Hunter X Hunter Episode #92 Anime Review

What They Say:
Gon, a young boy who lives on Whale Island, dreams of becoming a Hunter like his father, who left when Gon was still young.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Taking the kids out of the picture for a good part of the previous episode, Hunter x Hunter managed to work in some strong time with the Chimera Ants after a few episodes where they were a much smaller or negligible presence. What we get from them the last time around has upped the ante with what’s going on by bringing out the king, a truly powerful and hungry beast of a creature that’s ready to eat up a wide variety of people, and the twist of having some of the previously strong Chimera Ants interested in forging an alliance of some sort with the established Hunters that are there to protect the Queen. It’s an unexpected twist in events, one that definitely puts a lot of pressure on everyone outside of the King himself since he’s got his solidly powerful guards and his own immense power.

With Colt having come in from the NGL to meet with Netero and others within the Pro Hunter compound, there’s a big opportunity for them to do some serious learning and research with all of this while also reaffirming just how big of a threat there is ahead. It’s also a fun twist in plying two sides that were going at it onto the same name. It’s also just fun to watch as Netero gets totally into the right frame of mind as he slims down certain aspects of himself for the intense fight he knows it s coming and dons the outfit that he has for when he really is interested in fighting seriously. It’s comical in its own way, but knowing Netero for so many episodes now and the way he interacts with others does make it fairly important. And seeing how the others, and Colt, react to what he does only adds to it and continues to make Netero one of my favorite supporting characters.

The episode focuses well on the Queen as she’s operated on by the professionals and we get some insights into her concerns for the King, since he was born early and she’s still very worried about him even after what he did. It’s hard for Colt to understand, but there’s a strong motherly side there as she works through her last moments to pass on the name for the King, calling him Meruem in order to cement her legacy. There’s some really good stuff in all of this that does alter your view of the Queen as well as reinforces just who Colt is as well, and adjusts the dynamic between the Chimera Ants – at least this potential new branch of them – and the Hunters. There’s a lot to like with all of this, even to the point where when the story shifts back to Gon and Killua in the final few minutes, you really don’t want it to and instead focus more on what Colt and the others are doing.

In Summary:
The path of the Chimera Ants story has been one that in some ways has felt clear and linear from the start, but it’s introduced a lot of divergences along the way that are certainly intriguing. While I still feel like the end goal is the same and the results will be there, we’re seeing a few more variables put into play here that can change the dynamic after the Meruem is dealt with and that has some good potential for interesting fallout. The focus on Netero and the other Hunters he’s working with while dealing with the Queen and Colt really makes this a very strong episode and makes you question more of what you thought about previous episodes and the view of the characters. And tht’s something a lot of series never really manage to do since everyone is pretty much static. There’s a lot to like here and hopefully things are going to move forward in stronger ways soon.

Grade: A-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.

Chris Beveridge

http://www.fandompost.com

Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.

He likes to write a lot, as you can see.

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