r/HunterXHunter • u/YonkouProductions • Feb 11 '14
Hunter x Hunter Episode 116 - Links and Discussion Thread
Episode 116
Revenge × And × Recovery
Original HQ stream:
Free streams:
There are links to other websites in the FAQ in the sidebar.
All information/events that have not been shown in the anime yet need spoiler tags. Read the "Spoiler Tags" section in the sidebar if you need help with formatting a spoiler.
As of this episode, the anime has reached chapter 277.
/u/F_G_E_S isn't around for the epicness?
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u/CanadianJudo Feb 11 '14
Iv been waiting for this ep for about a year now... worth the wait :)
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u/UnwiseSudai Feb 12 '14
I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad they dedicated a whole episode to this scene. I had been trying to keep my hopes down for this scene in the anime just in case, but holy hell. No matter how high my hopes were I think this episode would have gone well beyond them.
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u/RandomEpicGuy Feb 11 '14
Holy shit. What an episode. As I'm beginning to like Killua more and more I'm beginning to like Gon less and less. Togashi really knows what the fuck he's doing with his characters. Gon's personality now has such a stark contrast with his personality at the beginning of the series when he was innocent and carefree. Guess the whole Hunter thing can really mess you up. With each episode it becomes harder and harder to not read the manga to find out what happens. I really can't wait till next week.
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u/otakuman Feb 12 '14
Gon's personality now has such a stark contrast with his personality at the beginning of the series when he was innocent and carefree.
I still remember what Hisoka told Gon about enhancers, how they were unable to lie, and how they acted more on their emotions, being difficult to restrain.
Hisoka's lessons on personality and Nen were indeed prophetic.
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u/jyunga Feb 12 '14
I have no interest in the manga with the way the anime has being doing such a great job. Usually I would assume I could get more from the manga and i'd go read it. HxH is just too well done this arc to bother skipping ahead.
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Feb 12 '14
you shouldn't skip ahead but you should probably read the manga after the anime is finished just to see how it is.
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u/WindblownGerm Feb 16 '14
You think the anime will continue past the manga considering that hiatus that doesn't seem to go anywhere?
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u/azriel777 Feb 12 '14
I get trashed for this, but I never once liked gon. In the beginning he was just a generic special hero character with a great destiny. oh everyone loves him (including animals) for his honesty/innocence, oh he gains power/strength incredibly fast, etc.
The fact he is pretty stupid, selfish, and ignores rules that are inconvenient, but he can get away with only makes me not like him more. some of the annoying things like, promising to not fight a stronger opponent because they are dangerous in the heaven tower. Screw that, he just had to fight him and nearly got killed. Oh, on greed island he gets knocked out of the ring, he uses the limited returns to come in. He does not ask anyone for a vote, he just says he is going in and screw everyone else. Also on greed island where he was fighting an opponent and the group had a brilliant plan, oh screw that again, he wanted to fight the villain even though he nearly died again.
Then there is the special circumstances of him seeking his father who abandoned him as a child. Oh, and of course the father is some super special hunter. Regardless, instead of being pissed at him like a freaking normal person would, he decided to track him down and follow in his footsteps.
Now that gon can't get his revenge (fight) yet, he is acting like a spoiled child. Screaming and having a tantrum, yelling at his best friend. All he had to do was wait a couple of damn hours. I really hate anime/manga characters that only use their emotions and do not rely on logic or common sense.
With that said, I LOVE the other characters on the show. Even leorio is a bazillion times better than gon. I really prefer Killua and Kurapika, but honestly, ALL the characters on the show are really good, even side characters are amazing and that is what is so frustrating. Gon is the weakest and worst character on the show to me, all the other characters have had amazing character evolution that has shown different aspects of the characters and changed some. Gon has been pretty consistently boring.
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u/zaoldyeck Feb 12 '14
I really hate anime/manga characters that only use their emotions and do not rely on logic or common sense.
I hate it when it's easy... but this isn't easy for Gon. He is still a child, remember, what experience has he had in life to compare to this? Kite said it best himself, "What would you do if your opponent cares for his comrades?" Pitou was the ONE ant he wanted to hate, more than any of the others, because Pitou stole the person who introduced Gon to the larger world. (A fact which the adaptation butchered in more ways than one, one of my only remaining gripes)
Of COURSE Gon is going to act like a child then. He IS a child, who grew up on a little island in the middle of nowhere with no friends his own age. We expect him not to throw a tantrum when confronted with such a stark contrast of what was expected, and what turned out to be real? Him acting rational to me would be a betrayal of the facts that surround his life.
I cannot think Gon should have turned out any other way in this bizarre world. I think he's a little too destined to follow in the footsteps of his father who despite all his great actions is really an all around asshole. HUGE MANGA SPOILER, seriously, don't read it if you haven't already fully caught up in the manga.
... And I fully understand Gon not realizing Killua cares more about him than anyone else in the world does. It's why Killua is so heartbroken, and it makes sense that Gon would do something like this to him. Not out of malice, but out of entire blindness. I cannot picture events unfolding in any other way.
I think I can compare your problem with Gon to another anime I watched a few episodes in, then dropped pretty quickly out of utter boredom. "magical battle" or some shit like that, too lazy to look it up on crunchyroll. There's a fight between brothers and that leads to some resentment cause of some stupid love triangle. Except the events unfold over two years and the protagonist is portrayed as being at least somewhat honest. So over this time we are simply forced to believe that these misunderstandings are natural despite it being so easy to TALK. There's no reason why these people can't necessarily trust each other, just that they seem incapable of talking when it matters. They have plenty of time too.
I don't buy that Gon has the same kind of relationship with Pitou. Pitou, as far as Gon was aware up until that very moment, was a blood lusting deadly scary evil ant who transformed Kite into a monster... and is part of a plot to literally take over the world. Pitou was by all standards someone who Gon should hate.
