LogFAQs > #901724948

Episode 46

Recap: Kurapika fights and kills Uvogin.

This is a disappointing episode for me. Turning strong characters into patsies is not enjoyable for me. Kurapika makes Uvo miss, which is okay, but Uvo also looks like an idiot at times. There's a tendency for the big guys to look like dumb brutes, and sadly, HxH falls right into this cliche.

Some of the strategy that Kurapika uses is cool - his invisible Nen chains mimic Hisoka's established technique for binding Nen to his opponents. But the actual ability of the chains, to stop someone from using Nen entirely, seems absurd (and the justification of it with "YOU MUST ATTACH A CONDITION" is lame, too.) And on top of that, Kurapika reveals a stupidly broken power that's activated when his eyes turn red. This is the big reason I was skeptical of the Specialist power to begin with, and sure enough, Kurapika's "I HAVE MASTERY OF ALL FIVE INNATE ABILITIES OF NEN" feels like it undermines all the mythology we've done around Nen.

What this implies for Kurapika is what comic fans tell me is what makes Superman "compelling." Kurapika's motivations are incredibly dark, but he doesn't enjoy killing. For some reason he says "I spent too long in that state" referring to the supercharged red-eye mode. But as far as I can tell, this is statement with no real backing, just his preference not to turn into a monster. I guess we'll need to see this challenged to make Kurapika interesting.

Uvo himself, other than looking like an idiot, is still pretty cool. Drinking all that beer to piss out the leeches is great. And I love his "but for me it was Tuesday" talk. His favorite part of the violence he inflicts - denying the people who come for revenge.
---

yet all sailors of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness