Hunter x Hunter 2011

[Penner]

Ah damn, already forgot that they did indeed say he gained abilities from eating people.

If he beats the old man and then eats him to gain his powers... damn, lol

[shinta|hikari]

Which won't happen because that would end the story.

[DarthEnderX]

Wait...I just realized. How did Killua get through the NGL scanning process without them finding that needle? Given the nature of the scan and it being the exact kind of thing they'd be looking for.

[Buffalobiian]

Wait...I just realized. How did Killua get through the NGL scanning process without them finding that needle? Given the nature of the scan and it being the exact kind of thing they'd be looking for.

It's an organic, home-grown needle. ;)

[shinta|hikari]

It isn't made of metal but a material that closely resembles it in color, malleability, and hardness.

[DarthEnderX]

It isn't made of metal but a material that closely resembles it in color, malleability, and hardness.I'm sure it's totally that and not that the writer just forgot.

[Kraco]

Am I remembering wrong or wasn't the chairman mentioned to be contacting some people a while back? With no insult to the people present currently, but they don't exactly strike me as super powerful. The man with the huge pipe couldn't even slay Cheetah. I don't really expect Mr. Suit to be so much more powerful than the guy he appeared with. Surely the chairman could at least pull money from some emergency fund and hire Killua's old man to stab the King in the back while he is distracting the ant with an open confrontation.

At least the Hunters were lucky that the King chose a shitty country that likely has very few decent nen users the King could have eaten. The dictator's special guard was such an idiot that eating his brain probably only made the King stupider, not more powerful.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 96 is out!!

[MFauli]

woah, i had almost started crying because there was no new episode earlier. the day just made a 180.

[Kraco]

A useless episode. It didn't even feel canon, although who knows. It made the Phantom Troupe members feel weaker, in my opinion, by removing some of the mystery and giving their techniques stupid names. It doesn't look like they are slaying the ants any quicker than Gon and Killua would. Maybe I was badly overestimating their level of power. A pity. And I miss Uvo.

[Buffalobiian]

The episode was a lot less interesting than I had expected, that's for sure. I didn't even recognise the guy with the golden headpiece because of how stupid it looked.

The Manipulator's fight was best one. Zazzan's right about Feitan hiding things. I don't remember seeing him ever using a single Nen ability at all.

[MFauli]

As I expected from last week´s preview: this felt like a filler episode.

Having the spiders line up against a bunch of already-confirmed weaker ants is just not interesting. what made the chimera-arc so great was that life and death, victory and loss, become unforseeable. sure, gon and killua wont be dying anytime soon, but that´s about it. here i dont see any spider member dying, which makes it boring to watch. it´s like one of those typical shounen setups, where each character gets one opponent only to show off his abilities.
which was another problem: nobody showed any sort of fighting style. they only used one-hit-kill attacks. and kinda broken, too. so what, 15 times? so he´s powerful to infinity, by simply turning his shoulder, say, 100 times? 1000 times? yeah yeah, prep time and such, but still ...

what sucks most is that itll continue next week. i kinda dont want scorpion girl to die. am i mistaken or did her boobs get even bigger? lol

[Buffalobiian]

I'm pretty sure her boobs got bigger.

[MFauli]

I'm pretty sure her boobs got bigger.

dat queen bonus. now make me your king :>

[DarthEnderX]

Man, I'm surprised everyone is so down on this episode.

I liked seeing the Spiders again, even if they aren't in any real danger here.

That said, Shalnark and Killua's sister's power seem like they'd be, I dunno, useless against any Nen user?

They can't penetrate the ant's shells, so they have to aim for the soft spots at the joints. What about Nen users that don't HAVE soft spots because their entire bodies are surrounded by Nen force fields?

Also, boxing mummy is Brook!


It doesn't look like they are slaying the ants any quicker than Gon and Killua would. Maybe I was badly overestimating their level of power. A pity. And I miss Uvo.I might have said that if it didn't look like none of them were being serious.


I didn't even recognise the guy with the golden headpiece because of how stupid it looked.I know right? I was like, "Why is that guy dressed like a Yugioh character?"


so what, 15 times? so he´s powerful to infinity, by simply turning his shoulder, say, 100 times? 1000 times? yeah yeah, prep time and such, but still ...His attack, and it's actual effect, seems almost identical to Gon's Rock.

[Buffalobiian]

That said, Shalnark and Killua's sister's power seem like they'd be, I dunno, useless against any Nen user?

They can't penetrate the ant's shells, so they have to aim for the soft spots at the joints. What about Nen users that don't HAVE soft spots because their entire bodies are surrounded by Nen force fields?

I don't think you can generally just blow off projectile attacks with your aura, even though it summons winds and rips tiles of roofs on occasion.

[DarthEnderX]

I don't think you can generally just blow off projectile attacks with your aura, even though it summons winds and rips tiles of roofs on occasion.You don't have to blow them away, Ken is a solid barrier than surrounds your body. If the Ant's shell can block those attacks, then any halfway powerful Ken barrier should as well.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 97 is out!!

------------------------------------------












Damn it, I was all excited thinking "Wonder what Gon and Killua are going to get up to?", to be reminded 2 seconds in that we're still watching Phantom. At least the girl's fight was interesting (I don't know what kind of net is wide enough for your body but too narrow for your clothes.. maybe it's the whole stickiness thing which somehow doesn't touch her hair or her skin.)

Feitan's one of my favourite Phantom members. His speed was cool, but his Pain Packer ability seems a little out of place for him. That said, it could just be because we've never seen him do anything before (like the body-flute guy).

Zazzan becoming a monster was no fun.

[David75]

That author's got big problems with significant women in his works. Always having them becoming ugly in the end... and even before that, most of them have some male attributes.

I thought is was a tad lame Feitan had a Sun like ultimate attack when the flute guy from last week had a Jupiter one. Felt way too much the same in so close proximity.

[MFauli]

so its not just me who found feitan´s special attack totally out of place for his style. always presented as a super fast sword-fighter, and then ... he summons a sun and stands around guarded in heavy armor? okay.

finally, this fight is over. these last 2 episodes really felt like filler and not much else.

[Buffalobiian]

He suggested that the more damage he takes, the hotter the sun becomes. This is slightly in line with his role as an interrogator and torturer of Phantom.. but that's about it.

[shinta|hikari]

Feitan is pretty much Hiei from YH. Fast swordsman, but when cornered uses extremely powerful range AOE with friendly fire.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm not familiar with Hiei, but I can readily deal with Feitan. My problem is more to do with the execution (even though his was the better fight out of the rest of them) since you hardly feel that anything matters.

It's simply because he's never shown us anything before. I would probably feel the same way about Shizuku if she hadn't carried a vacuum cleaner with her all the time to begin with.

edit: ooh... ghost files something.. that's on my to-watch-list. Guess I'll bump that forward a bit now.

[shinta|hikari]

It is from the same author, though HxH is far better. I still like the main character, Yusuke, from YH more though. Must be because it was one if the anime that I watched in my youth.

[LaZie]

I'll also +1 Yu Yu Hakusho. Definitely one of my favorite anime of all time.

[DarthEnderX]

Girl, you and spider guy WERE dumb. I thought of using the webbing to plug up the wounds, like, FIRST THING!

I'm kind of curious exactly how Killuas...sister?...got into the Spiders in the first place. She's not from their crappy country. She admits they're way stronger than him. Why did they invite her exactly?

[Buffalobiian]

Girl, you and spider guy WERE dumb. I thought of using the webbing to plug up the wounds, like, FIRST THING!

I'm kind of curious exactly how Killuas...sister?...got into the Spiders in the first place. She's not from their crappy country. She admits they're way stronger than him. Why did they invite her exactly?

She (he?) may still be useful in assassination missions. Looking at her paper-skill, information gathering should be up her alley as well.

They also needed to fill in a number 4 slot. Not everybody in Spider came from Metero City.

[shinta|hikari]

Maybe they invited her because of her family connections?

That, or because she is cute.

Yes, it is definitely the latter.

Definitely.

[DarthEnderX]

Apparently that's a dude. Though I had to look it up.

[shinta|hikari]

Cuteness is justice.

Traps are cool too.

[Carnage]

Apparently that's a dude. Though I had to look it up.

Togashi likes to be ambiguous about the gender of his characters, and does this fairly often. I don't know if anyone knows for sure whether its a boy or a girl, even if some hunter-wiki says so.

[DarthEnderX]

Well, I was just talking with Buff about it and apparently they said during the Killua Rescue arc that Killua has four brothers.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 94 is out!!

[MFauli]

Dibs on bat girl! (lol, HXH bringing out dat furry love)

Slow episode. I didnt really care a lot about all the exposition of Killua´s. And the fighting at the end was rather annyoing, since those low level-enemies have no business here, at least if Gon wants to have a chance against Pitou. Meleoron appears to be no strong fighter, either, so ... ugh. And it´s also clear that he´ll be one-offed by Killua, who secretly followed Gon after splitting ways, that´s a given.

[Buffalobiian]

And it´s also clear that he´ll be one-offed by Killua, who secretly followed Gon after splitting ways, that´s a given.

Yeah, I was waiting for that to happen throughout the entire episode but that still didn't happen. Killua being cool is still nice to watch though. I'm not entirely sure why he was so adamant about Gon not attacking though. It's not like Gon would be able to surprise Pitou anyway. Despite the hunters saying that the ants can't do anything against Zetsu, it always seems to be the ants who are ambushing our hunters (aside from the fog trap).

Oh, MFauli, batgirl is mine. Not my fault your Zazzan went all macho before burning up.

[shinta|hikari]

You guys keep those low level crap. I am calling dibs on Nef.

Yeah, I know she might be a he or that might not even matter for ants, but see my post on Killua's brother.

[Kraco]

It seems obviously Killua is following Gon in order to slay the pursuers, but I do hope that's not the case, in the end. It's not like Gon would really need any help against these weaklings and on the other hand, he can't always rely on others to watch his back. It should be a breeze to track down these goons if he actually put his knowledge and skills to use. As long as he has disciplined, smart people like Killua around him, Gon will neglect his own wider training and only concentrate on his power attacks and other stuff he's really interested in. That's not conducive to a long life as a nen user.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm not confident that Gon could locate Meleoron though.

[Kraco]

During the earlier parts of the show when it wasn't all about nen, I always got the impression Gon is a very nature oriented person. Umm... Well, unfortunately English might be too urban a language to describe the kind of person (or perhaps more likely my vocabulary too lacking), so I can't describe it adequately in just a few words, but somebody who always prefers to wander the woods and wilderness and is more home there than in towns and cities. Someone very proficient surviving in the wilds (alone and without constant external support if necessary) and very aware of wildlife both for his own security and in order to hunt and fish. Add to that nen, now, and he should be able to catch Meleoron eventually, if he put his mind to the task.

[David75]

I also remember Gon is as good as a dog (or even better now) at tracking scents.

[neflight86]

Reports indicate that HxH is moving to the late night time slot on Mondays or Tuesdays (forgot which) after this next ep.

[DarthEnderX]

I'm not confident that Gon could locate Meleoron though.I seem to remember during the exam that Gon's senses were at least as good if not better than Killua's.

[Penner]

So.. no ep this week? :confused:

[Buffalobiian]

So.. no ep this week? :confused:

The schedule's changed as Netflight said a few posts up, so the next episode will come out on Tuesday (JPN time?), and every Tuesday after that.

[MFauli]

yeah, instead of giving us an episode today and one on tuesday, we just dont get one today. :/

makes me remember how we used to get double features of naruto once in a while :/

[Penner]

New ep is out!

