Hunter X Hunter Chimera Ant Arc Episodes 89-92

Wholly Cow. Jeezus Christ. My Goodness Gracious. Heck, Man.

Ants. ANTS!

This batch started out a bit slow. I do think, pacing wise, 89 should've been included in the previous batch. But Does It Even Matter? I audibly said "No" when I realized I was at the end of 92. Because the ride I was just on was EXHILARATINGGGGGG

I'm sitting here, Amazed, at what this show just did. What this show is SEtting Up! How did 3 (technically 4) episodes have That Much Payoff! And still set up the next, I dunno 40 or so, episodes SO WELL?

Yeah, the fights were neat. It's fun to get characterization from Knuckle and Shoot(?) (doesn't matter if I remember their names they will Not be alive after the next batch), and bringing their neat Nen tricks was fun enough.
I should add, I'm pretty sure that at some point a few years ago, one Austin Walker posted on twitter part of the final Knuckle fight? I think? I've gone into this series almost completely blind, but I did watch at least part of that.
Okay I found it https://x.com/austin_walker/status/1554557950554939392
And it is so much funnier now that I've got context. I definitely watched this, but at the very least I didn't remember what Knuckle even looked like by the time I started watching. So. I guess take this year+ long experiment with a grain of salt knowing that I watched that over 2 years ago.
Anyway the reveal of who won was really good too, although we've yet to see how discount Sadako will respond.

ANYWAY ANTS. I cheered when we finally cut back to the Ants because I am adoring what they're doing with this part of the story. I am gripped in a way no other part of the series has managed thus far. Interesting to hear that some people dropped off during the Ants, because truly this is the show at its best for me.

It is amazing to see how the politics have shifted with the arrival of our new Short King. He is Amazing. I hate him! I cannot wait to see what happens!
Like, it is amazing that, at the top of 89 we all agreed the Queen should die. But by the end of 92 we're sad that she did! And now the ants are spreading like.... ants...

I love Gon and [bubble gum girl]'s foolish belief that Kite is still around (in the way they remember). And she definitely signed her (and probably the other two in the driver's seat's) death warrants by giving her sad backstory. Why'd you ask her that Killua? Probably that fast one, huh!

My God This Show. I can't wait to see what Short King does. I cannot wait to see what Colt and That Wild Thing That Happened gets up to. I cannot wait to see this next Knuckle Shoot fight. Who is Netero going after? How will Killua protect Gon? Will he really leave!? I want all these answers! I want them soon! I'll get them in about 2 weeks! Or at least some of them! aaaah!

Hey Cohost. This is actually my last one here. As a reminder, you can find the continuation of this on My Tumblr
And hey, it's slightly dormant at the moment, but if you've enjoyed my rough thoughts on the 2011 anime Hunter X Hunter, imagine if I gave myself more time to write, properly edit, and verbalize these thoughts as a part of a well edited video package? Yeah it's mostly about video games, but I hope you'll give my YouTube a chance
I'm sad that I can't finish this here. I'm happy that I was at least able to go out with some amazing episodes. Goodbye Eggbug. Peace out everyone. I hope you'll take the time to find me elsewhere. If not, thanks for being on this part of the ride.

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But before I get into that. It's likely that this will be my last HxH post on this website.
If you've read, liked, or even commented anything on these, thank you. So often I feel like I'm posting into the void, but here it really felt like there were some people around.
That being said, since day one I've been cross posting these on my My Tumblr (@Mario8th), so if you've decided to head back to that hellsite, you know where to find me. I also have a rarely used Bsky where I'm @Mario8th too.
I'm going to miss Cohost. I'm going to miss posting here. To everyone, thank you. To Egg Bug, farewell. And to all the children, Congratulations!

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God I love Bisky, she brings such a fun dynamic to Hunter x Hunter (episodes 86-88), and I really love her new look in this set! Especially the new dress.

And now we've got a fun rival Josuke/Okuyasu! (I understand the pompadoured delinquent in a school uniform is a well tread trope in Japanese media) (I swear to god if anything happens to those dogs)

Not sure how I feel about discount Sadako. Her duel personalities feel kinda wrote, and I especially dislike how she's fallen for a 12 year old boy.
I continue to like how Gon is able to make anyone he interacts with fall in love with him (platonic)(except for Killua where it is romantic) but this particular instance of fall in love (romantic) isn't sitting right.

And then every once in a while we're reminded that Ants are in this show. New Cat™ continues to be wonderful. I wish Keith didn't spoil their power at the end of the latest Media Club Plus episode, because the slow reveal throughout these episodes would've hit even harder. New Cat™ sitting over an ice block? Running Blood Tests with complex computers? That last scene with the diegetic violin?! Good stuff!

