Dressrosa is 102 chapters. Chimera Ant Arc is 132. If he covered Dressrosa in 2 parts I don't see Mark taking more than 3 parts to cover Chimera Ant Arc
I like listening to Greed Island viewers talk about Togashi's lack of willingness to embrace the gritty nature or aversion to killing established characters... Really makes what comes next all the better.
@@marbell6353 A loooot of established characters get killed in chimera ant. New and old. Netero, Pokkle, Ponzu, Meruem, Komugi, most of the chimera ants and the royal guards.
@@rareyuki2 damn how could I forget the OG nvm but yeah I realized Mark had a point with Togashi being unwilling to kill any loved characters not saying I wanted any characters to die in the ant arc but togashi only kills side characters that we got one or two episodes like Pokkle even though his death scene is super dark if someone isn’t super invested with HxH that scene might not hold any weight
IMO I don't really have a problem with this arc being more relaxed than the previous one. It isn't as high stakes, the villain is more cliche, and so on, its like a slice of ginger to cleanse the palate before diving into chimera ant.
Agreed it's why I like Greed island. If a story is about 'the FAATE OF THE WORLD' on gigantic scale etc. often the cool worldbuilding and character moments get lost in the overall scheme. Such stories are great but to use current movies, would Infinity War & Endgame have had the same impact if every movie was this grand scale thing? No. they tried that in that Avengers movies phase and people got tired of it real fast. Infinity War & Endgame are all the more special because we spend previous movies going to Highschool with Peter Parker, having wacky space adventures with Thor etc. For me Greed Island plays a similar role and allows us to spend more quiet quality time with the characters on lower stakes before we go into crisis overdrive mode 😊
Regardless, it's not amongst the best arcs in the series and it drags on for too long. The final arc is turning out to be the best arc but I feel that Togashi made it so intensely high stakes he outworked himself.
Ging wasn't watching over Gon, that part was a flashback to when he was setting up the game however many years ago. He was having her program it to send Gon to either him or Kite depending on which card he uses. He's predicting Gon will do exactly what he ends up doing - win the game and find/exploit the one loophole in the rules that'll bring the two of them face-to-face. Ging even gets called out on it directly, accused of only doing that because he's shy. And if you think about it, it even goes directly against one of the lessons he tried to convey to Gon through Greed Island: the importance of having good friends. Razor's questline required a large party just to get started even, and beating him would require a team effort no matter who you were, even if there *weren't* a minimum number of players.
2:18: Totallynotmark is spewing total nonsense here. How does he think they would normally HAVE TO PLAY DODGEBALL against some Hunk? Yeah, no, it is in fact and objectively not 'in spite of' but 'thanks to the game', duh. If this was just some Island, the Dodgeball wouldnt have happened.
The thing with Biscy is that she doesn't enhance her body to become hulking and massive. In fact, that bulky form is her true body, and she uses Nen to keep herself looking small and young because she prefers that much more.
He was theorizing if there were people who could enhance their bodies to become hulking and massive, not implying Bisky was an example of that. Which uh...well he's on the right track, that's for sure.
@@bluesableable To be fair, bulking up with Nen is undoubtedly something that can be done. It's just he reached that conclusion misinterpreting what Biscy had done in that scene. So Mark was at worst half right and half wrong.
@@bluesableable Yeah, how incorrect to think because something can get bigger maybe similar things can get smaller. You sound like a teacher marking correct answers down cos you don't like the way they did the working out...
Chill out, what ya yellin' for? Lay back, it's all been done before. And if you could only let it be, you will see that I am the funniest YouT*ber of all time. Admit it, my dear follow*r tail
Learning about Greed Island IS learning about Ging. In the same way that you can learn about a book's author by reading their work. Creators put pieces of their soul and who they are into every work they create, and their work IS a big piece of who they are.
I tink the problem is Mark seems to ahve already decided on who Ging is: an utter asshole and nothing more, and thus Mark is now missing the forest for the trees because he's trying to reconcile his reaidng of Gin with Gon and the story.
@@sarafontanini7051 I mean Ging IS an ashole but yeah Greed island tells us a lot about Ging. About his good sides but also his cruel and antisocial sides.
@@sarafontanini7051 To be fair to Mark: Hunter X Hunter is a different take on the shonen world. Most shonen series have a good vs evil dynamic. One of the reasons H X H might have been recommended during the One Piece reviews is that H X H has a similar dynamic in terms of emotional character realization(something that Mark himself notes.). The thing is though, is that H X H goes about it the opposite way. You're not meant to see a clash of moralities within H X H, you're supposed to see the totality of a person's morality. H X H is about showing the absolutes of a characteristic. How someone as cruel as Ging can be loving, in his own way. Which is why the Chimera Ant arc is going to help Mark tie up a lot of loose ends relative to how Togashi tells this story, because it is the most emotionally impactful arc of the entire series. But I also think that he might be reading the series too linearly. "Find Ging, that's it." No, it's the journey not the destination. It's a cliche saying, but it fits here. It's about all of the steps that Gon takes a long the way, and Togashi's main goal was that the reader would be as engaged with the "side stories"(see: Yorknew), as it would be with Gon's original goal. I say that, so that Mark can experience the wonders of the best platonic relationship the series has ever seen. We all know that that relationship is, in the upcoming arc.
The fact that he didn´t enjoy Greed Island as much because cause it was a detour to the main story of Gon finding Ging is so funny to me: because: “You should enjoy the little detours to the fullest. Because that's where you'll find the things more important than what you want.”
What you want is what is more important to you, so the détour won't help you find something more important. In life you need to focus on your goal and not let anything distracts you from reaching your objective.
I don't know. I've never liked the idea that Genthru needed to be a super deep and complex character to be good, since that eliminates characters like the Joker from existing. Genthru is just a selfish jackass who's teamed up with his closest buddies to take a massive amount of money for themselves, and they exist to show just how dangerous nen is in the hands of someone who purely intends to use it to harm. The rest of the villains have other goals in mind and their nen does less directly destructive things, but Genthru's bombs are built to be awful. They're pretty much guaranteed to kill, are placed in secret, and they go off faster the more fearful you are since they're tied to your heartbeat. His nen power is like fatal ransomware that he installs onto your body, and there's almost no way to get rid of it if you don't have an exorcist handy. That's cruel as hell, and it does a good job of showing that conditions can be a scarier tool for nen users than once thought. Even aside that I thought it was fun to see the bombers outsmarting the other players and going about their schemes. And I'm a fan of Genthru's pointy-bastard-man design lol
This, I never really got the idea of Genthru being hated just because he isn't on the level of somebody like Chrollo. Heck, I actually adore some of the more tongue in cheek things Togashi does with him on the conceptual level. Like, remember how often you end up groaning in a Shounen when a character actually stops in the middle of a battle to explain his ability to his opponent? Genthru actually does it for a good reason and weaponizes it, since that just makes his bombs all the stronger through a condition. A clever way to get the viewer up to speed while poking fun at the rest of the competition.
Also Genthru is a literal troll, he griefs people in Greed Island and is toxic. I hate him as a person, but he is kind of a good idea for a villain for this arc
@@segafreak2000 YES He's such a clever twist on what you usually see out of his character archetype and it makes him enjoyable in subtle ways. Like you said, it's the little things; his ability requires that he monologues about it, he shares risks with his henchmen instead of gambling them in his place, and he chooses the less directly confrontational method of achieving his goals instead of attacking head on, if he can avoid it. He also asks that his friends be healed instead of himself and it gives a sorta solidarity to the bombers reminiscent of what's seen with the troupe.
He's obviously meant to be the worst type of player you can meet in a MMO style game and Togashi wrote the psychology of that type of player into Genthru since he plays games a lot himself (insert Dragon Quest joke here har har)
honestly I'll definitely be curious to see what his opinions are on that arc most of all cause I'm in the middle of re-watching it in the anime right now and honestly my personal opinions have definitely changed overtime: It's without a doubt Togashi's most ambitious arc in terms of the size and scope of the events but with that also comes this feeling that the narrative almost buckled under the weight of how large it was and the characters involved - Also I'm just gonna say it: Shaiapouf is the most annoying character in anime and manga history or at least in the top 5
The trope’s arc was to introduce Nen Curse erasure possibilities for Chrollo and for other characters. Togashi is really good with “look over here 👈 , look you dropped your pocket” type writing and i love it.
Yeah, i think the misdirection worked on Mark. They also explain how it's possible to bring a card into the real world... those cards somehow all actually function no matter where they are
@@toolazyforaname yep he dismissed the importance of the game taking place in the real world, if the entire game is real that means everything in the game no matter how absurd, is possible with nen, and not only that, a small group of people makes the game work, which means they all have more than one hatsu, just like hisoka has 2
@@devforfun5618 Yeah I don't think there was ever any kind of real limit on how many hatsu's a person can have but this would mean the people behind Greed Island share like hundreds between them which is pretty crazy, especially when you consider the sheer breadth of their effects like those pills that make you 5cm taller or something. Even something like that which makes a permanent physical change to any person is quite powerful despite how simple it sounds. And then you have to wonder if all the creatures are natural or man made too. Between them it seems like they have the power to create pretty much *anything* and God dammit Togashi fix your back we need more!
the reason the greed island arc feels like an intermezzo is bc you're going to NEED one, going into the chimera ant arc. oh, will you miss the lighthearted fancy of greed island, soon enough....
Imagine if they went from York New to Chimera Ant. Greed Island ends up being my favorite arc to rewatch because it splits those two up with a fun dodgeball game I can look forward to.
Shy, or more childish tbh. It's one of those things that implies that Ging is willing to see and potentially apologize to Gon (unlikely but possible) but if there are other people there who might call him out on his bullshit, he'd rather not have people hold him accountable.
@@ghostkill221 but if you finished the anime, you'll surely see it in a different light. Think about this, you made this game for your son, if he participates, it means he's interested in finding you. You can assume that it is his goal. If he does it alone, fine. But if he comes with a friend, would you want their journey to be cut short by ending it right there and then? Remember Ging's philosophy. Enjoy the detours. The way I see it, he's not punishing Gon for wanting to come with a friend. He's just making it more difficult because there will be more than one player. Also him being shy is just a conclusion made by Elena. Ging was never explicit when it comes to the "hunt"
One thing that sets Togashi apart from a lot of shonen writers is he and his world are kinda “amoral”. Characters that commit irredeemable crimes can be dangerously charming or even admirable. As a result, each conflict is usually a product of competing interests rather than opposing ideologies. This is not to say each character doesn’t have a moral of their own -- they are just not as black and white as a lot of shonens depicted. This kind of tone may not always result in the most compelling narrative, but it does help produce some intriguing characters. And that’s where Togashi shines: use his characters to drive the story, and use the story to further develop his characters and change their dynamics. (Edit: what I’m trying to get about this video is, Togashi doesn’t care if the bomber man is evil or if you hate him. As is evident in previous arcs, he wants reader to root for the main characters bc you care about them, not bc you hate the opposing side of the arc.)
and to be fair the boomer has done nothing wrong are hateable , he just played the game and i thinik that's the all point of Gon's choice to heal him at the end
yep, unlike in one piece, Gon doesn't need to hate anyone to fight them, so that is why the bomber didn't have to do anything personal, all he need to know is that he wouldn't take it easy with Gon just because he was a kid, so we know the reason he is relutant when fighing Gon is because he is terrified of Gon
:/ I'm kinda disappointed that Mark has not realized it yet. Hunter x Hunter is not shounen. Rather, a dis construction of it. It should be obvious by now.
I think I enjoyed Greed Island so much because I took Ging’s advice and just “had fun” with the game it presented. It was like watching our heroes stumbling into a Yu-Gi-Oh! Shadow Game.
As a mass consumer of content that pertains to manga and light novels, I'm always confused to the level of dislike for the greed island arc. I always viewed it as a call back to the childlike wonder Gon had at the start. It was an interlude between arcs. You can't have a roller coaster of only ups and no downs (though weirdly enough you can have one with all downs and no ups). I enjoyed this arc simply because it was fun, just because it's narrative impact left you feeling underwhelmed, doesn't mean it was meaningless. People tend to forget that this entire arc was meant to be an expansion of understanding in the nen system. Hell, the "game" was a co-operative effort built using nen. The implications for which is more than enough food for thought to keep you busy for months. They practically alluded to godlike applications of nen that can permanently affect the world at large. The rules of the game are convoluted for a reason, it strengthens the effects of the nen at play. Each card is a separate nen power. I would like to ask you whether you have an easier way to introduce world breaking powers in such a way that nobody felt it was unreasonable. Beating the game literally gives you access to any three cards, some of which become near omnipotent once stripped from the limits of greed island. Biscuit literally got the world's most beautiful gem out of a nen power. The ability to permanently create something using nen already borders on plot hole yet the way they did it felt like it was common sense. Greed island is for all intents and purposes an amazing vehicle for explaining the intricacies of the uses of nen.
So, what arc do you disliked most? I can not put GI arc above any of the previously arcs showed at the moment. GI is my Punk Hazrd arc from One Piece. Good, enjoyable, but inferior to the others.
