Board 8 > seabassdebeste watches hunter x hunter 2011 (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Mac Arrowny posted...

Kurapika PoV the best yeah.

SeabassDebeste posted...

her character design is so bad

How so? I thought her character was quite effectively designed.

I think she just has one too many weird features. Give her a normal face/eye shape, or a recognizable body shape, or drop the teeth, or give her a regular hairline - anything to make her look a little less like zombie-boy from Yu-Gi-Oh! I dunno, I feel like she can be relatively deformed-looking without looking like she doesn't belong in the show.
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You should see her original manga appearance, she looks like an old man skeleton
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When I was a teenager, I was in love with Kurapika and these episodes (in the 1999 version) were the best. Now... ehh, I dunno. I'd probably feel the same way you do honestly (I don't recall if I even saw the 2011 version of these eps).
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Episodes 43-44

Recap: The Phantom Troupe's Earlobes Guy and Glasses Girl massacre the people in the auction house but find the treasure missing. The mafia dispatches people and four of their Shadow Beasts to chase, but Uvo obliterates them as well. With Uvo temporarily incapacitated, Kurapika captures him with his chains.

This was fucking awesome. So yeah, the enemies that the Troupe members take out are blatantly bowling pins to knock down. The sheer pleasure these guys take in violence is still a savage delight. It's deliciously satisfying when 11-Nen-dummy-guy and kiss-dominatrix-girl get obliterated to prop up our new threats - the sea of red and the cartoony cleanup job are awesome, lasting images.

And it gets better! Uvo takes us at last into explicit bulletproof territory after catching a slug between his teeth and getting shot by a sniper rifle and then gets up and kills the sniper by throwing a rock. But of course, he has the outright absurdity of a guy who gets paralyzed from the waist down and then kills people by literally biting their heads off, projectile-spitting a chunk of skull, and yelling really loudly. Hard to object to how dumb it is that a mafia family's enforcer is literally "I have spikes" when his death is just as dumb!

Kurapika is seriously playing with fire here. LOOK AT THE DAMN ROAD WHEN YOU DRIVE FOR FUCK'S SAKE. I don't know that I'm convinced he's this strong yet, but I didn't really expect him to go charging in the way he did. The paralysis is a cool workaround. Now we've got a beast chained up in the back seat and a distracted driver.

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* I love the way that the vacuum cleaner introduces the panic after the fact. The empty auction room is brilliant.

* We have an open mystery about who took the loot! Hisoka has to be involved, right?

* "Judas wasn't a traitor."

* "MY AMBIDEXTEROUS AUTOMATIC WEAPONS - DOUBLE MACHINE GUN." "THANKLESS HEROES - ELEVEN BLACK CHILDREN." "BIG BANG IMPACT: FIST OF DESTRUCTION." "CHAIN JAIL: THE RESTRAINING MIDDLE FINGER."

* Kurapika's restriction on himself is lame as hell, but I'm sure his refusal to kill Uvo is for good reason. No way he's unaware that he's being followed. Can't wait to see his plan.
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The restraining middle finger
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so intense of a middle finger that giving it to the wrong person can KILL YOU
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Episode 45

Recap: The other six Shadow Beasts disrupt the Troupe's pursuit, enabling the Nostrade Bodyguards to get away with Uvo. When Kurapika goes to meet Hisoka as promised, however, the bodyguards' leader inadvertently gives away their location. He's killed and Uvo is freed.

RIP Bodyguard Leader. He surprised me with his forthright solidness and his rational behavior. He knew it was fucking suicide to go after Uvo but didn't abandon Kurapika. He was a loyal guardian to Neon. And he got punked hard by a Troupe ambush.

I'm generally pretty bummed that Kurapika didn't kill Uvo. It seems like it was mostly out of shounen convenience not to kill someone who can't fight back, because Kurapika only winds up asking about the loot, not how to track down the rest of the Troupe. Anyway, I can get over it, because the terrifying calm that Uvo brings here is such a great contrast to his manic, unchained energy from the previous episode.

