The Chimera Ant arc rolls on and some new changes are already in the making.
What They Say:
Gon and Killua join Kite’s team as they investigate the Chimera Ants. The Chimera Ants are dangerous insects that can pass traits from the prey they consume to their offspring. As Kite begins to fear the worst, the Chimera Ants begin to feed on humans.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The new arc kicked off in a somewhat surprising way in the previous episode with just a whole lot of sitting around and talking. Good talking, as Gon and Killua ended up finding a man named Kite that knew his father and was able to impart a lot of information to him in small ways, as well as realizing the connection they had as they met when Gon was younger years ago without realizing it. Though that was mostly just talking with a dash of action, we also started to see some of the events involving the new opponent of the arc with the Chimera Ant and what it will mean, getting a look at the Queen and how she operates. It was pretty minimal, but it was enough to give you a clue as to the basic nature of things. We also got the more simple version of the Chimera Ant introduced and made to understand how dangerous that is, even being a Class 1 quarantined creature.
The episode gives us a few more characters to work with as we meet other members of Kite’s group, since he’s a biological surveyor of sorts and works with a variety of people. They’re all unique in their designs with the new six that come into play. The group gets to do some of its work here with the boys in tow and there’s certainly some explanation to them what the Chimera Ant is all about, which makes an impact on Killua considering how he was attacked before. There’s a rather relaxed feeling to a lot of it even as it goes through part of the setup here, an easy friendliness that comes from Kite’s group but also from Gon himself. There’s genuine interest from each side about the other and the simplicity of youth figuring into it as well. It’s something that Kite notices as well and makes it clear that he’s just like his father.
While we get a lot of decent little bits with Gon and the group, we also see the Chimera Ant queen gearing up for a fight herself as there’s a large next which is getting ready to give birth to a whole lot of soldiers, which is what’s needed so she can give birth to a proper king. It’s all played straight and serious, though not exactly scary, and it further cements in the two episode just how intense the Chimera Ant queen will be when it comes to doing what she needs to do. We start to see their threat come into the open a little bit, but it’s just another notch in the setup. This runs at the same time that we see Kite, Gon and the others continuing their own investigation, which is being treated right, but there is just a sense of ease and lightness about it because there is no immediate threat yet. But Kite senses more problems in the offing and he gives it a bit more of a push because of his experience in the world.
In Summary:
While some arcs we end up just going into hard and fast, things are building a bit more slowly here as the two sides deal with their own issues first, but are on a path that will lead them against each other. The movement of the Chimera Ants and the evolutionary changes that are coming into play is given more time this episode and that works well to establish things on its own without outside interference. At the same time, we see more of Kite’s group and how they work the field and also get to see once more just how easily Gon makes friends and wins over people, which impresses Kite a lot. Kite’s an easy one to like so far and the group is one that makes you smile and like the banter and the way they work together, but also leaves you wondering how they’ll fare under the pressure that will come.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.