Beware Hunters whose main focus is on taste.
What They Say:
After a scuffle with Hisoka, Gon and his friends are able to safely make it to the site for the second phase of the exam. The examiners for the second phase are Menchi and Buhara. Their task is a cooking test. The applicants struggle to create a dish that satisfies the Gourmet Hunter Menchi. Will anyone be able to make something that satisfies Menchi…?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While most of the applicants faced some general terrors along the way in the swampish area, Gon and Kurapika along with Leorio really had a lot more difficult challenges to face in dealing with Hisoka. Hisoka has that real presence of a dangerous person about him so it was good to see it not only on display here with what he did to the others that tried to take him down, but also to how he handled Gon himself in viewing him as a much more thoroughly enjoyable opponent to face in the future when he grows up. For someone like Hisoka, there’s something to be said for seeding the field with opponents that will be powerful in the future to fight to keep him challenged.
With the next phase of the Exam, it turns into something a bit more lighthearted which is definitely welcome after some fairly serious material. The introduction of a pair of Gourmet Hunters helps to highlight the different career paths one can take, though they’re not any less skilled than more outgoing and active “hunter” type hunters. When you consider the beasts they have to go after, it makes sense that they have a lot of skill. And they really come up with an amusing test here where they have to cook a particular meal using a difficult to catch beast that has to please the more childlike of the two Gourmet Hunters. It’s pretty silly but still fun to see how the gang has to come up with creative ways to please the pair and past the test.
Because of what happens here, it causes those from much higher above to get involved and to try and assuage things since she ends up flunking everyone, which is just not the way the Exam is supposed to work. So the piece works well in giving us a chance to see the Chairman and the sense of fairness that he brings into play with the Exam and how he wants the applicants treated, while also showing that not all of those that are brought in from the field to run the exam are the most suited to it. Of course, the new challenge is going to be difficult in a different way, but that’s what I enjoy about the show. It knows how to have fun and how to be serious with an amusing cast of characters, even with the wide number of applicants that are getting their due as well.
In Summary:
Though still very familiar from its previous run and from reading the manga, Hunter X Hunter again hits all the right notes here with what it does. The idea behind the Hunters is expanded, we get to see the management side of the organization with the introduction of the Chairman and we get a lot of character fun across the board since it goes for lighthearted stories. But even with all of that, it has the darker edge to it from the start with Hisoka showing that he followed through in bringing Leorio back after their encounter and that there’s a looming threat there in him. The show hasn’t hit any high points but it’s firing on all cylinders for me and is providing entertainment, plot and solid characters that I want to know more about and see expanded, especially as the core cast comes together and their challenges increase. While I’m typically not a fan of remakes, this one is making me very pleased this season.
Grade: B+
Readers Rating: [ratings]
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.
