were trying to defend Kiillua to fight against his dismissal. While the show has focused more on his connection to Gon thus far, it was nice to see that they were trying to help their friend as well. I also really liked that Leorio pointed out that he should be disqualified during the scene, if only because that did show that becoming a Hunter like he did does bother him to a certain degree. I'm still hoping that they'll expand on that further, especially when Leorio getting his license despite not really making pass the last two phases on his own really does bother me, but they'll probably save that for after they help Killua.

At least everyone was happy to get their license and most of head off on good terms with each other. After all of the tension with nearly everyone trying to beat each other, it did feel nice to see some of the applicants being friendly with each other. It was also nice to see that Kurapika and Leorio were determined to go with Gon to help Killua and they were able to find out where his home was pretty easily. Learning a bit more about Gon's father through Satotz was pretty nice, even though I'm sure it's going to be a long time before we'll meet Gon's father properly, and it did seem like Satotz had bonded with Gon a bit.

I actually liked seeing Gon traveling with Kurapika and Leorio since I thought that their group dynamic was pretty solid in the first three episodes. That's not to say that I dislike Killua. He's pretty cool, interesting and his friendship with Gon feels quite genuine, but for some reason, I liked the three character group dynamic more. I'm not entirely sure why when they were only traveling as a three member group for three episodes and Leorio was a jerk in the first one, but I guess I just liked their chemistry and how their personalities bounced off each other. I wasn't sure if Satotz saying that the real exams weren't over was meaning that the arc itself wasn't done yet, but at least that will come into play later.

Overall, it was a pretty good episode and a nice way to end the Hunter Exam arc. The art itself was also pretty good. It does have its fair share of flaws, especially with the third phase and skipping almost all of the fifth, and you can definitely tell that the author is still trying to figure stuff out, but it felt like a pretty solid start of the series. The characters are pretty well established and likable for the most part, most of the phases have some unexpected twist to them to make them more engaging and it sets up some interesting questions for the rest of the series to deal with. There are some decisions I'm still not happy with, like how the third phase dragged on, how much of an idiot Leorio turned out to be for that phase and the last phase turned out more anticlimactic than I thought it would, but I still generally liked it. It definitely feels like the first arc of a long running series with its issues, but it does feel like a good introduction to the characters and their world, so I am curious to see how other arcs will turn out from this point forward.

 

[ensatsu-ken]

This episode is somewhat nice and refreshing after the major disappointment I thought episode 20 was. I really like the Hunter Exam arc overall, but episode 20 almost ruins it all to get to more exciting events an episode sooner.

While I can understand and respect that viewpoint, I personally have to disagree with it. From a story and directing standpoint, I found episode 20 to be the highlight of this arc. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think that sometimes we can get spoiled by what common tropes train us to expect. As an audience we are conditioned to expect a deliberate and drawn out series of one on one fights, but if we were to see all of them over the course of 5+ episodes, what would we really gain from that? This tournament was pretty imbalanced as it was, so most fights would be extremely one-sided and rather predictable to watch, which I think would be really dull to sit through. The two pivotal confrontations here were what were given the main focus. Gon's fight with Hanzo was the first while Illumi's mental subjugation of Killua was the second, which I found to be a brilliantly thematic scene which brought his character arc into the forefront of the story.

That isn't to say that just doing unexpected things for the sake of it is automatically good. There are tons of examples in both this series and many others where trying to shake things up can lead to really mixed or outright negative results. However, the reason for why I don't think that it applies here is because I found what we got to be genuinely interesting without dragging out the pace with unnecessary filler that really adds nothing of value to the story other than seeing lots of repetitive fights with a stronger opponent torturing a weaker opponent like Hanzo did with Gon (again, as we saw, that's how most fights would have gone had people like Hisoka and Killua not so easily given up for their own reasons).