@@cesarkopp2 not saying it isn't my least favorite, but that's not to say I dislike it. It's a series full of great arcs and there will always be a last place in any comparison. My problem is that every review, rating, or recounting always exacerbated the poor points. They somehow gloss over the fact that it started with Gon and Killua using basic nen but ended with them having developed their specialty. The main point was to have them grow in power to prepare them for the Chimera ant arc. The author just had a uniquely fun way of doing this. I see GI as a low point in the series narratively but near peak for the nen system. Given the amount of information it gave without being straight up chapters of exposition explaining the diversity and flexibility of nen was interesting nonetheless. I am biased however in that I aspire to become fantasy writer. My mind will get bogged down if a series either skips exposition or they do it poorly. I will also expound upon the details to the point of excusing problems, so I'm not the best critic.
I never looked at it like that, and this really does make Nen, in Mmy opinion, the greatest magic system in any fiction ever! 🤯 I had made the point previously that the intricacies of Nen could make even a "GOD" like Tonpa stand a chance against a: "weak boy" like Meruem, if the correct conditions and rulesets were applied; but Nen goes so much deeper then 1v1s, and I couldn't see the potential hidden in Greed Island! Mass deceptions, conspiracies, the generation and control of godlike creatures, and so much more! Nen creates essentially limitless storytelling potential, while keeping a methodical, limiting, and well power scaled world. Amazin'!
@@thesurvivorssanctuary6561 I keep having an unreasonable suspicion that the entirety of civilization is protected by nen. Apparently there is a whole world full of extremely powerful beings yet like the eye of the storm, humans just happen to exist in a relatively peaceful area. I mean Chimera ants are bottom feeders out there but apex in here. I just can't shake off the fact that there's got to be more preventative powers at play than what is equivalent to a quick dip in water. Or I could just be wrong and there are supreme powers slumbering in the oceans. Nen is amazing in that anything could be created to fill in the puzzle, and the author is good enough to make it feel obvious after the fact.
One of my favourite things about the Genthru fight is that it hints at just how prideful / arrogant Gon can be - He didn't just blow up his arm to get a punch in, he specifically deviated from the plan, putting Killua's and Bisky's lives at risk (and mentally apologized to them / acknowledged it) in order to do so.
@@ghostkill221 kind of, but there's never any pay-off for it. Goku risked losing to Frieza by letting him power up, Luffy risks his crew by punching a celestial dragon, but there's never any consequences to these actions (ok, straw hats got separated, but there wasn't emphasis on how it's Luffy's fault for doing something reckless, only that he wasn't strong enough to prevent it) With Gon, you've been seeing these moments throughout and they build up each time, culminating in the next arc, and showing that Gon is not a good person*. And the story reflects that, it doesn't just gloss over his faults.
@@TheNidies I strongly agree with you, Gon is not a "good". The thing is, his childish behaviour and his inherent genetics from his father make him far more dangerous and potentially more evil than any other character we have seen so far, not including the next arc. Him being a kid with an arrogant and naive way of thinking that centers around his ego and what he wants truly makes him terrifying to watch for us as the readers
Ging is also seen as a very self centered person who's driven by his ideals and his desires. Being a father made him responsible for his son, but because he never intended to have one or be responsible for one, he flees far away to pursue his goals, and that tis why he doesn't want to see him, not because he is a bad father, but because he never intended to be one in the first place. He feared that when he'll meet gon, he would never be as free as he was before.
@@TheNidies the crew more or less accepts that the situation had gotten to a point where someone had to act, zoro was ready to cut him down at the same time. The closer comparison was when luffy was willing to fight a bunch of dudes pointing guns at the ship when Nami was sick but Vivi called him out for not being a good leader, and jumping to fighting
I actually liked bomber. Sure he was generic but I thought he was intentionally so in a way fitting with the setting. He’s a basic video game boss with real life staked in a game world with real life consequences. He wasn’t a hood villain on his own but he was good at filling his role as antagonist in a way that fit the setting
I didn't like him because he didn't seem realistic but then when I think of online games people really do act like generic villians and in fact they act even stupider a lot of the times to the point that makes me wonder if they really have nothing else better to do. But I dislike those types of things in games and I dislike people that fit those spots in games and just like that I dislike this part of the arc and the people that fit into the arc not in a way that makes the arc better but to me in these games and in these arcs I see it more as a flaw that makes them worse. Though I'm not a writer so it's not like I could see a way to make it better so maybe it's the best conclusion and way to lead up to the next arc. I think the antagonist and narrative of this arc just didn't sit well with my own tastes.
This man what should of been done lol And when pops came back out to talk and hearing the angry mob call him a piece of shit in the background had me real world LoLing
I usually love your videos. But I feel like you've been rushing through HxH You completely forgot to mention the new user that can take curses off and is recruited by the phantom troupe.. And the bombers aren't amazing but you just skipped the end how he begs to save his friends
I feel the same way, and also as he is basically ignoring almost everyone but Gon, just like how he forgot to mention the connection between Biscuit and Netero, and also all the development of Killua's character to that point, the intervention of Kurapika as he mentions hiw he would know if Chrollo had the judgment chain remove, kalluot as part of the troupe and so much stuff is crazy
@@damega621 Yes, one of the best things is that the HxH world DOES NOT revolve around Gon, like Naruto or Dragon Ball. It makes it feel much more alive.
I think Greed Island is easily one of the best arcs in the series and was damn near masterful. Rather binge this arc than Yorknew any day honestly. The interpretation you got for this arc was very different from mine, feels like I got everything the arc had to offer by the end. The GI arc was literally made for Gon's enjoyment which comes full circle when Gon gets the most questions right on the last quiz (which he has stated before that he is not too fond on when it is written).
How did you went through the arc? You read the chapters in one week/month, anime or, as I, read each week, 1 chapter at the time and suffer with the hiatus? The pace is very important when we talk about enjoying manga/anime. As TNM said, the game have a lot of rules which not directly adds to the plot. A saw a lot of potential in the cards, but I think they were underused. A lot of tactics and smart battles could be brought by them, but it only act like a motivator most of the time.
Genthru is a character that I've grown to appreciate after finishing the series and rewatching it multiple times. As a villain I think Genthru is solid. He is average, but not average as in he's just an average written character, but average as a villain. He isn't part of a notorious gang, or a global threat. He's just a guy with nen. Yet he poses such a threat to the main cast. He is used to show how experience can make nen terrifying. His nen isn't overpowered in any way but he uses it so well with all the self restrictions and his high intellect. Even if Gon has the stronger power and more nen capacity, he cannot win in a fight against Genthru because Genthru has been in way more fights than Gon and knows how to deal with it. Genthru poses as benchmark that anyone can be Terrifying with nen... ANYONE, if they have the will for it. In a way he's kind of like Yoshikage Kira from Jojo, a normal, intelligent guy with powers (And yes they both do explosions) So the things you dislike about Genthru, I think are actually his strengths. That's my take tho
The reaction to the "it is the most screwed up things i've read in a manga" was perfect. Mark is such a sweet pure boy. I can't imagine how he would react to best dad.
The bombers in chapter 170 weren't desperate at all. They thought of a strategy to gather more accompany cards and kill whoever was providing cards for Tetzugera. Fortunately Goreinu realised that and never fell for their trap. Some aspects of the game's mechanics directly affect that choice and the strategy for the bombers, Tetzugera, Goreinu and even Gon's team. I realize reading all rules and understanding the G.I game can be difficult, but if you don't get the game you end up missing things like in this very instance.
@@folkqu7441 Indeed. That's the main thing in Togashi's writing. He sets up all these rules so he can later bend them and go for the unexpected, but purely logic thing. You see that in smaller scopes like in the Hunter's exam when Gon blew that guy's candle or when he realized you could just take the 5 ppl path and break the wall and you see that in lots of different ways throughout the manga.
Greed island is not a waiting room. It is an examination of Ging and Gon's relationship. Creating a game just to train your son to be stronger (without ever seeing him in person) is such a Ging thing to do. I think this arc moves the story forward way more than people give it credit for. It is a training arc with a video game structure that serves to show how much they have grown by playing.
I loved the videogame aspects of Greed Island, because it's so well done. I heavily disagree with Mark that the entire arc didn't utilise most of its "videogame" setting, because what we found out was that it was only videogame in name in the first place. The "videogame" setting didn't exist. It's really just a large-scale treasure hunt among skilled mercenaries.
I'd argue the game of greed island in and of itself is THE goal of the arc, much like the hunt for The Phantom Troupe was the goal of the previous arc, and the torunament was the goal of the tower of heaven arc. Just cause finding Ging isn't central to this arc despite your assumptions isn't really a good criticism. It's just different, and yeah you may not like how it's different, but as Ging and Gon said more or less, just forget that and have fun with Greed Island.
I think you didn't understand his criticism. What he was saying is that everything significant that happened in this arc could have been achieved without the game setting. It didn't even need to exist in the first place which makes all the moments we learn about the game and the hunting down cards kind of boring. I happen to agree with him. I think Greed Island is the worst arc in HxH. Thankfully, the next arc is the best one.
@@goldenboy140 yeah but, if the setting in itself is interesting why would using another setting make it any better? the only argument that makes sense is that the game wasn't used to its potential, but again, the game is just a setting, not like for example sword art online where the entire premisse relies on a game that wouldn't work or be fun to play, so i think it is more impressive the he did design an interesting game even thought it wasn't even the point of the arc, it made all the things that usually happens by coincidence in other stories to happen organically
@@goldenboy140 So the entire game was purposefully designed by Ging to train Gon specifically. And it is a gateway to Ging himself. Wasn't that the purpose of the arc? That Greed Island exists just so gon could even have the possibility of actually meeting Ging and with a different setting Gon could not have found Ging. Also yes Buiscy herself trained them but it was the Island that made the perfect environment for Gon to train. I think every arc between Heavens Arena and Greed island including them can be looked at for what purpose it has for the power system. Each of them builds it up and in that sence the chimera ant arc is the climacs of everything that has happened so far since its the first arc we can experience while knowing almost everything thats basic for people like the phantom troupe. I know Mark can't take that into consideration but I need it to take credit for beeing a set-up arc in disuise.
@@devforfun5618 But the setting wasn't interesting. I don't remember a single character from the game outside of the dodgeball match. Totally forgettable.
@@goldenboy140 I think you’re not looking deep enough than at Gon and hunter hunter in general. If togashi wanted him to be like killua he would have left as soon as he was trained enough to go find Ging and complete his goal. But in doing so he would’ve had a tougher time finding the next clue. Ging basically said give up everything and come find me but taken at face value that’s the wrong way. By stopping to smell the roses by being curious and wanting to enjoy the game the seemingly longer path to his goal he is in fact taking the most direct route to his goal. Togashi could have made a character hell bent on reaching his goal but that’s not they way he wanted it to be. Because of Gons personality he does things in a way that is similar to how Ging thinks. Thus he takes the correct path even when it seemingly contradicts his end goal. In the end he is rewarded with rulers blessing and understands how he can use the cards to meet Ging. If he took the short cut or didn’t care about the game he might have collected the cards quicker or missed out on training with bisky. Togashi is more focused on the journey and expanding his world for the fun of it than it writing a story that solely focuses on reaching its end. I like that it differed from other manga because it’s more real and highlights who Gon is. It’s not always tackle the priority move on to the next goal it’s enjoy life first and do something whole heartedly and the goal will come to you. As proof of that togashi gives us insight like the mustache character who was very much so “make a name for yourself first and complete your objective” and then he bumps into Ging who isn’t in it for fame or money but someone who truly enjoys what he’s doing. Someone who hasn’t lost sight of that naïveté is a shining example of a hunter which is why mustache guy was so impressed with Ging to begin with. So I’m essence yes greed island can be criticized for that but on a deeper level it is truer to what Hunter X Hunter is and if you missed that point you’re doing the author and yourself a disservice. Even if you disagree (which is fine!) you should at least know that it could be looked at another way and that’s not necessarily wrong either.
Also I think your main problem with this arc is that they're not getting stronger BY playing the game but rather are getting stronger BEFORE they actually start playing the game
019 husen boriwala UA-cam has an edit button, there’s no need to reply with your correction. Also, that’s an interesting view on Greed Island, it makes total sense.
Mark failed to really talk about the arc, and focused more on his feelings about the story, thus let's discuss this particular story's flow. Gon seeks his father to understand what drives him, in order to, understand himself. Gon stands out from others on Whale Island with his super human characteristics and charisma. (Spoiler: Gon admits to dating older women regularly. I believe he starts the story at ten, so yeah, unsure if it is pedophilia, or more akin to mother son dates. The English translation proves to be hysterical by translating these women to be cougars.) Mature and worldly, Gon seeks adventure and his place in the world. (Spoiler: Tis why, after the Election Arc, he leaves the story. He knows who he is now. His lost of Nen reflects the tradition of men sacrificing childish ideas for the ones necessary for their place in society. If we visit Gon again in the story, then I expect to find him settling down and establishing a family.) Greed Island pushes Gon to face the reality of how similar he is to his father. All of your hatred toward Ging reflects on his son. Both tend towards a selfish and strong belief in ones own world view. Ging created Greed Island out of his love for video games, and created simple, yet complex rules which reflect how Nen battles occur. He attempted to prevent deaths through the card mechanic, and acknowledges that death still occurs. All of the cards contain deep lore for those want it, and many ignore that. The different areas allow players to relax, if the players so choose to do so. Even beating the game doesn't change much, if the large reward did not exist. Ging is this harsh contrast made manifest. He pushed others to accomplish amazing things, and changes the world over and over again. However, his grand deeds contrast with his aloof and uncaring nature, as he quickly forgets about his past deeds and focuses on the present or his next grand adventure. (Spoiler: we see the other hunters respect Ging, and rebel against him. They don't fear him, or think he will kill them, as hunters tend to be cautious towards any great power, so they will play fight with him.) His dirty and worn out appearance betrays a materially wealthy, and experience man. The animosity many bear him, betrays the large number of allies he builds up around himself. (Spoiler: we witness him converting enemies into his allies prior to boarding the boat for the new world.) Thus Gon wishes to see how the world treats his father, therefore how it may treat him.
