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)
The fight has moved in small stages as to be expected, complete with detailed narration, but the movements have been intriguing to watch as it unfolds. With the way these Hunters and Chimera Ants can all move at lightning speed, taking the time to slow down a few seconds worth of a fight or the launch of an attack, as we saw when Morel and his group landed inside the compound, worked extremely well in showing how everyone reacts and deals with the situation. Youpi’s confusion helped add to the chaos of the situation, but it all turned quite quickly as the larger attack outside hit, which gave us time for an extended bit of background on Netero that was a bit out of place but hugely interesting.
The initial attacks here are pretty good as we see Morel using some solid diversion and moving across the field of battle to engage well. But while we get some stuff there and a bit on the Living Dead Dolls along the way, the show becomes more engaging as we see Killua making his movement across the compound. It’s done in the same kind of slow motion view that works surprisingly well here, particularly as he goes up against a pair of Chimera Ants and we see them go through their battle mode transformation in the same style, which definitely helps to accentuate their level of difficulty. Of course, it’s all handled so brutally by Killua that you really do have to remember that he is the offspring of an assassin clan and his skills are not to be trivialized. We haven’t seen much of them for awhile in this form since it’s been about the not killing, but he’s totally doing what’s needed in this hugely dangerous situation.
Because of the nature of the show at this stage, it’s definitely more about mood and atmosphere than true progress. But it’s tied in well with the action, in its slowed down form, which makes it exciting to watch even at the pacing we get. Largely because it’s given some solid detail here with the way the transformations go and the attacks themselves. Unfortunately, as engaging as a lot of this is, there’s also the quieter and less interesting moments that’s filled with self inflicted drama, but I have to admit that it does go well towards the end of it since you get Morel going in for the attack and dealing with a new opponent. Morel is a character that has definitely grown on me but even I’ll admit a bit of conflict as he goes up against his next opponent with the beautiful butterfly wings.
In Summary:
Hunter x Hunter moves along nicely here overall with what it’s doing and you definitely have that sense that things are about to get truly intense, something that I haven’t felt in quite a few months with the show. Not that you want constant highs, as some of the quiet material has been fantastic, but the lead-up to this has been long and winding rather than deftly done. With this episode, we get a further push in by the Hunters as they go up against the Chimera Ants and it definitely works well, narration and all, but it also leaves me wanting to get to the really powerful characters and moments to see how all of that is going to be handled.
Grade: B
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.