And the Gon moment teased in the intro, I'm excited to see that finally happen when he realized what's been going on in the NGO. (almost called in NEH there)

Speaking of NGO, I love that Netero has taken the role of being unsure this will go good for the Hunters, as well as the strange Matrix room he's found himself in for most of this. Not sure what Big Guy's bunnies were for. Also, that scene had a strange cut where New Cat™ is talking to Butterfly Boy, saying they don't know what they want their power to be, then cutting straight to them pondering the cube, and I don't think it worked well. Probably was a time constraint, but still.

Speaking of not working well, this set of episodes cut off in a weird place. Obviously I haven't watched the show so I don't know if the next "mini arc" would've pushed this set to like 6 or 7 episodes, but leaving it at Netero's grievances and not revealing Gon's weakness felt very abrupt.

Regardless, I'm still very much enjoying these ants, and I keep finding myself wanting to watch the next batch right away. And bringing Bisky back was wonderful, wild how her and the greed island musical motifs feel almost nostalgic already. I'm going to miss her when she inevitably doesn't want to get eated by ants and gets the heck outta there.

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Wow, the Chimera Ant Arc Is Not Pulling Its Punches, Is It. I uh... Wow. (HxH 83-85)

There was a lot of good visual storytelling in this group of episodes. The camera and color grading would alter during Kite's inner monologues. There were some fun match-cuts, like when New Cat™ was first introduced. In fact the entire scene when New Cat™ interacted with Bunny guy had some really good things going on. With the instant turn to meagerness on Bunny's face, the metaphorical size of New Cat™'s hand. The absolutely Brutal scene where New Cat™ was Digging Around With The Antennas!?

And speaking of great Match Cuts. Y'know. The one where Gon is literally too bright for Killua to look at (Killua Down Bad for Gon). To New Cat™... y'know...

During the earlier arcs, I was much more cavalier with how I wanted to write my thoughts afterwards. I was fine describing the culmination of the Hunter Exam or York New arcs because, despite this show being a much more interesting take on the genre, it is still Shonen.

Despite Gon still being the prototypical Shonen protagonist, the show itself has altered. It was subtle at first. They did it with minor characters. People designed for this, with the most obvious flags in existence. Then they did it with side characters. People we'd recognize, but would ultimately get over. Both were intertwined with a tonal shift in the musical choices, cinematography, and color grading. Everything's a tad darker. The music more ominous. More scenes were at night. Then it's raining. Then there's another bad roll.

(tbh though, whatever team animates the next HxH anime, after the mange ultimately concludes. Maybe introduce Kite at the beginning of the show as the manga did. HUGE fumble on their part. These episodes would've worked so much better if both we and Gon knew him throughout the entire run.)

Which is all to say, I have no idea where this show is going. I never in the slightest imagined something happening to Kurapika during his fight against Uvo. I knew Leorio was going to get his hunter license one way or another. I do not think they'd have plot armor in the Chimera Ant Arc. I'm not sure anyone outside of Gon has that anymore.

Also, a friend mentioned that New Cat™ was generally gendered with they/them (cool!), but the sub I'm watching uses he/him (a little jarring, tbh). I cannot look up anything on this matter.

I'm also very much looking forward to the Nen stuff. Seems bad!

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Difficulty Level: Impossible

And then the rest of the episodes (HxH 79-82) happened.

Jesus Christ I don't even know what to say

I sat through four whole episodes, mouth agape, entirely aghast at what Togashi and co did with this arc

A half of an entire episode was devoted to the horrible no good backstory of a character We Never Meet. We never even SEE

Not only are these eclectic weirdos already super duper actually people, but that fact is now causing strife among the factions

And Kite telling Gon and Killua that this will be a great way to get stronger is like, oh my god the adults/teachers in this world truly suck don't they. I imagine Netero and the other (non-ant) characters from the intro will be joining after Kite sent the rest of his team to safety (Thank goodness Banana is safe, I hope it remains that way).

But
But
But they killed...

In my post about JoJo one refrain I focused on was how Hunter X Hunter didn't treat its violence and death as horrifying as Jojo's did.

And in a large way it still doesn't. I don't feel for the D^2 gang any more than I did when the Mafia Community was being slayed.

It took a while, but it seems like the show is done pulling its punches.

I saw the flags. I knew what we were getting into. But when they brought our friends from the Hunter Exam back. I guess I was hoping for something better.

Maybe it's just the state I'm in right now (a little bit sick and so hopelessly tired) but oh my god Bug Girl hit me hard.

And from my last post:
"Can ants learn Nen? We've heard of Nen Beasts, but can there be Beast's Nen?"
Wow They Sure Did Get There Fast, Huh!?!?

It's in part due to my fatigue, but I think it's telling how I'm watching these homework episodes earlier and earlier each week. Still truly no idea how this arc is going to go on for like 60 more episodes, but if it keeps up at this pace I think I can safely toggle from cautious to pretty darn excited to find out.

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