I am so, so looking forward to the Hisoka/Kurapika teamup. Hisoka is the foil I never knew Kurapika needed. Their sexual chemistry already exceeds the one-sided Gon/Hisoka relationship. I also love that Hisoka is a legit member of the Troupe, just with weird motivations. "Because he is strong," Hisoka tells us about why he wants to fight the leader. And when the leader vanishes, Hisoka can't trace him. We know practically nothing about the leader but I am so hype for him.

But for the moment, he has to deal with Uvogin.

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* "FUN FUN CLOTH: CONVENIENT MAGIC KERCHIEF"

* Black bodyguard guy getting terrified over and over is getting real old.

* Why couldn't Shizuku (the black-clothed girl with glasses) use her vacuum on the loot? Or maybe she could?

* Being shocked that the six remaining Shadow Beasts were killed is a little silly when you saw four of them taken out by one Troupe member.
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SeabassDebeste posted...

I also love that Hisoka is a legit member of the Troupe, just with weird motivations.

How do you mean
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accrding to hisoka, all you have to do to become a troupe member is kill an existing troupe member, which he clearly must have done

at least that is how i see it?
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Nah I gotcha.

And yeah I love how overt the yaoi sexuality is in this. You never really even get the feeling that any of these dudes are straight except leorio.
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been watching but writeup is yet to come!
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I'm currently watching the first movie!
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How is the movie?

HxH isn't the kind of property I'm particularly interested in without togashi writing it so it was always kind of weird idea to me.
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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.
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I disagree uvo looked like a patsy! Kurapika's power is intentionally broken against troupe!
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I guess I get irked when I see the intimidating character blinking around going "where is he?" before getting hit. That type of reaction is one of my least favorite. When Kurapika can't detect Uvo, his eyes are moving and he deduces that Uvo is using In and he still manages to block the blow. Uvo gets suckerpunched. That's the type of direction that annoys me. It doesn't even have to do with the chain powers.

Kurapika being OP may be intentional but it's not enjoyable for me so far.

More to come though!
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Episodes 47-49: Gon and Killua Meet the Phantom Troupe

Recap: Gon and Killua continue to seek ways to make money by using their Gyo to bid on items with Nen and flip them for more money. They learn a bit about counterfeiting from an appraiser named Zepile. When Leorio comes up with a lead on the Troupe, they try stalking two Troupe members and are promptly captured. The samurai dude tries to recruit G/K, but when he's left alone, the pair escapes.

Okay, I have to address the silliness of the whole G/K-captured-by-Troupe-and-escaping situation. I believe they could escape from one guy, but it feels absurd that they're given the chance. These guys are so eager to murder, and for some reason samurai dude thinks they'll willingly become recruits... and they're only twelve. This is the writer with his thumb transparently on the scales, a way to introduce G/K to the Troupe without having to deal with the real consequences of it.

The implausibility of this gaiden aside, lots of good stuff to be found. Gon and Killua's trepidation toward the Phantom Troupe is way more fun than Kurapika's nonchalant slaying of Uvogin. Maybe I'd feel differently if it were obvious that Kurapika were way stronger than G/K before they became Nen users, but based on what I've seen, G/K's attitude is appropriate for building up villains.

Killua, since escaping home, is rising rapidly as one of my favorites. He knows not to fight an enemy he can't beat, and now he's surrounded by them all the time, which is way more interesting than outmatching everyone effortlessly during the Hunter Exam. And he's not perfectly smart and composed about everything all the time like Kurapika - he can get punked and he gets very visibly frustrated when conversations don't go his way. G/K stalking the Troupe is an abjectly awful idea, but throughout, Killua knows how badly they're outmatched. And after all, it's only due to an unseen other pair of Troupe members that they even get caught.