Too damn late here atm, so i'll have to wait and watch it when i wake up tomorrow :P

[DarthEnderX]

The Review Board already sounds like a group I'm going to hate.

It's very existence sounds completely contrary to the nature of the Hunter's association as it has been presented to us so far.

[LaZie]

Gon just pulled a weaker version of Uvogin scream.

[Kraco]

The Review Board already sounds like a group I'm going to hate.

It's very existence sounds completely contrary to the nature of the Hunter's association as it has been presented to us so far.

It's only natural such a detail appeared. If it's an old organization that obviously needed bureaucracy for all the events (such as the exam), maintaining infrastructure, deals with governments, keeping track of a large amount of members, etc, then it's natural that bureaucracy started to live a life of its own, seeking to maintain itself for its own sake, just like the governmental bureaucracy of any country. The longer the history, the more detached from fieldwork the members that were only interested in politics.

This certainly made it already sound like the Hunter association is well past its prime.



Gon just pulled a weaker version of Uvogin scream.

I was expecting that from the moment they started to talk about the importance of sound and hearing in the darkness. Not that the dark would have been depicted remotely successfully in this episode. Rarely have I seen a director fail this miserably. Considering they could have even saved some animation budget by having real darkness for Gon to deal with during this fight, it's kind of funny they didn't.

[DarthEnderX]

Not that the dark would have been depicted remotely successfully in this episode. Rarely have I seen a director fail this miserably. Considering they could have even saved some animation budget by having real darkness for Gon to deal with during this fight, it's kind of funny they didn't.I have absolutely no problem with how it was handled.

I find few things more annoying that darkness being represented in a way that the audience can't see what's going on. The character can't see, that's fine. I still want to see what's going on. I don't want to look at a black screen for 10 minutes.

The established in dialog that it was too dark for him to see, like, 3 times. That's more than enough for me to get the point.

[MFauli]

wonder if the members of the review board are strong nen-users, too.

i cant help but find this episode boring. watching gon struggle against such low ranking ants is making me rage. He´s supposed to engage in a fight against pitou. and that sexy cat is on a whole other level than these minions. Though I ABSOLUTELY get what the purpose of that fight was: to show that it is not raw power that decides about the outcome of a battle. It was basically a reverse situation of what awaits Netero and the others when they´ll fight the king and his royal guard. In terms of raw power, the latter have the upper edge.

Anyway, hope they don´t spend too many episodes and cheetu or chameleon guy.

oh, and i was honestly surprised that Killua left Gon alone.

[Kraco]

I have absolutely no problem with how it was handled.

I find few things more annoying that darkness being represented in a way that the audience can't see what's going on. The character can't see, that's fine. I still want to see what's going on. I don't want to look at a black screen for 10 minutes.

The established in dialog that it was too dark for him to see, like, 3 times. That's more than enough for me to get the point.

Well, my words might have been overly harsh, but I have high expectations of this show, for a good reason, so it's no altogether unjustified.

Plus I know you aren't in reality as stupid as saying "I don't want to look at a black screen for 10 minutes" sounds like. As if that was the only alternative to this episode where there wasn't a single spec of darkness at all. Just a few scenes from Gon's low perspective would have been enough to create a really nice effect of an enemy appearing out of nowhere and then disappearing again before he had a chance to react.

[DarthEnderX]

Though I ABSOLUTELY get what the purpose of that fight was: to show that it is not raw power that decides about the outcome of a battle.Well good, you got it then.

And even then, they still showed how powerful Gon actually is by stating repeatedly that he wasn't taking any damage during the fight because they couldn't even get through his Nen(though I don't understand how the feathers were sticking in him if that's the case, unless Gon keeps his Nen aura inside his clothes).


Plus I know you aren't in reality as stupid as saying "I don't want to look at a black screen for 10 minutes" sounds like.Don't try and tell me how stupid to be!

[Penner]

New ep is out! (Damn, we're already up to 100 episodes)

[Buffalobiian]

Killua's multiple counter. Damn he's good!!

I don't think he can counter Leol, Cheetu and everyone else though. Not that it matters so much, the preview suggests he'll bleed out before then anyway. His fights are always a pleasure to watch. They're simply quicker and more intelligent (even if only slightly so) than Gon's.

Plus, his badassery is too much.

[Penner]

Yeah he had some badass moments in this ep, always awesome to see him fight since he has much more actual skill than Gon's more 'brute-force' type fights :P

[MFauli]

good ep, but i didnt like all of killua´s near-flying moves, lol. This series now can never again have a scene where Killua is in danger of falling to death :P

and i absolutely cant see Killua and Gon fight the royal guard now. having this much problems against the lower ranks? no way.

and damn, if i was tiger guy, i´d make a deal with pitou that I´d do whatever if she made me her "partner" kawai neko _:>

[Buffalobiian]

good ep, but i didnt like all of killua´s near-flying moves, lol. This series now can never again have a scene where Killua is in danger of falling to death :P

Hah, well he almost did right at the end had it not been for some Tako powers. Killua aside, I find the ants' portrayals to be really well done. None of the animal varieties seem to get old while weaponising their natural skills.

Regarding the whole power thing, it looks like we won't have to kill all the ants after all. Meleon doesn't seem particularly aggressive and isn't the first one to dislike the king. Even the king himself is suggested by the ED to be tamed by a "peer" of sorts. I'm not sure who that's supposed to be though. Strangely enough, a young Chairman came to mind.. or whatever that baby was that was born right when the queen died. It seemed rather human-looking for an ant.

And to finish up on the Chairman, he was totally the yellow light from 1-2 eps ago that Killua avoided. The En looked comparable to Pitou's to me.

[Kraco]

While it's kind of realistic they didn't grow so fast that these attacks wouldn't slow them down at all (while it's at the same time highly unrealistic the ants did grow so fast), it's true they wouldn't last half a minute against Pitou with these kinds of skills. I guess they still need to develop a lot on their way to the target.

Killua has been tiring himself out far too much. Again, it's actually realistic a kid would foolishly get so invested into his own plan he would forget to sleep and rest, but it's still foolish.

[shinta|hikari]

Why the hell can that Cheetah thing dodge bullets? Why can Killua? They are so impressed by the speed of the Cheetah, but it only goes around 200kph. Modern rifle bullets can reach 6120000kph. There is a freaking 4 digit difference...

[MFauli]

the "he has the speed of a cheeta" was a figure of speech. Knuckle didnt mean "Cheetuh", he meant the real animal. So, you have to look at it from the perspective of a hunter: speed of human nen-user compared to chimera ant-nen-user.

[Buffalobiian]

Why the hell can that Cheetah thing dodge bullets? Why can Killua? They are so impressed by the speed of the Cheetah, but it only goes around 200kph. Modern rifle bullets can reach 6120000kph. There is a freaking 4 digit difference...

I suppose that was Cheetah's cruising speed. He's amazingly fast, be he does get tired. He's also not fast enough that your eyes couldn't track him either, since Knuckle and Murrel were able to during their fight.

It sucks that the ambush didn't work though. Shoot just had to slap the guy's legs and he'd seal away his speed. I really wanted to see his face when he goes bankrupt.

[David75]

They also mentionned his actual speed.

I guess they could always tell us he's only having a nice walk at 200kph, for stamina purposes too, but he has great short distance/reflexes speed.
Regarding reflexes, part of it is the instinct where the line of fire will be. Which gives a lot more time to do something. Then add some nen into the mix and you get the idea.

Regarding Killua's bullet, you have to remember these are air propelled. So they are a lot slower. Also they are fired at a greater distance, which makes all of the line of fire detectiong easier for a nen user like him.

There's still a lot of bullshit, but at least you can think of those ideas to keep faith in that show :D

[Kraco]

Modern rifle bullets can reach 6120000kph. There is a freaking 4 digit difference...

What the hell kind of rifle and bullet is that..? Typically the initial speed of a rifle bullet is between something like 700-1000 m/s, which would be 2500-3600 km/h. Still a hard thing to dodge, but at least it's not a particle accelerator sounding speed like 6120000kph.

[MFauli]

What the hell kind of rifle and bullet is that..? Typically the initial speed of a rifle bullet is between something like 700-1000 m/s, which would be 2500-3600 km/h. Still a hard thing to dodge, but at least it's not a particle accelerator sounding speed like 6120000kph.

thx
wtf shinta. several zeros too many, eh?

[shinta|hikari]

Oops. Should have been 6120000mph, or 6210kph (I'm working off wiki's 1700mps modern rifle max speed). Still, cruising at 200 and dodging 6210 is absurd. I am not only referring to the tick bullets. Cheetah dodges real bullets after seeing them. That is just unbelievable. If he can do that, he should be able to run at much more than 200kph. 1000+kph seems to make more sense.

I understand that this is anime logic. Usually, there is the excuse that the target avoids the line of fire, and not the bullet itself, but that is totally contradicted by the delivery in this show. The Killua scene just emphasized that.

Dodging bullets is just stupid. It is a pet peeve I guess.

[MFauli]

well, most shows, anime or not, fail with logic whenever they introduce a speedy character. think about this: we have someone who is super fast and has full control over his movement, meaning, he won´t bump into walls or moving obstacles because his senses are fast, too.

such a character would have a similarily fast though-processing, which in turns means: super fast => super intelligent. Because even if you´re not smart per se, at least relatively you have all the time of the world.

I have never seen a fantasy-show/novel touch that topic. There´s an episode in "Heroes" (yeah, it sucked from season 2 onwards) where Hiro stops time during a super fast running girl, well, running. And then she suddenly starts talking to Hiro, because apparently she´s SO fast that even Hiro´s time manipulation is not enough. Yet, she wasn´t a very intelligent person. sigh

[shinta|hikari]

But I am not even questioning that aspect. Thought speed and reaction speed compared to plain movement speed can get complicated. I am simply wondering why someone who can dodge a bullet only runs at 200kph (this is just about as fast as speeding cars in the highway), even if he is taking it easy.

[MFauli]

well, couldn´t it just be some special awareness that killua can only use for a very brief amount of time, as well as it using a lot of his energy to focus? There´d be a difference between running around at the speed of a bullet, and making a slight shift with your body very quickly.

As an exampel, I´ve been writing a fantasy novel, and the main character there at some point fights a fat teleporter, who lets himself fall from above to crush the hero. the hero realizes what´s going on, but just knows he wouldn´t make it by simply trying to jump out of the way. so he uses his telekinetic powers on himself, his whole body, and through the combination of physical and mental abilities, he manages to barely evade the attack. He wouldn´t be able to use his telekinetic powers to make himself fly, though, or anything like that.

That´s what I mean. Killua entered some sort of special mode that made the evasion of bullets possible. He couldn´t enter that state of mind if someone like Hisoka was standing 5 meters from him.

[shinta|hikari]

As much as I would hate to admit it, that is true for anime physics. Set rules will always have exceptions. Even the narration in this episode seemed skeptical about how Killua avoided those ticks. The narrator was basically saying "wtf this is impossible, but Killua somehow managed so he is so cool."

[Kraco]

To be honest, what's the difference in believability between dodging bullets and simply withstanding them without getting a scratch on your skin? Some characters can do the former, some the latter. Considering Killua is an electricity man, I'd say snappy movements suit his character splendidly.

Guns are as good as trash anyway in most superpower stories. Especially in those from Japan where sword is the ultimate weapon.

[MFauli]

If you really want to start talking about hxh-logic ... i´d say what´s even less realistic than dodging a bullet, is withstanding lightning-power high voltage electricity ... which Killua was somehow tortured and trained towards. lol




Especially in those from Japan where sword is the ultimate weapon.

and that´s why japan is the best! </otaku-mode>

[shinta|hikari]

I am not questioning the realism of what has been explained as "real" in the show. I am questioning why they can do one thing but not the other (vice versa) within the HxH world rules.

