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「イツワリ × ノ × イカリ」 (Itsuwari × no × Ikari)
“A × False × Rage”
That apology didn’t really sound sincere to me…
It’s hard to believe that there’s been complaining about the latest run of episodes of Hunter X Hunter, but there has. In fact, it goes back to the days when the manga first introduced this part of the story. I suppose it’s a testament to how faithfully Koujina-sensei is adapting that the complaints are largely the same now – it’s rare that you see an anime criticized for adapting a manga too faithfully. I’ve religiously avoided reading H x H until after the relevant chapters have been animated and I consider these last two months as good as any the series has had, so for me the complaints seem to be a product of false expectations of what kind of writer Togashi-sensei is more than anything. But those opinions are no less valid than mine – just as different as they could possibly be.
I would hope that an episode like this one would be more satisfactory to those dissatisfied with the approach Togashi and Madhouse have taken, for while it wasn’t wall to wall shounen battles it was largely action-driven. And damn, was it tense – though pretty much every episode lately has been unbelievably tense. In hindsight I think a large part of that tension spring from how much of the narrative is playing out inside the characters’ heads – the “Narrator” role gets all the pub (and hate) but the internal narration of the cast is even more important to keep the audience in the loop, and at the same time make us feel the extreme agitation and unease they’re feeling. And yes, that includes the Chimera Ants.
Another product of this approach is that it really plays up the strengths and weaknesses of each character – their thoughts and feelings giving us a greater understanding than the characters have themselves. This episode largely played out through the perspective of three characters – Youpi, Knuckle and Ikalgo. Yes, we saw others – Morel and Pouf’s battle was looked in on, and much to my surprise Killua played a small but crucial role in the end (kudos to last week’s preview for being unusually circumspect in not tipping us off that it was coming). But it was really about Youpi – up until the last few eps by far the least explored of the Royal Guard – and the Bro Squad.
What did this episode tell us about Youpi? Well, for starters I have to give him credit for adapting with incredible speed – obviously a frightening hallmark of his species. Could any human go from being controlled by their own rage to controlling it for purposes of deception as quickly as Youpi has? Of course not. Youpi has always been the most direct of the Royal Guard, never asking too many questions and intentionally avoiding overthinking. But here he recognizes an opportunity that requires a skill that’s completely different than his usual repertoire, and he actually pulls it off brilliantly. I thought to myself that the fact that he was so new at this subterfuge business might be his undoing, but I’m not sure anyone could have anticipated the attack that thwarted his plan. Still – one could argue that it was Youpi’s inexperience in deception that allowed him to be deceived in the act of deceiving – and it’s impossible not to think all the way back to the Hunter exam, when Gon (still new at all this himself back then) was ambushed while in the act of ambushing Hisoka. What goes around comes around, and old themes repeat themselves.
On the other side we have Ikalgo and Knuckle, who’re so alike in many ways – so human despite the fact that one of them isn’t actually a human. Ikalgo continues his quest to locate Palm, and Brovoda has followed him to the basement to confirm his suspicions. Ikalgo has no way to know where he slipped up, so he’s really flying blind here. The quest for Palm nets nothing more than a message from Palm (written in Nen) that confirms she’s fled Area B and headed for the palace – the most-expected result, but not what Ikalgo was expecting to see. The more immediate problem is Brovoda, who unwittingly tips off Ikalgo to the mistake he’s made because he assumes it doesn’t matter, as he’s about to kill Flutter anyway. He does “kill” Flutter, not realizing the real turncoat remains behind – and Borovoda seems to have made a huge mistake in descending Bizeff’s elevator without knowing about the passcode system. But for Ikalgo a major problem remains – he knows now that “Hagya” (which Borovda himself uses to refer to Leol after he blasts Flutter to scraps) is wrong, but not what the new name is.
As usual, the episode saves the biggest drama for last. Knuckle is impossible not to love – he’s just such a straight-up guy. An idiot? Maybe – but one who knows he’s being an idiot and can’t stop himself anyway. The whole notion of going after Youpi instead of waiting him out in foolish to begin with, and Knuckle knows it. His bro-nologue as he’s attacking Youpi is a truly great moment – funny, incredibly tense and very sad. He’s walking right into Youpi’s trap, of course, and some part of him seems to sense it as his time slows to a crawl. “Wow!” he marvels, “I’m amazing myself! I don’t think my mind has ever moved this fast.”
