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)
Hunter x Hunter has played with a few different things in the current part of the arc that have been interesting but moved at a slow pace. I really like what I’m seeing between the King and Komugi, since it talks strategy and shows a different kind of understanding between the two of them, but it’s been going on for a bit without a key moment. Similarly, we’ve had some decent things from some of the Hunters out there and the time with Knov in the previous episode was a lot of fun, both in terms of the comic way he got closer to the capital as well as just seeing his little in-between space where he spends his time in safety. The cast is interesting and there’s some good quirks about them, but they’re being weakly utilized at the moment. And that’s without seeing our leads for a bit as well.
The episode here focuses on Knov to good effect simply because he is fun to watch as he goes through the process of infiltration. He’s not exactly the stealthiest person in the world in a way, especially when we just saw him wearing a shrubbery in the last episode to sneak closer to the main walls, and his movement through the building here is one that leaves you cringing a bit with how he does it. Something is to be said about the fact that he is a Hunter and his skills are heightened, so we’re just seeing them in a particular fashion here, but it still just looks goofy even as he faces something that’s pretty difficult to get past. Similarly, we get Morel making his way through the city in a kind of brazen way and that has him coming across a couple of them and just smiling and changing direction. It’s a curious kind of approach to how they’re handling this but the near brazen aspect of it in some ways is kind of refreshing.
The second half comes across a bit less focused in some ways as it progresses, but we get to see Knov struggling as it goes on with what happens to him and while the incident itself isn’t all that consequetional, his reactions are great, especially since it’s so heavily focused on Palm and how he views her. It’s a moment that definitely makes him more engaging. Providing for this and some of Morel’s movements in the episodes advances things a bit, but we also get a little extra material with some seemingly normal people moving about that hints at some larger issues to come.
In Summary:
One again, we get some teasingly interesting bits here and there, largely with Knov, and the start of the real action at the end with Morel. Komugi and the King get just a nod at that start which is hopeful while Gon and Killua are nowhere to be seen. I’ve really enjoyed parts of the Chimera Ants arc, and I know it comes together into something solid as it brings it to a conclusion down the line, but the show is drawing things out in a way that really makes it tough to work with on a week by week basis. Not so much in that it’s hard to wait for the next episode but rather than the individual episodes are only so compelling and we get several in a row like that. The good parts are good but the rest is just sort of there and drawn out more than I’d care for.
Grade: C+
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.