For example, they can withstand bullets because they coat their body with Nen, which grants durability and strength. This has been proven by other things they can do, like smashing huge rocks, and being able to endure being smashed to the ground and the like.

I'm fine with them dodging bullets, but they have to be able to run/move at a much faster speed than what has been shown/explained.

Well, in the end this is just a pet peeve and I understand any fiction will always have something like this. I am willing to believe that the bullets or ticks that are shot in the show are much slower than real bullets, since that is the best way for it to make sense.

[DarthEnderX]

such a character would have a similarily fast though-processing, which in turns means: super fast => super intelligent. Because even if you´re not smart per se, at least relatively you have all the time of the world.You realize that that still doesn't make you smart right? Some people could think about a problem forever and never come up with a solution while other people can think of something immediately. Or even more likely, a stupid person will come to the wrong conclusion and think it's the right right one, and stop trying to think up any more solutions before acting.

[Buffalobiian]

This goes by the same logic as DBZ: characters can move so fast that they disappear, but when they fly they're "crusing". There's that episode where Goku shows Vegeta his Instant Transmission technique and disappears. Vegeta thought it was simply superspeed, but Goku brought back a pair of glasses from Kami House which was miles away.

I suppose it's now an anime staple where dodging-super-speed in fights is possible, while travelling at that speed for lengthy times is not. (Something I thought up: shounen heroes can survive massive blood loss from fights, but get knocked out from a little ecchi nose bleed. :p)

I think the 200km/hr figure was developed in conjunction with Knuckle's powers, explaining why it's "low". Knuckle said his power had a range of 100m, and that interest is added every 3 seconds or so. That means if we want to give Cheetu some chance of figuring out the attack for suspense's sake, then his speed would have to be only a little faster than 100m/3-seconds. Anything slower and he's bound to find out about the interest before the ambush. Too fast and the ambush is guaranteed. 100m/3sec equates to 120km/hr.

The only other way around this is to make interest build faster, or to make Knuckle's area of effect larger - and both would make Knuckle seem rather overpowered.

Thinking about it that way.. Cheetu got nerfed for realism's sake?!

[shinta|hikari]

Maybe the Cheetah and Killua can actually sprint 1000+kph if they had to.

[Kraco]

We don't really know how long the catant has been running continuously. Maybe even a day without rest. Obviously sprint and long distance running speeds are necessarily very different. Otherwise 100m sprinters would snatch the gold medals for themselves on all distances.

[DarthEnderX]

Seriously though, what the hell is manga's obsession with the insane pompadour?

[Buffalobiian]

They were badass 20-30 years ago.

[Carnage]

I call it "The Kuwabara".

[DarthEnderX]

The thing Colonel Volgin says?

[MFauli]

surprisingly good episode.

one weird scene though: When Killua told them, that he mastered playing Darts at age 6 ... was that supposed to sound impressive to a Chimera Ant, not even a year old, who has already mastered the same game? :P

Anyway, it´s all very clear now that all of those episodes with fights against lower ranked ants are meant to show that raw power is meaningless. So, exactly what Netero and Co. mentioned at the beginning of their entrance. While it´s frustrating to see Killua and Gon having trouble fighting these minions, it is necessary to somewhat justify them standing a chance against Pitou and the rest, when they meet in the future.

I mean, that´ll still be hella unbelievable, since the power gap shown between everyone and the royal guard/king was so ridiculous gigantic. But it´s a start.

[Kraco]

How did the ant siblings talk decapitated? Their lungs ought to be in their chests, not heads...

Quite a cool episode all in all. A weird nen power and a weakness out of nowhere, but I guess it verifies the nen power rule we already knew from Kurapika's days: A much higher power can be reached if similarly much is risked. Not that the weakness would have had any role in this ep with Killua defeating them the old-fashioned way, but I guess it was necessary the narration mentioned it to make sure the power didn't seem far too powerful for random ants.

Looks like Killua will adapt his experience from this fight to raise his already impressive reflexes to a totally inhuman level.

[Buffalobiian]

Plothole: Killua and Ikalgo, now dripping with blood.. are going to find help by swimming.

Another fun episode. I liked Gon's response. He's not smart, and it's in his nature to trust people. He knows he can't change that, so he just makes sure that he can pulverise anybody who takes advantage of him.

As far as character designs went, they definitely chose some good looking ones to side with the humans.

[David75]

Ikalgo has potential as merchandising plush/figurine I guess? But since he might be shortlived, we can't be so sure.

Regarding Killua, in those 2 eps he learnt the hardway how to dodge/protect himself from powerful/clever attacks. I guess that down the line, he could have his electricity on at a lower level. When anything approaches in under a millimeter from his skin, either his nen protection or any other reflex could activate automatically.

And for the water escape, as you see Ikalgo chose an exit slide. So I guess his piranhia like friends do not have time to catchup. Also, I guess that the blood scent can't go upstream. So you could find a easy excuse here.

[DarthEnderX]

Haha, Killua totally Gon'd that Octopus.

[Kraco]

I wouldn't have taken Killua, an assassin, to be such a good judge of character, but he surely was this time.

[Buffalobiian]

He could even be a better one than Gon. I find Gon to be too optimistic usually. Killua would have had the chance to kill lots of people during his assassin days. A fair share of those must have been selfish enough to use friends as shields and betray family.

[DarthEnderX]

I wouldn't have taken Killua, an assassin, to be such a good judge of character, but he surely was this time.Was he actually judging his character though? He spared him because he thought he was cool, not because he thought he'd help him later.

[Buffalobiian]

Was he actually judging his character though? He spared him because he thought he was cool, not because he thought he'd help him later.

He judged him as being a "good guy" as opposed to a scumbag. I think that qualifies as judging character. If Killua spared Ikalgo because he thought he'd be of use, then that's more like judging someone's usefulness.

On the other hand, I don't think Gon is that good a judge. Meleon comments that Gon is naive. He simply backs it up with "and if you fail me I'll kill you".

[Kraco]

Yeah. Since Killua is an assassin, he's also very cautious and pessimistic, as we have seen numerous times. That's why I thought, when in doubt, he would naturally go for a kill instead of mercy like a normal person, perhaps. It could be hanging around Gon, and the others, have mellowed Killua. It's not like he would have had a single friend before Gon, so he likely wouldn't have earlier thought somebody, let alone an enemy, could be cool and killing him might be a waste. An assassin would have finished the defeated opponent thinking it ensures the person would never appear before him again.

[Buffalobiian]

Ex-assassin. Killua doesn't like repeating himself. ;)

I think there was a reason he quit killing people, so I wouldn't give Gon all the credit.

You make an interesting point about the whole friend thing though.

[DarthEnderX]

Killua's explanation for catching the dart was way more complicated than I thought it was going to be.

I thought he was gonna be like, "Oh, you hit me in the spot where I had a needle in my brain until recently."

[poopdeville]

I've been watching this on and off for a few months now, and I have to say I liked the old version better. The pacing is better here, especially during the exam. But the York Shin arc was kind of weak, and that was the best part of the old one. Greed Island seems to be pretty much the same between the two, so I'll skip the Bomber fight when I get bored of watching them train.

I am looking forward to the Ant arch. Are they doing the arch after the ants?

[Buffalobiian]

I've been watching this on and off for a few months now, and I have to say I liked the old version better. The pacing is better here, especially during the exam. But the York Shin arc was kind of weak, and that was the best part of the old one. Greed Island seems to be pretty much the same between the two, so I'll skip the Bomber fight when I get bored of watching them train.

I am looking forward to the Ant arch. Are they doing the arch after the ants?

afaik, yes.

[MFauli]

new ep is out!

--------------

I love how the final scene continues into the ending theme.
And damn, I love all these characters so, so much. HXH is really teaching how to tell a good story here: By putting effort into every single character, no matter how far on the "side" his role might be positioned. In more typical stories, I wouldn´t give a damn about someone like Meleoron, but this anime managed to make me actually are about this side character. Same for Knuckle.

Speaking of whom ... so their masters are wasting their energy on some area protection, and Knuckle and his friend want to engage in a fight with the royal guard with just Gon and Killua? Sounds reasonable ... NOT.

Also, how does Meleoron intend to get near the King in the first place? Perfect Plan only works during him holding his breath. Assuming he cant hold his breath for like an hour, he needs to get close to the King until he´s within, say, 20-seconds-breath-holding-reach. Though, even if that´d work out, I have the feeling that even a fully charged attack of Gon´s wouldn´t scratch the King.

Btw. another praise for this show: When Meleoron explained his ability with that restaurant-analogy, I though "ohoh, that makes no sense for a chimera ant to know about restaurants". Only to later reveal that he´s been regaining his memories from his human past. Nice.

Though one point didn´t make sense even then: Why does he have memories of one specific human being? The queen was eating hundreds of people, wouldnt their memories mix? Or does it mean that one human being results in one ant? hm

[Kraco]

Though one point didn´t make sense even then: Why does he have memories of one specific human being? The queen was eating hundreds of people, wouldnt their memories mix? Or does it mean that one human being results in one ant? hm

Maybe these above average ants regain memories from individuals that had at least nen potential. It doesn't otherwise make much sense to gain memories from digested brains. The only thing you normally get from digested brains are prions and a mad ant disease, which doesn't do any good to your memories, I'm sure.

This was certainly a talk heavy episode. However, it does open a hugely plausible pathway for actually defeating at least a royal guard in a believable way. If Gon gets the first punch in free, it should even the odds against the likes of Pitou considerably. Regardless, getting allies from the ranks of the ants will make their attack more plausible. Since the Hunter association is full of scumbags who only think of internal politics and their own position.

[Buffalobiian]

Though one point didn´t make sense even then: Why does he have memories of one specific human being? The queen was eating hundreds of people, wouldnt their memories mix? Or does it mean that one human being results in one ant? hm

There's always one dominant human character in each ant. The genetic mix doesn't seem to be very even, since each ant is a unique genetic bag of genes, rather than being a direct genetic upgrade from the previous batch. I would have argued that when a gene is "used" it's no longer available for another ant, but that can't be true. The royal guards and the king have animalistic appearances (genes) but the queen must have been on a human-exclusive diet for quite some time before their birth.

Maybe "character" is encoded in genes. When a batch of genes from a human makes it to a chimera ant relatively intact the original character surfaces. Combine that with the idea that memory resides in some collective cosmos outside of our bodies (http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/sheldrake-morphogenic-field-memory-lashley-collective-unconscious-3486.html), and you can expect such a character to eventually find its memory again.

I'm not sure Gon is right if he thinks Knuckle is the right choice for a free punch. The interest counter can eventually seal someone's Nen, but Knuckle would have to stay alive for long enough to do that. It's also not immediately crippling, unless Knuckle has something stronger up his sleeve (he probably does, but we've yet to see it). Gon's attack on the other hand is effective immediately. It also requires a long charge-up, so it'll benefit even further from Meleoron's ability to remain undetected.

I'd say the guy can hold his breath for 3 minutes. These are super-ants and shit.

[DarthEnderX]

I was wondering when the girl in the ending was going to show up in the show itself. She must be important, but I have no idea where they're going with it.


Though one point didn´t make sense even then: Why does he have memories of one specific human being? The queen was eating hundreds of people, wouldnt their memories mix? Or does it mean that one human being results in one ant? hmI think it was made pretty clear at this point that each ant isn't just made up of everything she's eaten.

They combine aspects of different creatures to form each individual ant.

If she has to expend the usage of one human she ate to create one ant that has human-level intellect, it means she probably can't afford to stick hundreds of humans into every Squad Leader.