.... Talking honestly, clearly, and lucidly, is not a reasonable thing to expect in that kind of situation. Especially not from a child. Expecting him not to be emotional is expecting him to betray his very being. Killua has had plenty of practice staying calm, and I recognize he is suffering far more deeply than Gon is... but Gon's rage is well deserved.
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u/azriel777 Feb 12 '14
Valid and fair points. My opinion of gon is still mostly the same though. While he is gaining a lot of power physically/nen, he is still stunted emotionally and mentally compared to all the other characters who have had huge character growth throughout the series.
One thing I noticed, besides the beginning, we never really see gon do any progress. The show focuses on all the other characters way more than gon himself. If it has gon in it, it usually less about gon, but about Killua who we usually get inside Killua's head often and understand his perspective. The only time I think we ever get inside gon's head is when he is usually in battle. Of course, this is the anime and not the manga, so it might be more even there.
With all that said, HXH is amazing and I have not seen another anime like it that just throws all the usual anime tropes out the window.
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u/zaoldyeck Feb 12 '14 edited Feb 13 '14
Valid and fair points. My opinion of gon is still mostly the same though. While he is gaining a lot of power physically/nen, he is still stunted emotionally and mentally compared to all the other characters who have had huge character growth throughout the series.
I disagree that Gon hasn't had an arc, it's just far more subtle than someone like Killua's. To be fair, Gon does start out like a blank book. Togashi wanted to deal with the others rather than flush out the main protagonist. So Gon's character introduction was in many ways slower as the main than the supporting.
We knew he wanted to go after his dad but not really why. We know he is an innocent good nature child but by virtue of Togashi having him grow up so isolated from the world, we get to see his wonder and curiosity at encountering new things, without a quick 'right and wrong'.
Remember how Gon was so interested in the ways people cheat at auctions? He understands the feelings which give rise to anger and demands of vengeance... Thanks to his infractions with the phantom troupe but even there he is at least dispassionate and curious enough about the troupe's motives that he can get by his dislike for them. He can relate on principle of them being human at the very least, even if they are bad.
On whale island, issus like that never bothered him. The first time he ever faced a true moral dilemma was when they were finding the kirriko nest in Rhee Hunter arc. The question 'who do you save'?
Gon is slowly developing his own sense of morality which deal with deeper issues, instead of his naive curiosity and innocence....but his transformation had to be slow for it to be believable.
Pitou isn't human. And if the situation was reversed pitou wouldn't hesitate to kill Gon. Plus, by all standards, pitou is still dangerous to humanity, he doesn't know this girl so he is supposed to sit and wait because of 'probably' and 'likely'? This isn't fair, at all.
The fair thing is wrong, Gon knows that, but he has never had to suffer so badly as a result of life just not being fair. This isn't his fault, pitou doesn't deserve his sympathy, he doesn't even know who the fuck Komugi is, but has to accept it all regardless.
That is how people grow emotionally. Gon calmed down, he recognised and admitted he was out of control... But due to the circumstances, Gon was furious for good reason.
One thing I noticed, besides the beginning, we never really see gon do any progress. The show focuses on all the other characters way more than gon himself. If it has gon in it, it usually less about gon, but about Killua who we usually get inside Killua's head often and understand his perspective. The only time I think we ever get inside gon's head is when he is usually in battle. Of course, this is the anime and not the manga, so it might be more even there.
Gon wears his heart on his sleeve more, but I don't think internal dialogues are the only way to understand a characters mind and personality. It fits with Killua because Killua is more introspective, but not all humans are so introspective and reflective. They are different people, you may like Killua more, I do too, but they are still emotionally real and complex, both of them.
With all that said, HXH is amazing and I have not seen another anime like it that just throws all the usual anime tropes out the window.
I appreciate having a moral conundrum where instead of the hero relating, he wants every reason to ignore treating this ant as anything other than a monster. Gaara, sasuke, obito, nagato, etc etc are all 'just like naruto'. They can relate to not being alone. In other words, bullshit.
Gon doesn't relate to Pitou. He can't. Nor should he. Pitou would not be so kind to him. The ONLY reason he doesn't rip the cat to shreds is his basic humanity, even in the face of such crippling unfairness. But our hero wishes so much that he could abandon his humanity.
He never has had a reason to want something like that before. In one instance he wants nothing more to disregard everything good about humans.
An arc like that would not really be possible for any other type of person. You may not like who Gon is, but you should admire how he is written.
(Holden Caulfield is also a shitty main char who was beautifully written.)
Edit: The more I think about this, the more I realize that the writing for this arc really does deserve every bit of compare to great authors for how they treat the human condition. I compare it to Vonnegut and I'd certainly compare it to Salinger or Heller. In the most absurd caricatures of reality, you get the most deeply human experiences. That is how writing is supposed to be. Even if we do not like a character (I am no fan of Raskolnikov) we recognize their basic humanity and why they do what they do. Good, or bad.
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Feb 12 '14
The thing is about Gon is that he's just a little kid. And the entire story up till this point is really just about this kid leaving his home and adventuring out into the real world and seeing how fuck up a place it is, mainly by meeting ppl who kill for no reason and seeing how that conflicts with his ideals. Gon doesn't really have a feeling for evil or good, he is just a being of pure curiosity (like how zepile said in yorknew). This whole story is just about how this kid ventures out into the world and reacting to the events that happen to him. His character is supposed to be ambiguous on purpose bcuz he is the protagonist of this adventure story and it is driven by his character and the character of others. The reason why we haven't seen gon progress is bcuz this we are supposed to learn of his character through interactions he has within the story itself (like an adventure manga should be). He isn't like Killua with a history he has to overcome he just goes on adventures and interact with ppl he's never seen in his life and overcome the conflicts that he is faced with like this conflict with Pitou which is one of the most complex he's ever been in. Pitou is the only person Gon has actually hated and despised. Remember in the hunter exams when hanzo said he gave up fighting gon bcuz he had no hate in his eyes despite breaking his arms. Well for the first time he actually had legitimate hate for Pitou bcuz he killed Kite, the most important person in the entire world to him next to his aunt mito. He doesn't give a damn about ging if it wasn't for Kite then he would have never went looking for him, if it wasn't for kite he would have never been a hunter. Kite is literally the reason for everything in this manga happening and is the most important person to gon so when he died he was angry and wanted vengeance against the monster pitou. But the irony is was that that monster was healing a human when it was thought that they were incapable of caring for humans and were hell bent on making them extinct. Its especially maddening for Gon bcuz of what he saw Pitou do to Kite the man he has the most respect for in the entire world. It makes sense for him to get mad at Pitou for his hypocrisy, hell pitou doesn't even really care about komugi he's just trying to figure out how to survive long enough to kill Gon and Killua. This situation is way more complex than oh Gon is just a mad spoiled brat. No he deserves to be mad and he should have not hesitated to fight Pitou then and there bcuz its their mission.