I'm enjoying the asymmetry of information here. G/K are shocked to see Hisoka, so the Troupe doesn't know about that connection. They're also mostly ignorant about Uvo's fate, due to his ill-fated decision to fight alone. They have never seen the "chain-user's" face, and G/K are saved by their own ignorance of what Kurapika has been up to, when the cleavage-gun-woman scans their minds. It reminds me of the early seasons of Game of Thrones, where information would spread strangely, and often unreliably. Of course, Killua eventually deduces it, meaning that in the future, they couldn't escape this way.

It's something of a filler-type episode, but I really like G/K's efforts to make money. What can I say - it's fun! They get adorably upset during the bidding war, and I love the frustration building for Killua when they have a quid pro quo conversation with Zepile and he has to wait his turn before hearing answers to his questions. Gon has been pretty quiet, but Zepile notices what I've noticed - that Gon has a wonderful curiosity that is almost amoral - he's entirely open-minded about the grifters' arts and simply wants to learn the techniques. It's a Goku-esque quality, from the beginning of DB.

The point about Gon gets a cool reprise when he's captured. What gets Gon most about these unrepentant murderers is that they do have compassion and know the pain of loss as opposed to be unfeeling sociopaths - but only for their own fellow murderers. It's a monstrous crime of hypocrisy. Gon's moral code is great.
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* Example of Killua being fun: "Picture two Hisokas."

* Light Nostrade: "Have I ever broken a promise?" / Neon: "Have you ever kept a promise?" Cute.

* Killua is stingy, but his stinginess can't shake Zepile, who asks initially for 20%. "I might be willing to be him lunch." / "Really? Then I'll settle for that." Later, Gon confides in Killua: "Is it okay to tell him the truth?" / "It beats paying him."

* Underrated random tidbit - Shizuku apparently can choose to forget anything? She has no memory of her arm-wrestling contest with Gon.
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pjbasis posted...

How is the movie?

HxH isn't the kind of property I'm particularly interested in without togashi writing it so it was always kind of weird idea to me.

It was alright. I haven't watched the series in a couple years so it was fun and nostalgiac in a way for me. I've think I've heard the 2nd one is better but I haven't seen it yet.
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Killua is definitely my favorite character, personally

I was drawn in first by Leorio's splashiness. Gon's mix of purity and wisdom was the best part of the Hunter Exam arc. Reflecting a little, I realized that I really like Killua now, too!
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Episodes 51-53

Recap: The Phantom Troupe launches a punitive war on the mafia, who hire assassins to take out the Troupe. Chrollo abducts Neon, learns about her powers, and steals them. He has a brief sparring match with the Koldyck Clan and then decides to take the auction's loot but to fake defeat while exiting. The auction proceeds with counterfeits.

So, I really enjoyed seeing Silva out in the wild. It's extremely disappointing that their fight was entirely inconsequential, though. Not a big fan of the "let's test ourselves" fights, even when the action is good, and especially when the parties aren't necessarily going all out - Goku vs Majin Vegeta in DBZ jumps to mind.

It's also not very interesting to watch this much massacre. The mafia is composed of regular non-Nen-users, whom we've established several episodes ago are no match. The non-Koldyck assassins are just more schmucks. We get endless footage of carnage, but... who cares? We've moved far beyond the point where any conflict between Muggles and Nen-users is of even remote interest. It's a cool image briefly during the time that Chrollo obsesses over his fortune, but there's just too much.

Also, there's a 100% chance that if a character goes into the bathroom, that they're either escaping captivity or about to be kidnapped. Ugh. It's exactly what was expected, but disappointing to see Neon reduced to this cliche.

Okay, so now that my complaints are out of the way - Chrollo is fantastic. He's soft-spoken and youthful and polite, and he seems legitimately bothered by the death of Uvo. He reads a lot, which we discover is both part of his power and perhaps a hint that he's obsessed with prophecy and the future. Also, he looks considerably less like a creep out in public, which is something I always appreciate.

The other cool thing that happens here is that Kurapika might have to face an existential crisis with the apparent deaths of the Phantom Troupe. It would be even cooler if it were true, but this is one way to make his character compelling. Love the emptiness in Kurapika's eyes - I hope that he finds some sort of meaning in his life and mends his bridges before he rediscovers that the Troupe is still alive. But I won't get my hopes up.