I'm betting that's exactly what she did with the Royal Guards and the King however. Which is why they're so insanely powerful.

[Buffalobiian]

I was wondering when the girl in the ending was going to show up in the show itself. She must be important, but I have no idea where they're going with it.

She's the only one that beats him at least 50% of the time, if not 100%. She's also blind, so she doesn't know he's an ant and doesn't fear him for who he is. In that sense she's his only peer. No human will treat the king like a normal human, while every ant will treat him as a king. She'll also be insightful and give him a greater meaning to life than his current one. She'll probably also show him how she can be strong without physical nor nen abilities.

She will be the mysterious being that the king can not overcome and desire to be with.

[DarthEnderX]

He better blind himself first then because that is one ugly character design.

[Buffalobiian]

He better blind himself first then because that is one ugly character design.

Who knows.. maybe she turns the ants on. :p

The king asked why the other player didn't resign 23moves ago, and whether he was hanging on hoping the king would make a mistake. Looking for that mistake is exactly what Gon&co's "power isn't everything" philosophy hinges on: (mis)application.

[David75]

The new air day changes the subs day and I do not enjoy the show as much as when I watched it sunday mornings, when I'm at the peak of my energy. Or maybe it's because the show isn't as entertaining as it was in the previous arc, as it is only in the "building an awesome plot" phase.

[Buffalobiian]

The new air day changes the subs day and I do not enjoy the show as much as when I watched it sunday mornings, when I'm at the peak of my energy. Or maybe it's because the show isn't as entertaining as it was in the previous arc, as it is only in the "building an awesome plot" phase.

It's your energy levels David. Show's still pretty cool. ;)

I don't like the new air date much either. Sunday afternoons were a much better time. Now I'm stuck waiting only for this show on Wednesdays.

[poopdeville]

Is it me or is the lack of blood kind of silly? I just watched the cheetah ant cut off a bunch of cops' fingers and GOBBLE THEM UP. Killua just ripped Rammot's head off. The lack of blood was actually jarring.

[shinta|hikari]

I haven't really tried to do or seen those things in real life, so I dunno how much blood should flow, so I dunno I guess.

[DarthEnderX]

Is it me or is the lack of blood kind of silly? I just watched the cheetah ant cut off a bunch of cops' fingers and GOBBLE THEM UP. Killua just ripped Rammot's head off. The lack of blood was actually jarring.It's not like there isn't tons of blood in other parts of the series.

[poopdeville]

I haven't really tried to do or seen those things in real life, so I dunno how much blood should flow, so I dunno I guess.

I had a cooking accident once and knicked an artery in my finger. Blood was coming out really fast. I put crazy glue in it, but after about 10 minutes, that sprung a leak and blood sprayed like 4 feet. I had to tear off the glue and put a fresh layer in to get it to stop.

@Darth: Yeah, I just thought it was weird that it would stop when the Hunters are actually dealing with brutal animals.

[DarthEnderX]

They probably just didn't want to animate it.

Dynamic airborne fluid physics are a bitch.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 103 is out!!

----------------------------------------------------------

















That was actually pretty cute. Cheatu just wants someone to play with for 8 hours. :p

That was some innuendo with the Nen-exorcist, even though it didn't have to be read that way. If HxH doujinshi weren't dominated by yaoi, I would totally be expecting one detailing about how Cheatu "seeded" ARP over to the other ant. *wink wink*

Morel seems smart enough, but he takes so much time. That's what makes him appear rather average.

[Kraco]

Morel seems smart enough, but he takes so much time. That's what makes him appear rather average.

I can't avoid the feeling all the nen users with really fancy and complicated techniques are ultimately average, at least fighting wise. Sure, they might dominate under certain, specific circumstances, but such a requirement is a big weakness in itself. A simple, straightforward skill can be used in any situation exactly the same way, without preparation, without plans. It's easy to keep training stronger and to know thoroughly. Of course for a long time it can be used against them as well, if the opponent knows the simply skill, but afterwards such a nen user becomes quite unstoppable. At least until they meet a haxor like Kurapika.

I wish somebody would give the gamer girl a pack of tissues, to blow her nose.

[DarthEnderX]

I know. Snotty characters just make me cringe.

[shinta|hikari]

A snotty blind little girl saves the world.

[poopdeville]

I can't avoid the feeling all the nen users with really fancy and complicated techniques are ultimately average, at least fighting wise. Sure, they might dominate under certain, specific circumstances, but such a requirement is a big weakness in itself. A simple, straightforward skill can be used in any situation exactly the same way, without preparation, without plans. It's easy to keep training stronger and to know thoroughly. Of course for a long time it can be used against them as well, if the opponent knows the simply skill, but afterwards such a nen user becomes quite unstoppable. At least until they meet a haxor like Kurapika.


Are you talking about Cheetu or Morel (or both)? Morel is a pretty badass emission user who can put out 200+ puppets. His hands are kind of tied this fight, because of Cheetu's dome (and the general plan)

[Kraco]

More about Cheetu but maybe about Morel as well. Cheetu had an incredible speed thing going on just fine, but now he has some bizarre game added to it. Apparently the game also has strict rules, so a wise man can ignore all of Cheetu's powers if he can simply find a way to use those rules against him. I reckon that's exactly how Morel intends to beat him.

Like I said before, I was only talking about straightforward fighting, that is, duels, more or less. So, Morel's 200+ Puppets are out of it. Unless you include warfare in fighting. I suppose he could beat masses of ordinary men with those puppets, but they would be little more than distraction against competent opponents.

But I most certaily am including Kite.

[shinta|hikari]

I think Hunters are made to be specialists. There will always be someone better suited for specific situations. While there may be ones who have more adaptable powers or hax ones like Kurapika, they cannot expect to beat everyone in every situation. There will always be a hunter that can beat them (maybe even easily) in certain circumstances.

Being able to beat more types of opponents with 70% chance of success is not necessarily better than beating just a few types of opponents with 99% success rate. What this means is that power levels are very very dynamic and complicated (maybe even pointless) in HxH. It isn't like DBZ where there is a very visible ladder of power.

There is of course still the matter of fundamentals, which is what Gon and Killua have been improving on in the past few arcs. Those are much easily comparable, but pretty much useless because in the end special powers and their usage will decide everything.

[Kraco]

Being able to beat more types of opponents with 70% chance of success is not necessarily better than beating just a few types of opponents with 99% success rate.

Gon and Killua are going down the 70% path, and so would anybody interested in adventures who isn't planning to bind themselves to some organization or agenda, where they could be relatively sure they will only fight the kind of fights they are specifically suited for. Let's not also forget that the 70% versatile people probably have a much higher chance of escaping from the type they can't beat than the very specilized people.

[David75]

Morel really chose the best option.
Chettu is all about speed and reflexes. He does and probably wants everything fast. And his special power is all about showing his speed and having his opponent killed while trying to catch him.
But the downside to his power is that its duration is up to 8 very very long hours to a superfast guy like him.
I bet waiting that much will have him go crazy, and Morel can remain on defensive mode without losing much energy during that time. Should he try to catch Cheetu, he'd deplete his forces quickly and might become vulnerable. And since he does not have enough power to exit that closed space or create an attack strong enough against his oponent, having a long nap is the better choice really.

[poopdeville]

The worst part about Cheetu is that he's not shrewd at all. He has huge amounts of aura, but instead of using it for offensive purposes (overwhelming the enemy with speed and power), he put himself on the defensive. In his natural habitat, he would be a hunter. And now he's the prey.

[MFauli]

I don´t want Cheetuh to die. That´s the most important thing first.

I kinda fail to see what Cheetu´s power is supposed to achieve. Morel comes free, if he wins a game of tag, aka if he manages to touch Cheetuh. So Cheetuh cannot attack Morel during these 8 hours. Attack hit = touching. The only thing that makes sense is assuming that any opponent will auto-die after those 8 hours have passed. Which would be an absurdly strong power.

Snotty girl sucks. Not because of her snotty nose, but because it creates such an obvious loop hole to create weakness within this invincible appearing king.

Morel is weak and I won´t give him credit for creating 200 cannon fodder-clones. That´s probably about as effective as Vegeta´s "dadadadadada!"-spam attacks he did multiple times over the course of Dragon Ball U :/ It never hurt the enemy. In the past I said how it´s dumb to put Knuckle and his partner up against someone of the royal guard, but now I´m inclined to believe that it´s at least no worse than putting Morel up against such a monster.

Series needs more Gon and Killua :>

[Buffalobiian]

Morel is weak and I won´t give him credit for creating 200 cannon fodder-clones.

To clarify, I think he only made 50 now to keep them stronger. Think of them as Sasori's puppets.

[shinta|hikari]

Does that mean if he only made 1 it would be absurdly strong (for a puppet)?

[Buffalobiian]

Does that mean if he only made 1 it would be absurdly strong (for a puppet)?

If it scales like that, then yes. The key comes down to what gets diluted. I think he mentioned "control" and responsiveness of the puppets. Power output may not be a factor, but given that they're made of aura it probably is.

If the rise in ability isn't linear, then 1 puppet might not be the best choice either.

If Morel can control a puppet well with one hemisphere of his brain for example, then the optimal number might actually be 2. (Like the running 2x single threaded applications on a dual core computer getting better results than 1x single threaded application.. assuming you don't run into cache bottlenecks).

[MFauli]

1 or 200 puppets ... it´d still be weaker than any of the other character, wouldn´t it. Or are we assuming that a puppet would be stronger, faster than Morel himself?

[Buffalobiian]

1 or 200 puppets ... it´d still be weaker than any of the other character, wouldn´t it. Or are we assuming that a puppet would be stronger, faster than Morel himself?

It could be. For one, it may be able to perform more abilities than Morel himself could. Being smoke, it could possibly survive attacks that go right through it providing you don't hit the core.

[DarthEnderX]

Does that mean if he only made 1 it would be absurdly strong (for a puppet)?That's pretty much confirmed by the fact that, if he had zero puppets, and kept all the energy himself, he says he'd easily be able to just blast his way out of Cheetu's pocket dimension.

[MFauli]

That's pretty much confirmed by the fact that, if he had zero puppets, and kept all the energy himself, he says he'd easily be able to just blast his way out of Cheetu's pocket dimension.

which was a statement i hated, to be honest. blast his way out ... HOW? Made me think of the bullshit dragonball pulled, where Boo shouted so loudly to escape god´s other-dimensional training grounds. Though it´s dragonball, so Im fine with it. I expect more from HXH.
If it´s another dimension, then the wall is no real wall, but some energy-based construct. You cant blast your way through it. And even if you could, it wouldn´t lead back to your original dimension, it would lead you to wherever, really. Unless we´re lead to believe that there exist exactly TWO dimensions in HXH lol

[Kraco]

No, if it was possible to break it, like Morel mused, then breaking it with force would logically collapse the entire technique and return them where the spell originally took them from. After all, it's an artificial space, so if it ceases to exist, it... well, ceases to exist, so there's nothing beyond it, no wherever.

I see no reason why it wouldn't be possible to break, though. Morel was able to touch the wall, so it's solid. If it's solid, it can be broken with superior force. If it couldn't, it meant one could make an animated combat doll out of nen and it would be unbreakable. The end of the story for the ant king and anybody else - since it can't be broken if it's made of nen! See the failure in your logic? A room is no different.

[MFauli]

the room isnt just made of nen. it exists "somewhere else", since both Cheetuh and Morel ceased existing in the real world. They vanished from there. So it´s not just nen, they really are in some other dimension. the walls being solid or not doesnt matter, imagine you were hovering inmidst space, nothingness surround you. What would you break? Even if you "broke" your surroundings, where would it lead you to? That is what I mean.

