Hunter X Hunter Episode 148 And Final Thoughts | The Glorio Blog

Recap

Killua and Gon part ways, perhaps for good given the current pace of the manga. Ging acts like a father for the first time in the series. The fanbase is still in tears after reaching the end of an eventful three years.

Euri’s thoughts

Before jumping into my thoughts on the series as a whole, let’s start with the final animated arc. I’m sure that Madhouse were very happy to see that just before the series went back on hiatus after the beginning of the anime, Togashi had concluded this arc perfectly. That’s right, all of the scenes we see in the final episode, including that creepy one of Meruem and Komugi, were genuinely in the final chapter of that arc. A bit suspicious that he would put it back on hiatus a single chapter after that, but hey, I’m not here to judge! For the episode at hand, and the finale of an emotional, three-year animated journey, it couldn’t have been better written. Killua is happy showing his sister around the world she was locked away from, and Gon finally gets to meet with Ging. Seeing the two of them lose track of time atop the World Tree was extremely satisfying, and just what Gon needed after surviving hellish trials just to meet the guy. I’m not talking about climbing the tree of course, I’m talking about the 99 scenarios in which Gon could have died looking for a chance to meet with what might be his only biological parent.

As for the rest of the arc, I have mixed feelings. Voting for a new chairman dragged on a little more than I’d have liked, and I’m still pretty disappointed that we didn’t learn more about the Zodiacs. Cheadle, Ging and Pariston are the only characters that we’ve really got a feel for, with the other nine being relegated to the One Piece lookalike corner. I’m sure that Togashi has big plans for them in the grand scheme of things, but for now, I part the show pretty indifferent towards the lot of them. The other half of the arc followed Killua and his plan to heal Gon with the help of Alluka, and assuming you can forgive her for being an obvious deus ex machina, it was just the story we needed alongside the voting. Alluka, as it turns out, is an absolutely fascinating character. Not least because of the interesting show of gender identity and how the other members of the Zoldyck family react to it, but also because of her ability. Because of this strange power, Killua finally has an edge over his psycho brother Illumi, but the best thing about it is that this isn’t even a factor in Killua’s thoughts. Alluka is never considered a weapon by Killua, and this shows us just how far he has come as a character. Brain needle or not, he is the guy who tore out a prisoners heart without a second thought.

Speaking of characters, I feel this is perhaps the area where Hunter x Hunter excels the most. We have Gon, our protagonist who for the most part only aims to enjoy himself while searching for his father. Killua is his best friend, and while he has a dark past concerning his family and how he was brought up, he’s just a young kid. Yes, he has a few moments during the show where he imitates Sasuke Uchiha levels of emo, but it never gets so bad that he needs to be carted around in a barrel. Kurapika is more similar to Sasuke, given that he dedicates his life to reclaiming the scarlet eyes of his fallen clan and enacting revenge upon the Phantom Troupe that massacred them. At the same time, Kurapika retains his human qualities and stays an understanding human being around those besides the Spiders, which makes him far more appealing than aforementioned barrel-man. Leorio, while perhaps not getting the screen time he deserves, acts almost like a surrogate parent to the other three even if Kurapika doesn’t really need it. He definitely helped Gon and Killua mature during the Hunter Exam days, so I think he’s due a little more credit.

One of my favourite things about the series thus far is that there is no overarching villain. Gon didn’t leave home to save the world, rather to just have fun in it and deal with things as they come. Each arc tends to introduce someone you can call a villain, but these are all very standalone and don’t impact the world as a whole. The chimera ants are an obvious exception to this, but even then the story was not so much about saving/protecting the world from a serious threat, but rather as a revenge story accompanied by a boat load of character development. Even when that arc concluded, Gon is back to his own adventures, and likely would continue that way if he hadn’t bumped into his father. If the manga picks up again, there’s every chance that one of these Dragonball-esque enemies might show up, but I believe that Togashi has had enough experience between this and Yu Yu Hakusho to know how to handle that properly. In fact, the chimera ant arc is testament to that.

The closest we get to a recurring enemy is the Phantom Troupe, and while they will certainly be involved in the story going forwards (assuming Togashi gets around to writing it) there is far too much mystery about them to really consider them a huge threat. Kurapika has his reasons for hating them, but Gon and Killua certainly aren’t going to go out of their way to do something about them. In fact, we’ve already seen the Troupe around Gon and Killua without Kurapika, and they had a pretty reasonable conversation. To me, the Phantom Troupe are definitely hiding something big, but at the moment they just seem like a morally corrupt play on Robin Hood. We know they are master thieves, and the scarlet eyes of the Kurta clan were almost definitely taken for a profit, but we just don’t know where the money is going. I want to say that this relates to Meteor City and some grand plan to do good, but their ability to murder innocents and not show remorse might as well debunk that theory. Unfortunately, we may never find out.

There’s also Hisoka, who is by far the most interesting character in the series. We know that he’s psychotic, revelling in fighting and murder for little more than sexual gratification. This is why he wants to fight Chrollo, and why he spares Gon and Killua in the hopes that the fight will be even more satisfying once they’ve matured. It’s why he considered killing Killua anyway, just to enrage Illumi for a better fight. His decisions favour the thrill of a fight over survival, but he’s also incredibly intelligent. We’ve seen him as the loathed bad guy, and yet we also saw him help Gon and Killua during the Greed Island arc, and again while Killua is running from Illumi with Alluka in tow. He’s incredibly hard to predict, and is therefore a perfect character for Hunter x Hunter.

I’m not going to spoil the manga, but I will say a few things about it. There are, as of writing, ten chapters of manga that have not been animated. It’s extremely unlikely that we will get another full anime, and even if the current manga arc is eventually completed, it’s far more likely that we’d get an OVA release of that arc given the frequency in which they are published, if anything at all. With that in mind, you might want to read these chapters and keep up on the manga as and when it comes, both to escape the risk of spoilers, and also to consume what little Hunter x Hunter content remains.

It’s sad to finally be at the point where the anime has no more content to adapt. As far as I’m concerned, Hunter x Hunter shows us just what a shounen series should be. It keeps the ragtag group of rookies that go on adventures. There are still special powers and strength beyond human capabilities. However, it is also fully aware of this, and frequently uses common shounen tropes to sucker punch you with something crazy, over and over again. It takes the peppy, protagonist-centric fights of shows like Naruto and Bleach and throws in just enough realism to not jar with its own world’s system of magical powers and irregularities, morphing fights into psychological battles and placing them in a show that is completely unafraid of killing off its characters. Every fight felt like it had serious consequences, and for me at least, that’s treading in new territory. Just watch that Yorknew fight between Gon and Hisoka (17:10 onwards in episode 35) to see how a shounen fight needs to be done.

Hunter x Hunter is an incredible show. Don’t avoid giving it a chance because of its genre.

Random observations

• I loved that it kept the same opening music for the entire run, and no, I’m not counting the verse switch as a new song!
• On the other hand, I really wanted another Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas song! I’m sure we’ll see a million AMVs using their music while showing big Gon.
• I can’t be that disappointed, because it introduced me to bands like Galneryus and Yuzu.
• I would pay good money for some origin stories. Primarily those of Hisoka, Ging and everyone in the Phantom Troupe.
• I think the Chimera Ant arc is still my favourite. There was some cool stuff in Greed Island, but I know what’s going to be sticking with me for several years…
• Hiding Gotoh’s death from Killua by hiring a Kiriko is understandable, but incredibly sad. Let’s hope he doesn’t stumble upon that gravestone in the garden.
• The short scene with the gungi pieces at the end of episode 148 is a lot more…realistic in the manga.

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