Your take on Genthru feels contradictory. You are expecting him to be some kind of grandiose, complex and deep villain when this arc is literally a training arc with very low stakes. I don't remember many shounens out there with memorable villains in a supposedly training arc. Yet we still got a villain like Razor in HxH. Considering how you relate the villains with one piece, I guess you are looking for a big final showdown in every arc. Unfortunately thats definitely not what Togashi intended for this particular portion. By projecting this arc with the structure of one piece , you are failing to grasp many important details. Genthru doesn't need to be deeply memorable because the main focus of this arc was character development, training, information gathering, exposition of nen system and building a general view of the world and people of HxH.
@@culturedvulture2015 And that's part of the reason why this video is contradicting. I hope you aren't someone who takes Mark's word as some kind of gospel and actually try to think about it yourself. Pretty sure there isn't a single person out there who would say the villains from heaven's arena arc were more interesting than Genthru or Razor. Both of these arcs work as a training ground for both Killua and Gon where they would learn about nen and meet with various casts from the world. Something that weren't a problem before has suddenly became an issue which doesn't make any sense. There was simply way better things to focus as I've already stated than the "why final villain bad" kind of narrative.
Hate to say this but I don't think Mark discovered/understood the, in universe, reason for Greed Island. The environment exists to train people new to Nen, new Hunters. The reward is there to draw in experienced Nen user and Hunters. The trading card part is meant, I repeat MEANT, to bring the aforementioned people together. This interaction would allow the new Hunters to get some training from the experienced Hunters while the experienced Hunters could get to see new ways that nen is being used. So basically Greed Island was a really long training arc with antagonists.
I think greed island works as location because its a closed enviroment with rules but also it expands on nen as a system and it forces the characters too keep clashing into hard situations because there are alot of nen users in one place
@@pedrojustice I read your last name as criminal, because only criminals look the other way from A Raid Shadow Legends sponsership! The only way you could've disappointed all of humanity more... ...is by making a bad pun. So stop playing this game with us, and go get Laid, Bad-No Tensions anymore!!!
@@thesurvivorssanctuary6561 i would do that But i cant stop playing this incredible game Its so rich, deep and full of content The best yet, you can play on your hoje Let me tell you ALL about RAID SHADOW LEGENDS. Its so good the game even plays itself
17:25 I think this comparison between One Piece and Hunter x Hunter is why I gradually find myself a bigger fan of HxH than One Piece over the years. Now critically One Piece will always be ranked higher. It’s the greatest Shonen adventure story and it was what absorbed me into Shonen Manga (Dragonball introduced me to it). But as I grew up I found that my tastes personally connected more to HxH. For OP milestones are loud and triumphant, villains are cartoonishly evil and then given a dramatic and tragic backstory for some context, and most arcs ends with a very loud and impactful crescendo. Now I'm oversimplifying One Piece's formula, and Oda nails the big moments 100/100 times. It's just I find myself currently enjoying "character-driven" narratives more than "plot-driven" narratives. For HxH milestones especially in Gon and Killua's cases are meaningful, but always in the context that they have more to learn. Gon's first real victory against a villain is against Genthru and that was mainly through having an advantage of knowing Genthru's powers and careful planning. Villains aren't given tragic backstories or reasons for why they're evil. They just are charmingly corrupt. And some arcs end unexpectedly because the characters are complex people more than plot devices that orbit around the heroes.
I think mark misunderstood biskys transformation. I forget if it’s explained here or later but her transformation is actually just her going to her original form. She doesn’t like being so big so she turns herself into that smaller version of herself.
Not everything needs to be connected to the main plot. Not everything in your life necessarily serve some great meaning. Not every game you play on Steam is 10/10 path to great friends and memories, preparing you to becoming dodgeball champion. Greed Island has enough context and ties to main plot, it doesn't need to be some kind of over the top super-purposeful experience, tailor-made to mastermind all of its players into great game of Ging. There are a lot of cool and important things in this arc, game-related or not. And there is casual day to day reality of playing and living. So then Gon and Co goes back to game after Razor, it's not the "waiting room", it's the reality of the situation. It is needed there, to make the world feel real, and not some Gon-centered fantasy. Even more, this mindset of "oh the game is boring after Razor" is exactly the reason why we get powercreep and authors trying to one-up themselves every next chapter. "After we had this cool fight, ALL next scenes should be even cooler!.." Wrong! Realistic and sustainable narrative should have lows as well as ups, set in the world there different storylines coexist with mundane reality.
That point about power creep is a great one too. That was always something that I hated getting into a series. Sometimes I want to step back and see weaker antagonists It’s not like they can’t be threatening either. But just as the other comment said, HxH wants us and Gon to enjoy the detours. I think Mark expecting it to still be a standard shonen is a hard miss on his part.
the take using zootopia its just bad, the greed island game uses nen to work, its a place ging created and shows how special he is to make a thing that can control powerful users like the phantom troupe. Even if the training could have happened outside the game we cant always choose the background of the events of our life, the meeting with bisky happend to be there.
If Gon was as hung up on "proving he was good enough to be his father's son" as you keep arguing, he would've taken the ending that was made just for him. That's not what's important to him.
Ehhh I'm half agreed and half diagreed personally. Please note that my opinion contains spoilers in the manga past the poin 2011 animated hxh! Rn, Gon's priorities have shifted since he went back to whale island: he no longer wants to meet Ging as "the son of Ging" (ie being in his shadow, hence why he no longer refers to Ging as his "father" like he did during the hunter's exam), but as himself with his own power. This reasoning is why he left/ no longer uses the fishing pole in the series from that point toward. Additionally, Gon relies/ heavily values his friends, which is why at both points Gon makes the concious choice to not meet Ging alone, as his friends are an extention of himself (I also see this as a callback to why Gon chooses not to listen to the tape when Ging brings up his mother on Whale Island.) Gon imo is looking to prove himself, and Ging gave him the challenge during the tape scene in Whale Island. So, after his whole adventure across the world, losing his nen and his connection to his friends he reflects on the goals he had during the series. Ging was a goal. A goal to prove himself, because Gon just wanted to *meet* him. Mito says that that man wasn't much of a father, and Gon replies: I guess I wasn't much of a son, either. This is when both we _and_ Gon come to the full realization that Gon was also hunting for recognition from Ging as a _son_, rather than a competent hunter. We see trails/ hints of this visually (in both the manga and 2011) at Gon's subtle dejection of constantly being rejected by Ging. Three scenes come to mind: The tape scene (again, sorry lol): Gon is quick to move on from this after hearing all he can from Ging. The reason he has no outward reaction, in my opinion, is because of the precense of Killua. He shuts his face off, because Gon has a tendancy to hide what he's feeling when he doesn't want to be perceived as weak. (This can be derived from how muted Gon was when with Kurapika and Leorio after his run in with Hisoka during the fourth phase until Kurapika pushes him; as well as how Gon turns away from Killua while he cries _and_ is seen hiding his face between his knees after the two fail to gain entry into ngl during the end of act 2 in the chimera ant arc. Gon is "open" with positive emotions, but shuts down all other emotions except anger, because anger is seen (and exploited numerous times in the series) as a strength compared to tears/sadness.) The next scene that comes to mind are the beginning amd end of the Dodgeball match during GI. During the beginning scene, upon learning that GI takes place in the real world, Gon is shown to be frantically confused. Because, if GI is the real world, surely that means Ging might be here, right? And when Razor confirms he know's Ging, and tell's Gon that he was tasked not to go easy on him by Ging, a funny thing happens with the camera work in 2011 (that I'm sure is mirrored in the manga.) For a second, we can't see Gon's eyes as he processes the words, mouth agape. We only zoom out to his full face once he smiles, showing his determination. This was intentional. By not seeing his eyes (a motif that Togashi adores using to show emotions/mental states), we are shut _out_ from Gon's mind while he processes this request. The message Ging left him through Razor was not the nonchalant greeting he received at the start of the game, nor was it even directly to Gon, rather it was about him. Dismissive. It reads as another rejection. The "I was told not to take it easy on you by your old man" is just another "I don't want to see you. You have to find me yourself, and I won't make it easy." My take is that Gon is visibly showing "weakness", and as such is why we are shut out of his mind at thia moment. This is backed up by the end of the Dodgeball match, once Razor speaks to Gon about Ging. Razor tells him flatly that Ging wasn't there, and Gon just says he expected that. He says this, and on text it sounds casual and as if he doesn't care. Visually, as this medium is, we can see he betrays his words with an expression of disappointment and reluctant acceptence. The final scene is during the election arc, when Gon rushes over to see Ging, only to find a note saying Ging left _again_ after promising to talk. Gon accepts this too, as it is a pattern of Ging's, but you can again see the visual exhaustion on Gon's face. At this point, he's come to fully realize that Ging has no intention to be a father to him, but it is only when Gon returns home after meeting Ging does he fully come to understand *why* he was so desperately looking for Ging. In my opinion and interpertation of Gon's character, it was because he was looking for validation as Ging's son because Gon is someone who deeply values connection to the point of becoming quickly attatched to people. Again, it was just my opinion! And I view this as only _one_ of the motivations Gon has in seeking Ging out, not as a central one.
I think people always misinterpret what the Bomber is supposed to be as a villain. The Bomber isn't supposed to be a fleshed out character with a backstory and that's why he works so well. He's just another player. If anything, he's the player most enjoying the game besides Gon and Killua. He's simply playing by a different philosophy. The Bomber plays the game in the PvP aspect instead of delving into every aspect of the story of the game like Gon bc that's a way that was presented to him and he was passionate about winning, and like Killua said at the end, all the players were aware of the risks involved with playing the game. You have to be a professional hunter to even play the game. I think Togashi made the character he wanted. I do feel like the arc is a little short for what it could have been, and you are right about the game world could have been explored more and could have been a bigger part of the plot. But I think the Bomber was always just meant to be another player with a different philosophy on the game and he was even shown to be compassionate towards his allies. He was just playing the game, and both Gon and Killua respected that. On a side note, the Bomber wasn't even meant to be the strongest person or anything. He was just meant to be clearly a lot stronger and more intuitive of a fighter than Gon and Killua were initially at the arc. He wasn't all that strong, but he was simply the player playing the game the best. He had a game plan that utilized his Nen ability, and that was the foundation for his strategy to play the game. The bomber would get crushed by Biscuit for instance, who was also a player. & He would never be able to get past Razor. But that's not what his strategy revolved around. His strategy revolved around taking the cards from other players, which was a valid way to play the game, but also one which would have had an interesting outcome had the Bomber been the first player to collect all 99 specified slot cards. I think how close he came to being the winning player speaks volumes to his gift for the game. This all also plays a role in the final fight as you mentioned. Gon won the fight because he was the better player and utilized the mechanics of the game better, so much so to the point of sacrificing his hand because he knew that that was okay within the mechanics of the game. It's like risking your health in a real MMORPG to output more damage in a PvP or boss fight (i.e. RuneScape). Gon won because he was the most involved player. Also, I believe Gon's intuitions were off the charts. I don't know if it was instinct, or him being luckily ignorant, but since Gon is technically hunting for Ging, he must've either known or luckily went along with Ging's hint at the beginning of the arc. Ging told Gon to enjoy the game. Ging is super intelligent and is later shown to be insanely good at predicting how people will behave. Not just ordinary people either, some of the most gifted Nen users in the world. Ging has been making it Gon's goal to hunt for him as some kind of test or something, I'm unsure. But Ging telling him to enjoy the game wasn't out of him loving Gon or even not caring for Gon and just wanting to show off, or even whatever else. He's telling Gon how to find him. Gon just has to be a good hunter and be aware of the hints that Ging is dropping if he wants to successfully hunt his target. Without saying too much, I think Ging is trying to prepare his son for the world by honing his skills, like his strength and awareness and all that. He's even steering Gon to encounters with people that can help him become a better hunter. On a side note, I think the comparisons between One Piece and Hunter x Hunter is in how well thought the events are and also the world building and also the feeling of making you think you understand how simple the story is but, like I said, it being vastly more well thought out than you could imagine. I think where the comparisons stop is how either how passionate the creators are about their respective manga, or Togashi is just depressed or too afraid to live up to his potential, idk his life story.
The first one with the girl laughing is called chainsaw man The second one with the dark faced creature is oyasumi punpun I couldn't identify the third one so if anyone could please do tell me
11:40 - I’m unsure if I misunderstood, but I don’t think Hisoka saved them from losing - if he never used bungee gum, they would have just won, but not in the way Gon wanted to, with total victory. It was a sign of respect that hisoka decided to go for the hit on Razor
Also I’m a little sad about the passover of the fact that Ging saved Razor, a criminal who was on death row, and Gon ends up healing the Bomber - he heard the story of his dad and acted like him in that moment Otherwise I binge these the second they come out, can’t wait for the next one :)
Unlike one piece, death is something that feels very real at could happen at any time. In One piece, death is very unlikely unless you are a side character that has a lot of people motivated by your death.