You´re assuming that Cheetuh and Morel are still somewhere in the real world, so that when those walls are broken, the prison boundaries are kaput and they both return back to normality. Like they were shrunken before or something.

From what Ive seen, you cannot safely assume so. Rather, Cheetuh and Morel are in a whole other time space continuum now.The walls of his personal dimension cannot be broken because there´s nothing beyond them. So either they´re indestructable or infinite. I wont say that is a fact, since it´s very much possible that the author has it intended exactly like you assume. But it doesn´t make much sense to me.

The most interesting piece of information we´re missing is what is happning once 8 hours have passed, anyway.

[Buffalobiian]

They could well be indestructible I think. You can touch and flick APR, but you can't kill it by physical force.

[Kraco]

They could well be indestructible I think. You can touch and flick APR, but you can't kill it by physical force.

It's just a counter-mascot that doesn't do anything physically, it only sucks nen. So, it would work even if it was destroyed; it would just rebuild itself as if nothing happened, so destroying it wouldn't mean anything. But if indestructible... golems could be created, they could defeat anybody, no matter how powerful (aside from somebody who could instantaneously dispel foreign nen). That doesn't seem very logical or smart plot wise. Anybody and their fishing buddies would be sporting such golems and possibly nen armors for themselves.

[poopdeville]

the room isnt just made of nen. it exists "somewhere else", since both Cheetuh and Morel ceased existing in the real world. They vanished from there. So it´s not just nen, they really are in some other dimension. the walls being solid or not doesnt matter, imagine you were hovering inmidst space, nothingness surround you. What would you break? Even if you "broke" your surroundings, where would it lead you to? That is what I mean.

You´re assuming that Cheetuh and Morel are still somewhere in the real world, so that when those walls are broken, the prison boundaries are kaput and they both return back to normality. Like they were shrunken before or something.

From what Ive seen, you cannot safely assume so. Rather, Cheetuh and Morel are in a whole other time space continuum now.The walls of his personal dimension cannot be broken because there´s nothing beyond them. So either they´re indestructable or infinite. I wont say that is a fact, since it´s very much possible that the author has it intended exactly like you assume. But it doesn´t make much sense to me.

The most interesting piece of information we´re missing is what is happning once 8 hours have passed, anyway.

You seem to be ignoring the possibility that they never left the real world, and that they're just in a cage Cheetu built. It is particularly perplexing that you would ignore this after the whole Greed Island arc.

Going along with that train of thought, if Morel broke the wall, he would be able to step outside of the cage to where ever the cage is.

Again, all of this stuff shows how not shrewd Cheetu is. Based on his personality, he is pretty obviously a reinforcement user, but he wastes his power on fancy emitting fancy cages.

[David75]

Except for the finger snacks, Cheetuh as been depicted as a rather good ant. Just someone very playful and positive who wants to have fun.
That doesn't mean he won't die someway or another. And it's not like there's room for too many friendly ants in the plot. But he is a good candidate for having his own life and use in the after arc.

[DarthEnderX]

Except for the finger snacks, Cheetuh as been depicted as a rather good ant.Oh is that all! JUST cutting off people's fingers and eating them! Why he's practically a nun!

[Buffalobiian]

Next ep is out!!


-----------------------------------













I'm rather surprised that Gyo can't detect puppets and Nen-dragonflies.

[Kraco]

I always thought they are regular dragonflies the ant somehow simply controls with nen, not nen-created dragonfly mimics. Thus I'm somewhat surprised by that same thing.

[DarthEnderX]

They probably have their own kind of Zetsu or something.

Anyway, Leol's got a pretty cool power. It's got some pretty steep requirements, but then, he's not that powerful, so I wouldn't expect it to be OP.

[shinta|hikari]

All this talk about borrowing powers makes me realize how much of a monster Chrollo was, and Kurapika who managed to catch him. Kurapika only managed because it was a surprise attack though. Chrollo going 100% (which he has never done, not even against the two Zoldycks) would probably be godly. I really cannot imagine how Hisoka thinks he can defeat Chrollo in a duel.

I am starting to get sick of all these ants. I wanna see the other characters from before do their thing.

EDIT: Oh, and about the King Ant's question at the end, the answer is simple. He has awakened to his lolicon nature.

[DarthEnderX]

What makes you think Chrollo was holding back against the Zoldycks?

[Buffalobiian]

What makes you think Chrollo was holding back against the Zoldycks?

He was trying to take their abilities, so he wasn't going for the kill. The grandpa Zoldycks said at the end of the fight that since Chrollo was holding back, Zoldyck would have won the fight. If Chrollo was fighting at full strength, then he wouldn't be so sure.

[shinta|hikari]

And that is 2 vs 1. Grandpa doesn't even know what kind of abilities Chrollo has, so his "maybe" is put to question.

Is Chrollo's ability able to store copied powers indefinitely? If so, well damn. God.

I like how this show allows for god killing.

[Buffalobiian]

I get the impression that Chrollo has to decide between a finite number of powers. I'm not sure where or how I got that impression though. I might even be confusing it with other characters from different shows.

[MFauli]

More Gon and Killua please.



I get the impression that Chrollo has to decide between a finite number of powers. I'm not sure where or how I got that impression though. I might even be confusing it with other characters from different shows.

no, youre right. i also remember something like "i had to remove one power so i could store this guy´s power". cant say when or where, but it was there.

[animus]

No, Chrollo can store them indefinitely. He just has to have the book out (thus occupying one hand/arm), and can only use one power at a time.

[shinta|hikari]

How can he use powers that require two hands then? He can't..?

[Buffalobiian]

How can he use powers that require two hands then? He can't..?

About that....

.. The preview shows the king with his left arm lopped off! ($50 says he did it to himself though)

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 105 is out!!

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Was Pitou always this... girly? She sounded particularly feminine this episode. :3 I think it's because it's the first time in a while where she isn't speaking maliciously. And then there's Palm.

[DarthEnderX]

I have to say, I'm so used to seeing people with insane supernatural senses that, between this episode and the previous one, seeing someone crawl around half covered in leaves and have that actually WORK just seems ridiculous.

[shinta|hikari]

I don't think it really "worked" in terms of results. No one was watching. Even if he pranced into the fortress flamboyantly, the results would have been the same.

Phlegm girl is bad ass, and so is the king ant.

Nef = sexy, schlurpppp.

Why do people call her Pitou anyway?

[Buffalobiian]

I don't think it really "worked" in terms of results. No one was watching. Even if he pranced into the fortress flamboyantly, the results would have been the same.

Phlegm girl is bad ass, and so is the king ant.

Nef = sexy, schlurpppp.

Why do people call her Pitou anyway?

Neferpitou

[David75]

butterfly guy:
If you know there's a problem with nef not being able to use her EN and you're the only one that can replace her somehow and you know you will... just do it and and don't wait!

[Buffalobiian]

butterfly guy:
If you know there's a problem with nef not being able to use her EN and you're the only one that can replace her somehow and you know you will... just do it and and don't wait!

That was funny because he completely ignored the red devil guy as if he was a dumbass xD.

Perhaps his En is up already and it's only like.. 50m in radius or something.

[MFauli]

Was Knov running so slowly on purpose? Because, you know, we always see Gon and Killua rushing from one spot to the next one so fast they become invisible. Feels silly to see Knov moving so ... realistically.

Pitou is hot, no doubt.

My biggest observation from this episode: The king cannot regenerate his body by himself. Might sound silly, but I kinda always assumed he could due to him looking like Freezer-Cell. lol.

quick edit: also some minor flaw in the whole "im such a pitiful girl, there´s nothing you can do to me that would hurt me haha kawaii": Well, how about "If I lose, I take the life of your youngest sibling"? Bet that would change her mind pretty quickly.

[Buffalobiian]

I don't think it's like she doesn't care about her life anymore for it not to be effective. On the contrary she's always playing with her life on the line so it's not adding any more pressure than normal. If she was more caring for others than herself I suppose your suggestion would make sense.

[Kraco]

It's not like the king ant would be interested in killing some losers. He's interested in making the matches as hard as possible. But since the snotty girl is always aiming for victory, not wanting to lose even once, like Bill said, there's absolutely no need to try to come up with ways to place extra pressure on her. Especially right now when she's winning every time, anyway. The king actually tried to motivate himself to play better, for the first time.

[David75]

New ep is out.

Well, you could say a lot happened-lots of preparations-, but that it was a rather weak ep.

So Knov is in fact rather weak. He has intellect, some haxor abilities, but probably not cut for close combat. I guess I'm playing captain obvious there, but he was truly the one for that job. Maybe a little too much for my tastes.
Awful animation on his rather boring crying in fear scene that was useless, we already got the message when he was in the palace.

[Buffalobiian]

The suspenseful thing about Knov's infiltration was how long it took him to make those portals. Every one he's made prior to this was done via simple contact. He also took out the dragonfly without much trouble, but showed none of that confidence when he ran into the guard. The situations were definitely different, but that still served to make him appear weak this episode. Then there's the whole "getting tired" thing. Killua ran between 4 and didn't look anything like him.

On that note, Killua pissed himself too when he saw that aura, and Morel/Knov shot him down because of that. The wise are cowards, after all.

[DarthEnderX]

Yeah, Knov just seems ridiculously underpowered purely to build tension. He's slow. Apparently gets scratched the hell up just moving around. Has no stamina.

With all the tension they were building, I thought for certain he was going to guy, but get all his exits in place doing it.

Also...if he can travel between his portals...why the fuck would he have had to RUN out again?


The suspenseful thing about Knov's infiltration was how long it took him to make those portals. Every one he's made prior to this was done via simple contact.I believe he said last episode that he can use his own portals freely, but in order for other people to use his portals, he has to build exits.

[Kraco]

Watching Knov's struggle, and especially the show's struggle, in this episode made me think the author chose a troublesome path. The ants could have maintained their horrible status far more easily if they hadn't got so much exposure, especially the kind of exposure that makes them more and more human like, if not exactly humane. Maybe Pitou specifically has been spared of that lately, but even the king is starting to mellow, the bard type royal guard doesn't even need to be mentioned. Pitou can't avoid suffering by association alone. So, when they now suddenly show Knov all shaken and strirred by nothing but the edges of those fellows' auras, it doesn't really toll the bell. It makes Knov look like a total loser, not the ants look like terrible monsters.

But then again, if the ants had remained distant monsters, then I guess I'd have later complained they aren't interesting enemies, being all faceless and without personalities. So, it couldn't really be avoided. The story also seems to have some separate agendas by allowing some lesser ants to become humans' allies and the blind girl to baffle to the king. Neither of which could have happened if the ants had remained deadly mysteries like some xenomorphs.

[Buffalobiian]

With all the tension they were building, I thought for certain he was going to guy, but get all his exits in place doing it.

Wouldn't that make the portals useless though? I was assuming that only Knov could open portals. The ones who enter can exit out of the same one, but everything else requires Knov's intervention.



Also...if he can travel between his portals...why the fuck would he have had to RUN out again?


I believe he said last episode that he can use his own portals freely, but in order for other people to use his portals, he has to build exits.

I don't think he specifically said that he had to build exits etc, but your reasoning does make sense. What I remember from last episode was that Knov's master key allows him to travel to any portal while other people can only exit the room by the same way they came in.

I'm also fairly in agreement with Kraco. It was interesting that they gave the Guards different qualities. Pitou was described as evil, while Butterfly was, from memory, unfortunate? Something along the lines of him being able to bring misfortune onto other people, which does fit his classy nature. The appearance of the red guy suggests Wrath, but I can only think of Dumb when I look at him.