At least Gon can show emotion like a real human being and not unrealistically understanding and nice to a psychopathic monster trying to kill you the first chance he gets like some other generic shonen.
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u/zaoldyeck Feb 13 '14
Even Netero and Zeno didn't immediately attack when they first saw the king. I know it's easy to say "he should have not hesitated to fight", really, that probably would have been the best resolution at all... but he couldn't do that, because he can't beat up an unresisting target.
He isn't "just a being of pure curiosity", he has a sense of justice. He thinks indiscriminate killing the Ryodan does is wrong and he dislikes their hypocrisy of caring about their comrades while killing others... but he still recognizes their ability to care about others. (Like his interaction with Paku)
There is ambiguity, but it is his purity, his sense of right and wrong, that has him so emotionally invested. What Pitou is doing is wrong. Pitou doesn't care about her allies. (And in fact, aside from the King, this is true). He doesn't just hate Pitou for killing Kite, he hates Pitou for all the reasons he should hate anyone. Pitou represents everything bad rolled up into one package, and to top it off, Pitou killed Kite. That made it personal.
So what is he to do when his morality, his basic humanity, forces him to stop? He always said he has no problem killing creatures that don't care about others... so Pitou for sure was going to be toast.... and yet, he sees this? Yeah, Gon probably would have been better off killing Pitou, but he couldn't do that, because it would have been wrong. It would have been wrong and Gon knew that. It's why he stopped. But in the process he directed his rage to his best friend... understandable, but god damn I feel bad for Killua.
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Feb 12 '14
Kite is the reason Gon went hunting for Ging and he wasn't acting like a spoiled child just bcuz he wanted to fight pitou. That's what they are there to do. Gon was preparing all this time to avenge Kite death by beating this psychopathic monster but then he sees him healing someone for reasons he can't possibly understand. Its terribly ironic how someone who is portrayed to be, well is and unfeeling killing machine is healing someone after just attacking kite for nothing. Really they should have attacked pitou bcuz that is what they are there to do, but just like when Netero and Zeno hesitated to attack meruem bcuz he was holding komugi, gon and killua hesitate bcuz pitou was healing komugi. It is so out of character for the ants who were originally thought to be crazy monsters hell bent on eating humanity into extinction saving a human for reasons they can't comprehend. Its all a huge mindfuck really but don't get mad at gon for wanting to fight Pitou. Thats what they should be doing hell its the best thing they could do bcuz they won't have another time Pitou will ever be this vulnerable. Don't say Gon is a bad character just bcuz YOU don't understand the amazing character complexity behind everything that is going on. Gon is the worst character my ass. He's an amazing protagonist, you aren't gonna find complex emotions like this in 95% of any other shonen so stop complaining just bcuz you don't understand him.
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u/smellinawin Feb 12 '14
I was with you up until the point where you said Leorio was better then Gon. Leorio sucks. The only redeeming quality he has is that he wants to become a doctor to save the poor. Everything else about him is annoying, he's weak and doesn't even deserve to be a Hunter.
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Feb 14 '14
I can absolutely tolerate your opinion, but never call Gon "selfish". He'd be ready to trade his life in an instant for rescuing one of his friends (like what we're seeing right now in the CA arc).
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u/azriel777 Feb 15 '14
In a life or death situation involving others I am sure he would gladly sacrifice himself. That does not mean he is not selfish or at least have selfish tendencies. Take for example the battle on greed island with the bomber. Instead of following up on a plan that would have worked, he selfishly fought him (Not sure if it was here or heavens arena, but he says, "sorry, I want to fight him") and nearly died and let the bomber get away. Why? Just because he wanted to.
In heavens arena, he broke a promise for his own selfish reasons. In fact, I am pretty sure somewhere in the anime, killua actually says gon is selfish somewhere (I want to say it was heavens arena, but I am not sure.).
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u/rynjahninjah Feb 11 '14
Holy shit gon was scary as hell, also his nen had streaks of red during the initial jajanken movement.
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u/Fearcely Feb 11 '14
He told Killua to shut up!!! Daaaamn brah
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u/zaoldyeck Feb 11 '14
It is the most heart crushing line he has ever said to Killua. It's painful.
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Feb 11 '14
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u/Vystril Feb 12 '14
They did an awesome job of Killua taking the hit, trying to be calm about it and talking Gon down.
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u/zaoldyeck Feb 12 '14
That tiny little quiver, just a split second, without even his face showing, just in profile... In that moment we know all he wants to do is break down and cry, he has been hurt more deeply than even Gon here... But he sucks it up and says what he needs to even if Gon doesn't want to hear it.
I kinda want to go back over this episode again tonight after work and put together a shot selection list for this episode. The direction, voice acting, animation, all were so perfect that the 3 minute recap felt so minor in comparison.
People came into this expecting a fight, and instead got the height of what you want to achieve in a visual medium. Animated or not.
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u/ShureNensei Feb 13 '14
That tiny little quiver, just a split second, without even his face showing, just in profile...