As soon as Kite was shown I, once again for probably the 20th time in my life had chills run through my whole body. I'm gonna go rewatch the arc again before I start crying. Also Mark you better not make us wait a week for this one!
5:12 I never watched HxH, so I cant say much, but isnt Gin the Creator of this Game? Doesnt that exactly mean, of you wanna learn more about him, like Gon does, observing the Game, its rules and how People interact whit it, is a great and clever way to do so.
@@Sunaki1000 I think that the different trials one has to go through to get all the cards give a pretty decent idea that Ging does value kindness, kinda, but values the strength necessary to keep or take cards even more-so, which honestly seems like an observation that fits well with what we get to see of Ging; he's not a complete asshole, but he values the strength of doing whatever the hell you want above all else.
@@Sunaki1000 It certainly does talk a bit about Ging, specially in his disgusting side, although it does highlight some of his good sides too. Just remember in the first video when Gon tried to deny that the game was designed for people to try and kill each other and you'll understand how it stands in for Ging's personality. That said, it doesn't make the bad application of the game mechanics in the overall arc any less bad. By the way, go read HxH before the next review, it's going to be really great
Yeah, one of the big contrasts between villains like mark said in One Piece vs Hunter X Hunter is that one piece villains do this thing of "Proving they are irredeemably evil monsters" then right after they lose "Show flashbacks that attempt to make them relatable" it works occasionally, but often doesn't. Like Arlong, Croc, Flamingo, and Enel can all die, I really don't care about them as they are evil assholes. One Piece is better at making you despise and really root against a villain. but HxH has the aspect of "there are no purely evil people" even the ones with the highest death count like Meru, Hisoka, Something, and Chrollo are all kinda actually likable and you would feel bad if one of them died.
@@ghostkill221 Exactly. Like, I know I was "supposed" to feel a tiny bit bad about Arlong at some point, but it was setup in a way that made it impossible for me. Still really enjoyable and I get the purpose, but it just doesn't work in a world where you can easily determine the "good" from "evil". Good realistic characters in HxH make it all the more poignant when they hit you with the moral compass: "Hey you like me right? But I've done so many bad things how could you?" Love both series btw
And I love how Killua makes that point to show the inconsistency in Goreinu's thinking, to the point he recognised it's not logical... Togashi was telling that to us to our faces! Hahahahahaha!! Yes, we have more ground because we know Killua's story and all that... But it was still funny.
@@KatherinaBathory Yeah, It's a good contrast in Goreinu and Gon as well, Gon (at this point) doesn't care about what people have already done, He mostly just cares about what they will do next. This seems to change a bit once the thing they have "done" affects him directly in a way he can't undo.
@@garagara4849 i mean, you can fell bad about Arlong and still hate him, those are not opposite fellings, and it makes Hoody more hateable, because he is as despicable as Arlong without even experiencing what he Arlong did
Besides your great reviews, the thumbnails especially for the hxh series are perfect. Theyre all beautiful, on point and super eye catchers! Id be really interested to see how you create this style! Keep it up :)
"Greed Island could have happened at any random place in the world, it didn't have to be in a game." Well yeah, that's because Greed Island is just an random place in the world, it isn't in a game.
@@Substantial-hf1rm I think Mark doesn't understand that the process of learning which can be appealing is the point of this series. Except in the beginning where it is very traditional the deep motivation of the characters and the complex power system (all of which are explained in detail) are the fun factor. Its not a sit back story you watch/read because its fun to learn about things. I absolutely see his criticism but only from the perspective of someone that doesn't have fun or doesn't understand the point of the show. He is annoyed by the detailed explanation and he criticises the story for it. But only because for him its distracting and unnecessary while for others the details are what satisfying. And for those people learning about this place is the fun part itself. But I do see the problem. Its a pretty complex system for a single arc.
@@Substantial-hf1rm Because the rules were vital to the story being told and it becomes all the more shocking to learn that Greed Island *is* the real world and these cards and their powers are very real as well.
@@Substantial-hf1rm Not sure its really a waste since its 1) Revealed to be the real world and therefore 2) Functions upon the rules of the main power system, nen
The laughs he added to that totally made me think he was joking... Although it's still pretty disturbing, and for completely different reasons as to why other mangas are disturbing.
I have been really enjoying these reviews so far. But I feel like this video is weaker compared to your previous videos. There is way too much emphasis into the negative aspects which would be fine if you also talked about the positives in the same amount of details. For example, the stuffs like Gon and Killua's character development and bonding. Also how much someone like Killua is willing to sacrifice for Gon and to which extent Gon is actually relying on Killua. We finally got to see how diverse and powerful nen can be. Then we also got a decent perspective on Gon and Ging's morality and how they feel parallel to each other. You also completely forgot about the nen exorcist. Some of the details and contrast felt missing compared to the other videos. I also think this arc is the weakest of the series with some obvious weaknesses. But it establishes a strong dynamic between Gon and Killua and works pretty well as a training arc while also introducing the potential of nen.
I respect how well thought out your views on everything are. You put a lot more contemplation into some of the things I would normally just let fly because I'm overall enjoying a story. However in this one I have to disagree. You argue that Greed Island is a waiting point and the events could transpire anywhere else without being bogged down by the extra mechanics of the "video game's" rules. Seeing everything Ging and his friends accomplish by creating the game gives us a bit of scale on how much nen can actually do with proper rules and conditions. In the way Gon handles problems as they arise within the rules his father invented shows how similar their trains of thought are and just how true Gon is to his dream of understanding his father. Most importantly though, while it is a bit cliché these days, much like One Piece is a show about the journey to find the "One Piece" Hunter x Hunter really is a show about the JOURNEY to find Ging. Being annoyed by the detours is a shallow man's way of reading it. Much love though Mark. I really enjoy your content and I think you are very good at what you do.
I wouldn't say Mark is completely wrong about his assertions though speaking from where he is right now. Unlike One Piece for instance from the beginning it's framed as one big adventure that Luffy is taking so the journey a d detours to the One Piece will always be important and have a sense of progression as the story continues. With HxH following Gon's narrative at least it should be just the focus on finding Ging. Gon is the Hunter-Hunter looking for his dad who is a Hunter (sorry for the redundant wording but you get my point.) The detours aren't really expected as necessary points to Gon's goal, he honestly gets either side tracked or involved by getting dragged into situations outside his control. However, the subject of the "journey" being important is not made a point until *SPOILERS in case Mark is reading* his eventual meeting with Ging and he reflects back to all of his experiences.
@@KatsuImagitian gon's goal was never the series' goal though? It’s true that the detours are not necessary to HIS goal, but if this series was only about him then the York New Arc wouldn’t exist. Togashi's writing has never been about the grand finale but about the pieces that make the journey to get there interesting; that’s not something that he just came up with for that one scene you mention. If you stop to think about it, you’ll notice how most arcs in hxh don’t really have a concrete conclusion, the story just continues to flow naturally onto the next big series of events; the cool parts are never the endings, but what the characters do to reach those conclusions and what the story wants to say about it. And I can certainly see people disliking that because they might find the endings to these stories unsatisfying when compared to the stories themselves, but it really is a matter of what you enjoy and what you don’t. That said, while I do disagree with some of the points Mark makes, I don’t think he’s wrong when he says Greed Island (the game) is not as integrated into the story as it could be. While there’s almost always a reason for it, there ARE points in HxH that feel like waiting periods until something more interesting happens (the next arc has some of the most notorious cases...), and making Greed Island so complicated results in various instances where you just have to stop and learn stuff before you can really enjoy what’s coming. Don’t get me wrong, I personally enjoy these bits a lot because, as Herotecha said, they are great to learn more about the character’s personalities and motivations, or add something deeper to the narrative, or are just simply cool moments for Togashi to talk passionately about a freaking game he designed for an arc in his manga. My point is, I can clearly see why some people enjoy this aspect of the story while others hate it, and I don’t think any side is in the wrong✌️
@@flyingchickens3149 That's why I noted in "Gon's specific narritive as MC" his goal is finding Ging, with that framework the detours would seem like unnecessary pieces to his goal and all of these obstructions at least going with that framework would be annoyances towards the progression of that goal.
Oh my god, he isnt going to like the hype ass narrator is he? Honestly, for me,one of the best story telling choices for the final part of Chimera Ants, as it sells you on how fast things are happening
@@AN-nw2ic I think you're being harsh on the anime there. That scene where a lot of time had seemingly passed but it was actually just 10 seconds was present in the manga as well.
While going through the video, I thought that Greed Island is like a "Great Plateau" (from Zelda Breath of the Wild). It may not be needed, plot-wise, but it is a miniature version of the type of struggles Gon will be facing going forward and it would be a great "Hunter Tutorial" of sorts created by a father to his son (and whatever other hunter students he may want to help grow).
every arc is a miniature in HxH, to the point the world map is a miniature of the actual world, the ability togashi has to make the world bigger over and over is impressive
I see this comes up with Greed Island and One Piece's Skypeia arcs and I couldn't heavily disagree more. Everything that was introduced in Skypiea paved significance for the rest of the series as soon as the arc was over, and was a huge indication of the struggles the Strawhats will eventually have to accept. Besides establishing Gon's and Killua's bonds a lot more before the events of the Chimera Ant arc, Greed Island showed us, moreso than any other arc, how versatile Nen can be (it can literally bring people to life) and were all signs of what we could expect of Nen in the later arcs. Biscuit's character was introduced, who becomes significant later, and Gon and Killua received crucial training.
@18:10 While you are right about what Oda probably would have done with his Villian , you are forgetting about what he would have done with his victim. We would have felt bad for dozens of chapters because the character "died", only to find out that they had survived and were inexplicably alive this whole time. So i prefer Togashi's route. If you aren't sure you want to kill off an somewhat semi important character because lol Shonen, then don't. Don't fake it or tease it because it sours the experience in the end.
I just want to point out that the fight against the bomber was a nudge towards gon be a bit crazy. He literally let his arms get blown up for no reason tbh.
@@fireassassin16 I remember watching it the first time and thinking Gon was a bit bland, and now, with the context of the Chimera Ant arc... It just becomes really appearent how well written and intriguing Gon is when you actually understand how he thinks. It’s the same with a lot of other things in there too.
21:53. I actually really like that Gon and Killua don’t stay injured forever showing they don’t have permanent physical damage from the game. It kinda shows how Gon hasn’t really faced many permanent consequences for his reckless actions and I believe leads directly to his choices in the Chimera ants arc and his ultimate fate at the end of it. Had he faced permanent consequences the lesson many characters like the guard of the Testing Gate and Tezguerra have been trying to teach him about thinking of the consequences of his dangerous and reckless actions and their affect on both himself and his friends, might have stuck.
At the end Ging wasn't watching the entire time. The girl was just reminiscing on what Ging had told her if Gon had completed the game and tried to meet him.
mark controversies-- . yes they could have trained outside the game but had they didnt get in the game they wouldnt meet Biskey, then teleport to Kite, & also where would they even test their result of the training?! . & also showing Ging's character that he shos interest in games /w mechanics & interaction /w his friends. also give Razor a purpose . as for Hisoka, thats his character. He gets aroused that way but clears out at the same time. Even in the haven's arena the blocked his d*** /w light when he got aroused to fight & hope u get the point. i get uncomfortable thinking about the guy... . as for Genthru of the bombers, he is GREED personafied, completely driven by it. but after the fight he becomes someone reasonable enough to take the L & asks to even heal his buddies first. on the other hand Gon is someone starts becoming more unreasonable & selfish, breaking Genthru's will to even fight, making him submit & beg at the end, that just not typical shounen protagonist type. . & i was hoping to see Razor in the thumbnail, not hisoka coz he's more of a supporting cast rather than a main villain or whatever [great video as always, no hate btw. but u'll understand more after u r done /w the series or dive deeper]
7:10 "..It didn't contribute much.." So learning that the game "creatures" and "spells" exist in HxH's real world is insignificant? That's massively underselling the amount of worldbuilding this arc alone lends to the world and even Nen as a power system (everything is created through nen in GI.) It does in fact contribute to later arcs in the manga by the way. You are factually incorrect. And I'm guessing you expected Gon and co to somehow come across this revelation as way of it contributing to the arc but that simply wouldn't make sense, neither for the characters in question nor for the arc's narrative to progress in that manner. Gon is trying to genuinely enjoy the game Ging created why would he even care about that. It happened to build HxH's world and it does its job perfectly. You can't fault something for not meeting expectations it never promised nor intended to meet. And in this case it wouldn't even make logical sense either bruh.
This video wastes too much time over explaining unnecessary thing while managing to miss some crucial details. He barely touched upon Gon and Killua's character development, forgot about nen exorcist, completely misunderstood Ging's nature. Feels like he's unnecessarily rushing the story.
@@user-rw6op8yp8x I feel like Mark wants to enjoy this story by expecting the "great things that come with the shounen package"... And completely misses the point on some of the other aspects. Like Mark, you know a character can have multiple goals? Did you forget Killua isn't just a plot device but an actual character with morality? Mark noticed most of the nuances before, but I think the whole "this is in a game, oh no" aspect blinded him to some extent. Still, I respect his opinion, but I can't help but feel like he missed the point unfortunatly.