[DarthEnderX]

Wouldn't that make the portals useless though? I was assuming that only Knov could open portals. The ones who enter can exit out of the same one, but everything else requires Knov's intervention.Depends. Lots of Nen abilities have been explained to persist through death. Knov's ability could be one of them.

[MFauli]

oh god, i love ALL characters so much! well, except for the king and the royal guard (though i´d devour Pitou in a sexual way).

The way the ending music tuned into the final scene of Leol and whatshisname was so perfect, almost got me to tears. so random. d´awww.

More importantly though: Our heroes are fucked. And by that I mean raped. Knov lost his will to fight by only seeing Pitou´s chakra. I don´t think it´s wrong to say that we so far assumed Knov to be significantly stronger than both Killua and Gon. Since whatshisname probably won´t be much stronger and, more probably, will struggle in his fight against Leol (purely based on the logic that having him easily defeat two middle ranked ants in a row would be lame), that means we don´t even have to count on them in a fight against the royal guard.

So that leaves ... Netero.

At this point, the following needs to happen for our heroes to stand even the slightest chance:

- There are other, yet unknown hunter organization members that will join the ranks of Netero. Maybe they´re yet inactive because they´re THAT powerful that they don´t really care about some "ants"
- the Spiders come to help for ... reasons. And they fight one royal guard member all together as a team.
- the Zaoldyeks join the fight. Again, engaging in a fight against only one royal guard member.
- Ging, Gon´s father, appears and kills one royal guard member. He´s really the only character i can somewhat imagine to be able to do that.

Since I´m absolutely sure Pitou is the enemy for Gon and Killua (and I have no idea how that´ll work out, since Gon, as is, should have no chance. Not in a raw power and also not in terms of tricky ability. He doesn´t have one), as well as Netero going after the king, that leaves butterfly and satan for the rest.


PS: While I ended up liking the portrayal of Knov´s despair, it was partly ruined due to all the unrealistic behavior before. Why is he running like a normal person now, and why is he out of breath after running 2-3 kilometers, if even that? The very first hunter exam was, what, a 400 km marathon?

[Kraco]

I don´t think it´s wrong to say that we so far assumed Knov to be significantly stronger than both Killua and Gon.

Who knows how it was like when he first appeared and looked all cool, composed, and arrogant, but it has been clear for a while he's not a combat type but spatial transportation type. He didn't even fight the ants back before the king hadn't been born yet. He just transported them to Netero to finish off. Gon and Killua, however, have been pretty much solely honing their combat abilities. Plus Gon and Killua are one in a million people. So, no, I haven't been thinking, for a while, that Knov would really be stronger in a deadly fight. Maybe he'd be better at escaping, and based on this episode, good for him.

[Buffalobiian]

Knov lost his will to fight by only seeing Pitou´s chakra.

That's Shaiapouf's chakra, so it wasn't even as bad as Pitou's.

As for Gon, he's got his Meleoron friend now so he gets a free shot. I'm not sure how Octopus will benefit Killua besides saving his life a few episodes ago, but I have high hopes for him in the bro department.

[MFauli]

Gon will not sneakily one-shot Pitou, let´s not kid ourselves. So, do we really think Gon and Killua, even after their training with Biske, stand a chance against Pitou as they are now? Really, REALLY no. And I still think Butterfly and Satan are even stronger than Pitou, following the logic that "the longer inside the egg, the stronger".

Really wonder how it´s going to work out. The problem with Pitou isn´t even just her power, it´s her superior speed, too. Remember when Vegeta trained for his second encounter with Cell, reaching the in-between ultimate saiyajin-level (aka Broly)? And later Goku training so that SSJ level 1 is his normal state, being less powerful, but faster than Vegeta? Well, Pitou is like both at the same time. :/ Totally imba.

I´m kinda preparing myself already for some bullshit plot device, which has to happen unless the author writes Gon and Killua completely out of this arc.

[DarthEnderX]

And I still think Butterfly and Satan are even stronger than Pitou, following the logic that "the longer inside the egg, the stronger".That assumes that all 3 eggs were laid at the exact same time, instead of one after the other.

[Buffalobiian]

Gon will not sneakily one-shot Pitou, let´s not kid ourselves.

So why didn't he say anything when Meleoron suggested using a sneak attack? I don't think Gon is above pulling surprise attacks on people. Hunters (as in predatory animals) do it all the time in the wild. He also tails people when required.

Or are you saying that his attack isn't going to kill Pitou outright? In that case I agree. I don't expect that much from him. I do expect it to do a lot of damage though.

I also think that Pitou is actually the strongest of the three royal guards. It's solely my opinion based on the fact that both Pitou and the king have no wings. I'd like to think that their lack of versatility is balanced by simple Nen prowess. Shaiapouf looks to be the most sophisticated of the three (and probably the most intelligent), while Menthuthuyoupi is dumb as bricks but has the ability to mortph into whatever the hell he feels like.

I just remembered that Knov and Morel were supposed to take on Youpi. With Knov the way he is at the moment, that leaves Morel by himself.

[DarthEnderX]

It doesn't matter if it's a good idea, or even if Gon agrees to it. It's still not going to happen.

[Buffalobiian]

It doesn't matter if it's a good idea, or even if Gon agrees to it. It's still not going to happen.

Do clarify, what do you mean by this?

1) Gon won't try?
2) Pitou won't get hit?
3) Pitou won't get hurt?

[DarthEnderX]

Any or all of them. It's just not that kind of series.

[Buffalobiian]

Any or all of them. It's just not that kind of series.

I don't get why you say that because they're all pretty different reasons for the attack not working out.

I don't think 3 will happen. 2 might, but I'm not hopeful. Meanwhile I can't see why 1 wouldn't happen. Perhaps Gon could convince Meleoron that Knuckle is the better person, or that they somehow get discovered before they move in for the attack, but I do think that the attack would be attempted to some degree. Gon wouldn't just go "nah, we don't do sneak punches".

That's my reasoning. I'm just as baffled by your "It's not that kind of series" answer as I was with the prior post.

[DarthEnderX]

I don't know what's so hard to understand.

This is not a series where the shonen hero defeats their arc villain in a single sneak attack.

Why that's not going to happen is irrelevant. Will Gon refuse to do it? Will she see it coming? Will she simply shrug it off? Maybe. The point is, it's not going to happen.

I guess I just don't care about why it's not going to happen. I'll find out when we get to it. All I know is it's not the resolution that we're going to get.


This is, of course, assuming that the plan is even to have Gon suckerpunch Pitou. Which it isn't, because, I'm not sure what you've been watching, but the plan is to use this power on the King, with someone more powerful than Gon.

[Kraco]

Pitou is the kind of person who jumps into situations trusting in his power, so they could possibly devise a plan to defeat him, despite the power difference. Just like they did with Bomber, who was also considerably more powerful than Gon back then. The only difficulty is how to provoke Pitou enough to make him leave the king behind. Otherwise they have all the necessary time to figure out their strategy and get ready.

It's pretty ridiculous the Hunter organization (or anybody for that matter) can't spare more fighters, whether their own or hired guns, despite their fricking chairman being involved, but I guess that's a shounen show for you; heroes must be underdogs even if logic dictates they should have the whole world backing them up.

[MFauli]

Are you adressing Pitou as a "him" to provoke? Kinda embarrassing.

[Kraco]

Are you adressing Pitou as a "him" to provoke? Kinda embarrassing.

AniDB's cast/voice actor list marks Pitou as male. It's not my fault the English language has different pronouns for male and female. I had to choose one. Without better knowledge I simply decided to choose the same as AniDB.

[MFauli]

AniDB's cast/voice actor list marks Pitou as male. It's not my fault the English language has different pronouns for male and female. I had to choose one. Without better knowledge I simply decided to choose the same as AniDB.


So Pitou looking female, sounding female, somewhat behaving female weren´t pointing towards her being female? I mean, unless she´s hiding a schlong between her legs, Pitou is female, no matter what. And she doesnt strike me as a trap character.

[Kraco]

Sure. But this is HxH. You can almost count all females of any importance in this show with the fingers of a single hand.

[DarthEnderX]

If you want to get technical, Pitou is probably neither. Since she's not a Queen, she probably has no ability to reproduce.

[MFauli]

If you want to get technical, Pitou is probably neither. Since she's not a Queen, she probably has no ability to reproduce.

"cant reproduce = not female"? pretty mean thing to say, dont ya think?

[Buffalobiian]

I don't know what's so hard to understand.

This is not a series where the shonen hero defeats their arc villain in a single sneak attack.

The entire conversation started from this:


Gon will not sneakily one-shot Pitou, let´s not kid ourselves.
To which I asked "What exactly do you mean: Gon won't try or Attack won't work?"

Personally I don't expect a successful one-shot that will take Pitou outright simply because that'll be too quick a fight to watch to be entertaining, but that all of us know that. What I was after was whether you guys thought Gon was above sneak attacks, or whether you simply thought the plan would fail somewhere even though Gon may try to. The latter I have nothing to comment about, but if you guys were arguing based on Gon being morally above such an act then I would.


This is, of course, assuming that the plan is even to have Gon suckerpunch Pitou. Which it isn't, because, I'm not sure what you've been watching, but the plan is to use this power on the King, with someone more powerful than Gon.

I don't remember specifically saying that Gon/Meleoron was going to punch Pitou. I was saying that since they're okay with punching the king, they're okay with punching Pitou in the same manner (that is, sneakily - with or without aided invisibility).

If you've never thought about (or can't be bothered to think about) the way in which things will reach your guess then so be it. That means my confusion wasn't misplaced.

[DarthEnderX]

I was saying that since they're okay with punching the king, they're okay with punching Pitou in the same manner (that is, sneakily - with or without aided invisibility).If they actually intend to use it on the King, there's no way they're going to use it on Pitou. That's way to much of a risk of letting the King know about it and how to avoid it.

[Buffalobiian]

If they actually intend to use it on the King, there's no way they're going to use it on Pitou. That's way to much of a risk of letting the King know about it and how to avoid it.

I said "In the same manner - that is, sneakily with or without invisibility". That means sneaky punch Pitou, not using God's Accomplice twice.

[poopdeville]

It doesn't matter if it's a good idea, or even if Gon agrees to it. It's still not going to happen.

Gon did it to Hisoka. Gon did it to the Bomber. Kurapika did it to Kururo.

QED.

[DarthEnderX]

"cant reproduce = not female"? pretty mean thing to say, dont ya think?I'm not going to get into some kind of LGBT semantic argument over fucking ants okay.


Gon did it to Hisoka. Gon did it to the Bomber.WTF are you talking about? Neither of those things happened.

Gon used sneakiness to get hits in, yes, but MFauli expressly said "one-shot". Gon never defeated any serious opponent with a single sneak attack on an unsuspecting foe.

And the reason he hasn't done it is not because he, as a character, wouldn't do it. Or because it wouldn't work on those characters. But because that would have made an extremely shitty climax to those story arcs.

So again, it's not any in-story reason why it wouldn't happen. It won't happen because that would be a shit ending, and, as I said, this is not a "build up a fight for 2 story arcs then have the main character walk up to his enemy invisibly and punch their head off" kind of series.


Christ, is this fucking clear yet?

[MFauli]

yeah, gon used tricks while already in a fight. he never attacked an enemy before officially starting a fight, so to speak.

[Buffalobiian]

Gon used sneakiness to get hits in, yes, but MFauli expressly said "one-shot". Gon never defeated any serious opponent with a single sneak attack on an unsuspecting foe.

You know what, I lied. The convo actually started with:


As for Gon, he's got his Meleoron friend now so he gets a free shot.

Then MFauli followed up with "One"-shot, and I asked for clarifications... and everything spiralled from there. I also specified in one of the posts that by a "shot", the attack didn't really need to take Pitou out. It's a successful attack if it takes him down a notch or two to level the field.