Knuckle deconstructs himself completely as this scene plays out, displaying the full range of his fallibilities. He muses that he never even liked Shoot that much, yet he’s risking everything to land a punch for the sake of Shoot’s honor – yet, that’s Knuckle to a “T”. He’s a bro’s bro, too kind for his own good, a sweet soul who has more faith in the fairness of the universe than someone in his position should ever have. When the nanosecond when Youpi reveals the trap happens (and the BGM changes), Knuckle is convinced he’s about to die and it’s very easy to believe he’s right. It’s yet another shiver-inducing moment of raw intensity in this arc, one earned by Togashi’s willingness to go where few mangaka would be willing to go. Knuckle’s thoughts in that moment reveal him for exactly what he is, flaws and all – probably on-balance the most decent and innocent person we’ve met in a brutal and pitiless world of killers.
Killua isn’t the only one who makes a surprise appearance at this point – though “appearance” isn’t exactly the right word for what Meleoron does. His ability has been used dramatically exactly as it has strategically – unpredictably and with great effect. No question, Youpi bested Knuckle here – Knuckle says it in so many words – but if anyone ever deserved to be bailed out, he does. Killua proves himself a magnificent bastard here, striking at the perfect moment, paralyzing Youpi with a lightning bolt far bigger than we’ve seen him use up to now. Killua may be a young boy and Knuckle a seasoned adult, but too much of Killua’s innocence has already been lost. It would be wrong to call him unsentimental – indeed, he can be hurt very deeply if it’s Gon doing the hurting. But Killua still has a core of cold steel inside him and it reveals itself in moments like this.
As Killua silently (that silence is quite conspicuously showcased) strides towards Youpi he tells him “Sorry, but what’s about to happen is just me blowing off some steam.” As much of a badass as Killua is I wonder if he’s taking Youpi too lightly here, but given than Knuckle was able (thanks to Kil) to land eight blows, Youpi should be in dire straits indeed at the moment. This is a ripple radiating outwards from the moment Gon said those cruel words to Killua – a moment, it seems, that will make its effects felt in many ways subtle and gross, for a long time to come. I’ve said in the past that both Gon and Killua have their moments (and that “ripple” moment was one, for both) where they reveal themselves to be the fragile children they still are. But in Killua’s stature and presence here and Knuckle’s emotions both before and after Killua intervened, it’s impossible to escape the feeling that the man is in many ways far more innocent than the boy. And that does nothing but make the both of them all the more endearing.
Preview
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Am I the only one who yelled at Ikalgo to run over Brovada with the truck? Killua looking epic in the preview. Another magnificent episode, especially the last few minutes, that was intense. Knuckle’s inner monologue about how the thinks so fast was funny xD
That did occur to me, but for the moment Ikalgo was still thinking about how he could best prolong the ruse that he’s playing for the home team. If he convinces Brovada, that’s the best way to do it.
KILLUAAA!!!
This is such a satisfying episode! There was so much intense action but still has lots of feel! Could Killua be any more badass, that was some awesome entry. I am so glad Knuckle survived,it would be a travesty to kill off such a nice guy. I can’t wait for the next episode to see more Killua in action…
A dragonfly corpse driving in a dragonfly-shaped map
During the last part with Knuckle I got so much Onizuka-sensei vibes lol
Lol at Knuckle running away and being ecstatic about landing all those hits on Youpi.
finally killua goes SSJ @ next episode preview
I can’t say I can blame some fans for how the past two months of this show has been going so far with the narration. Their dragging out every little thing and focusing too much on a character’s inner monologue, but at least the narration has died down with the last few episodes. Despite all that, I’m still gonna stick with it til the end just to see how it all plays out.
My only real complaints is how cold Gon has been acting. I’m just not used to him being this way, especially if it hurts Killua. There’s also the Moral vs. Pouf battle that’s not really going anywhere, but most of all: WHERE THE HECK IS PALM?! Even if she’s dead, the least they could show is how she died!
Palm is likely dead but its unconfirmed as of yet. We know she got caught by Pitou’s En.
But who knows, for HxH there’s always the red herrings – we are to assume she’s dead but she might be used for some plot later on. Otherwise we would have definitely seen her death back to when she was caught.
