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Hunter x Hunter Episode Twenty-Two

PUPPY!

(OK. This time I'm not drunk after a USA soccer game. Not even tipsy. I sobered up the second Portugal scored the equalizer. Then I was sad. Then I realized that the USA has a good chance to advance even with the draw. But, enough soccer talk. On to the episode.)

Apparently the home of famous assassins is both public knowledge and a tourist attraction. Because that his how hardcore this world is. Or it's that most people don't think the Zoldyck Family is even real. However, whether or not they are real is not really something anyone is thinking after a couple of guys decide to break into the side door of the main gate. The two of them are quickly eaten, and their bones thrown back outside the door. With the tourists gone, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika attempt to get inside do meet Killua, with Gon insisting against all obstacles that he wants to meet his friend. They are let inside the main gate, and get to meet the guard dog who made a meal of the would-be intruders, named Mike. At this point, Gon realizes what real badasses this family is made of, just after meeting the family pet.

By now, Gon also has been shown to have a real stubborn streak. If it had done anything but served him well thus far, I would call it a flaw, but it hasn't. And I honestly hope that changes at some point in the future. It's all well and good for a character to have a strong will, but sometimes discretion is necessary to keep oneself alive. Also, it's getting a bit annoying to have a kid, albeit a powerful kid, getting his way all of the time. Gon naively thinks he can just walk up to the Zoldyck estate and see Killua. This despite knowing that Killua is both not on the best terms with his family and that Killua's family doesn't think highly of him. Maybe this isn't the time where Gon really gets hit with a reality check, but at sometime in the future, that check is going to hit. And it's going to sting like a bitch.

Hunter x Hunter Episode Twenty-One

Woo-hoo! Time to start the plot!

Today's episode marks the end of the Hunter's Exam arc. There is a bunch of talk about how Illumi was a dick, how Killua may have been hypnotized into killing Bodoro, what exactly Hisoka said to Kurapika, and so on. Really, it was mostly just a summary of the loose ends still dangling and the characters who might matter going forward having one more moment before Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio get a move on with the plot. In this case, the plot is searching for Killua, which means it's time to visit his home. Which is in a faraway country and ends with them running past a bunch of people stuck in traffic as a montage of the Exam plays, putting a nice bow on things, and signaling that it's time to move on.

The big takeaway from this episode between all of the talking was that Gon's father is a big fucking deal. When one of the new guys tried to look up information on him, it was behind a security wall. And even one of the examiners wanted to meet him. What I'm getting at is that maybe there was a good reason for him to stay away from Gon and have no part in raising him. My guess is that I'll find out about Gon's dad sometime in the next twenty to two-hundred episodes. Unless we go full One Piece and it's closer to five hundred. And I just felt a chill run up my spine.

Hunter x Hunter Episode Twenty

I totally see the family resemblance.

Well, that was an eventful episode. Several Candidates ended up passing before a fight between Killua and Pinhead, who turns out to be Killua's older brother, Illumi. Apparently, all those pins were there to change his face for a disguise. Either way, their fight is a war of words. Illumi tells Killua that he exists only to kill people, and that is the only way he can ever feel joy (much like people who use the term "objective opinion" seriously). He claims that Killua is unable to want anything else. Killua retorts by saying that he wants to be friends with Gon, and once he realizes the two of them are already friends, Illumi says he is going to kill Gon and stalks off toward the waiting room where Gon is lying unconscious. After a tense moment where it looks like the brothers will fight, Killua surrenders, only to come back and murder Bodoro, the old man, in the following fight for reasons unknown. This means everyone else passes the exam, much to Gon's anger, and the episode ends with him storming to the orientation session for the newly minted Hunters, and demands that Illumi apologize to his brother. Because of course that will fix things.

So, while the Hunter Exam is now officially over, there are new questions that require answers. First off, what is going to happen to Killua now? I know he's a main character, and maybe he can hang out with Gon even if he isn't a Hunter, but that kind of came out of nowhere. And then there's Hisoka, who whispered something to both Kurapika and Bodoro in their respective fights that made Hisoka lose his first fight and win his second. And seriously, why did Killua murder Bodoro? I'm happy that things haven't wrapped up nicely yet, it keeps me interested. As for the last question, which is how Gon will fight Illumi with a broken arm, I think that's going to be answered like everything is answered with Gon. He'll fight him using super protagonist power.

Hunter x Hunter Episode Nineteen

Here we see a wild Gon giving his opponent a brain aneurysm.