And the reason he hasn't done it is not because he, as a character, wouldn't do it.

Christ, is this fucking clear yet?

Yeah. It took 15 a few posts to get it out of you, but yeah I know where you stand now.

[DarthEnderX]

It really wasn't as complicated as you guys were making it.

[Buffalobiian]

It really wasn't as complicated as you guys were making it.

It wasn't complicated. I just wanted someone to elaborate further on the statements "It's not going to happen" and "It's not that kind of series", but it took ages.

[MFauli]

new ep is out.

lol, im kinda always tearing up when the final scene is playing out and the ending song is fading in. Damn, such broship between Killua and Tako :3

Good to have Leol taken care of, one plot thread solved.

I didn´t like how they extra-pussywhipped Knov, when Palm had a calmer reaction about the violett chakra than him. It took, I supposed, Pitou´s chakra to stress her out. Is she dead, btw? It looked like Pitou´s chakra came rushing downstairs.

Would have liked to hear more about Knov´s losing his will to fight from Morel. Is he THAT confident in his power that seeing Knov like that doesn´t irritate him? Hm.

[Kraco]

Would have liked to hear more about Knov´s losing his will to fight from Morel. Is he THAT confident in his power that seeing Knov like that doesn´t irritate him? Hm.

Irritation wouldn't do much good. It's better to learn at this point Knov is no good than in the middle of a battle. This is so high level stuff already that either one does it or doesn't. There's no trying. Either a person has what it takes or doesn't. By the looks of it there's no way to really know beforehand, before having been subjected to the super aura.

I'd be quite surprised if Palm was still alive, especially since she didn't have what it takes either. I guess she could be still technically breathing if Pitou wants to learn why she was wandering around and thus keeps her alive. But otherwise the king should be eating her brain already since she's a nen user.

[MFauli]

if palm is dead, i wonder what of knov´s reaction. revenge? realization? suicide? depression?

[DarthEnderX]

For all the build-up, Leol certainly died quickly. Which is disappointing, cause I thought he was cool.

With all of these Ant allies they're making, it's too bad Colt isn't helping, as he's really the only well-defined character in the ants.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm expecting Palm to be alive just because.. but she could well be dead. The preview didn't hint at anything, which was good. I hate her agnsty voice though. The arm guards don't help either.

[DarthEnderX]

Well, she shouldn't be dead either way. Worst case scenario if she's caught, she should end up egged up in a tree.

[poopdeville]

WTF are you talking about? Neither of those things happened.


Hunter Exam. Gon is hunting Hisoka. Gon catches his badge with a one shot surprise attack.

To say Gon is above a surprise attack misses the point of Gon. He does what it takes to win.

[Kraco]

I think it would be pretty ridiculous to call oneself a Hunter and deem surprise attacks undignified. Surprise attacks form half of hunting. Most predators try to surprise the target. People hunting animals as game as well. Often that surprise is all it takes.

[Splash!]

Hunter Exam. Gon is hunting Hisoka. Gon catches his badge with a one shot surprise attack.

To say Gon is above a surprise attack misses the point of Gon. He does what it takes to win.

He was talking about Gon not one-shotting Hisoka or the Bomber with said sneak attack.

[DarthEnderX]

Hunter Exam. Gon is hunting Hisoka. Gon catches his badge with a one shot surprise attack.That it so grossly outside of the realm of what is being discussed here it's ridiculous.

He...one-shotted a badge? That's not even a thing.

[Carnage]

I just realized Kaito must have been a fucking beast for Pitou to acknowledge his strength.

[shinta|hikari]

And how he did not piss his pants even when facing Neffy with just one arm, and had the calmness to tell the kids to get away. Maybe he even got a few good hits in before he died, which is light years away from glasses guy who did not even enter the ring, against the weaker (at least in En, which was the power he sensed) ant.

[Carnage]

Pitou looked damaged and if I recall correctly she admitted that Kaito was strong? He must really have been one of the top hunters.

[Kraco]

I just realized Kaito must have been a fucking beast for Pitou to acknowledge his strength.

That doesn't actually mean anything. Kaito was one of the first not harvested for food humans Pitou ever saw. But even without having anything to use for comparison, he did gather Pitou's interest immediately.

However, being one of the top hunters is a stretch. We have already seen some powerful people only go and get the membership for purely their own selfish reasons. This means the organization has no influence over them, after the selection process. Like Hisoka and Killua's brother (actually Killua's dad and grandpa might also be members as it would help them in their work). I'd like to think that aside from the chairman and very few others, the organization can't really send any strong people anywhere, only mediocre ones who either are interested in gaining an office in the organization or have no ambitions of their own. Others they would need to entice on voluntary basis or simply pay them heftily.

[Buffalobiian]

Pitou looked damaged and if I recall correctly she admitted that Kaito was strong? He must really have been one of the top hunters.

No, Pitou went out there to test her strength. She later admitted that she thinks she is pretty strong after using Kaito as a benchmark.

[Carnage]

No, Pitou went out there to test her strength. She later admitted that she thinks she is pretty strong after using Kaito as a benchmark.

Yes, but she very clearly had battle damage on her. And considering the degree to which everyone absolutely shits themselves when anywhere near her, I'd say that is a hefty accomplishment.

[Kraco]

Yes, but she very clearly had battle damage on her. And considering the degree to which everyone absolutely shits themselves when anywhere near her, I'd say that is a hefty accomplishment.

Who knows. We haven't actually seen Pitou fight against tough opponents. Gon was even willing to challenge Pitou and was only stopped by Killua, who was still under his brother's brain implant control. We know now Knov is a coward, so we are sorely lacking references.

[Carnage]

Who knows. We haven't actually seen Pitou fight against tough opponents. Gon was even willing to challenge Pitou and was only stopped by Killua, who was still under his brother's brain implant control. We know now Knov is a coward, so we are sorely lacking references.

Besides the chairman himself, you mean?

[Kraco]

Besides the chairman himself, you mean?

When did they fight..? Netero was too busy offing the small fries to ever challenge Pitou, if memory serves.

[Carnage]

He scouts out the original hideout and admits at that point in tie that Pitou is possibly stronger than him. After warming up a little, it sounds like he still doesn't cut it.

16021603

[shinta|hikari]

The chairman said that he might lose to Neffy.

[Kraco]

The man had just sat too long behind a desk twiddling papers and lost his touch. It doesn't prove Pitou is strong, only that the chairman was rusty. He's now planning to attack the king himself and leave Pitou for others, so it hardly sounds like he considers Pitou unbeatable.

Pretty much every real fight of a human vs ant has shown one thing more clear than anything else: Long experience matters just as much as awesome aura. Even brats like Gon and Killua are veritable battle scarred veterans compared to these ants who are all under a year old, I believe. Sometimes experience doesn't save the human, like it didn't Kaito, but then again, there're many factors affecting the outcome of a fight. I never considered Kaito so strong anyway, largely due to his stupid technique. On the other hand he was exceedingly ill prepared for the fight that was delivered to him suddenly. That was at least half of his own mistake, though. A mistake Palm is now repeating, probably.

[shinta|hikari]

I actually find the surprise attack by Neffy against Kite weird. Why didn't Kite see the En that she was pouring out? Neffy should not be able to sense them unless they enter her En range, but so far every single hunter who even came close to that En was either awed or terrified by it.

Was Kite just bad at sensing En? Or is it really just like Kraco said, that Kite sucks compared to the Chairman, Knov, or even Palm, who managed to sense it?

Did Neffy have her En off then suddenly turned it on, catching Kite by surprise?

[Carnage]

The man had just sat too long behind a desk twiddling papers and lost his touch. It doesn't prove Pitou is strong, only that the chairman was rusty. He's now planning to attack the king himself and leave Pitou for others, so it hardly sounds like he considers Pitou unbeatable.

Pretty much every real fight of a human vs ant has shown one thing more clear than anything else: Long experience matters just as much as awesome aura. Even brats like Gon and Killua are veritable battle scarred veterans compared to these ants who are all under a year old, I believe. Sometimes experience doesn't save the human, like it didn't Kaito, but then again, there're many factors affecting the outcome of a fight. I never considered Kaito so strong anyway, largely due to his stupid technique. On the other hand he was exceedingly ill prepared for the fight that was delivered to him suddenly. That was at least half of his own mistake, though. A mistake Palm is now repeating, probably.

Im starting to think you never admit yourself wrong no matter what. The chairman acknowledged Pitou's strength, Colt has witnessed the nen level of the Royal Guards and the Chairman. Yes, experience matters but obviously there is a limit when one's strength is just so immense. Knov probably has a vast amount of experience, and he's shitting his pants because he knows the difference between his abilities and theirs. So far every reaction by every character to the Royal Guard, human or ant, has been of absolute awe and terror.



I actually find the surprise attack by Neffy against Kite weird. Why didn't Kite see the En that she was pouring out? Neffy should not be able to sense them unless they enter her En range, but so far every single hunter who even came close to that En was either awed or terrified by it.

Was Kite just bad at sensing En? Or is it really just like Kraco said, that Kite sucks compared to the Chairman, Knov, or even Palm, who managed to sense it?

Did Neffy have her En off then suddenly turned it on, catching Kite by surprise?

Kite's En (well, almost no human's En) could reach the distance between him and the nest at that point. Im guessing Neferpitou sensed him either through natural instinct or was able to leap the distance instantly after activating her nen.

[Buffalobiian]

Yes, but she very clearly had battle damage on her. And considering the degree to which everyone absolutely shits themselves when anywhere near her, I'd say that is a hefty accomplishment.

I'm not disagreeing that Kite did put up a fight. I'm just saying that he wasn't "acknowledged" directly by Pitou. Pitou's comment was specifically referring to her own strength. By inference though, it does require Kite to be strong to make such a comparison (that, or she rolled him). I personally think that the bigger compliment to Kite was that Pitou wanted to reanimate him to savour their fight.


Kite's En (well, almost no human's En) could reach the distance between him and the nest at that point. Im guessing Neferpitou sensed him either through natural instinct or was able to leap the distance instantly after activating her nen.

Kite's En range was around 40m from memory. Top notch En users were somewhere around 50m or something. Pitou's range is massive. I don't think Pitou was emitting En continuously at that stage and detected Kite via instinct. You have to ask then though (as shinta did): why use En when your instincts are that good?

Actually, I think carnage's last point would be right. Pitou activated En right after learning about it and detected Kite. Kite then detected Pitou's En and told the kids to run away.

[shinta|hikari]

What an unlucky bastard Kite was.

[Kraco]

Im starting to think you never admit yourself wrong no matter what. The chairman acknowledged Pitou's strength, Colt has witnessed the nen level of the Royal Guards and the Chairman. Yes, experience matters but obviously there is a limit when one's strength is just so immense. Knov probably has a vast amount of experience, and he's shitting his pants because he knows the difference between his abilities and theirs. So far every reaction by every character to the Royal Guard, human or ant, has been of absolute awe and terror.

Then don't try to think. I'm admitting I'm wrong all the time, especially since I make predictions that turn out wrong very often.

I'm not saying Pitou is weak. He's probably among the strongest characters we have seen so far. But I am saying those who shit their pants just by sensing his aura are indeed weak cowards. The chairman didn't do that. He was quite calm and admitted he's so rusty that he would probably lose to the ant monster at the moment. So, he started training to able to beat the king instead. That shows guts of a peculiar kind, no doubt.

Like I said before, we don't know how scared Killua really was because he was suffering from the brain needle effect. Gon surely wasn't; he wanted to kick Pitou's ass back to the ant nest. Besides, being scared is okay, scared witless is not. They are working to save the world of men, so dropping out of the fight because you think you might not be dominating the fight is cowardice and nothing else.

