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REVIEW: Hunter × Hunter Episodes 53-65 Streaming


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Thatguy3331



Joined: 18 Feb 2012
Posts: 1799
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:20 am Reply with quote
The anime really made me appreciate the phantom Troupe arc more than when I read it in the manga and I have to agree with the approach the studio is taking to does well in letting the writing really shine.

I also have a confession to make: I never really cared for Greed Island...

I don't hate the arc or anything but I never really gave a damn about the game's rules and really it never felt like a game to mespoiler[Given the reval later its quite something] I do find myself seeing them as less of a bog as I did in the manga, but even still I don't care for it as much as others. What I really liked in this arc however, which saved me was how much further we went into nen and how Gon and Killua Trained and Improved and show off their hard work withspoiler[the dodgeball game and Bomber's group] in any other series I would have found it boring, but thanks to the way Togashi set the system up I consider it very interesting and it makes the acctual fights all the more engaging.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when we finally arrive atspoiler[the chimera ant arc] the freshest of the fresh material just waiting to be animated...
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malvarez1



Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 2089
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:46 am Reply with quote
Wow, I loved this review, it was spot on!

As someone who very much enjoys the Hunter x Hunter manga, and the original anime series/OVA, I really need to watch this version!
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Otaking09



Joined: 24 Feb 2009
Posts: 637
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 3:27 am Reply with quote
One of the smartest made shonen ever. I really need to check out the original series first to compare pacing differences (Questions for those who've seen it:spoiler[Does it really have filler? How does the pacing compare to Madhouse's?]).

I practically gave up on "tiny boy" shonens after Naruto but man.... Togashi is like the Muira of SJ; he just knows how to be.... *forgive the fanboy-ish satisfaction hyperbole* timeless!
Like Carl said, the sheer tension from spoiler[both Gon's team and Phantom Troupe's] made it one of my favorite shonen arcs ever. With spoiler[Kurapika vs. Ubogin] one of the best shonen fights ever.

Speaking of Naruto.... spoiler[does anyone feel like Naruto's plot was crudely ripped off from HxH, Naruto's classic cultural appeal aside?
The Chunin Exams greatly mirror the Hunter Exam
Sasuke's clan murder revenge mirroring Kurapika's]

Not sure if I'm late on this realization - this is my first HxH exposure - but it's curious...
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Blarg Monster



Joined: 12 Apr 2012
Posts: 27
Location: Some place called the Land of...
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 5:12 am Reply with quote
@Otaking - Yes the original series did have some filler, but I must say I did not read the manga and had no idea until years later that there was filler. The part that turned out to be filler was my 2nd favorite part of the hunter exam. It played out smoothly and really made the hunting island exam and the fight spoiler[between Hanzo and Gon] much darker IMO.

The pacing is a lot slower in the beginning, but once the exam starts I don't feel like the pace changes so much as the new series just leaves out a lot of fun character/atmosphere building scenes.

The Naruto comparisons are pretty common, and are so much more glaring when you watch the '99 series because the original Gon is voiced by...... Naruto himself (herself), Junko Takeuchi.
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Hybridbloodszak



Joined: 30 Nov 2012
Posts: 31
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:39 am Reply with quote
Hunter x Hunter rocks! Can't freaking wait for the next arc when it makes the Yorknew arc look like a tea party
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Otaking09



Joined: 24 Feb 2009
Posts: 637
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:45 am Reply with quote
@Blarg Monster
Right.... forgot about that. I mean between the
Quote:
Akatsuki vs. Phantom Troupe
similarities and the
Quote:
Nen vs. ninja magic based on personality
I can't stop myself now from seeing Naruto as anything but ripped.
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Divineking



Joined: 03 Jul 2010
Posts: 1297
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:41 am Reply with quote
Otaking09 wrote:
I can't stop myself now from seeing Naruto as anything but ripped.


To be fair to Kishimoto, I think he actually admitted at some point, that he drew some inspiration from Hunter X Hunter. Of course Hunter X Hunter is definently the better written of the two.

This review was pretty spot on though. I can see how someone looking for a shonen action fest would be kind of disappointed in how the Phantom Troupe arc ends, but Togashi really built up the tension for that ending, and the way he did it made that ending the only one that would really make sense. Greed Island has also proven itself to be pretty fun so far. It does feel like a glorified training arc at times but it's headed towards a darker direction and there's some pretty awesome stuff going on.

Of course for those really hoping for more battles and what not, the next arc plays that stuff a bit more straight, though it does have the darkest material of the entire story. Can't wait till we get it in April.
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Zhou-BR



Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Posts: 1460
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 1:49 pm Reply with quote
The end of the Yorkshin arc is a great example of how Togashi is never afraid of not giving readers what they want, as long as it's what's right for the story.