And it turns out the Final Phase is ... a losers bracket. Basically, if a Candidate wins one fight by getting their opponent to surrender, they pass the Exam. The person who loses all their matches will fail at this final hurdle. And they can't kill their opponent (sorry, Hisoka). The tournament is seeded so that the best Candidates get the most chances, with the bracket setting up like this:

Fight 1: Gon vs. Hanzo (bald ninja)
Fight 2: Kurapika vs. Hisoka
Fight 3: Pokkle (poison dart dude) vs. Loser of Fight 1
Fight 4: Bodoro (old dude) vs. Loser of Fight 2
Fight 5: Killua vs. Loser of Fight 3
Fight 6: Leorio vs. Loser of Fight 4
Fight 7: Pinhead vs. Loser of Fight 5
Fight 8: Loser of Fight 6 vs. Loser of Fight 7

In Fight 1, Gon gets beaten up quite badly by Hanzo. But, he refuses to surrender, no matter what Hanzo does to him, including breaking his arm. Hanzo realizes he can't force Gon to surrend, and he can't just kill Gon to end the fight. So, Hanzo surrenders, meaning Gon and his protagonist power of will has won the fight and passed the Hunter's Exam! Yay! Although, I feel like now is a good time to ask this, am I a bad person for wanting to see Gon get knocked down a few pegs at some point? Does that make me a horrible person?

Hunter x Hunter Episode Eighteen

Snakes on a Gon! (Yeah, you can boo me for that.)

In this episode, Gon proves his pure badassness by managing to get everyone out using the power of the protagonist! First, he willingly gets bitten by a bunch of snakes so he can get the antidote off of the dead snake charmer's person. Then, he somehow holds his breath for five minutes so Ponzu's sleeping gas can put the snakes to sleep and carries all of the living out of the cave. And he steals Ponzu's badge so Leorio can pass the Fourth Phase of the Exam. The final results of which are listed below:

Hisoka: 6 pts
Kurapika: 6 pts
Gon: 6 pts
Pokkle (poison arrows): 6 points
Pinhead (Real Name = Spoiler): 6 points
Killua: 6 pts
Hanzo: 6 pts
Leorio: 6 pts
Bodoro: 6 pts
Ponzu: 3 pts

Tonpa: 0 points

Sommy (Tonpa's friend): 0 points

Imori (brother hunting Killua): 0 points

Umori: 0 points

Amori: 0 points

Kyu (guy attacked with poison arrows): 0 points

Gozu (guy who attacked Hisoka with a spear): 0 points and dead

Siper (sniper hunting Pinhead): 0 points and dead

Geretta (Gon's Hunter): 0 pts and dead

Agon (last guy Hisoka hunted): 0 pts and dead

Bourbon: 0 pts and dead

(21/24 Candidates accounted for)

After that, it's back on the airship for the preparations for the Final Phase. The Chairman asks each candidate some questions about why they want to be a Hunter, who they have their eye on, and who they wouldn't want to face in a fight. There are various answers to the last two questions, but we do get to hear Hisoka's answer. Not surprisingly, he wants to kill people with impunity. What a guy. The reveal for the Final Phase waits for the next episode, as it looks like this arc is going to wrap itself up soon. 

Hunter x Hunter Episode Seventeen

One-on-three? That's not fair ... for them.

Today, it's time to see how Killua is doing in his attempt to earn his six points. We've already seen him taunting the man hunting him, one of three brothers (Imori, Umori, and Amori) who have made it to this Phase, so on Day 4, he decides to confront him. He does this just as the other brothers show up to check on his progress, and in the fight is able to acquire his own target's badge, giving him six points. And just to make sure we still like him, he doesn't even kill one of them. How nice of him. However, he does dispose of the other two badges he does not need by chucking them far into the forest. This leads to one of the other Candidates, a bald ninja named Hanzo to chase the badge he thinks belonged to his target. But, since Killua is a complete badass, he switched the badge at the last second, meaning Hanzo found the wrong one. Womp, fucking, womp. In the second half of the episode, Gon meets up with Kurapika and Leorio, and becomes the team's bloodhound, using the chemical scents that Leorio's target, a woman named Ponzu, uses in her attacks. This leads to a cave where a snake charmer named Whiskey Bourbon has made it so that anyone who tries to leave gets attacked by snakes. But, there's no convincing him to call the snakes off, because he is dead. And Leorio has already been bitten. Which brings me to today's standings. I was able to find all the names (with descriptors), and here are the standings as of Day 6:

Hisoka: 6 pts
Kurapika: 6 pts
Gon: 6 pts
Pokkle (poison arrows): 6 points
Pinhead (Real Name = Spoiler): 6 points
Killua: 6 pts
Hanzo: 4 pts
Leorio: 3 pts
Ponzu: ? pts

Tonpa: 0 points

Sommy (Tonpa's friend): 0 points

Imori (brother hunting Killua): 0 points

Umori: 0 points

Amori: 0 points

Kyu (guy attacked with poison arrows): 0 points

Gozu (guy who attacked Hisoka with a spear): 0 points and dead

Siper (sniper hunting Pinhead): 0 points and dead

Geretta (Gon's Hunter): 0 pts and dead

Agon (last guy Hisoka hunted): 0 pts and dead

Bourbon: 0 pts and dead

(20/24 Candidates accounted for)