Your point at the 18 minute mark isn't a good example of something that separates HxH from OP. Yeah they are very different series but not for the reason you said during this part of the video. HxH did the same thing OP did in the previous arcs. It happened during the Hunter exams with Illumi being evil to Killua. During the Zoldyck family arc with Milluki torturing Killua. During Heaven's arena with Zushi being kidnapped by the crippled nen users. In York new with Kurapika and the Phantom Troupe. Togashi did fail to do that with Genthru, but not because he isn't able to do so as a writer, but because Genthru simply represents another competitor in the game. Yes, he is vicious and cruel. But his adversity towards Gon's team doesn't strictly require anything to be emotionally personal. The fact that only a single team can win the game is enough to make them fight each other. I agree that it would have made Genthru a way better Villain/Antagonist, and Togashi not doing so made him by far the weakest antagonist in the show. In One piece, if the Villian doesn't cause harm to someone Luffy is fond of, Luffy has no reason to fight them. The conflict in OP is always done in this way and honestly it gets very repetitive and predictable.
@@jason4494 I'm talking about how Luffy gains his animosity and motivation to fight the villains/antagonists of the arcs being predictable, not the whole story. It's always done by the villains harming someone Luffy cares about, whether it's a strawhat or a new "good guy" character introduced in the arc. It's consistent and thus predictable.
Gon did make it personal with Genthru when he heared him killing the other players he was friendly with beforehand. That's the thing narratively there is no personal reason for Gon to be so gungho to fight Genthru himself but its Gon as a shonen mc by nature to seek it when he feels someone does something bad in his eyes (which freaks even Genthru out).
I believe the thing with Ging was that it wasn't that he was disappointed in Gon for having his friends help him but that he was afraid that, if he used accompany, he would be bringing someone else to come have a confrontation with Ging and/or beat him up for being a deadbeat. He never even thought that Gon would be bringing a friend purely just because he wants to introduce his father to his friend and vice versa
The funny thing about Sing and Zootopia is I feel the exact opposite to the way you do. Sing has a colorful fantasy world that doesn't ask you to question it, much like Loony Toons, whereas Zootopia attempts to tackle real world issues with a colorful facade and I am just put off by that. I think Beastars does what Zootopia tried to do much better, but it can't be billed as a family friendly feature.
I agree that the greed island arc is not the best arc in Hunter x Hunter. Probably even the worst. But it is in its own way perfect. It was not as intense as most of the other arcs but it is exactly what is needed inbetween the two surrounding arcs. It creates a great contrast compared to them and helps Hunter X Hunter to maintain its overall atmosphere. Without it the whole series would feel a lot different. Long story short: the mostly light atmosphere and especially the basic villain makes you appreciate the other arcs much more.
I think the arc does a good job with highlighting Gin’s crazy side. He lets Killua fuck his hands up for a game, and doesn’t care about the weird scissors guy being a killer as well as the main antagonist Genthru and their murders.
I watched the video on the morality of Gon. The main point I took away from it is: That if the character helps Gon in literally any capacity Gon will ignore any past deeds they did providing the past deeds did not affect negatively anyone Gon likes in anyway. For example, the Scissor guy has killed multiple people in the past, however Gon ignores that because he is useful to him right there and then, likewise he hated Illumi (Killuas brother) because he did something negative to someone he likes. This is why he completely loses it at Neferpitou. They killed and tortured his friend right infront of him, for no real reason. Neferpitou had killed literal entire villages of people but that played absolutely no part in why Gon lost it, he only cared that his friend was killed.
I understand where he was going for with that 'Sing' argument, but that was such a bad example. Stylism and setting dont all need justification, the setting can be built upon to derive incredible stories, which I understand isnt what Greed Island did for you, however.
see but the sing “stylism” wasnt any different from any other movie theyve made in the past. it looks exactly the same as every animated disney/pixar movie from the 2010s. the characters being animals added nothing to the stylism. they could have been replaced with humans and the movies animation and style would have stayed exactly the same
my point exactly. just cause them being animals doesn;t play DIRECTLY to the plot or setting isn't a bad thing and it's a poor criticism. You don't see people getting pissy over Snagglepuss for being a talking cat, for crying out loud.
@@fern3684 reagrdless, they don't 'need' a reason to be animals over humans and vice versa, its still a stylistic choice even if it doesn't do anything for you. There are tons of other, well regarded examples of stories, mvies, cartoons and games who have animal characters without having it be a direct part of the plot or setting. Hell, the Sly Cooper games are a good example!
While how to play the game might not have been that important for the whole arc. Greed Island it self is very important. It serve as a place where all those character have a reason to meet each other while having their own goals. For example, if it's wasn't because the gem that Biscuit want can only be find there, what reason would there be for the boys to meet her and learn more about nen. Finding dad and looking for gems don't have anything in common.
23:20 as someone who has watched this anime 7 times this editing gave me cHILLs. so excited for your analysis on this arc. it certainly has some downpoints, but when it hits it hits hard.
Going on the topic of hating ging Greed island takes on a different light when you consider that the island/game is designed in some ways similarly to a prison
2:40 may be jumping the gun i didnt finish the video yet but i wanted to jot this down before i forget, you mention that although you did enjoy this arc that the actions our charecters went through would have meant more if it hadnt taken place in greed island but i feel thats becuase youre looking at greed island the way gon is. I say this because like gon you see this as a video game world. meant to be enjoyed while i see greed island as a country for hunters made to nurture and improve their skills :p
Man, this is the first video of yours I watch. Charlie sent me this way. I love your take on the arc, great perspective. Best of luck going forward and you have a new supporter!
I for one loved the game and its mechanics. I wanted to see more of how certain cards are obtained and I especially wondered (and do to this day) what people had to do in order to get card number 1. I also really liked how they abused card limits and game mechanics in general to their advantage. To me the game wasn't an obstacle drawing out the conclusion, it was the part of this arc that I enjoyed the most. It was thought out really well and this arc was also the one I liked the most during my first watch through.
Hunter X Hunter really loves to dangle fascinating plot threads just out of view. I know that it drives a lot of people crazy that there's all this world building that is superfluous to Gon's plotline. For me tho, Gon being a very typical shonen protagonist in a fully alive setting that is LARGELY INDIFFERENT to his role as the shonen protagonist is really, in my opinion, Togashi's true master stroke for reasons that will become clear in later arcs.
Can't believe you didn't mention Gon's big decision at the end of the arc when asked if he wants the regular ending of the game or the special ending just for him. Great video though, can't wait for Chimera Ant Arc
I love how every adult who meets Gon immediately thinks "There's something wrong with how this kid makes decisions." Pays off so well
In the words of Hank Hill, “That Boi ain’t Right, I tell you Hwhat.”
and then there is Hisoka
I was so young when i saw hxh i did not see that coming hahah
But now it makes so much sensd
I mean dude striaght up doesn't care one of his clsoe friends murdered a dude
how is anyone actually surprised
@@IzuLeMat Hisoka be like: "yeah this kid is crazy. I LIKE IT!"
Mark is about to do a 5 part review of chimera ants arc 😂
LMAO
Yep
Dressrosa is 102 chapters. Chimera Ant Arc is 132. If he covered Dressrosa in 2 parts I don't see Mark taking more than 3 parts to cover Chimera Ant Arc
Say the line Mark! Every episode from now on!
@Editor-san wait really?
I like listening to Greed Island viewers talk about Togashi's lack of willingness to embrace the gritty nature or aversion to killing established characters... Really makes what comes next all the better.
Just to ask I love chimera ant arc but what established character besides Kite gets killed?
Edit: even Kite gets revived
in the previous arc kurapika gang was decimated
@@marbell6353 netero as well, even if that many ppl don’t die, it’s still a lot more gritty than the previous arc
@@marbell6353 A loooot of established characters get killed in chimera ant. New and old.
Netero, Pokkle, Ponzu, Meruem, Komugi, most of the chimera ants and the royal guards.
@@rareyuki2 damn how could I forget the OG nvm but yeah I realized Mark had a point with Togashi being unwilling to kill any loved characters not saying I wanted any characters to die in the ant arc but togashi only kills side characters that we got one or two episodes like Pokkle even though his death scene is super dark if someone isn’t super invested with HxH that scene might not hold any weight
IMO I don't really have a problem with this arc being more relaxed than the previous one. It isn't as high stakes, the villain is more cliche, and so on, its like a slice of ginger to cleanse the palate before diving into chimera ant.
Kinda needed like one piece before water 7 had the pirates games
Agreed it's why I like Greed island. If a story is about 'the FAATE OF THE WORLD' on gigantic scale etc. often the cool worldbuilding and character moments get lost in the overall scheme. Such stories are great but to use current movies, would Infinity War & Endgame have had the same impact if every movie was this grand scale thing? No. they tried that in that Avengers movies phase and people got tired of it real fast. Infinity War & Endgame are all the more special because we spend previous movies going to Highschool with Peter Parker, having wacky space adventures with Thor etc.
For me Greed Island plays a similar role and allows us to spend more quiet quality time with the characters on lower stakes before we go into crisis overdrive mode 😊
Which you need to prevent the usual shounen power creep.
Regardless, it's not amongst the best arcs in the series and it drags on for too long. The final arc is turning out to be the best arc but I feel that Togashi made it so intensely high stakes he outworked himself.
That's a very good way to put it - to be honest, I really don't like greed island, but reading this makes me agree with you a lot more
Ging wasn't watching over Gon, that part was a flashback to when he was setting up the game however many years ago. He was having her program it to send Gon to either him or Kite depending on which card he uses. He's predicting Gon will do exactly what he ends up doing - win the game and find/exploit the one loophole in the rules that'll bring the two of them face-to-face.
Ging even gets called out on it directly, accused of only doing that because he's shy. And if you think about it, it even goes directly against one of the lessons he tried to convey to Gon through Greed Island: the importance of having good friends. Razor's questline required a large party just to get started even, and beating him would require a team effort no matter who you were, even if there *weren't* a minimum number of players.
2:18: Totallynotmark is spewing total nonsense here.
How does he think they would normally HAVE TO PLAY DODGEBALL against some Hunk? Yeah, no, it is in fact and objectively not 'in spite of' but 'thanks to the game', duh. If this was just some Island, the Dodgeball wouldnt have happened.
The thing with Biscy is that she doesn't enhance her body to become hulking and massive. In fact, that bulky form is her true body, and she uses Nen to keep herself looking small and young because she prefers that much more.
He was theorizing if there were people who could enhance their bodies to become hulking and massive, not implying Bisky was an example of that.
Which uh...well he's on the right track, that's for sure.
@@WolfXGamerful he deducted that from Biscy, which is not really correct since her case is the opposite, so yeah.
@@bluesableable To be fair, bulking up with Nen is undoubtedly something that can be done. It's just he reached that conclusion misinterpreting what Biscy had done in that scene. So Mark was at worst half right and half wrong.
@@bluesableable Yeah, how incorrect to think because something can get bigger maybe similar things can get smaller. You sound like a teacher marking correct answers down cos you don't like the way they did the working out...
@@Animus_Altia yeah agreed lol
"We won because we all worked together, that makes this a team victory"
Hisoka really doesn't have any shame
Chill out, what ya yellin' for? Lay back, it's all been done before. And if you could only let it be, you will see that I am the funniest YouT*ber of all time. Admit it, my dear follow*r tail
AxxL
Hello AxxL, it’s interesting to see that you’ve found Mark’s channel.
Hisoka doesn't need something as useless as shame. He's perfect the way he is.
@@AxxLAfriku wat
Learning about Greed Island IS learning about Ging. In the same way that you can learn about a book's author by reading their work. Creators put pieces of their soul and who they are into every work they create, and their work IS a big piece of who they are.
Exactly. This is what I was thinking this whole video. I think Mark was missing that aspect.
I tink the problem is Mark seems to ahve already decided on who Ging is: an utter asshole and nothing more, and thus Mark is now missing the forest for the trees because he's trying to reconcile his reaidng of Gin with Gon and the story.
@@sarafontanini7051 I mean Ging IS an ashole but yeah Greed island tells us a lot about Ging. About his good sides but also his cruel and antisocial sides.
@@sarafontanini7051 To be fair to Mark: Hunter X Hunter is a different take on the shonen world. Most shonen series have a good vs evil dynamic. One of the reasons H X H might have been recommended during the One Piece reviews is that H X H has a similar dynamic in terms of emotional character realization(something that Mark himself notes.). The thing is though, is that H X H goes about it the opposite way.
You're not meant to see a clash of moralities within H X H, you're supposed to see the totality of a person's morality. H X H is about showing the absolutes of a characteristic. How someone as cruel as Ging can be loving, in his own way. Which is why the Chimera Ant arc is going to help Mark tie up a lot of loose ends relative to how Togashi tells this story, because it is the most emotionally impactful arc of the entire series.
But I also think that he might be reading the series too linearly. "Find Ging, that's it." No, it's the journey not the destination. It's a cliche saying, but it fits here. It's about all of the steps that Gon takes a long the way, and Togashi's main goal was that the reader would be as engaged with the "side stories"(see: Yorknew), as it would be with Gon's original goal.
I say that, so that Mark can experience the wonders of the best platonic relationship the series has ever seen. We all know that that relationship is, in the upcoming arc.
@@Superhero18 couldn’t have said it better man 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
The fact that he didn´t enjoy Greed Island as much because cause it was a detour to the main story of Gon finding Ging is so funny to me: because: “You should enjoy the little detours to the fullest. Because that's where you'll find the things more important than what you want.”
