Emotions are running on overdrive as the best of the hunters attempt to take down the Ant King.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yoshihiro Togashi
Translation/Adaptation: Lillian Olsen
What They Say
Netero has struck a deal with the Chimera Ant King: if the King can defeat him, Netero will reveal the King’s true name. Netero is determined to keep fighting, but his attacks have no effect on the terrifyingly powerful King. Will Netero’s ultimate attack, the Guanyin Bodhisattva: Zero, break through the King’s defenses, or will he be forced to take even more desperate measures?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Waiting for new volumes of Hunter X Hunter is a special sort of torture. It’s been over a year since we had a volume in English. Not many author’s are allowed the leeway for their schedule that Togashi has earned, and continues to have because each volume of this series sells near the top of the charts. That freedom appears to extend to narrative as well, because Hunter x Hunter is a strange beast, and this volume waves it’s freak flag higher than most. The long wait between volumes had me struggling to remember where everyone was located in the battlefield, let alone remember the names of many of the secondary characters in this arc.
We catch up with Killua as he closes in on what became of Palm. For awhile the reader had no idea what had become of her, but we knew it couldn’t have been good. Her reappearance doesn’t disappoint, as she lashes out with her hair as her shield. Togashi draws her hair as a crazy swirl of pen lines which resemble a wire figure, a deranged and animated one at that, and it ends up being even more visually interesting than the battle which follows it.
Togashi’s art often fluctuates wildly between different characters and even different events. Often it results in a confusing mishmash of styles, with super detailed and realistic characters sharing the same page space with cartoony ones. Such a wildly shifting look does allow for a lot of surprise and avoids the usual problem of design fatigue that strikes manga. Even with sparse backgrounds, the series never looks dull.
The battle between Netero and the King evolves into a visual poetry slam that brings to mind sutras and hong kong action flicks. There’s even a random world building aside, which are practically becoming a trademark of the series, to explain the nature of Netero’s finishing move. The battle is interesting to watch, but the conclusion wasn’t surprising. The aftermath of the confrontation, and the reactions of the King’s drones, is so over the top it becomes a parody of the near religious fervor of his followers. It’s a fine line between hysterical and hilarious, and the Sistine Chapel-esk cover of this volume makes a whole lot more sense in retrospect.
I love how Gon’s genius is shown through Pitou’s reactions to Gon’s stern statements. Gon never really breaks his stoic stare during the entire volume, but Pitou becomes increasingly upset and paranoid as he breaks down why Gon is terrifying him. It’s very convincing even though we’re never sure exactly how much of Gon’s actions are planned or dumb luck. Maybe it’s instinct, or maybe Gon really is that good. Either way, he’s got Pitou right where he wants him for the next volume.
In Summary
The long wait for volume 28 of Hunter x Hunter is over, and it’s chock full of what makes this series a good read. Between the weird physical battles and the psychological ones, the action is frenetic and emotionally charged. It goes pretty far overboard into shonen philosophy territory at moments, it’s better to just roll with it and ignore how silly a lot of it is. The Gon’s fellow hunters regrouping and the King’s men doing the same, I’m not sure how he hunters are going to be able to win when they’ve already lost so many previous battles and the ants seem to only be growing stronger. Luckily the wait for the next volume won’t be as long, and the end of this long arc is in sight.
Content Grade: A –
Art Grade: B +
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: September 4th, 2012
MSRP: $9.99
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