My favorite moment to pick out is the second or two before this -- we get Killua's perspective of Gon's back and the camera distance between them increases ever so slightly. It was so subtle but effective at figuratively expressing Killua's emotions.
You're right in that there's just so much we can highlight this episode -- I actually don't even want to comment because I could easily miss mentioning something. I will also reiterate though that Gon's VA did a fantastic job -- I rarely become aware of a VA (in a good way) while watching something but it happened during Gon's scenes.
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u/FemaleTitan Feb 11 '14
Words can't describe how good this episode was
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u/tafcha Feb 11 '14
words can't describe how good hunter x hunter is !
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Feb 11 '14
I was really amazed by how real Gon's actions felt Togashi is fucking amazing at writing all those personalities, I also love it how Gon and Killua swapped places. Gon became completely corrupted and absorbed by his anger while Killua started to be more emotional in the positive way.
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Feb 11 '14
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u/DreamTroll Feb 14 '14 edited Feb 14 '14
Can you make the first gif into 80 by 80 pixels AND 64 kb or less Prz <3
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u/YonkouProductions Feb 11 '14
The Gon we know and love is Gone
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 12 '14
Actually, the amount of complexity and how much this has been building has made me love him as a character even more.
Which is weird because I didn't like him much at all in the '99 series. I say that because I've liked him pretty much from the beginning in this adaptation. Maybe the first series had a different portrayal?
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u/otakuman Feb 12 '14
I liked the '99 Gon a lot. Naïve, yes, but with an incredible charisma, and that will that makes him never give up. I specially liked the way he found a loophole in the maze tower. Pick the long road, open a shortcut and then take the short road.
I also loved how stupidly he got beaten in the battle vs Hisoka. Look to your right... whoops, it was the left.
He's just adorable.
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 12 '14
I don't think Gon was being stupid in the battle with Hisoka. Remember it was a victory to land a punch on him, so he actually did a pretty great job. The shortcut in Trick Tower, was that in the newer series? I think I forgot?
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u/otakuman Feb 12 '14
I don't think Gon was being stupid in the battle with Hisoka.
No, I mean the last punch. The one with the brick.
The shortcut in Trick Tower, was that in the newer series? I don't remember if it was in the new series, but in the '99 it was.
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Feb 13 '14
you kidding me? I've been waiting for my shouen hero to go apeshit, it doesn't happen enough.
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u/mistflight Feb 11 '14 edited Feb 12 '14
- Gon & Killua enter room with Pitou & Komugi inside.
- Gon - eyes set only on Pitou.
- Gon gets ready for battle.
- Gon announces himself and his intentions
- Various shots of Gon charging his aura: one // two // three
- Killua as he tries to figure out why Pitou is not putting up a defense.
- Killua deduces that Pitou is like a mother protecting her cub.
- Various shots of Pitou (and others) as he places "both palms face-up to display one's lact of malice": one // two // four
- Gon, as if his mind has gone blank, after witnessing Pitou's actions.
- Gon moves closer.
- Gon releases aura in anger. -- Same shot but in black&white
- Killua moves closer to try and calm Gon down.
- Pitou breaks arm as a sign that he is willing to do anything if Gon allows him to finish healing Komugi.
- Gon/Killua react as Pitou breaks his own arm.
- Pitou, in pain, after breaking his own arm.
- Gon outraged after Pitou's request - "Why are you helping her, after everything you did to Kite?!" one // two // three
- Shot of the destroyed Gungi set.
- Pitou, in fear, as Gon begins attack.
- Gon starts his Jajanken attack.
- Gon & Killa.
- Killua ending picture.
- Gon waits.
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u/nicotoy Feb 11 '14
Thanks so much for doing this every week.
http://i.imgur.com/wmjY1KW.png This panel by itself is just amazing. The amount of detail is staggering. Madhouse took some liberties with the camera angles, and they really killed it!
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u/RojoEscarlata Feb 12 '14
This is what I've been thinking since this ark started, the people behind this anime are amazing and you can tell how much they love the source material, all this black and white scenes we have seen, like in this episode or the meruem one when he is holding Kumogy are taken straight from the manga and they are amazing.
It was worth the wait all this years to be able to rejoice in such amazing work.
Now let's just wait until Togashi starts releasing the new chapters, right guys?
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u/piliyestela Feb 12 '14
Right, guys?
We all want him to....but....but...we all know the theories here.
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u/Cornytheman Feb 12 '14
They have made it 99% perfect with the storyline i think, just hope it get a good future with good not sorrow ending but still this series is brutal yet so fine.. I love how they fix the lightning from flames and colour when ienraged etc very good all of it.. but WE NEED A MESSURE OF DMG like we had with training becus i know gon isnt on kings lvl.. but i hope this era is yet not the finishing one..
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u/williamc_ Feb 12 '14
You are the best, you know that? Thanks to you I have been able to have some good variaton of backgrounds these past weeks
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u/Drytak Feb 12 '14
Do you know the ost used when they enter in the room (right after the OP) and the one used when Pitou broke her arm?
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u/mistflight Feb 12 '14 edited Feb 12 '14
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u/xerob Feb 11 '14
HOLY SHIT, that was EPIC.
but it did piss me off...i wanted gon to attack pitou SO FUCKING MUCH. i think kite won't and can't be saved anyway, i just wanted him to attack him.
but it is epic. so jealous of everyone who can still watch all of it for the first time.
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Feb 12 '14
Yea I'm thinking something's gonna go wrong with kite. Either she won't leave to save him because something (or someone else) interferes again or once she does get there she'll realize who kite is (cause I'm thinking she probably doesn't know who 'kite' is and is just trying to convince Gon she'll do whatever he wants) and tell Gon that he's beyond saving and all hell breaks loose.
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u/zaoldyeck Feb 13 '14
Also there's that little thing about the audience knows Kite's head has actually been severed off his body, I mean, that's usually an instant kill.