What you want is what is more important to you, so the détour won't help you find something more important. In life you need to focus on your goal and not let anything distracts you from reaching your objective.
@@djantouahmed7319there is a balance in that. It isn't an either or situation
Which is perfect because Greed Island shows traits in Gon that are especially important to the CA arc.
I don't know. I've never liked the idea that Genthru needed to be a super deep and complex character to be good, since that eliminates characters like the Joker from existing. Genthru is just a selfish jackass who's teamed up with his closest buddies to take a massive amount of money for themselves, and they exist to show just how dangerous nen is in the hands of someone who purely intends to use it to harm.
The rest of the villains have other goals in mind and their nen does less directly destructive things, but Genthru's bombs are built to be awful. They're pretty much guaranteed to kill, are placed in secret, and they go off faster the more fearful you are since they're tied to your heartbeat. His nen power is like fatal ransomware that he installs onto your body, and there's almost no way to get rid of it if you don't have an exorcist handy. That's cruel as hell, and it does a good job of showing that conditions can be a scarier tool for nen users than once thought.
Even aside that I thought it was fun to see the bombers outsmarting the other players and going about their schemes. And I'm a fan of Genthru's pointy-bastard-man design lol
That chin is the sharpest I've seen
This, I never really got the idea of Genthru being hated just because he isn't on the level of somebody like Chrollo. Heck, I actually adore some of the more tongue in cheek things Togashi does with him on the conceptual level. Like, remember how often you end up groaning in a Shounen when a character actually stops in the middle of a battle to explain his ability to his opponent? Genthru actually does it for a good reason and weaponizes it, since that just makes his bombs all the stronger through a condition. A clever way to get the viewer up to speed while poking fun at the rest of the competition.
Also Genthru is a literal troll, he griefs people in Greed Island and is toxic. I hate him as a person, but he is kind of a good idea for a villain for this arc
@@segafreak2000 YES
He's such a clever twist on what you usually see out of his character archetype and it makes him enjoyable in subtle ways. Like you said, it's the little things; his ability requires that he monologues about it, he shares risks with his henchmen instead of gambling them in his place, and he chooses the less directly confrontational method of achieving his goals instead of attacking head on, if he can avoid it. He also asks that his friends be healed instead of himself and it gives a sorta solidarity to the bombers reminiscent of what's seen with the troupe.
He's obviously meant to be the worst type of player you can meet in a MMO style game and Togashi wrote the psychology of that type of player into Genthru since he plays games a lot himself (insert Dragon Quest joke here har har)
Chimera ant arc is probably gonna be 3 parts, roughly 50 chapters per part
honestly I'll definitely be curious to see what his opinions are on that arc most of all cause I'm in the middle of re-watching it in the anime right now and honestly my personal opinions have definitely changed overtime: It's without a doubt Togashi's most ambitious arc in terms of the size and scope of the events but with that also comes this feeling that the narrative almost buckled under the weight of how large it was and the characters involved - Also I'm just gonna say it: Shaiapouf is the most annoying character in anime and manga history or at least in the top 5
On Twitter he said 4 parts, so he can talk completely in detail!
mark said on twitter it'll be 4 parts long
@@DarkKnightofAnime for me that arc is one of the best story arcs in anime.
@@molamola8305 It depends, I'd say it's amazing as well as it's definitely in my top 10. But it's easily the best HxH arc.
The trope’s arc was to introduce Nen Curse erasure possibilities for Chrollo and for other characters. Togashi is really good with “look over here 👈 , look you dropped your pocket” type writing and i love it.
Yeah, i think the misdirection worked on Mark. They also explain how it's possible to bring a card into the real world... those cards somehow all actually function no matter where they are
@@gabepatton9851 definitely i think if he went back it probably would change his mind about this arc.
@@gabepatton9851 Because it takes place in the real world
@@toolazyforaname yep he dismissed the importance of the game taking place in the real world, if the entire game is real that means everything in the game no matter how absurd, is possible with nen, and not only that, a small group of people makes the game work, which means they all have more than one hatsu, just like hisoka has 2
@@devforfun5618 Yeah I don't think there was ever any kind of real limit on how many hatsu's a person can have but this would mean the people behind Greed Island share like hundreds between them which is pretty crazy, especially when you consider the sheer breadth of their effects like those pills that make you 5cm taller or something.
Even something like that which makes a permanent physical change to any person is quite powerful despite how simple it sounds.
And then you have to wonder if all the creatures are natural or man made too. Between them it seems like they have the power to create pretty much *anything* and God dammit Togashi fix your back we need more!
13:31 "but before we dive into that, we need to talk about ANOTHER game"
noo.. dont do it..
"RAID SHADO-" SKIP
For real. Skipped so fast.
the reason the greed island arc feels like an intermezzo is bc you're going to NEED one, going into the chimera ant arc. oh, will you miss the lighthearted fancy of greed island, soon enough....
How i feel about Long Ring Long Land arc in one piece. Hate the arc, but it is needed before Water 7
Imagine if they went from York New to Chimera Ant. Greed Island ends up being my favorite arc to rewatch because it splits those two up with a fun dodgeball game I can look forward to.
While greed island is not necessary a "light hearted" arc, it sure does feel so when you compared it with chimera ants arc lol
@@moeflamelord .....is it? I think that is actually the most useless arc in OP. I thought it was filler due to the lack of impact it has on the world.
Oh no. Mark took Ging saying the whole "If he's weak he'll come with friends" at face value when the next sentence entails that Ging is just shy.
Shy, or more childish tbh. It's one of those things that implies that Ging is willing to see and potentially apologize to Gon (unlikely but possible) but if there are other people there who might call him out on his bullshit, he'd rather not have people hold him accountable.
I mean, can you really call that an excuse? It doesn't make him any more likable
But I think both were true to an extent... And it still makes Ging an arse
@@ghostkill221 but if you finished the anime, you'll surely see it in a different light. Think about this, you made this game for your son, if he participates, it means he's interested in finding you. You can assume that it is his goal. If he does it alone, fine. But if he comes with a friend, would you want their journey to be cut short by ending it right there and then? Remember Ging's philosophy. Enjoy the detours. The way I see it, he's not punishing Gon for wanting to come with a friend. He's just making it more difficult because there will be more than one player.
Also him being shy is just a conclusion made by Elena. Ging was never explicit when it comes to the "hunt"
Yeah, it feels like Marks just deliberately misrepresenting scenes just to hate Ging more.
Mark:I cant wait to see if razor comes into contact with gon
*next episode*
Mark: I just found out that dodge ball will kill you
"He is the greatest villain in all of fiction"
WAIT MARK WE ARE STILL GETTING THERE
That's exactly what I was going to say
greatest antagonist
yeah imo netero is the greatest one in hxh
hahahaha hahahaha the king will soon rise
Pariston hill?
One thing that sets Togashi apart from a lot of shonen writers is he and his world are kinda “amoral”. Characters that commit irredeemable crimes can be dangerously charming or even admirable. As a result, each conflict is usually a product of competing interests rather than opposing ideologies. This is not to say each character doesn’t have a moral of their own -- they are just not as black and white as a lot of shonens depicted.
This kind of tone may not always result in the most compelling narrative, but it does help produce some intriguing characters. And that’s where Togashi shines: use his characters to drive the story, and use the story to further develop his characters and change their dynamics.
(Edit: what I’m trying to get about this video is, Togashi doesn’t care if the bomber man is evil or if you hate him. As is evident in previous arcs, he wants reader to root for the main characters bc you care about them, not bc you hate the opposing side of the arc.)
Personally I think this sort of tone almost always makes for a more compelling narrative than standard white vs black morality.
and to be fair the boomer has done nothing wrong are hateable , he just played the game and i thinik that's the all point of Gon's choice to heal him at the end
yep, unlike in one piece, Gon doesn't need to hate anyone to fight them, so that is why the bomber didn't have to do anything personal, all he need to know is that he wouldn't take it easy with Gon just because he was a kid, so we know the reason he is relutant when fighing Gon is because he is terrified of Gon
@Gremvy everyone was killing other players, he only used a safer way to do it, he is lower than the others but not necesarially more evil
:/ I'm kinda disappointed that Mark has not realized it yet. Hunter x Hunter is not shounen. Rather, a dis construction of it. It should be obvious by now.
I think I enjoyed Greed Island so much because I took Ging’s advice and just “had fun” with the game it presented. It was like watching our heroes stumbling into a Yu-Gi-Oh! Shadow Game.
As a mass consumer of content that pertains to manga and light novels, I'm always confused to the level of dislike for the greed island arc. I always viewed it as a call back to the childlike wonder Gon had at the start. It was an interlude between arcs. You can't have a roller coaster of only ups and no downs (though weirdly enough you can have one with all downs and no ups). I enjoyed this arc simply because it was fun, just because it's narrative impact left you feeling underwhelmed, doesn't mean it was meaningless. People tend to forget that this entire arc was meant to be an expansion of understanding in the nen system. Hell, the "game" was a co-operative effort built using nen. The implications for which is more than enough food for thought to keep you busy for months. They practically alluded to godlike applications of nen that can permanently affect the world at large. The rules of the game are convoluted for a reason, it strengthens the effects of the nen at play. Each card is a separate nen power. I would like to ask you whether you have an easier way to introduce world breaking powers in such a way that nobody felt it was unreasonable. Beating the game literally gives you access to any three cards, some of which become near omnipotent once stripped from the limits of greed island. Biscuit literally got the world's most beautiful gem out of a nen power. The ability to permanently create something using nen already borders on plot hole yet the way they did it felt like it was common sense.
Greed island is for all intents and purposes an amazing vehicle for explaining the intricacies of the uses of nen.
So, what arc do you disliked most? I can not put GI arc above any of the previously arcs showed at the moment. GI is my Punk Hazrd arc from One Piece. Good, enjoyable, but inferior to the others.
@@cesarkopp2 not saying it isn't my least favorite, but that's not to say I dislike it. It's a series full of great arcs and there will always be a last place in any comparison.
My problem is that every review, rating, or recounting always exacerbated the poor points. They somehow gloss over the fact that it started with Gon and Killua using basic nen but ended with them having developed their specialty. The main point was to have them grow in power to prepare them for the Chimera ant arc. The author just had a uniquely fun way of doing this.
I see GI as a low point in the series narratively but near peak for the nen system.
Given the amount of information it gave without being straight up chapters of exposition explaining the diversity and flexibility of nen was interesting nonetheless.
I am biased however in that I aspire to become fantasy writer. My mind will get bogged down if a series either skips exposition or they do it poorly. I will also expound upon the details to the point of excusing problems, so I'm not the best critic.
I never looked at it like that, and this really does make Nen, in Mmy opinion, the greatest magic system in any fiction ever! 🤯
I had made the point previously that the intricacies of Nen could make even a "GOD" like Tonpa stand a chance against a: "weak boy" like Meruem, if the correct conditions and rulesets were applied; but Nen goes so much deeper then 1v1s, and I couldn't see the potential hidden in Greed Island! Mass deceptions, conspiracies, the generation and control of godlike creatures, and so much more! Nen creates essentially limitless storytelling potential, while keeping a methodical, limiting, and well power scaled world.
Amazin'!
@@thesurvivorssanctuary6561 I keep having an unreasonable suspicion that the entirety of civilization is protected by nen.
Apparently there is a whole world full of extremely powerful beings yet like the eye of the storm, humans just happen to exist in a relatively peaceful area. I mean Chimera ants are bottom feeders out there but apex in here. I just can't shake off the fact that there's got to be more preventative powers at play than what is equivalent to a quick dip in water. Or I could just be wrong and there are supreme powers slumbering in the oceans.
Nen is amazing in that anything could be created to fill in the puzzle, and the author is good enough to make it feel obvious after the fact.
@@lazylazerrsp8781 yeah. GI was a great place to improve their skills. Instead of a usual training, we have training + a fun game.
DODGEBALL BOYZ LET'S GOOOOOOOO
No comments yet?
@@mananghildiyal2675 people read through the fake enthusiasm 😐
to be real the ball in this match was the biggest badass in anime history to have survived this
NAKAMA
@@daurinx5043 fake enthusiasm is his middle name
One of my favourite things about the Genthru fight is that it hints at just how prideful / arrogant Gon can be - He didn't just blow up his arm to get a punch in, he specifically deviated from the plan, putting Killua's and Bisky's lives at risk (and mentally apologized to them / acknowledged it) in order to do so.
To be fair, Luffy and Goku might also do this, but never actually apologize.
@@ghostkill221 kind of, but there's never any pay-off for it. Goku risked losing to Frieza by letting him power up, Luffy risks his crew by punching a celestial dragon, but there's never any consequences to these actions (ok, straw hats got separated, but there wasn't emphasis on how it's Luffy's fault for doing something reckless, only that he wasn't strong enough to prevent it)
With Gon, you've been seeing these moments throughout and they build up each time, culminating in the next arc, and showing that Gon is not a good person*. And the story reflects that, it doesn't just gloss over his faults.
