HUNTER X HUNTER 373

My first post! And it’s about Hunter x Hunter!

Anyways, if anyone’s reading this, I’d like to first thank you for taking the time to check out my blog that I’ve just started. I realized last week that I really do have a whole lot to say about a lot of different things, and I think a blog might be the best place to to talk about these things.

But, it’s Thursday, and it seems like we got an early gift this week in a new chapter of HxH before Friday. Honestly, I’m just very grateful that we’re getting any chapters at all. I really do consider Togashi to be a master of his craft, and this particular arc, in my opinion, has just been amazing. I really do think it has the potential to be the greatest arc in the history of shounen manga, if that actually means anything. The Dark Continent arc is obviously supremely ambitious, and if Togashi can manage to successfully tie together all the threads that he’s created, the 14 princes, the spiders, the Hunter Association, Pariston’s group, and the dark continent itself, then this arc will certainly go down in history. I know that some people have had mixed feelings about this arc, whether it be the overly long dialogue, lack of narrative progression, or the fact that we’re stuck on a boat. However, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying everything Togashi has been dishing; true, it is very dense, but I’m loving it all so far.

Now onto this specific chapter. I think this chapter did a really good job of highlighting how competent Benjamin and his troupe really is. Not only that, but given the description of Benjamin’s power, hilariously named “Benjamin’s Button,” we can also assume that they are all willing and ready to die for him, but that could already have been assumed. I don’t find Benjamin to be that interesting of a character, but I think him squaring off against Kurapika is going to be very fun to see. Unlike many other shounens, Togashi prefers to have his characters be smart and competent. And, when he has two of these kinds of characters square off, it really makes for magic. I’m thinking specifically about Chrollo vs. Kurapika.

I also loved the artwork for Camille’s nen beast, and the ability itself was fairly straightforward, which was a nice change from some of the more complicated abilities. Specifically, I enjoyed how cartoonish the her cat looked and how that stood in contrast to Camille’s very specific, deadly look. Ideally she leaves the picture quickly, as I would like to move on to more interesting princes.