Too bad the plot armor won't make him permanently lose an arm or a leg, or even just an eye, to teach him a lesson. Just looking at those weirdos should have told him that losing might come with an extra penalty. Nothing wrong about losing otherwise - it can teach far more than winning - but that's only true for training or when winning is a possibility as well, making it worth the risk. But to go into an actual fight knowing you will lose... That's something you do only when you have got no other choice. He's not retarded, that's too strong a term, but he's stupid. No way around it.
anyone else feeling the "thinness" of these episodes? as if they are trying to stretch content?
I love this series but I really hate how little content they are putting into each episode, considering that its a re-do and they have so much material in the manga.
Last edited by anime nomad; Mon, 04-30-2012 at 09:57 PM. Reason: typo
The speed is pretty crazy here, especially remembering the old show, so I definitely can't feel anything of that sort. There are parts that could have easily used half an episode more material. Such as Gon (and the rest, I suppose) getting stronger. Now he's supposedly so strong that he literally pushed his way 199 floors up, but the "training" we saw him undergo, with one arm broken to boot, hardly gave me an impression he should have got so strong. Half an episode more of longer and more of torturous boot camp would have done the trick. But no, they had to speed past it.
Actually, I think Gon is a kinesthetic learner like most shounen heroes. He's a guy who learns things by doing them. Especially in a shounen manga/anime, the main protagonists usually get better during the actual battle by continually evolving. Gon is exactly like that - he didn't learn how to steal Hisoka's plate just by watching another candidate steal another candidate's plate while they were vulnerable. He learned how to steal Hisoka's plate successfully by practicing catching birds with his fishing rod (according to Geretta, Gon's hunter during the exam, more than several thousand times).
In this case, he's just learned the basics of Nen. He can take it the slow way and learn to use it in 90 days, or he can start using it right away in battle and accelerate his learning process through application. Strategically, it's a dumb move for him to head into battle immediately because he could have at least learned to master the basics first. But because he's a kinesthetic learner, being able to apply something he learns right away is beneficial to him (assuming nothing can backfire). Getting used to the environment of the 200th floor and matches serves this purpose as he is preparing himself more in the long-term against stronger fighters.
However, we can't forget that Gon's character has a lot of pride as exemplified by his refusal to use his hunter license to enter different countries. In this case, his short-term goal is to defeat Hisoka and Hisoka's words were that he would only be interested in fighting Gon and Killua if they could win a match on the 200th floor - which is exactly what Gon is doing. Doing this is satisfying his large pride of being able to fight Hisoka as soon as possible so that he can that he's successfully earned his privilege to be a called a hunter.
You do realise you are speaking against yourself in this paragraph. Gon didn't learn how to steal Hisoka's plate by fighting against Hisoka (or other deadly opponents) but by training with birds. The equivalent here would be to train under Wing and only after he knew he had a clue of what's going on, face opponents that are perfectly willing to maim or even kill him. It's not like Wing would make them sit through long lectures without any physical (or is it spiritual) training.
But yeah, what you are saying is otherwise correct. Not that it would make him any less stupid.
Last edited by Kraco; Tue, 05-01-2012 at 08:16 AM.
That's fine and all, but in the latest episodes they actually have been using the same amount of chapters as the old anime per episode. This episode covered only 2 chapters (which is the norm in almost all animes). I don't think it feels rushed at all.
I recall in the other anime, and I believe it was at a point earlier than we currently are in, they explained this aspect of Gon's behavior. The reason he does this kind of thing, and will continue to do it, is not because of a lack of intellect. He has a deep fear that if he is not willing to do the sort of thing he's doing in this episode, take these sorts of risks, he won't be able to ever reach his father. He's acting on an emotional drive, and taking this risk is the point.
Personally, I actually think he's right, even if he didn't come to that conclusion using any logic we've seen. If the "level" his father exists in is as grand and difficult to reach as the story is trying to convince us it is, then somehow he's going to have to dig deeper, go further, move faster, and fight harder than anyone else. This is one way he's trying to do that.
"You are not free whose liberty is won by the rigour of other, more righteous souls. Your are merely protected. Your freedom is parasitic, you suck the honourable man dry and offer nothing in return. You who have enjoyed freedom, who have done nothing to earn it, your time has come. This time you will stand alone and fight for yourselves. Now you will pay for your freedom in the currency of honest toil and human blood."