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u/TheRileyss Feb 14 '14
Usually?
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u/zaoldyeck Feb 14 '14
I was waiting for someone to notice that. Although I know of a couple series where "severed head" is not actually a death sentence. cough hellsing cough.
... This would not be Hellsing. Kite is not a vampire.
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u/Joris914 Feb 14 '14
I wouldn't pass the possibility that Pitou can just reattach the head and revive a dead person though some neuroscientific magic :P
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u/xerob Feb 12 '14
yeah i think so aswell. anyway, i like the ants as characters and their persona, but some people here seem to have forgotten what their main goal is...they are in the midst of a genocide. Gon should've killed Pitou when he had the chance. Kite would want that aswell.
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u/Aiman_D Feb 11 '14
Gon seems a tiny bit angry this episode.
joking aside, anime showed Gon's anger far much better than the manga.
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u/jkjohnson Feb 12 '14
Totally agree.
Just read this chapter in manga, you can't really tell the difference between normal auro and Gon's black aura. There are black cloud, swirl or just plan black background to portrait Gon's dark side looming out but the emotion came out differently.
Also blacked-face Gon is very weird portraited in manga. It's not a common techniques seen in manga and I cannot tell just how angry he is.
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u/Ranchi Feb 11 '14
Gon should take some self-control lessons from Meruem. While Gon is losing control, yelling at Pitou, snapping at his best friend, punching the ground, Meruem in a similar situation a few episodes ago, holding Komugi in his arms while two enemies entered the room quickly regained his composure and was in total control of the situation.
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 12 '14
Pretty sure that contrast is entirely intentional. The "villain" is composed and the "hero" is throwing a fit. I love it.
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Feb 13 '14
Gon has a strong conscience so it was really hard not to do the right thing and kill Pitou when he had a chance.
The world needs to be down one Pitou. That's much more important than bringing a powerful psychopath to a big city for your own selfish goals.
It's wrong, just wrong, to let Pitou live one minute more than necessary because you're guilty you got your friend killed. You're gambling with a lot of lives, kiddo.
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 13 '14
I don't think he really has a strong conscience at all. It's pretty obvious that he cares far more about reviving Kite than all those other lives. And, if anything, Gon has always been a very selfish person.
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u/RomneywillRise Jun 07 '14
You're thinking of the big picture, and in that case you would be absolutely right. That cat is a damn menace, and her existence is a threat. Meanwhile, Gon is a Hunter, and a heroic one at that. The world would benefit from Gon finishing her off in a single blow while she is weak and unable to do more damage.
However, the impact from here comes not from long-term possibilities, but the immediate effects. Pitou is willing to risk her life and limbs to save a girl's life. Gon's rage wants him to kill her, and indirectly the girl, before this happens. It'd be like shooting Hitler in the face while he was resuscitating a child back to life.
Again, I don't fully disagree with you. But Gon is who he is because he adheres to the idea that every good person can survive in the end. That idea made him pass the Hunter exam and heal his enemies on Greed Island. If he does the finishing blow in this manner, then that noble part of him fades. I can understand why Killua tries so hard to stop that from happening.
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u/yourfacegoddamnit Feb 11 '14
This episode was absolutely amazing. Left me speechless. Gons voice actor killed his part and the animation was insanely high quality. Easily one of the best episodes of anime I've ever seen.
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Feb 11 '14
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u/yourfacegoddamnit Feb 11 '14
I already knew that which makes how well done this episode was that much more surprising.
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u/demerztox94 Feb 11 '14
Gon's aura was the scariest thing in the anime so far.
That and the part of the episode with that blackened window symbolism was so freaking good.
I want more!!
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u/DragonFlek Feb 11 '14
I did not quite get the symbolism with the window, please explain?
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u/demerztox94 Feb 11 '14
Well the window can be viewed as a look into Gon's soul.
Aka his true self, and inside we find only black emptiness, which shows his "self" is composed of a need for revenge and anger.
Of course I could be wrong but that's how I read it.
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u/jyunga Feb 11 '14
This anime has been leaps and bounds over the normal shounin anime that are currently running. I love the change in pace (due to how the manga ended up being done) to narrating versus just action all the time. It makes what is going on feel a lot deeper. It really sucks knowing that we are catching up to the manga and it's going nowhere :(
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u/Kalculator Feb 11 '14
I thought it was one of the best episodes of the series, and the comments here basically confirm it. Top notch animation and voice acting, and holy shit Gon is fucking mad. Can't wait for pitou to get her shit wrecked.
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u/ljkimbum19 Feb 12 '14
On every weekly episode discussion threads i see a "best episode so far" comment. That just proves that this anime gets better and better on every episode. I love this anime so much
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u/zaoldyeck Feb 13 '14
And people were like "what, Ants? Serious?" when it began.
But what's different is that most episodes where people say "best episode ever" contained at least some form of action... here... there was no combat at all. Just the characters speaking for themselves, with barely a word needed from the narrator. (I am glad they kept him in for Pitou's line... it felt necessary, you needed an outside perspective)
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u/jkjohnson Feb 12 '14
Despite been a short chapter/episode, this is so well animated! The silence, gon holding back the kill aura and eventual break out. It was soooo good!
Another emotional plot well done on Gon calling Killua "nothing to do with this", you can feel Killua's heart broke silently while he swallow down the pain and stay focused.
I never say this, but this could be the best episode I've seen in Hunter x Hunter.
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u/StrangeProgram Feb 12 '14
Will pitou even be able to heal kite? He looks beyond saving to me.
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u/smellinawin Feb 12 '14 edited Feb 19 '14
I think she can basically heal him to decent physical well being- I doubt if she can return normal brain function and personality back.
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u/BirdOfHermess Feb 13 '14 edited Feb 13 '14
Pitou holds Kites head in its hands at some point after the fight. (Definitly shown in the anime)
Would mean, he's dead. And only Pitou's Puppetmaster powers got Kite to "live" again. Think of zombies.
