Hunter x Hunter Rewatch - 13th Chairman Arc Review

It all ends here. For the 2011 anime of course, the manga is still stopping and starting through a whole other arc that's rivaling Chimera Ants in scope. But for lovers of this adaptation such as myself, the 13th Chairman Election is very bittersweet. It's the end to an amazing show, one of the best in anime. But it goes out, in my opinion at least, on a great high note. Though short, this is an incredibly strong arc with interesting characters, intense action, powerful emotions, and expert plotting. Let's dive in.

The 13th Chairman arc picks up right where the Chimera Ants arc leaves off. I love how nearly all HxH arcs don't just push aside the last plots, but this is perhaps the best example of it. The whole arc is built off consequences from what we've just witnessed: Netero has died needing the election, and Gon is in dire straits after expending his life energy to kill Pitou. Killua's mission to save Gon by rescuing his sister Alluka, Gon's injury, and the Hunter Association's election all are disparate plot threads that eventually become weaved together in a way that's brilliant to see. It can be easy for side plots to feel disposable, but here, I cared about all of them.

First up, Killua rescuing Alluka. This is probably the main thread, and damn, is it intense. The family politics and in-fighting between Killua and Illumi is absolutely brutal. A beloved minor character dies, Illumi claims dozens of innocent lives, and Hisoka single-handedly slaughters how many pro hunters? Rewatching this reminded me just how dark this arc was. Beyond the constant cycle of death, Killua is in a really dark place emotionally. By the end of it, I was really pissed no one gave him a hug! r/HugtheDamnKillua

Back to Alluka though, she might be the highlight of the whole arc. I love Alluka's power and all the rules to it we learn; it's a real puzzle and there's a sense of danger that one wrong move could get anyone smushed into a pile of blood. And there's the mystery at what hidden rules Killua knows. However, whereas most anime would leave it there, for HxH, that's just the beginning. Once Something has been set up as this strange force, the anime starts to deconstruct that. First is the twist that healing wishes don't require a burden; an amazing "gotcha!" moment ala Christopher Nolan that I still loved the second time. Beyond that, there's no complex hidden rules behind why Killua can control Something better; it's simply because he's the only one that realizes Something is a person, not just a power. Slowly learning that Something is just as human as Allukah was incredibly powerful, and made the scene where Killua tearfully sends her away heartbreaking. I went from seeing Something as an evil force, to a misunderstood being. Getting audiences to care about Something to the point of tears is Hunter x Hunter at it's most bizarre, but also it's best.

;_;

The other side plots aren't quite as strong, but they also don't need to be. The election drama is engaging and interesting, with lots of power battles and numbers to crunch. The Zodiac characters are a bit underdeveloped though. The show basically just tells us to hate Rat, instead of giving any real justification. This made him a bit of a weak villain, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't take the bait and want him to lose. The show definitely plays with the fact that they never actually show us he's truly evil though, in the second best twist of the arc. He wins, only to give the seat up to Cheadle! Another "holy shit" moment, but one slightly less powerful as it was so hard to get a grasp onto his character at all. The only Zodiac I really enjoyed was Cheadle, who was the right mix of feisty and moral driven for me. However, I loved seeing Leorio go from meme candidate to almost-winner, and kinda wish he'd won just so his character would be more important to the series. But Gon gets it right as usual: Leorio wants to be a doctor. Seeing Leorio fight for Gon and punch Ging was so cathartic, and their reunion was beautiful.

Gon's recovery becomes the main debate topic of the election, thus tying all three threads together. But once he's healed, he finally meets his dad. This is a long time coming, and I'm really glad the show let a lot of characters say how much of a dickhead Ging is. It always felt weird and kinda wrong that Gon idolized Ging, so it was nice to see the author aware of that. Their reunion at the top of the World Tree was sweet though, especially when they swapped their stories. And the tease for the Dark Continent arc!!

