I’m gonna come out and say it: this is my favorite Hunter X Hunter arc. Sure, the Chimera Ant arc is incredible and all! And there’s a lot to love in the Election arc! But this? This, in my opinion, is peak HxH!
Now armed with Nen, Gon and Killua make their way to Yorknew to meet up with Kurapika and Leorio for their anti-Phantom Troupe plan (after a pitstop at Mito’s place, where they get an important clue about Gon’s father, Ging). While they wait to get in touch with Kurapika, they, along with Leorio, try to make a quick buck in order to buy Greed Island, the most expensive game in the world which ties into Ging. Meanwhile, Kurapika, now armed with powerful Nen powers of his own, takes a job with a mafia family that takes him face-to-face with the Troupe.
Holy fucking shit, I am leaving out a lot of stuff! This arc has got so many moving parts all throughout it that it’s impossible to talk about them all without just going through the whole story beat-for-beat! This arc has got so much going for it!
One of my favorite additions is the Phantom Troupe themselves. Each member on their own is fun and likable (which is surprising, considering that they’re murder bandits), with cool and varied powers. But they truly shine when they’re put together; their group dynamic is so casual that it loops around to become frightening. They’re unstoppable and they know it.
Which makes it all the more tense when Kurapika actually manages to scare them.
On the subject of which, I love Kurapika’s powers! His chain abilities are so god damn cool! It feels perfectly in line with his character and lends itself super well to action scenes! And can we talk about the fucking balls this dude has?! He was so confident in his abilities that he brought a god damn shovel to a fight!! That’s metal as hell!
Also, this is the arc that displays the sheer confidence in the writing. This is the first arc where Gon and Killua, the main characters of the story, take a back seat! Sure, they are still plenty relevant. But the overwhelming majority of the screen time is focused on Kurapika! It takes a lot of confidence in your writing to do something like that! It’s very refreshing to see a story like this where the show’s main character is only a small part of it.
In terms of action, there aren’t many straight-up slug fests in this arc. Rather, it’s all about the terrifying cat-and-mouse game between Kurapika and the Troupe. One false step from either side can result in death. It’s incredibly tense every step of the way, especially when unforeseen complications (cough cough Hisoka) pop up.
Although the few normal fights there are here are pretty badass. Watching Killua’s dad and grandpa go against Chrollo is incredibly cool! And Kurapika’s bout with Uvo, while short, is super sweet! When these characters decide to throw down (or just slaughter normal dudes by the dozen), it is awesome!
As for the presentation, it’s about on par with the previous arc. However, I do think that the music here is somehow even better than before! Tracks like ‘Chain Bastard’ and ‘Riot’ are so fucking cool that I consistently listen to them even now, long after watching it! It’s just *chef’s kiss* fantastic!
God, this arc is so good! It’s a dark, tense little tale in the grand story of Hunter X Hunter that I consistently love going back to! Yeah, we all know that the Chimera Ant arc is a masterpiece. But this will always be my favorite arc of the show.
I was gonna wrap this up by saying something like ‘unless the show comes back and the new arc is amazing’, but then I remembered that that won’t happen. And now I’m sad. But you know what’s even more depressing?
Now I need to review Greed Island…
Jonah's Daily Rants 