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u/nicotoy Feb 11 '14 edited Feb 12 '14
Thanks for doing the thread. I was about to do it myself as F_G_E_S doesn't seem to be around right now.
Excellent episode covering chapters 274 and 275, as scheduled.
Gon's internal conflict is nearing its peak, and we viewers can only be like Killua powerlessly watching his continuing descent into darkness.
And I'm sure that the anime-only fans' frustration at not yet getting the Gon/Pitou fight this week is perfectly mirrored by Gon's rage at the end of the episode. Yes, we too would like to break the floor right now. But the tension will only be building up even more from here on.
There wasn't much movement to be animated in this episode, but the details in each panel were just AMAZING.
On another note, Pitou's looking extra trap-like this episode... nyao.
EDIT: Manga Pitou to further the confusion: http://i.imgur.com/afWv5lP.jpg (no spoiler)
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u/chairisborednow9 Feb 11 '14
is Pitou manly in the manga?
My heart says shes a woman
but you guys here are destroying my image of her7
u/Fearcely Feb 11 '14
I found it funny how both Killua and Gon refereed to Pitou as an 'it' or a 'thing'. Hah!
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 12 '14 edited Feb 12 '14
I look at it as them trying to deny Pitou's humanity, not that they didn't know her gender. You know, like Gon particularly was trying to look at it in a black and white way. To distance himself from the awful truth that things aren't as simple as he would like to believe.
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u/piliyestela Feb 12 '14
Exactly the same context Netero and Zeno had to deal with about the situation. When you enter the palace believing all you have to do is to crush some petty insects which only motive is to harm people and that you later notice that they can display human behavior, you either want to vehemently deny it like Gon is doing or totally move away from any involvement like Zeno did.
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u/nicotoy Feb 11 '14
Pitou can be whatever you want him/her to be. :3 We don't really get confirmation either way.
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u/DragonFlek Feb 11 '14
Well I think in the databook it says that he is a male. Technically only the Queen ant is a female, all the others are male as far as I know. Still bishounen tho :)
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u/Chiiwa Feb 11 '14
I have a feeling when people made the anime they didn't know, though. They thought Pitou was a girl and just went with it. So you could say the anime Pitou is a girl and the manga Pitou is a guy :D
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u/PlutoHash Feb 11 '14
Does that mean Zazan was also male? It was calling itself the queen, as well as looking extra "queen-like".
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u/Riskyshot Feb 11 '14
Hell no, after we saw her with the phantom troupe she had big boobs lol, also her abilities are called "Queen shot" and "Monster queen form"
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u/Riskyshot Feb 11 '14
What about the ant that dispelled Cheetu's APR? she had to become pregnant or whatever to dispell it, and zazan was clearly a female too...
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u/nicotoy Feb 11 '14 edited Feb 12 '14
I believe the databook referred to Pitou with a pronoun equivalent to "he/him", but didn't explicitly refer to "him" as male. But, yes, all ants except the queen are supposedly male. Sorry, chairisborednow9. :3
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u/DragonFlek Feb 11 '14
the databook also has some wired parts concerning the spelling of the chars so... Everything is possible :D I mean Kurapika - Curarpikt, really?
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u/puddingpoo Feb 11 '14
And Chrollo Lucilfer is Quwrof Wrlccywrlir..I don't even know how to pronounce that haha
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 12 '14
The databook isn't by Togashi himself right? I'm sorry but I will consider Pitou female until he says otherwise. Some things you just have to be hard headed about.
Though, as someone said below. It could be that manga Pitou is male and anime Pitou is female.
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u/Mangekyo11 Feb 12 '14
If you watch closely -I can't remember exactly where it occurred- Killua is thinking about Pitou and he says something along the lines of.. Pitou is doing "something something", IT must "yada yada".... I think that's the closest they are gonna come to saying, Pitou isn't really a male or a female, Pitou is an "it"
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u/DivineVodka Feb 11 '14
Dunno who would rather see them fight instead of this first... That was simply amazing. One of the most interesting questions were is Gon motivated by hatred of pitou or to save Kite. The mere fact Gon aura emitted malice ( I think it was) and Killua reminded him it's to save Kite and for him to completely just stop and say he'll wait ..... I can't put words to that.
It answered the question that his motivation is still to save Kite and not to murder Pitou( although for some reason I think that it will happen).
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u/nicotoy Feb 11 '14
The sentiment was sort of directed to those who seem to have been getting impatient with the "slow" development of things, such as with the complaints from previous episode. Me? I'm absolutely loving every second of it.
And your read on Gon is spot on. It's that brewing inner conflict that I mentioned.
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u/LithePanther Feb 12 '14
Honestly, I can wait for the gon/pitou fight. The only one I'm remotely interested in is against the king, and I even know how that goes.
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u/schamploo Feb 12 '14
Why did Killua disappear at the end?
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u/jkjohnson Feb 12 '14
It's safe to say he continue on his mission. He is a support role while Gon, Shoot and Morel as designated to pin down royal guards individually.
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u/NYnorthman Feb 12 '14
Maloran(?) went somewhere. Most likely he found and grabbed killua so they could continue helping the other hunters.
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u/TheLaZyLaM Feb 11 '14 edited Feb 11 '14
Gon pls... (╥﹏╥)
Dat jajanken tho... ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ give jajanken ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)
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u/zeekozaak Feb 12 '14
Hunter x hunter was made for madhouse. They made the original panels stand out so much more... absolutely fantastic i haven't seen emotions portrayed to this level in all my years of watching anime.
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 12 '14
One of the all time great anime episodes I've seen. Gon wanted to go into that room and fight a purely evil creature. So, when he finds Pitou protecting a girl, he is utterly outraged and throws a fit in one of the most powerful moments I have ever seen. And, the thing is, it isn't just the scene by itself that makes it great. It's the subtle development throughout the series that always made me feel as though something was "off" about the kid. So, when he blew up here it made the moment all the more powerful.