I don't even know anymore what I'm commenting on, since your comment was somewhat lacking in the sense department, but who cares.

[MFauli]

People calling Pitou "him".

People calling Pitou "Neffy".

This thread got a lot more annoying to read ./



PS: if the en-range is really such a marker for power levels, and top notch nen-users can "see" within 50 meters, and we have Pitou who "saw" over a distance of what, more than a kilometer? Then everybody is super-fucked.

[Carnage]

But I am saying those who shit their pants just by sensing his aura are indeed weak cowards. The chairman One of earth's top 4 nen users didn't do that.

Keep in mind, Kite/Killua/Gon faced Pitou before (s)he even knew what nen was. There is actually no reason to believe Knov is a pussy, considering he's dealt with every other opponent just fine and he was handpicked by the chairman himself, which should say something.


Like I said before, we don't know how scared Killua really was because he was suffering from the brain needle effect.

Killua's needle forces him to retreat from dangerous situations. He was psyched out long after he was in any danger.


Gon surely wasn't.

That's because Gon our shonen protagonist, and this entire story has been him not backing down from anything.



They are working to save the world of men, so dropping out of the fight because you think you might not be dominating the fight is cowardice and nothing else.

No.


I don't even know anymore what I'm commenting on, since your comment was somewhat lacking in the sense department, but who cares.

Just go back one page and see yourself, you said:


That doesn't actually mean anything...being one of the top hunters is a stretch...I'd like to think that aside from the chairman and very few others, the organization can't really send any strong people anywhere, only mediocre ones who either are interested in gaining an office in the organization or have no ambitions of their own.

...

Who knows. We haven't actually seen Pitou fight against tough opponents. Gon was even willing to challenge Pitou and was only stopped by Killua, who was still under his brother's brain implant control. We know now Knov is a coward, so we are sorely lacking references.

I originally said Kaito must have been strong to have fought well against Pitou. You insinuated otherwise, posting that we can't make that claim since we don't actually know how relatively strong Pitou is by arguing "lack of reference". I presented references, then you forgot your original claim entirely. Wasn't hard to try.

[DarthEnderX]

I think it would be hilarious if Pitou turned out not to be insanely strong at all and just has a weird power that makes her aura way more threatening than it should be. :p

[shinta|hikari]

And she scared Kite to death.

Poor bastard.

@Mfauli - What's wrong with calling him/her Neffy? I can go back to Nef if it annoys you. Pitou is weird so I will refrain from using that.

[DarthEnderX]

And she scared Kite to death.I don't mean that she'd be powerless. Just not as strong as her aura leads people to think she is.


@Mfauli - What's wrong with calling him/her Neffy? I can go back to Nef if it annoys you. Pitou is weird so I will refrain from using that.Pitou is the nickname other characters are using though.

[Kraco]

I originally said Kaito must have been strong to have fought well against Pitou. You insinuated otherwise, posting that we can't make that claim since we don't actually know how relatively strong Pitou is by arguing "lack of reference". I presented references, then you forgot your original claim entirely. Wasn't hard to try.

But you presented absolutely no references of any value! Because we have very few of those. The chairman was weak because he was rusty (or old). He has said as much himself. But the fact he's planning to somehow deal with the king means he thinks he can shake off some of that rust and then compensate some with experience.

We never saw Kaito fight any really serious fights. My main argument against him is highly biased because I think his main technique, summoning the utterly stupid clown thing, made him far weaker than he needed to be. Yet he could fight against Pitou for a while so naturally he's stronger than Knov, who was missing his mommy before he even saw Pitou.

But yeah, I hate on a fundamental level the whole your aura is directly proportional to your battle prowess thinking, so I doubt we will ever see eye to eye. I prefer the delinquent measure of who's standing last is stronger.

[Splash!]

Actually, I think carnage's last point would be right. Pitou activated En right after learning about it and detected Kite. Kite then detected Pitou's En and told the kids to run away.

But Pitou noticed Kite even before she was able to pinpoint his location using En (which is when he became aware of her too). I thought it was possible at the very least to detect the presence of someone else's aura. En just takes it one step further by allowing you pinpoint where that aura is coming from, as well as being able to detect individuals in a zetsu state.

Even without En, it should have been possible for the king and the royal guards to notice that Knov was skulking around unless he was using 'In' or something. This may help explain why he seemed to have been affected more by royal guard nen than Kite or Gon. Remember that using Zetsu makes you extra vulnerable to aura.

EDIT: This also serves as a plausible explanation for why Killua was more affected by Pitou's aura than Gon (rather than Gon's plot armor). Killua is a natural assassin and is probably instinctively using Zetsu to lessen his presence and be more receptive of his surroundings.

[Kraco]

The needle in Killua's brain made him witless when facing anybody he judged stronger. That certainly would be the case with a monster like Pitou. It even made him almost lose against a mediocre opponent like Rammot. He was like a different man, well, a boy, after he removed the needle. The fear was gone and he one-shotted the stupid ant. So, Killua can be counted out. I admit maybe Gon as well, at least to a degree, since he was nearly going berserk after what happened to Kaito. But I would be extremely surprised if Gon and Killua couldn't face Pitou when the time comes. Perhaps Knov was made also weaker by being the calculating type. Gon just pushes forward similar to Uvo. In fact Killua is also calculating, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes. But in the end it's a part of an assassin's job to find a way to deal with a stronger opponent. After all, who needs assassins if not for taking out otherwise untouchable targets? Illumi likely figered Killua would be ready for that by the time he manages to remove the needle.

[Splash!]

I just think that it is more than a coincidence that the 2 stealth types have freaked out the most. They seemed to have been caught off guard by intensity of their opponent's aura. That is not to say that Killua can't go in again using a more head on approach (he would probably fare better). Knov, on the other hand, seems to have been utterly defeated by that first experience.

[Kraco]

That is not to say that Killua can't go in again using a more head on approach (he would probably fare better).

In practice we haven't seen Killua's reaction even for the first time, because there's no panic needle inside his head anymore. He's a different person now. That's why I said it will be interesting.

[Buffalobiian]

Gon surely wasn't; he wanted to kick Pitou's ass back to the ant nest. Besides, being scared is okay, scared witless is not.

I think Gon actually was scared. "Anger + fear = fuck this shit, blind charge." Killua thought "fuck this shit, bail" Neither of them were "thinking" in the real sense. Their own gut reactions took over.

[MFauli]

I think Gon actually was scared. "Anger + fear = fuck this shit, blind charge." Killua thought "fuck this shit, bail" Neither of them were "thinking" in the real sense. Their own gut reactions took over.

agreed
.

[Archangel]

So nobody's gonna mention how Palm totally boned that vice president guy?

[enkoujin]

I actually refuse to believe that it happened and hope that the drugs kicked in after he stripped himself before anything else happened.

[Buffalobiian]

I actually refuse to believe that it happened and hope that the drugs kicked in after he stripped himself before anything else happened.

That's usually the case.

[DarthEnderX]

I wouldn't be surprised either way.

These people are willing to put their lives on the line to save the world. I'm sure some of them are willing to do the same with their dignity.

[Buffalobiian]

I simply think that given the choice of knocking out a man outright vs sexing him up then knocking him out.. why do the latter (unless you were Bisuke)?

[DarthEnderX]

What if he only drinks his iced tea AFTER? You know, to replenish his fluids.

[Buffalobiian]

What if he only drinks his iced tea AFTER? You know, to replenish his fluids.

Haha, that's awesome.

In that case,

What if he was told to drink the special iced tea BEFORE? You know, to increase his performance.

[MFauli]

new episode is out.

OMG, Im starting to kind of feel sympathetic towards the king :>
King X Komugi pairing please!!!1

[DarthEnderX]

So, the Queen told Colt what the King's name was right?

I wonder if that's going to be important. Like the Chairman will have an awesome power, but it's requirement is knowing the targets name or something,

[shinta|hikari]

Loli >>>>>> All.

Yes, even if it is a snot nosed, thick brow, blind fugly one.

The king's entire speech made me chuckle the whole time. I kept murmuring to myself, "he must be too young to know lolis rule all."

[Buffalobiian]

King X Komugi pairing please!!!1

When he asked "What do I want to do with her?", I immediately remembered that the King was to copulate with various species..

@DE: I think the name will be a game-changer, but in regards to the king and his understanding of himself and the world more so than an actual power.

Did anyone watch the preview? Knov's hair?!

[Archangel]

The pedo king

If this comes as a surprise to anyone you clearly didn't watch the ending theme.


Did anyone watch the preview? Knov's hair?!

Being scared to death does a number on your follicles.

[MFauli]

The pedo king



Yeah, Komugi is such a sick fuck >_<

[Buffalobiian]

The pedo king

If this comes as a surprise to anyone you clearly didn't watch the ending theme.

The king's confused, (manly version of flustered) reaction was the surprise, not so much that he's siding with the girl.

[MFauli]

new ep out!

yeah, not for a second will i believe that their plan will go anywhere as smoothly as they made it sound. My number 1 bet: Morel will be killed almost instantly. He has been built up as something like the group´s leader and going drama-logic, his quick defeat would create the most effective shock moment.

Though I have a hard time coming up with a proper, acceptable setup for all of the ants.

Netero vs King, that´s a given.

Gon and Killua vs Pitou, also set in stone.

Now, I could see Knuckle and his mate fighting together against one of the other two, say, Pouf, who, imo, is the weakest of the royal guard. I don´t see them defeating him, but at least not being insta-killed either.

However, that leaves the red royal guard guy, who I still suppose to be the strongest of the three. Even if that wasn´t true, there´s still nobody to tackle him. So, unless this anime pulls some serious bs-cards, we need more fighters on the human side. Come on, Genryudan, get your asses over there!!!1 :P

[Kraco]

However, that leaves the red royal guard guy, who I still suppose to be the strongest of the three. Even if that wasn´t true, there´s still nobody to tackle him. So, unless this anime pulls some serious bs-cards, we need more fighters on the human side. Come on, Genryudan, get your asses over there!!!1 :P

Maybe the Hunters have enough intelligence to know the red devil isn't any rocket scientist, so there's not necessarily any need to fight him. They just need to make sure he's somewhere else, like chasing some ghost, for example.

[David75]

We've had some kind of side story from the spiders and that guy who burns everyone around. He got that scorpion ant.
I wonder if they'll come back again before the end of the arc.

[DarthEnderX]

It's offputting when Ikalgo doesn't wear his gloves on his stumps. :p

[shinta|hikari]

I don't think anyone is going to get instakilled.

I do have to wonder what chance the brat duo has against Nef. I don't want Nef to die, but even if I did, I don't see how those two can beat her while keeping it believable.

Knov is such a pussy. Someone who fears death and pain so much is simply pathetic, especially since the whole world is on the line. It is only a matter of extending his life a few more weeks if he bows out.

[DarthEnderX]

I think it's weird that Morel is all "I haven't rested in days, I'm only at 35%" but he had hours before the mission started where he could have just slept...

[Buffalobiian]

I think it's weird that Morel is all "I haven't rested in days, I'm only at 35%" but he had hours before the mission started where he could have just slept...

I think they were all too tense by then to get any proper sleep, but overall I'd agree. He should have at least tried.

Bisky could have helped him out.

[shinta|hikari]

I think his fatigue from all the stuff and battles he did wouldn't be alleviated by just resting a few hours. You don't expect a boxer to fight back to back bouts then be in perfect shape after sleeping a day.

[DarthEnderX]

Pssh, we saw both of his fights. One lasted like 10 minutes and the other one he slept through.