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 managed to introduce a lot of characters into the series since it began and though there can be similarities between them as time goes on, there’s still some good bits of originality. With the previous episode, we got to see how the King of the Chimera Ants has been spending his time studying and learning everything he can bout the human world in order to know what he’s going to conquer and what he can take for his own from it. One of the things that he’s taken a bit of a liking to in a way is the game of shogi, which he learned from a book and is playing against one of the best players that exists out there in the form of a young white haired girl who takes things pretty literally as we see.
The show does some good stuff with this pairing as we see how the girl essentially pends quite a lot of time playing against the King and praising him as he learns, being smart in her approach so that she doesn’t get iced quickly. There’s not a lot of time spent on showing us the game, but the dynamic between the two characters is important to see here as it bring a certain kind of calm to the place that’s really welcome after the quick, cold and brutal violence that has been there since the Chimera Ants arrived there. It also provides a good backdrop as we see the Deep Purple group make their way into the city in a fairly stealthy way to gain more intel on what’s going on in this capital and to see how the King is running things as there are so many clues out there that a smart reader like a lot of Hunters are can interpret.
While there’s some good lead-up material here that establishes a lot of things, we also get a good chunk of the episode devoted to a fight. Morel gets trapped in a place by one of the Chimera Ants, Cheetu, and finds himself in a match set by him there that’s designed to make it into a lengthy chase that works to Cheetu’s advantage. Morel, thankfully, isn’t intent on playing his game since defusing that is half the battle right there. Morel’s nature and attitude is one that drives deep into Cheetu since it’s all about delaying and doing nothing, something that a fast mover like Cheetu just can’t handle. It’s got a good look about it and it sets a welcome bit of pacing amid all the other events, especially since it’s kept in a separate location with very different visuals.
In Summary:
Hunter X Hunter certainly works at its own pace and it’s one that can be somewhat frustrating. Unlike One Piece where it draws things out a bit with a lot of action spread out over a few episodes or a lot of running around, this show tends to play a bit more towards dialogue and exposition as well as just some sense of power and ability being displayed through their internal dialogue and the types of training they do. The Chimera Ant King definitely is intriguing to watch here as he plays the game and comes to understandings through it in ways that can alter his thinking about the larger fight ahead of him. It changes his view of humans to some degree and that’s a small but critical change for a character like this.
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.