@@TheNidies I strongly agree with you, Gon is not a "good". The thing is, his childish behaviour and his inherent genetics from his father make him far more dangerous and potentially more evil than any other character we have seen so far, not including the next arc. Him being a kid with an arrogant and naive way of thinking that centers around his ego and what he wants truly makes him terrifying to watch for us as the readers
Ging is also seen as a very self centered person who's driven by his ideals and his desires. Being a father made him responsible for his son, but because he never intended to have one or be responsible for one, he flees far away to pursue his goals, and that tis why he doesn't want to see him, not because he is a bad father, but because he never intended to be one in the first place. He feared that when he'll meet gon, he would never be as free as he was before.
@@TheNidies the crew more or less accepts that the situation had gotten to a point where someone had to act, zoro was ready to cut him down at the same time. The closer comparison was when luffy was willing to fight a bunch of dudes pointing guns at the ship when Nami was sick but Vivi called him out for not being a good leader, and jumping to fighting
I look forward to these every week. This is my favorite anime ever and I love seeing other people enjoy it!
Yeah I’m pretty sure everyone has seen it
Sameeeee
I actually liked bomber. Sure he was generic but I thought he was intentionally so in a way fitting with the setting. He’s a basic video game boss with real life staked in a game world with real life consequences. He wasn’t a hood villain on his own but he was good at filling his role as antagonist in a way that fit the setting
i personally interpreted the bombers as more of a gank squad
I didn't like him because he didn't seem realistic but then when I think of online games people really do act like generic villians and in fact they act even stupider a lot of the times to the point that makes me wonder if they really have nothing else better to do. But I dislike those types of things in games and I dislike people that fit those spots in games and just like that I dislike this part of the arc and the people that fit into the arc not in a way that makes the arc better but to me in these games and in these arcs I see it more as a flaw that makes them worse. Though I'm not a writer so it's not like I could see a way to make it better so maybe it's the best conclusion and way to lead up to the next arc. I think the antagonist and narrative of this arc just didn't sit well with my own tastes.
@@andrews9695 sry man but could u shorten that? i couldn't really understand what you were saying XD
@Gaming With Tea nice! fellow ds3 player! i was talking about that as well as rogue lineage
If he hates Ging this much, he will love Leorio more than anyone ever in the chairman election arc LMAO
Are you kidding me? I fucking stood off my seat and clapped to Leorio when that happened! Hahahaha
@@KatherinaBathory I must have watched that scene a hundred times by now lmao
Hey... put a SPOILER warning.
@@cesarkopp2 It doesn’t reveal much other than the Chairman gets re-elected.
This man what should of been done lol
And when pops came back out to talk and hearing the angry mob call him a piece of shit in the background had me real world LoLing
Still offended that Leorio doesn't get his own special thumbnail lol
Wait til' Mark covers the Chairman Election, and then it might happen.
@Yesid Rivera haha fist go brrrrrr
election arc will be his time
Just wait until the election arc
@@michaelyochim6016 or it's Ging or alluka
Every hunter x hunter fan knows the next arc is gonna make mark cry
Man, it made me cry and that's literally the only time manga/anime did so... Mark has no chance
@@Szyperak It made me cry so, so much, and I think nothing else in my life came close to it.
If he's that soft probably
My least fav arc
@@AgnusCavichioliPereira Never expected that scene to hit me as hard as it did. Especially during that arc lmao
I usually love your videos. But I feel like you've been rushing through HxH
You completely forgot to mention the new user that can take curses off and is recruited by the phantom troupe..
And the bombers aren't amazing but you just skipped the end how he begs to save his friends
He skipped over the island as a prison, glossed over gon meeting with gings friends,,
Damn you are right. Felt like he completely missed the purpose of the arc.
I feel the same way, and also as he is basically ignoring almost everyone but Gon, just like how he forgot to mention the connection between Biscuit and Netero, and also all the development of Killua's character to that point, the intervention of Kurapika as he mentions hiw he would know if Chrollo had the judgment chain remove, kalluot as part of the troupe and so much stuff is crazy
I believe he is looking at Hunter x Hunter only under the scope of Gon and he is missing so much
@@damega621 Yes, one of the best things is that the HxH world DOES NOT revolve around Gon, like Naruto or Dragon Ball. It makes it feel much more alive.
I think Greed Island is easily one of the best arcs in the series and was damn near masterful. Rather binge this arc than Yorknew any day honestly. The interpretation you got for this arc was very different from mine, feels like I got everything the arc had to offer by the end. The GI arc was literally made for Gon's enjoyment which comes full circle when Gon gets the most questions right on the last quiz (which he has stated before that he is not too fond on when it is written).
How did you went through the arc? You read the chapters in one week/month, anime or, as I, read each week, 1 chapter at the time and suffer with the hiatus? The pace is very important when we talk about enjoying manga/anime. As TNM said, the game have a lot of rules which not directly adds to the plot. A saw a lot of potential in the cards, but I think they were underused. A lot of tactics and smart battles could be brought by them, but it only act like a motivator most of the time.
Genthru is a character that I've grown to appreciate after finishing the series and rewatching it multiple times.
As a villain I think Genthru is solid. He is average, but not average as in he's just an average written character, but average as a villain. He isn't part of a notorious gang, or a global threat. He's just a guy with nen. Yet he poses such a threat to the main cast.
He is used to show how experience can make nen terrifying. His nen isn't overpowered in any way but he uses it so well with all the self restrictions and his high intellect. Even if Gon has the stronger power and more nen capacity, he cannot win in a fight against Genthru because Genthru has been in way more fights than Gon and knows how to deal with it.
Genthru poses as benchmark that anyone can be Terrifying with nen... ANYONE, if they have the will for it.
In a way he's kind of like Yoshikage Kira from Jojo, a normal, intelligent guy with powers (And yes they both do explosions)
So the things you dislike about Genthru, I think are actually his strengths. That's my take tho
I'm in the Mood to talk about Nen. And you?
The reaction to the "it is the most screwed up things i've read in a manga" was perfect.
Mark is such a sweet pure boy.
I can't imagine how he would react to best dad.
Best dad is disgusting not screwed up tbh
What now ? I don’t get the inside joke
I also do not get the reference/joke.
Please explain.
@@tubbymontana7090 The this arc will be the last time the boys have fun.
@@sirapple589 The this arc is the last time the boys have fun.
The bombers in chapter 170 weren't desperate at all. They thought of a strategy to gather more accompany cards and kill whoever was providing cards for Tetzugera. Fortunately Goreinu realised that and never fell for their trap. Some aspects of the game's mechanics directly affect that choice and the strategy for the bombers, Tetzugera, Goreinu and even Gon's team. I realize reading all rules and understanding the G.I game can be difficult, but if you don't get the game you end up missing things like in this very instance.
Yup u really need to dig in the rules to understand those strategy each character used thats why i love Togashi writting so much.
@@folkqu7441 Indeed. That's the main thing in Togashi's writing. He sets up all these rules so he can later bend them and go for the unexpected, but purely logic thing. You see that in smaller scopes like in the Hunter's exam when Gon blew that guy's candle or when he realized you could just take the 5 ppl path and break the wall and you see that in lots of different ways throughout the manga.
Greed island is not a waiting room. It is an examination of Ging and Gon's relationship. Creating a game just to train your son to be stronger (without ever seeing him in person) is such a Ging thing to do.
I think this arc moves the story forward way more than people give it credit for. It is a training arc with a video game structure that serves to show how much they have grown by playing.
I loved the videogame aspects of Greed Island, because it's so well done. I heavily disagree with Mark that the entire arc didn't utilise most of its "videogame" setting, because what we found out was that it was only videogame in name in the first place. The "videogame" setting didn't exist. It's really just a large-scale treasure hunt among skilled mercenaries.
I can already envision Mark's soul crying with Hyori Ittai.
oh man i played that song on repeat for hours after I finished the series
That song broke me in the last episode. No matter how many times I watch it.
I'd argue the game of greed island in and of itself is THE goal of the arc, much like the hunt for The Phantom Troupe was the goal of the previous arc, and the torunament was the goal of the tower of heaven arc.
Just cause finding Ging isn't central to this arc despite your assumptions isn't really a good criticism. It's just different, and yeah you may not like how it's different, but as Ging and Gon said more or less, just forget that and have fun with Greed Island.
I think you didn't understand his criticism. What he was saying is that everything significant that happened in this arc could have been achieved without the game setting. It didn't even need to exist in the first place which makes all the moments we learn about the game and the hunting down cards kind of boring. I happen to agree with him. I think Greed Island is the worst arc in HxH. Thankfully, the next arc is the best one.
@@goldenboy140 yeah but, if the setting in itself is interesting why would using another setting make it any better? the only argument that makes sense is that the game wasn't used to its potential, but again, the game is just a setting, not like for example sword art online where the entire premisse relies on a game that wouldn't work or be fun to play, so i think it is more impressive the he did design an interesting game even thought it wasn't even the point of the arc, it made all the things that usually happens by coincidence in other stories to happen organically
@@goldenboy140 So the entire game was purposefully designed by Ging to train Gon specifically. And it is a gateway to Ging himself. Wasn't that the purpose of the arc? That Greed Island exists just so gon could even have the possibility of actually meeting Ging and with a different setting Gon could not have found Ging. Also yes Buiscy herself trained them but it was the Island that made the perfect environment for Gon to train.
I think every arc between Heavens Arena and Greed island including them can be looked at for what purpose it has for the power system. Each of them builds it up and in that sence the chimera ant arc is the climacs of everything that has happened so far since its the first arc we can experience while knowing almost everything thats basic for people like the phantom troupe. I know Mark can't take that into consideration but I need it to take credit for beeing a set-up arc in disuise.
@@devforfun5618 But the setting wasn't interesting. I don't remember a single character from the game outside of the dodgeball match. Totally forgettable.
@@goldenboy140 I think you’re not looking deep enough than at Gon and hunter hunter in general. If togashi wanted him to be like killua he would have left as soon as he was trained enough to go find Ging and complete his goal. But in doing so he would’ve had a tougher time finding the next clue. Ging basically said give up everything and come find me but taken at face value that’s the wrong way.
By stopping to smell the roses by being curious and wanting to enjoy the game the seemingly longer path to his goal he is in fact taking the most direct route to his goal.
Togashi could have made a character hell bent on reaching his goal but that’s not they way he wanted it to be. Because of Gons personality he does things in a way that is similar to how Ging thinks. Thus he takes the correct path even when it seemingly contradicts his end goal. In the end he is rewarded with rulers blessing and understands how he can use the cards to meet Ging. If he took the short cut or didn’t care about the game he might have collected the cards quicker or missed out on training with bisky.
Togashi is more focused on the journey and expanding his world for the fun of it than it writing a story that solely focuses on reaching its end.
I like that it differed from other manga because it’s more real and highlights who Gon is. It’s not always tackle the priority move on to the next goal it’s enjoy life first and do something whole heartedly and the goal will come to you.
As proof of that togashi gives us insight like the mustache character who was very much so “make a name for yourself first and complete your objective” and then he bumps into Ging who isn’t in it for fame or money but someone who truly enjoys what he’s doing. Someone who hasn’t lost sight of that naïveté is a shining example of a hunter which is why mustache guy was so impressed with Ging to begin with.
So I’m essence yes greed island can be criticized for that but on a deeper level it is truer to what Hunter X Hunter is and if you missed that point you’re doing the author and yourself a disservice. Even if you disagree (which is fine!) you should at least know that it could be looked at another way and that’s not necessarily wrong either.
Genthru takes “competitive play” to a whole new level
Rocket leauge
He took it personal.
The purpose of this arc is to be the last time the boys ever have fun in this anime lol
You'll understand that in the chimera ant adc
Also I think your main problem with this arc is that they're not getting stronger BY playing the game but rather are getting stronger BEFORE they actually start playing the game
@UCnzpprTncbGcb87Ryy1JM-w too much twitter man
019 husen boriwala
UA-cam has an edit button, there’s no need to reply with your correction.
Also, that’s an interesting view on Greed Island, it makes total sense.
I think that goes the same with MHA in the class 1-A vs. 1-B arc
Training arcs in general are just a pain to watch
chimera ant next week bro this about to be insane
Bet y'all he won't like it😂
part 1 of 5 lmao
@@ItsYuhBoyyyy why it pays off on all the build up hes noticed?
@@Reelyreed he seems like he doesn't like exposition. And the nest part about that arc is the narrator imo
@@Reelyreed I'd be so surprised if he doesnt love the ant arc.
Mark failed to really talk about the arc, and focused more on his feelings about the story, thus let's discuss this particular story's flow.
Gon seeks his father to understand what drives him, in order to, understand himself. Gon stands out from others on Whale Island with his super human characteristics and charisma. (Spoiler: Gon admits to dating older women regularly. I believe he starts the story at ten, so yeah, unsure if it is pedophilia, or more akin to mother son dates. The English translation proves to be hysterical by translating these women to be cougars.) Mature and worldly, Gon seeks adventure and his place in the world. (Spoiler: Tis why, after the Election Arc, he leaves the story. He knows who he is now. His lost of Nen reflects the tradition of men sacrificing childish ideas for the ones necessary for their place in society. If we visit Gon again in the story, then I expect to find him settling down and establishing a family.)
Greed Island pushes Gon to face the reality of how similar he is to his father. All of your hatred toward Ging reflects on his son. Both tend towards a selfish and strong belief in ones own world view.
Ging created Greed Island out of his love for video games, and created simple, yet complex rules which reflect how Nen battles occur. He attempted to prevent deaths through the card mechanic, and acknowledges that death still occurs. All of the cards contain deep lore for those want it, and many ignore that. The different areas allow players to relax, if the players so choose to do so. Even beating the game doesn't change much, if the large reward did not exist. Ging is this harsh contrast made manifest.