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* The Phantom Troupe members have some neat abilities, but it's a little rankling that some of them are largely gimmicky and seemingly useless/very niche/hard-to-write in general combat. Mind-control-dude and counterfeit-man are the biggest issues. These are very cool abilities in a group, but seem a lot dumber in a 1v1 fight (which is how I have decided to evaluate all enemies).

* The fortune that Neon writes Chrollo is really fucking great and poetic.

* Light Nostrade is actually really likable. He's just a solid guy for a crime boss - but we'll see his true colors when he finds out that he no longer has a revenue source...

* Killua and Kurapika have friction over Kurapika's refusal to accept help. Gon will obviously be the mediator when they cross paths if they have issues with one another, but consider me #TeamKillua.

* Melody and Basho's disguises, as they try to take care of Neon, are amazing.

* The assassin crew winds up being a bunch of pointless redshirts, but I do like that at least some of them point out it would be useful to coordinate efforts. Of course the Zoldycks and Kurapika are among those who shoot down the idea since it's too hard to write more competent assassins.
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Zoldyck, not Koldyck.
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thanks! i'm sure i have that correct in my notes but i did it from memory and probably was biased by killua's first name starting with K
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Possibly Chrollo wasn't going all out since he was expecting that call from Illumi, but Silva and Zeno probably were giving it their all.
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Chrollo wanted to steal powers. Zeno says he'd probably win 1v1... if Chrollo is focusing on stealing powers instead of fighting. Chrollo gives a knowing smile after this.
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Right but the zoldycks were definitely going all out and implied had the upper hand anyway when Zeno was willing to die for it.

And chrollo probably wouldn't have hired another zoldyck to do what he did if he was confident in actually beating them 2v1.

Some posturing on chrollo's part but not from the assassin's. St least that's how I read it.
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that sounds about right

still disappointing to me since it ends up being just a showcase

i'm disappointed when cool battles are brought up but they do a juke on the stakes of it at the end
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I thought it made that fight even cooler. Win condition for the sides weren't the same - assassin's were there to kill him and they were deadly serious about it... which they should, as profefssional assassins. Chrollo was playing his own game, testing himself against them generally without necessarily focused on defeating or killing them in return.

Then when the win condition for the Zoldyecks disappears, they immediately give up and leave. It felt like a real situation at all times.

This was another of my favourite moments in the series.
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feel the need to mention that i have a theory that the faked deaths of half the crew were chrollo's attempt to fulfill the prophecy (half your limbs will be missing)
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this last episode has me absurdly hyped
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hype
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Episodes 54-55

Recap: Chrollo shows off his new fortune-telling technique, and Hisoka manipulates his own to convince the Troupe to stay around and exterminate Kurapika. Kurapika meets back up with G/K/L, makes peace with himself, and finally invites them into his plan to capture the mind-reading cleavage woman.

Here are two slower-paced, calmer episodes. One of my favorite parts of this is Gon and Killua's sheer joy as they have an eating contest, Gon accidentally spits in Killua's face while talking, and then Killua puts a pie in Gon's face. It's an incredibly dark world with some real monsters, but our protagonist is twelve years old - so why not reap the emotional rewards of that?

But I'm also really happy with Gon's effect on Kurapika. Alone, Kurapika's clenched butthole is his defining characteristic. But the moment he lays eyes on Gon, his jaws loosens, his eyes soften, and he's opening up again. With Kurapika facing an existential crisis, Gon immediately reminds Kurapika that he has another mission - one that heals and redeems, rather than drenches you in blood. We eventually wind up finding out about the false intel again, of course, but Kurapika's cleansing has already been established. Now that he's seeing his friends in person again, he's entirely unable to resist letting them into the fold.

We'd heard a little bit about Meteor City before, and I'm embarrassed to admit I forget in what context. Anyway, that is fleshed out a bit - the Spiders come from there, and the Mafia actually has a relationship with their people. The silent cold open with Chrollo's childhood fading into sunrise - fantastic directing.