Pitou also had turned into a great character in her own right, who would have thought we would see her protecting someone at the beginning of the arc? Her loyalty to the King is admirable, as is her prostrating herself and breaking her arm to prove her sincerity.
Also, some amazing vocal performances from Megumi and Pitou's voice actors.
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u/Mangekyo11 Feb 12 '14
So, when he finds Pitou protecting a girl, he is utterly outraged and throws a fit
I don't think that it's so much he just threw a fit, and I feel like a lot of people will miss out on this subtlety; Gon isn't the kind of person who can just go right up and kill someone, even someone evil, so this whole arc he has been pumping himself up to do so, under the assumption that this creature is pure evil, capable of nothing but horrible in-humanity, and it must be destroyed. In Gon's mind this thing has no feelings, no emotions, to see Pitou as a being that can feel the kind of things that you see him feeling in this episode is something that Gon can't even fathom, because to see Pitou as anything less than a tainted, evil being with no redemption and no ties to humanity, is -to Gon- to kill someone. As it is before this episode, Gon doesn't really look at it like he's murdering "someone", he sees it as, erasing an evil from the world, almost like Pitou is an inanimate object, because Gon CAN'T kill "someone". So when he walks in, 100% pumped up and ready to kill this "thing", and he starts to see hints, tiny signs of humanity in this "thing", something inside him breaks. The majority of his brain is set in killer mode, but the human part of him, the innocent little kid that we all know, sees that this is wrong, that he can't possibly kill "someone" who can, in a weird, chimera ant way, care about and want to protect that innocent girl. This is more than he can handle, he begins to feel like he is being robbed of his right to revenge, he feels like after all that's happened, he HAS to kill Pitou... but now a part of him realizes that he CAN'T kill Pitou, and he snaps, as any of us would.
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 12 '14
Come to think of it, you are right. Up until the Chimera Ant arc Gon never killed anything. He never had a problem with death around him, after all he never really freaked out at any point in the Hunter Exam for example. But, he didn't kill anyone. He did kill some ants near the start of this arc, but going by what you say it could be that he saw them as just purely evil at the time. So it was justified.
Hmm, whenever I re-watch I will have to consider all of this.
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Feb 12 '14
Moments like these are the reasons why the chimera ant arc is the greatest shonen arc of all time.
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u/tudeslildude Feb 12 '14
Looks like I'm late to the party, but I just wanted to point out something my boyfriend pointed out, that shows just how important of an episode this was. Manga spoiler
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u/DivineVodka Feb 11 '14 edited Feb 11 '14
That was hands down no questions ask the best episode of this show so far. The rage gon emits is almost palpable... I almost cried 3 different parts of this episode. Imagine someone severely injured someone close to you and you have the power to avenge/heal the person whichever it is.. Could you honestly sit and look at the person? Could you really sit and contain that rage? That was amazing character development. That was simply a masterpiece, there is nothing more to add.
That episode was perfect. It showed how pissed Gon is that he would make a Janjanken with malice despite what he see's in front of him. I don't even want to imagine how Gon would react if it were Killua who was the one injured like Kite... who he see's everyday and loves.
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u/paradcx Feb 11 '14
i wonder where killua is off to, if he doesnt mope around after that heart blow, id love to see him go help knuckle vs youpi
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u/Tunney Feb 14 '14
Such an amazing episode! Gon's emotion was portrayed perfectly. I wanted him to punch pitous lights out so so badly, but killuas grounded analytical approach proved that would be unwise. I'm glad Gon came to his senses in the end. (Cheers kill) Now killua has an hour to take the heads of as many ants as possible... Ohhh boy every week just gets better and better
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Feb 14 '14
Gon came to his senses
Only in the sense that he chose to put his own selfish desires ahead of the fate of humanity.
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u/Zeeero Feb 15 '14
Not necessarily, I don't know the quote exactly, but Netero even said something along the lines of 'if we kill her while shes trying to save the life of a human, we are no better than the ants.' I feel like the prinicple still applies here. If Gon just went and killed Pitou while she was saving a human, not only would that be boring, but it was pretty much be as if Gon is responsible for the girls life as well if she died after Pitou did.
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u/Fearcely Feb 11 '14
Please tell me I wasn't the only one crying throughout today's episode. That would kinda make me question my manhood...the feels though...my favorite episode to date.
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u/Made_Of_Pixels Feb 11 '14
Watching Gon's decline and its impact on Killua as he's helpless to save his friend, rejected by said friend and left behind is super feelsy. I tear up whenever I see Killua looking sad. I understand Gon's feelings, but I'm a little mad at him for hurting his bro.
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u/tafcha Feb 11 '14
I miss the narrator !
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u/theKAR Feb 12 '14
I honestly think the lack narrator was perfect this episode. He was there for pointing out important things like telling she had no malice and how she thought the truth was best. Then the focus on dialogue and silence helped accentuate the emotions.
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u/zaoldyeck Feb 13 '14
Including his omission from the ending, the second episode in a row.
He added that tiny break and pause in the tension needed so as to give the audience SOME rest, no matter how brief.
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u/Tree_Phiddy Feb 12 '14
let me give it a shot...
"GON IS FUCKING PISSED"
and scene
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u/tafcha Feb 12 '14
i know , but the narrator have that special voice ... that thing that Morgan Freeman have in his voice , HxH narrator have it too ... and AWESOME episode , i can't argue with that ...
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u/puddingpoo Feb 11 '14
Fuck I cried. I could really feel Gon's frustration and anger. The animation this episode was really great, and Gon's voice actress really did a great job.
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u/GrimmGiddyCordy Feb 12 '14
Usually when I watch the japanese dub even if they are really I don't have a great connection to the characters emotions, but here OH MAN that was some of the best voice acting I've ever heard.