Still, when I think back to this arc and this series, getting to Ging is never the highlight. I think of meeting Kurapika and Leorio, the fun or disturbing or thoughtful challenges Gon faces, and especially the friendship he makes with Killua. I think of all the complex villains, the wacky side characters, and the heartbreaking darkness of the world. I think of how much I enjoyed the time I spent rewatching this series. Like the man himself said, take your time with the detours. Because there you'll find something more important than what you want.

Until next time~

Hunter x Hunter Rewatch - Chimera Ants Arc

The Chimera Ant arc always holds a complicated place in my probably-too-large place in my heart for Hunter x Hunter. On one hand, it's the arc that as fans, we're supposed to find the best. I've seen tons of comments saying "if you find this arc boring, you have horrible taste and are too dumb for Hunter x Hunter." It's like the Rick and Morty of the HxH fandom. And backing up those opinions is the fact that this is the longest, the most complex, and arguably the arc that has some of the highest highs of the entire series.

Still, from watch one to this most recent watch (three), the Chimera Ant arc has never been my favorite. For every point it has going for it, there seems to be a counterpoint. One of the biggest problems, for instance, is that going along with the fact that it's the longest arc, it's also the arc I find has the most pacing issues. And yes, I know this is where the "you don't understand!!" comments come in. The extremely analytical and voice-over heavy style of the arc slows things to a crawl, intentionally, in that there's about 4-5 episodes that take place over the space of in-universe 60 seconds or so.


This style isn't inherently bad, but it does require every moment to be interesting enough to support stretching time out so much. And unfortunately, not all the side-fights in this arc are, in my opinion. Ikalgo is the biggest offender in my opinion. His side story looking for Palm and fighting Brovado and the like carried so much less tension than all the rest of the fights. For one, I've known Ikalgo for far less time than any of the other characters, so the stakes aren't as high. Also, his Nen and his opponents simply aren't as interesting as nearly any of the other fights. This all added up to the episodes featuring Ikalgo having me count the minutes until we got back to Gon or Knuckle.


Back to Knuckle though, his fight with Youpi is probably my favorite big battle until the end. It's filled with tension as time passes, strategy with APR, and constant danger with Youpi's explosive Nen power. To me, this is an example of the arc at its best. The analytical style works great for this fight, adding to the tension of each second mattering.


The complexity and seriousness of the arc does have its drawbacks though. With Gon in such a dark place emotionally, there's much less levity and joy here, which is something HxH really excelled at, and is definitely something I love. Also, not all of the new characters are as interesting as the ones they're taking screen time from, either. Shoot, Morel, Ikalgo, Pouf, Cheetu, and Knov all range from either being interesting yet non-favorites, to downright annoying. At the end of the day, a lot of the time I just wanted to go back to see what Gon or Killua was up to, which made it rough when Gon ends up sitting for the majority of the second half. Still, there are some characters that are absolute highlights.


My favorite new character had to have been the King/Mereum. His character development is probably the highest high the arc has. Seeing how the relationship with Komugi changes him is fascinating and emotional, and the resolution is just gut-wrenchingly powerful. Hunter x Hunter has an amazing ability for making you care for characters you never thought you would, and the dark final moments of Mereum and Komugi playing Gungi is a brilliant example of that.


Gon's final fight with Pitou... holy shit. 'High point' is kinda stripping away so much of what makes that fight one of the most intense, heartbreaking, brutal scenes in all of HxH. The difference between episode one Gon to the boy who throws his life away just to get revenge sends chills down my spine. And that animation.... This arc has a ton of amazing animation, and that's definitely one of the high points.

There's still so much I could talk about with this arc. I haven't even mentioned Mereum and Netero's battle, which is at once epic, disturbing, and a huge anticlimax that throws everything we think we know about power levels in this world out of whack with the atom bomb reveal. I near exclusively focused on the second half as well, as I think the first half in many ways is better (though still suffers from pacing issues). But that means I literally didn't even mention Kite! Or how this arc brings up themes of reincarnation in ways that perfectly make sense yet still are insane. So yeah, while it's never been my favorite arc, there's SO MUCH to love here that I almost always loved watching it. That's Hunter x Hunter for you, huh?