Also, Bodoro being killed by Killua isn't that random. It's heavily implied that Illumi brought out Killua's killing urge/intent as we can see his hypnotic stare at Killua earlier, which is pretty clear symbolism of his control over him.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

What an arc this has been. I went from bored to enthralled and I'm glad I stuck through with it. Now that we've gotten past the preliminary stages, our characters can travel across the world. And may I just say that loved the instrumental at the end of the episode .

 

[TheCtes]

While I can understand and respect that viewpoint, I personally have to disagree with it. From a story and directing standpoint, I found episode 20 to be the highlight of this arc. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think that sometimes we can get spoiled by what common tropes train us to expect. As an audience we are conditioned to expect a deliberate and drawn out series of one on one fights, but if we were to see all of them over the course of 5+ episodes, what would we really gain from that? This tournament was pretty imbalanced as it was, so most fights would be extremely one-sided and rather predictable to watch, which I think would be really dull to sit through. The two pivotal confrontations here were what were given the main focus. Gon's fight with Hanzo was the first while Illumi's mental subjugation of Killua was the second, which I found to be a brilliantly thematic scene which brought his character arc into the forefront of the story.

That isn't to say that just doing unexpected things for the sake of it is automatically good. There are tons of examples in both this series and many others where trying to shake things up can lead to really mixed or outright negative results. However, the reason for why I don't think that it applies here is because I found what we got to be genuinely interesting without dragging out the pace with unnecessary filler that really adds nothing of value to the story other than seeing lots of repetitive fights with a stronger opponent torturing a weaker opponent like Hanzo did with Gon (again, as we saw, that's how most fights would have gone had people like Hisoka and Killua not so easily given up for their own reasons).

Also, Bodoro being killed by Killua isn't that random. It's heavily implied that Illumi brought out Killua's killing urge/intent as we can see his hypnotic stare at Killua earlier, which is pretty clear symbolism of his control over him.

My issue is not that we got through all the flights quickly, my issue is the storytelling. It killed all tension for me that we were told right that Killua failed to pass right after the Gon vs. Hanzo match. It seemed like that there was no care for this arc during this phrase, but being the main character, Gon still got his fight played out and that opportunity was used roto show just what Hanzo was capable of. I would've been fine with going through the fights quickly, but it would have been really great to not have a narrator explaining it with a little bit of focus. If the content can't bewalked over as fast without it being a flashback, then it certainly wouldn't take more than a single episode more to show things properly. If the time in the waiting room in the third phrase or the Gon vs. Hanzo fight was just slightly shorter, I'm sure everything could essily fit into the same amount of episodes. To sum up, I'm not at all disappointed only to fights got focus, I'm disappointed in yhethe way that all the fights except the first one was presented.

As soon as Gittarackur revealed himself, everything was painfully obvious. It was for some reason kept a secret that Bodoro died and thus didn't pass, but that was not at all interesting to begin with. There weren't exactly many options for who Killua could've killed once we knew that. Spoiling that he failed the exam by killing someone is the major issue.

Actually, I did say I was disappointed not getting the Leorio vs. Bodoro fight, but that wasn't because I wanted to see it, but because Leorio then passed the last two phrases without doing anything. Bodoro being killed comes off a reallt cheap way of not letting Leorio prove himself just a little bit. The way they talkedabout it afterwards, it sounded like Leorio could've won that one so it's not like he needed it. To be clear, I didn't mean that the kill was random. It makes perfect sense that the urge to kill was brought up in Killua. The randomness lies in Bodoro being killed.

The episode hypes the following arc greatly, I'll give it that, but it could've easily done that without the horrible storytelling it had. It really trashes the Hunter Exam arc, which is a darn shamebecause it killed the great hype I would've otherwise had for the upcomming arc, which then returned in the most recent episode, but not to the extend it would've been. I love the show a lot, and I guess I was 10 times more annoyed with episode 20 because to me, it spit on what the past many episodes build up, a build up which was a major reason as to why I came to love the show.