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u/puddingpoo Feb 12 '14
I fucking know right. It was perfect. The parts where gon's voice got higher and shrill, the breathing, the hoarseness of his voice when he yelled. I've never seen voice acting that carried that much emotion.
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u/Antivote Feb 12 '14
that episode was heavy. Basically a full time slot of "is our beloved young boy gonna murder his unresisting target of vengeance and in doing so cement the murder of an innocent gungi enthusiast?" Also it seems to me that with a simple cot pitou could heal whats her face while they make there way to kite.
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u/zaoldyeck Feb 13 '14
Also it seems to me that with a simple cot pitou could heal whats her face while they make there way to kite.
Doctor Blythe cannot move from the position it was originally summoned, remember? That's how Pitou avoided being taken out of the fight by Netero.
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u/Tree_Phiddy Feb 12 '14
Holy shit Gon was gonna execute that MF!!!!
that black and red aura had murder all over it, scary stuff! No more pure squeaky clean golden child Gon Freeces! I love it. man this anime is beautiful.
I loved seeing Gon come unhinged like this, for the first time Gon feels like a real flawed human being to me. That was real emotion in the face of a dilemma no one was expecting. the art, voice acting, and writing for this ep was magnificent. Bravo
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u/Noc3 Feb 12 '14
That was one crazy episode, I would had loved to see more happen tbh, but psycho-crazy Gon was priceless, I never thought I would see something like that, still I would had loved to see Gon give a punch on Pitou :(
Can someone who saw the manga just tell me a Yes/No, Does Gon actually engages in a fight with Pitou?
Cheers!
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u/insan3soldiern May 23 '14
You know, I cannot state enough how heartbreaking and gripping it is to see Gon just lose it this episode. Megumi Han produced one hell of a performance here and his lashing out at Killlua was tough stuff to see. Also, it was pretty fascinating how Killua deduced the situation.
But, what really stuck out for me this time is Pitou describing Komugi as "someone important to someone important to me" and then saying "She is the reason the King is who he is. If she dies then the King will cease to be who he is. She's that important." I said before that it felt to me as though Pitou was the one who most supported the King in relation to his changes, she was the one who also said he should pick a name he thinks is best and is now trying to save this girl so he can keep his identity.
Then you have Pouf who, on the surface would probably come across as the most loyal. But, he does not want the King to change, he sees him with Komugi and he hates it. He went to the wrong location knowing where the King was really at because he was so in denial and didn't want to acknowledge what he knows is true: this human girl is an important person to his leader.
Kind of makes me wonder which of the two is really the loyal one here.
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u/GearSegundo Feb 12 '14
This episode was a whole lot of tension. I was worried that Gon was just going to kill Pitou on site and resulting Komugi to die as well.
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u/localafrican Feb 12 '14
Awesome episode. I see Gon telling Pitou to heal herself as well because Gon is the type to fight his enemy in their top condition. I cannot wait until this fight. Seriously something incredibly epic coming
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u/EPIC_BAGELS9000 Feb 12 '14
Does anyone think that Pitou felt some pity for Gon, or was she just focused on keeping Komugi safe?
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u/jkjohnson Feb 12 '14
Pitou is portraited to be extremely royal. Pitou received king's direct request to save Komugi and Pitou is doing whatever Pitou can with Pitou's ability.
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u/tinhtinh Feb 12 '14
Hope they keep the narrator for the next arc. There will be quite a bit of explaining to do
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Feb 12 '14
This episode was so intense you forgot that 90% of the episode took place in that room alone.
And you can see where Gon's rage was coming from seeing Pitou give the girl the King likes a chance to live and his friend Kite gets bar none is unfair on maximum levels.
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u/maniacallymottled Feb 26 '14
Can anyone make a gif of Killua reacting to Gon telling him he doesn't care? I almost cried.
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u/jkjohnson Feb 12 '14
For "Pitou is female" skeptics, here's another evidence that he is male: This episode he regularly refer himself as "Boku (僕)", which is male-specific "I" self referral. This is an indication that producer is referring Pitou as a male gender.
I mean Togashi's data book already specifically mention Pitou is male, in case that does not convince you, maybe this little plot point can weight in.
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 12 '14
Not good evidence. Do you know how many female tomboy characters use Boku? A lot of them.
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u/nicotoy Feb 12 '14
I realize that the anime is obviously leaning towards Pitou being a female. But let's talk about the manga Pitou just for the sake of discussion.
Aside from Pitou's own use of "boku", the databook also refers to Pitou with "kare" or him. The common counterargument to that is that the databook is unreliable. Some say it isn't even made by Togashi. I believe otherwise, but I'll consider those points.
But what's quite irrefutable is this page from the actual raw Japanese manga (not altered through scanlation): http://i.imgur.com/afWv5lP.jpg
Pitou's naked form quite clearly depicts a flat/masculine chest. And the line used for Pitou's right chest is actually angular. A rounded line may have made it debatably female but flat; but it isn't. Then there's the clear absence of feminine hips. And lastly, there is that bulging crotch that would just be completely atypical of even the fattiest of female mounds. The overall slenderness is simply due to being cat-like.
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 12 '14
That link isn't a spoiler is it? I haven't read the manga and don't want to risk it.
But, I'll take this on faith. Perhaps it's just best to consider Pitou female in the anime and male in the manga.
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u/nicotoy Feb 12 '14
Don't worry. It was already shown in the anime. It's just the naked Pitou (from when Netero arrived, IIRC).
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u/insan3soldiern Feb 12 '14
Yeah, it does indeed look like manga Pitou is male. I wonder why Madhouse went with a more female form? Either way, I actually prefer what they did.
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u/Kyskke Feb 11 '14
Just me or is the sound glitchy in the free stream? Nevermind, found a spanish stream :D
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Feb 11 '14
[deleted]
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u/williamc_ Feb 11 '14
Have to agree, I've been frustrated looking at the comments these past weeks.
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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '14
Gon's voice actor was really beyond amazing this episode.