Hunter x Hunter 36 – Hisoka Is a Moe Fan

Good, sweet Christ, that camera angle. Hisoka is such a fucking pedophile.

I’ve finally become used to Daisuke Namikawa’s performance as Hisoka. At first it didn’t seem like the right fit because Namikawa’s is so cool, deep and smooth. It’s a good villain voice, but the traits that make Hisoka a good villain are a bit different than the normal villainous traits. Doesn’t help that the man who voiced Hisoka in the ’99 series, Hiroki Takahashi, made such a distinct mark on the demented clown. (Fun fact: Takahashi also voices Harima in School Rumble, which is such a different voice that it’s almost creepy.)

Hunter x Hunter 35 – Hisoka’s Hypnotic Crotch

If you didn’t think I would lead off with this image, then you definitely have not been reading this blog long enough.

The points where the Hunter x Hunter remake has outdone the original have been few and far between, even though the remake is a solid show in its own right. This week’s episode, however, is a clear case of the remake utterly destroying the original. It’s not even close, actually. In wrestling terms, think of it as Hulk Hogan (the remake) against the Brooklyn Brawler (the original). That’s the gulf between the two depictions of the battle between Hisoka and Gon.

Hunter x Hunter 34 – Gon Is a Troll

SUCH a troll.

Our new Nen-powered acquaintances are dispatched rather easily after Gon and Killua power up via training montage. You wouldn’t think Gon and Killua would level grind so hard during this training, especially since one of the non-metal tracks plays during the montage. You can’t have a proper training montage without crazy music to pump up the audience! Did we learn nothing from the 1980s?

Hunter x Hunter 33 – Killua Is Batcrap Crazy

Oh, Killua, you crazy motherfucker.

I’ll be honest: I totally forgot about this stuff and the stuff to come in the next episode, even though it involves Gon in a rematch with ol’ Pogo Stick Peg Leg. Those dorks are just that dumb and forgettable; mere stepping stones on the way to Gon and Killua getting their Nen on. But, hey, for all I know the fight in the next will be awesome. No use in me being a Negative Nancy.

Hunter x Hunter 32 – A Thread of Deception

With Hisoka as the main focus of this episode, it’s no surprise that deception is the dominant theme.

Episodes that spell out how one opponent defeats another can be tedious and come off as filler if used incorrectly; however, the way Hisoka’s strategy is laid out, and how that theme of deception ties into the ending, makes this episode more absorbing than most. Kastro loses to Hisoka not necessarily because he is physically weaker than Hisoka, but definitely because he is mentally weaker. Hisoka lays his traps soon after his arm is severed. The real turning point, though, is when Kastro realizes Hisoka is using Nen in this battle rather than magic but cannot figure out the trick behind Hisoka’s strategy.

Hunter x Hunter 31 – All that Glitters Is Not Blood

Hisoka’s arm is a rocket powered by Twilight on its way to the moon. Such romance. Such heart. Such glitter.

Ah, so damn silly. It slipped my mind how the original dealt with this, so I went back and watched that part. (It’s in the beginning of ep41 if you’re curious, but don’t stray much further than that, because most of that episode deals with stuff that hasn’t happened yet.) The original takes the Psycho route of close-ups and quick cuts to make the scene seem much more violent than it actually is. It’s actually startling how quickly the scene concludes. The camera doesn’t linger on Hisoka’s arm at all; no, it’s simply lopped off, and then the match continues toward the conclusion you all will see in the next episode. There’s nary a drop of blood, too, which surprised me. What’s interesting about those types of scenes is that time seems to make them more violent and bloody in one’s mind.

Hunter x Hunter 30 – Gon Is Jesus

OK, not really, but the conspicuous lighting on Gon combined with the RahXephon-ish music make Gon seem a bit Christlike, yeah? Just remember this post if Gon is ever killed and then resurrected.

So Gon’s battle with Gido doesn’t go so well from a “winning the fight” standpoint, but the episode makes it clear that winning the fight isn’t actually Gon’s goal. Obviously he doesn’t want to lose; however, the more important thing is getting his feet wet. And maybe getting a bit of a thrill from the experience. Gon isn’t a dumb kid despite his relatively wild upbringing. He also assesses his own abilities honestly and clearly. Gon wouldn’t fool himself beforehand into thinking he could beat Gido. He knows full well that someone who has mastered Nen to a certain degree has a clear advantage over him.

Hunter x Hunter 29 – Dreidels of Doom

This almost looks like some crazy rocket booster power. Unfortunately, Gon’s spine is being beaten down by a Nen-powered top.

I wrote about this before at some point during my coverage of Hunter x Hunter, but training is pretty much a no-win situation in shonen anime. You want your characters to get stronger, but at the same time, watching training is mostly boring. That’s precisely why in, say, the Namek arc of Dragon Ball Z you get brief flashes of Goku training in increasingly absurd levels of gravity while Gohan, Krillin and Vegeta do the heavy story lifting throughout that arc. That way is probably the best way — you get just enough of Goku training so that you know he’s getting stronger, but it doesn’t bog down the narrative with repetitive bullshit. (Insert your own “lol DBZ is all repetitive bullshit lol” joke here.)

Hunter x Hunter 28 – Silence Is Golden

I feel like I’ve brought this complaint up in various places, but I can’t remember if I’ve bitched about it here . . . but oh well! It colored my view of this episode — and Hisoka’s scene in particular — so deal with it.

Anyway, my qualm is with the background music. I like Hisoka’s theme; it’s a cool, snappy song, it’s of a flavor you don’t often get in anime, and it even works for him in a weird sort of way. The song works just fine when Hisoka is introduced during the Hunter Exam. Here, though? Doesn’t work at all, and here’s why: The scene is supposed to be carried by Hisoka’s menace. He is the roadblock keeping Gon and Killua from advancing. Their fear of Hisoka’s power and the ease with which he could kill them using it is the entire point of the scene.

But how menacing can Hisoka be when you’ve got a catchy Spanish tune in the background distracting the viewer?

Hunter x Hunter 27 – OSU!

I gotta say . . . Gon, Killua and Zushi are kinda super adorable in this episode. How could anyone not love Gon and Killua immediately taking on Zushi’s silly martial arts mannerisms? They’re not even doing it ironically; well, Gon definitely isn’t, anyway. The jury’s out on Killua. At the very least, though, Gon thinks it’s awesome.

Anyway, Nen. I’ll write a bit more on that subject when it’s more appropriate, since the series has just introduced the concept and will lay out all the rules and intricacies as the show goes on. I will say, though, that while Nen has the surface appearance of every bullshit shonen anime power-up you see, it does differentiate itself in key ways such as the actual rules guiding its use, the number of people who can use it and the different types of powers available. In many ways, it is a traditional shonen power-up, but done in a way that makes sense and adds to the story rather than providing an easy way out for the writer.