Part of the reason for this double-feature's slowness is again the same reason ASOIAF can be slow at times - informational asymmetry. I'm certainly let down that there's no Hisoka/Nobunaga showdown as teased, but it's clever how Hisoka manages to turn the tide of public opinion by using his Bungee Gum technique. Though now that I think about it, wouldn't using Gyo reveal this deception? Or would each prophecy already have Nen on it from the fortune-telling technique itself? No matter the case, Chrollo falls right into Hisoka's trap, and I'm sad that Hisoka's going to kill him (and Hisoka will kill him - he's the only one on Chrollo's level, and this alliance with Kurapika will make no sense if Hisoka doesn't get his wish).

Finally, Killua is hilarious in the way he butts heads with Kurapika. Love how he first wants to kill the surviving Troupe; then when he discovers that they're still whole, wants to back out. Guy is pragmatic and his quiet hoping is hilarious. Need lots more of that.

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* I'm now all-in on the OP. Sometimes they just need to grind you down. It helps that it had so many episodes - FMA03's OP3 is such a letdown relative to OP2 that I never got into it, but perhaps its biggest sign is appearing in only 13 episodes so that I'm not forced to like it.
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My experience with the OP was 'meh' > 'okay its growing on me' > 'yeah I like it' > 'okay its getting tiresome' > 'dammit why do they never change the op' > 'meh'

my experience was this shit slaps
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My experience, this is ok for the Hunter exam.

Oh God why are they not changing it.

I wish they did.
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I just love the Yorkshinn Arc OP from the 1999 series so much so I couldn't deal with it in this one.

It's really great though. DAICHI WO FUMISHIMETE
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I like basically all of the old openings. Yorknew ones especially though
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Heywherearemyupdates
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pjbasis posted...

Heywherearemyupdates

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tomorrow!
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Oh, just saw this. Got some catching up to do!
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Episodes 56-58

Recap: Gon and Killua are captured again while stalking the Spiders. Kurapika takes advantage of a planned power outage to capture Chrollo and use him as a hostage. This leverage causes a schism among the Troupe, and eventually they decide to split and let Kurapika and his bullshit Chain Rules walk free.

I have to say, I absolutely hated everything about the idea of this conclusion. But you know what? I'm gonna let it go, because given the setup, there was virtually no good concept that could have satisfied me here. Kurapika's power was too stupid and the Troupe was far too powerful for anyone else other than Hisoka. The gaps were just ridiculous for a satisfying ending by violence. But even so, relying on the ridiculously-designed Paku and contriving a schism over Chrollo's life (and ending Chrollo) was disappointing.

Chrollo is really great. It's unclear what he believes in since he never really talks to anyone, but you can see how beloved he is by his crew that they give up assault in favor of letting Chrollo live - even without ever seen him again. But he returns the favor by being cerebral and loyal to his people. Throughout all the debates, Chrollo always picks the right combination of people for each team, emphasizes that the Troupe members need to play to their roles (discussing the replaceability of members' abilities, pointing out that Nobunaga's job is more or less to die), reminds everyone of what their purpose is. He's got the series's best character design and now he's done without even getting a real fight. (Poor Hisoka.)

I do come out of this more pro-Melody, though. And I guess we can move on to something where Kurapika can be more of a regular character with lesser bullshit powers now.

Probably my favorite plot/character moment specific to this arc is Gon showing his usual realistic determination. He snaps out of the chains right in front of the entire remnant of the Troupe. Phinks snarls that if Gon moves he'll rip his head off, but Gon isn't going to back down from saying his piece: "Then I'll stay right here!"

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* Squalla was a bad character who gets a bad ending. Talk about depressing - you know he's doomed when he suddenly has a love interest.

* The healer chick stopping Killua from stabbing her using her abs alone - wut.

* Phinks and Feitan cornering Killua and Gon at the end of the arc is hilarious. Killua is terrified as always, but he does note in internal monologue, "It's pretty useful to have someone who's willing to ask questions."
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About kurapika's abilities, I guess I have two questions for you?