Well I hope they reveal her fate soon. I’m fine with not every scene being an action scene, but if they keep don’t shift focus to a different character not involved with fighting Youpi soon…
I understand the criticism, but there’s just so much plot that it would be a disservice to not tell the story properly. what i’m going to do is re-watch this arc all in one sitting, and it will be awesome.
until then, milk away madhouse, milk away.
It does a body good.
(makes cow milking motion, gin no saji style)
Watch the ending credits sequence.
And a wild negima sensei appears, only bluer :P.
Great episode, the “last moments” of knuckle were great, and that transition with him totally happy and not believing he is still alive, amazing.
Someone copied Franklin’s double machine gun. But it seems Mr. Lobster’s is weaker, I think.
To my favorite Action anime producer,
Madhouse,
please make a remake of Eyeshield 21..
THIS SHOW IS JUST UNBELIEVABLE !!!
Knuckle was like : I HIT HIM AND STILL ALIVE HAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!!
The BADASS award goes to KILLUA certainly
and i personally think that Pouf has out played Morel magnificently !
If they fight , it will be really fun watching two geniuses brawl ” for a change ”
note : still no word about the king and Neteryo ……
The narration is overkill (you won’t find anyone enjoying this narration on the Internet except for this blog), otherwise they’re doing a great job.
Yeah, lots of people on this blog, LiA, ASF, and MAL (and those are just the sites I happen to browse) like the narration. You feel differently and so do many others – that’s fine. But don’t try and paint it as if it’s universally agreed, because it’s just disagreement.
Whatever dude. Every blog post you blow your load over this anime. It’s clear you just choose to see what you want to see.
I disagree Mark, there are loads of people who like the constant narration. Personally I’m split 50/50. There are moments when I can understand it’ll be extremely difficult to convey certain points in battle with narration but I do think there are other times when narration could have been avoided and exposition could have come through the characters themselves.
Thankfully, the last few eps have had less heavy narration. But I don’t think it’s overkill.
No, you merely refuse to acknowledge that not everyone agrees with you and and I’m pointing out that you made a factually inaccurate statement.
I like the narration a lot, as you might’ve noticed if you have followed Enzo’s blogs and their comments. So that alone makes your statement invalid.
Why is this series sooooooooooo goood. The Breaking Bad of Shonen Jump anime strikes again. Killua never ceases to amaze. Makes Hitsugaya from Bleach look like a bitch!. And him saving Knuckle is genius and I though Knuckle was gonna bite the dust. I was on the edge of my seat.
i AGREE soooo good! too bad it’ll be over soon..but anyway I got soooooo Salty the other night when i saw one of the nurses streaming this episode from the pc..i watched for a min thinking “heh this is a earlier episode” THEN i quickly shielded my eyes in horror discovering that it was the current ep i have not seen yet…….yeah, I LIKE IT THAT MUCH!!!
The narrator is being overused at this point. Also, they have created HUGE expectation for this invasion plan and, quite frankly, everything has been being pretty boring.
What did we expect? Epic battles.
What did we get? Characters doing nothing or running around the palace.
Yeah… LOL.
this is the build up ( yeah it is taking too long )
but the climax is supposed to be EPIC !!!
if it does reach the climax of course
If you really need an “epic battle”, wait for Netero x Meruem. However, this is not a battle the Hunters have actual chance of winning. The Royal Guard are simply too strong.
exactly what i said in the last episode , got a few thousand dislikes -_-
especially in morel’s case , neteryo too maybe in some trouble
totally agree with you. it wouldve been epic if after the first episode when they were in slow mo entering the palace after that was a fast pace action episode. Do we really have to dedicate an episode for side characters to hear each thought? filler episodes.
now its meh. no action again. like waiting for fireworks and ending up as a dud. Lousy episodes, very lousy.
Hunter x hunter failed with this narration thing. All of the episodes since they invaded couldve been summarized in 2 episodes.
Sure, you can say its to build up climax, but you can only do that for a few episodes. And right now its dragging. Waiting one whole week just to hear the wolf guys paranoid thoughts or whatever their thoughs are.
Killua used Thunderbolt. It’s not very effective.
Knuckle used Comet Punch. It’s supper effective!
Knuckle runs away.
Killua used Glare: https://randomc.net/image/Hunter%20X%20Hunter/Hunter%20X%20Hunter%20-%20118%20-%20Large%2037.jpg
Youpi has been paralyzed.
This joke may be a little late, but I’ve been dying to say it ever since Killua yelled out thunderbolt. Would help if there were more pictures though.