- Inquisitor Czevak
Considering his actions during the Hunter exam, he was willing put to his principles before passing the exam. That would have set him back however long it'd have taken till the next exam. So, he definitely wasn't prioritising the speed but rather his own mental state. And that mental state has the conflict of wanting to meet his dad, but at the same time jeopardising the chances by sheer recklessness carrying high danger for little reward. Well, I suppose we can deduce he inherited that trait from his father and is now obeying it to become more like his father, in the hopes of that helping him to reach the man himself.
Not that it would make him any less stupid.
You got me on that one, Kraco, but the point I was making was that he was trying to simulate the stealing of Hisoka's plate. True, Gon can easily simulate battles with Wing, but because he knows Wing does not have malicious intent, the experience he would be getting would not be a good reflection with a battle with Hisoka. You can say the same as Killua as Killua has no intention of hurting Gon in a malicious manner due to strong friendship.
Here's another way of thinking about it, though. Gon has lots of natural talent. If this was all mathematics class, he would have learned basic addition and subtraction from Wing. Now, he's decided he wants to take an exam that has both multiplication and division on it; he wants to experiment and innovate at the same time with the basics he's learned.
For the average person, this would be a dumb move as failure would imminent, but for someone as talented as Gon, taking the exam is a great way to apply the basic skills you've learned. Because of his talent, being able to figure out how to multiply immediately after learning addition would take less time than learning it through a classroom. The pressure of stress of the situation will let him adapt more. Plus, he can always give up with a small consequence and learn to readily adapt to a battle between Nen users. Basically, he gains familiarity with multiplication, division and the ability/mindset to deal with exam-writing conditions immediately.
Not knowing much about Gon's dad I can't speak to his disposition, but I can say that being reckless isn't a requirement for the behavior Gon is exhibiting. If Gon realizes (instinctually or otherwise) that there is going to be a need to take extreme risks in order to succeed at his goal, then he's not stupid for making the decision to fight now. What would be stupid, is to realize what he realizes, but still decide to play it safe at every opportunity and believe that he'll be able to take the plunge "when the time comes." That's not how people work. In general, you cannot do what you have not done before, and you cannot do well what you have not done many times before. This includes being brave and keeping your head while facing danger and uncertainty.
In Gon's estimation, following Wing's advice is playing it safe. It is the smart thing to do if the goal is to do well in the 200s. But the goal is to reach Ging, and an opportunity presents itself to test for the presence of something we suspect is a requirement to achieving that goal. In that case, playing it safe is the stupid thing to do. Now, I'm not saying that Gon is or isn't stupid. I am arguing that this decision is not stupid. Furthermore, since Gon probably didn't come to an understanding of why he is the way he is analytically, we can't use this example as a gauge for Gon's intelligence.
"You are not free whose liberty is won by the rigour of other, more righteous souls. Your are merely protected. Your freedom is parasitic, you suck the honourable man dry and offer nothing in return. You who have enjoyed freedom, who have done nothing to earn it, your time has come. This time you will stand alone and fight for yourselves. Now you will pay for your freedom in the currency of honest toil and human blood."
- Inquisitor Czevak
Not really. His objective out of all of this is to be strong enough to return the badge to Hisoka. Defeating spinning top guy isn't what he is aiming for. If anything, he probably realizes that he is not going to be as strong as Hisoka anytime soon, even with Wing's training. Fighting against an opponent like this (where he is clearly outmatched and needs to think on his feet) is good practice for facing Hisoka, where he will most likely be in a similar situation, even after having polished his nen a bit. He will probably learn more this way (of course the risk is much much greater but since when does Gon care). If he were to train with Wing first and then fight this guy, one could argue if he would learn as much. So his plan isn't 'completely' retarded (although it is still pretty stupid).
Episode 30 aired!
Last edited by Buffalobiian; Sun, 07-08-2012 at 10:07 AM.
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"Always be yourself... unless you suck."
A bunch of broken bones is the least you need to keep Gon sitting still for any longer period of time. It's no wonder he had needed to develop an unnatural skill to hide his presence with such a lack of patience.
You have to break quite a lot of his bones to keep him steady enough to train him into things like meditation/concentration or any technique needing long yet light training
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
Yah, that dude just cannot keep still, and from the looks of the next-ep preview, he's already doing one-handstands and shit lol.
But they probably just have some minor time-skipping going on so we won't just get tons of eps with Gon being incapacitated.
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"Always be yourself... unless you suck."