Do you think it's not in character for kurapika to want to develop such one sided powers, or that the nen system shouldn't allow it?

And otherwise how could we have scenarios where he successfully kills people way above his league? The way the whole story goes down hinges on it being the way it was I think
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pjbasis posted...

Do you think it's not in character for kurapika to want to develop such one sided powers, or that the nen system shouldn't allow it?

It's certainly in character for Kurapika to want these powers. But yeah, I don't like the Nen-based justification at all. "I turn into a god when I fight some guys" is something I can abide by, but not as a rule of the system. Red eyes = specialist I also found lame.

And otherwise how could we have scenarios where he successfully kills people way above his league? The way the whole story goes down hinges on it being the way it was I think

Yeah, the way the story goes down does depends on these powers - which is why I tried not to complain about it too much at the end.

Instead, I'd turn this question around - why does this story need to be told now? Gon v Hisoka and Killua v Illumi (and/or possibly Silva?) are obviously being saved for later, for when the corresponding heroes become stronger. It just feels like Kurapika hasn't engaged in a journey to reach that point; we don't see any improvement from him; rather, he's just gifted this power.

So if it's not about training/fighting for Kurapika, then it's about his character journey. But that journey is almost trivial in length - the changes we see in his goals (from revenge to redemption, from angsty lone wolf to protective companion) are almost entirely driven from a single episode where Gon works his magic.

But the way the story is told, based on screen-time alone, suggests that the arc is about training/fighting. Obviously I'm projecting my desires/expectations here, but the show seemed to build them up a lot and leave me frustrated/disappointed with how they were resolved.
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Episode 59

Recap: Greed Island is sold for tens of billions of jini, beyond even what Killua's brother can pay. But the buyers are looking for pro hunters to play the game. G/K are unable to impress the buyers, however, so they work on developing their Nen further to the point where they can be chosen.

Killua's electrical powers look fun. I love the way the guy reacts to information when he hears it. His rivalry with/romantic interest in Gon is great.

More of Gon being great. This last arc mostly made him the straight-up shounen good-guy hero with inflexible morals and whatnot again. But here, he demonstrates that even at the age of 12 and with naivete as his defining trait, he has some wisdom, restraint, and guile to him. Specifically here, he has the presence of mind not to tell Kurapika that Phinks and Feitan are still in town.

(Speaking of, how funny is Phinks and Feitan just deciding to join the game for the hell of it? Feitan especially is just so stoic about it.)

I'm glad we're getting back to some foundational Nen techniques now. Kurapika actually describes his process for getting good with chains, and I feel like if we'd seen at least a bit of that, that could of reduced the sting of his broken abilities. For now, Kurapika is sticking with Neon and co. (and we know that Leorio isn't a full-on Nen user yet), so this arc will instead feature some perky little twelve-year-old girl (instead of Kurapika's disturbingly accurate drag outfit).

It's always nice to see Wing. I love how joyful and flippant the music becomes during his scene.

This episode features a lot of Gon attempting to use his noggin, which inevitably results in steam literally coming out his ears. It's a hilarious visual, and there's a point where Killua is in a different room and realizes what's going on with Gon because he hears the steam.

The new ED has real potential. Gonna take some time to become accustomed to this new opening sequence, though.
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I'm not super crazy for Greed Island now, but it has a unique "feel" to it that was quite refreshing when I first watched it.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TRs6cMZkQY" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8t6HJ5aPYg" data-time="

Second and Third opening of the 1999 anime that covers the Yorknew arc. I think they work better for the tone and pacing of the arc. Can't find the proper aspect ratio for the second opening unfortunately.
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Those songs seem grim! I guess if I were to watch 20 episodes of them, I'd get into them, but they're also not insta-hits with me.

I kinda like the 90s art direction a bit more, but hard to say without actually seeing the show.
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also, we've already learned this arc won't give us any ging clues :(
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