The Greed Island arc, on the other hand, is a bit self-indulgent, but I can't help admiring how thoroughly Togashi conceived every single aspect of the game. He would be a hell of a game designer if he weren't a manga author.
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sainta



Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Posts: 989
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 1:51 pm Reply with quote
The ending was kind of anticlimatic in this version. The OVAs managed to make big focus in the music, people's reactions to at least make the end of Kurapica's revenge credible. Based on the manga it is impossible to tell if Kurapica will or won't continue with his arc. It was almost as if Togashi got tired and decided to move to Greed Island.
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Raneth



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 5:53 pm Reply with quote
I did find the end of the Yorknew arc to be a bit on the sudden side, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I'm also enjoying Greed Island so far, especially now that spoiler[Hisoka has joined the party.]

I'm not familiar with the manga or with the original series, so everything is shiny and new to me. I really appreciate the way this series is paced, too. Naruto especially had a lot of battles between one-shot characters I didn't care about, especially during the exam arcs. HunterxHunter just gets stuff done.

I am hoping to see more of Leorio one day, though. I mean, we had a (short) Killua based arc, a Kurapika based arc, and Gon is the main character, but Leorio has been relegated to the background for a while.
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Thatguy3331



Joined: 18 Feb 2012
Posts: 1799
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:07 pm Reply with quote
Raneth wrote:
I did find the end of the Yorknew arc to be a bit on the sudden side, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I'm also enjoying Greed Island so far, especially now that spoiler[Hisoka has joined the party.]

I'm not familiar with the manga or with the original series, so everything is shiny and new to me. I really appreciate the way this series is paced, too. Naruto especially had a lot of battles between one-shot characters I didn't care about, especially during the exam arcs. HunterxHunter just gets stuff done.

I am hoping to see more of Leorio one day, though. I mean, we had a (short) Killua based arc, a Kurapika based arc, and Gon is the main character, but Leorio has been relegated to the background for a while.

Trust me: HE WILL BE BACK
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Keichitsu0305





PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:17 pm Reply with quote
The end of the Yorknew arc was well-done in my opinion, possibly my favorite arc so far. Kuripika and the gang realized that that Chrollo and the Spiders had a bond that went beyond mindless killers and they also felt sorrow for the loss of their members. The scene wherespoiler[ Pakunoda uses her Memory Bullets (knowing that she was disobeying Kuripika's rule) to alert the other Spiders about what had taken place] was much sadder than I expected. The arc gave the Spiders plenty of time and personality for the audience to remember them for future episodes which rarely happens for villain characters.

Not too thrilled about the Greed Island arc; the training exercises were fun to watch but I really don't care about the game itself. I applaud Togashi for the many details put into the game itself but I much rather play it myself than watch Gon, Killua, and Biscuit go through it. Also, I liked how when spoiler[the Spiders figured out that the game was really set in the real world, but, the Game Master telling them to play by the rules] was pretty cool. They could have easily gotten past him but, seeing them play fair showed good sportsmanship.
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bleachj0j



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 926
PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:59 pm Reply with quote
Keichitsu0305 wrote:
the Game Master telling them to play by the rules[/spoiler] was pretty cool. They could have easily gotten past him but, seeing them play fair showed good sportsmanship.


Easily? Heck no.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 12:04 am Reply with quote
bleachj0j wrote:
Keichitsu0305 wrote:
the Game Master telling them to play by the rules[/spoiler] was pretty cool. They could have easily gotten past him but, seeing them play fair showed good sportsmanship.


Easily? Heck no.

I was gonna say something about this, too, but my knowledge of HxH isn't all that great. My impression, though, was that the Spiders decided it was too risky to engage that guy, and instead thought it would be the better part of valor to enter the game normally.

Remember that they believed that someone capable of removing Nen was on the island: would they really have let someone they could defeat "easily" get in their way if it meant a delay in finding a way to fix Chollo? I don't think so.
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tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 2183
PostPosted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 5:06 am Reply with quote
Hunter X Hunter has been something I look forward to every week. I loved the Yorknew arc. I guess I"m an outlier, since I really liked the way the story arc ended. It seemed somehow more plausible than the way it plays out in most shonen adventures.

I especially liked how there was enough backstory about the Spiders presented through the arc, that by the end of it you kind of had a better understanding of how and why they were what they were. Basically, the fact that they spoiler[came from a society that was a trash dump, where each one of them was unceremoniously discarded as if they were garbage, made it easier to understand their contempt for the society that made that reality. It also called attention to their subtle familial loyalty, since they were all discarded by the world and only had each other. Nothing else was of much consequence in their insulated microcosm]

It helped me view the Spiders as more than just villains. Besides, Chrollo is such an interesting and awesome villain. We got to know him just enough to make us curious about what makes him tick. I don't know if the intention was to "save him for later" or anything, but I can't help but wonder if spoiler[his character will grow in some way as a result of being powerless]

Keichitsu0305 wrote:
Not too thrilled about the Greed Island arc; the training exercises were fun to watch but I really don't care about the game itself. I applaud Togashi for the many details put into the game itself but I much rather play it myself than watch Gon, Killua, and Biscuit go through it.


If some game designer made this a console game, I sure would play the hell out of it.
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