He pushed others to accomplish amazing things, and changes the world over and over again. However, his grand deeds contrast with his aloof and uncaring nature, as he quickly forgets about his past deeds and focuses on the present or his next grand adventure. (Spoiler: we see the other hunters respect Ging, and rebel against him. They don't fear him, or think he will kill them, as hunters tend to be cautious towards any great power, so they will play fight with him.) His dirty and worn out appearance betrays a materially wealthy, and experience man. The animosity many bear him, betrays the large number of allies he builds up around himself. (Spoiler: we witness him converting enemies into his allies prior to boarding the boat for the new world.)
Thus Gon wishes to see how the world treats his father, therefore how it may treat him.
Excellent analysis, much more telling of the arc and characters than what I got from this video overall.
That was a great read, thank you fellow HxH fan.
@@Draconated Thank you for reading it, and your kind words.
@@MrM9819 Thank you, and may luck be with you.
Thank you I never found myself hating because it always felt like they were the same person.
Your take on Genthru feels contradictory. You are expecting him to be some kind of grandiose, complex and deep villain when this arc is literally a training arc with very low stakes. I don't remember many shounens out there with memorable villains in a supposedly training arc. Yet we still got a villain like Razor in HxH.
Considering how you relate the villains with one piece, I guess you are looking for a big final showdown in every arc. Unfortunately thats definitely not what Togashi intended for this particular portion. By projecting this arc with the structure of one piece , you are failing to grasp many important details. Genthru doesn't need to be deeply memorable because the main focus of this arc was character development, training, information gathering, exposition of nen system and building a general view of the world and people of HxH.
I absolutely agree with you.
But he doesn't really criticize previous non-grandiose antagonists in the hunter exam arc, zoldyck family arc, and the heaven's arena arc.
Mark is just a narrative prude who thinks he knows everything there is to know about story writing. Like the content though.
@@culturedvulture2015 And that's part of the reason why this video is contradicting. I hope you aren't someone who takes Mark's word as some kind of gospel and actually try to think about it yourself.
Pretty sure there isn't a single person out there who would say the villains from heaven's arena arc were more interesting than Genthru or Razor. Both of these arcs work as a training ground for both Killua and Gon where they would learn about nen and meet with various casts from the world. Something that weren't a problem before has suddenly became an issue which doesn't make any sense. There was simply way better things to focus as I've already stated than the "why final villain bad" kind of narrative.
I still don't see the contradiction.
Hate to say this but I don't think Mark discovered/understood the, in universe, reason for Greed Island.
The environment exists to train people new to Nen, new Hunters. The reward is there to draw in experienced Nen user and Hunters. The trading card part is meant, I repeat MEANT, to bring the aforementioned people together. This interaction would allow the new Hunters to get some training from the experienced Hunters while the experienced Hunters could get to see new ways that nen is being used.
So basically Greed Island was a really long training arc with antagonists.
I think greed island works as location because its a closed enviroment with rules but also it expands on nen as a system and it forces the characters too keep clashing into hard situations because there are alot of nen users in one place
it is an excelent excuse to put nen users of different levels in the same place
"But before we talk about that, we have to talk about another game.... RAID SHADOW LEGENDS!!!"
Me: Nooo!!! The betrayal!!!!
Embrace the singularity.
Embrace... Raid: Shadow Legends.
People need bread. Its ok.
Earn that bread, Mark!
Forgive
Forget
And forthehorde
@@pedrojustice I read your last name as criminal, because only criminals look the other way from A Raid Shadow Legends sponsership! The only way you could've disappointed all of humanity more...
...is by making a bad pun. So stop playing this game with us, and go get Laid, Bad-No Tensions anymore!!!
@@thesurvivorssanctuary6561 i would do that
But i cant stop playing this incredible game
Its so rich, deep and full of content
The best yet, you can play on your hoje
Let me tell you ALL about RAID SHADOW LEGENDS. Its so good the game even plays itself
17:25 I think this comparison between One Piece and Hunter x Hunter is why I gradually find myself a bigger fan of HxH than One Piece over the years. Now critically One Piece will always be ranked higher. It’s the greatest Shonen adventure story and it was what absorbed me into Shonen Manga (Dragonball introduced me to it). But as I grew up I found that my tastes personally connected more to HxH.
For OP milestones are loud and triumphant, villains are cartoonishly evil and then given a dramatic and tragic backstory for some context, and most arcs ends with a very loud and impactful crescendo. Now I'm oversimplifying One Piece's formula, and Oda nails the big moments 100/100 times. It's just I find myself currently enjoying "character-driven" narratives more than "plot-driven" narratives.
For HxH milestones especially in Gon and Killua's cases are meaningful, but always in the context that they have more to learn. Gon's first real victory against a villain is against Genthru and that was mainly through having an advantage of knowing Genthru's powers and careful planning. Villains aren't given tragic backstories or reasons for why they're evil. They just are charmingly corrupt. And some arcs end unexpectedly because the characters are complex people more than plot devices that orbit around the heroes.
All of Mark's comments on Hisoka have me excited for when he reads about Gon's past giving tours on Whale Island and Palm
I think mark misunderstood biskys transformation. I forget if it’s explained here or later but her transformation is actually just her going to her original form. She doesn’t like being so big so she turns herself into that smaller version of herself.
Its explained there and used as reference later
Not everything needs to be connected to the main plot. Not everything in your life necessarily serve some great meaning. Not every game you play on Steam is 10/10 path to great friends and memories, preparing you to becoming dodgeball champion. Greed Island has enough context and ties to main plot, it doesn't need to be some kind of over the top super-purposeful experience, tailor-made to mastermind all of its players into great game of Ging. There are a lot of cool and important things in this arc, game-related or not. And there is casual day to day reality of playing and living. So then Gon and Co goes back to game after Razor, it's not the "waiting room", it's the reality of the situation. It is needed there, to make the world feel real, and not some Gon-centered fantasy.
Even more, this mindset of "oh the game is boring after Razor" is exactly the reason why we get powercreep and authors trying to one-up themselves every next chapter. "After we had this cool fight, ALL next scenes should be even cooler!.." Wrong! Realistic and sustainable narrative should have lows as well as ups, set in the world there different storylines coexist with mundane reality.
That is also a big message in HxH itself. It's all about the detours.
That point about power creep is a great one too. That was always something that I hated getting into a series. Sometimes I want to step back and see weaker antagonists
It’s not like they can’t be threatening either. But just as the other comment said, HxH wants us and Gon to enjoy the detours. I think Mark expecting it to still be a standard shonen is a hard miss on his part.
Actually everything in your life have meaning.
Enjoy the little detours
the take using zootopia its just bad, the greed island game uses nen to work, its a place ging created and shows how special he is to make a thing that can control powerful users like the phantom troupe. Even if the training could have happened outside the game we cant always choose the background of the events of our life, the meeting with bisky happend to be there.
If Gon was as hung up on "proving he was good enough to be his father's son" as you keep arguing, he would've taken the ending that was made just for him. That's not what's important to him.
I'm so worried about how much he's misunderstanding Gon's father. he'll only get disappointed when the "Journey" is over
@Connor Naive That makes sense. Even more because he has Kite as a student and not his own son
Ehhh I'm half agreed and half diagreed personally. Please note that my opinion contains spoilers in the manga past the poin 2011 animated hxh!
Rn, Gon's priorities have shifted since he went back to whale island: he no longer wants to meet Ging as "the son of Ging" (ie being in his shadow, hence why he no longer refers to Ging as his "father" like he did during the hunter's exam), but as himself with his own power. This reasoning is why he left/ no longer uses the fishing pole in the series from that point toward. Additionally, Gon relies/ heavily values his friends, which is why at both points Gon makes the concious choice to not meet Ging alone, as his friends are an extention of himself (I also see this as a callback to why Gon chooses not to listen to the tape when Ging brings up his mother on Whale Island.)
Gon imo is looking to prove himself, and Ging gave him the challenge during the tape scene in Whale Island. So, after his whole adventure across the world, losing his nen and his connection to his friends he reflects on the goals he had during the series.
Ging was a goal. A goal to prove himself, because Gon just wanted to *meet* him. Mito says that that man wasn't much of a father, and Gon replies: I guess I wasn't much of a son, either. This is when both we _and_ Gon come to the full realization that Gon was also hunting for recognition from Ging as a _son_, rather than a competent hunter. We see trails/ hints of this visually (in both the manga and 2011) at Gon's subtle dejection of constantly being rejected by Ging. Three scenes come to mind:
The tape scene (again, sorry lol):
Gon is quick to move on from this after hearing all he can from Ging. The reason he has no outward reaction, in my opinion, is because of the precense of Killua. He shuts his face off, because Gon has a tendancy to hide what he's feeling when he doesn't want to be perceived as weak. (This can be derived from how muted Gon was when with Kurapika and Leorio after his run in with Hisoka during the fourth phase until Kurapika pushes him; as well as how Gon turns away from Killua while he cries _and_ is seen hiding his face between his knees after the two fail to gain entry into ngl during the end of act 2 in the chimera ant arc. Gon is "open" with positive emotions, but shuts down all other emotions except anger, because anger is seen (and exploited numerous times in the series) as a strength compared to tears/sadness.)
The next scene that comes to mind are the beginning amd end of the Dodgeball match during GI.
During the beginning scene, upon learning that GI takes place in the real world, Gon is shown to be frantically confused. Because,
if GI is the real world, surely that means Ging might be here, right? And when Razor confirms he know's Ging, and tell's Gon that he was tasked not to go easy on him by Ging, a funny thing happens with the camera work in 2011 (that I'm sure is mirrored in the manga.) For a second, we can't see Gon's eyes as he processes the words, mouth agape. We only zoom out to his full face once he smiles, showing his determination. This was intentional. By not seeing his eyes (a motif that Togashi adores using to show emotions/mental states), we are shut _out_ from Gon's mind while he processes this request. The message Ging left him through Razor was not the nonchalant greeting he received at the start of the game, nor was it even directly to Gon, rather it was about him. Dismissive. It reads as another rejection. The "I was told not to take it easy on you by your old man" is just another "I don't want to see you. You have to find me yourself, and I won't make it easy."
My take is that Gon is visibly showing "weakness", and as such is why we are shut out of his mind at thia moment. This is backed up by the end of the Dodgeball match, once Razor speaks to Gon about Ging. Razor tells him flatly that Ging wasn't there, and Gon just says he expected that. He says this, and on text it sounds casual and as if he doesn't care. Visually, as this medium is, we can see he betrays his words with an expression of disappointment and reluctant acceptence.
The final scene is during the election arc, when Gon rushes over to see Ging, only to find a note saying Ging left _again_ after promising to talk. Gon accepts this too, as it is a pattern of Ging's, but you can again see the visual exhaustion on Gon's face. At this point, he's come to fully realize that Ging has no intention to be a father to him, but it is only when Gon returns home after meeting Ging does he fully come to understand *why* he was so desperately looking for Ging. In my opinion and interpertation of Gon's character, it was because he was looking for validation as Ging's son because Gon is someone who deeply values connection to the point of becoming quickly attatched to people.
Again, it was just my opinion! And I view this as only _one_ of the motivations Gon has in seeking Ging out, not as a central one.
@@itshere.run.6724 no one is reading all of that.
@@itshere.run.6724 Thanks for the spoiler warning. Im not gonna read your comment. Its gonna take me a few years to get there.
I think people always misinterpret what the Bomber is supposed to be as a villain. The Bomber isn't supposed to be a fleshed out character with a backstory and that's why he works so well. He's just another player. If anything, he's the player most enjoying the game besides Gon and Killua. He's simply playing by a different philosophy. The Bomber plays the game in the PvP aspect instead of delving into every aspect of the story of the game like Gon bc that's a way that was presented to him and he was passionate about winning, and like Killua said at the end, all the players were aware of the risks involved with playing the game. You have to be a professional hunter to even play the game. I think Togashi made the character he wanted. I do feel like the arc is a little short for what it could have been, and you are right about the game world could have been explored more and could have been a bigger part of the plot. But I think the Bomber was always just meant to be another player with a different philosophy on the game and he was even shown to be compassionate towards his allies. He was just playing the game, and both Gon and Killua respected that. On a side note, the Bomber wasn't even meant to be the strongest person or anything. He was just meant to be clearly a lot stronger and more intuitive of a fighter than Gon and Killua were initially at the arc. He wasn't all that strong, but he was simply the player playing the game the best. He had a game plan that utilized his Nen ability, and that was the foundation for his strategy to play the game. The bomber would get crushed by Biscuit for instance, who was also a player. & He would never be able to get past Razor. But that's not what his strategy revolved around. His strategy revolved around taking the cards from other players, which was a valid way to play the game, but also one which would have had an interesting outcome had the Bomber been the first player to collect all 99 specified slot cards. I think how close he came to being the winning player speaks volumes to his gift for the game. This all also plays a role in the final fight as you mentioned. Gon won the fight because he was the better player and utilized the mechanics of the game better, so much so to the point of sacrificing his hand because he knew that that was okay within the mechanics of the game. It's like risking your health in a real MMORPG to output more damage in a PvP or boss fight (i.e. RuneScape). Gon won because he was the most involved player. Also, I believe Gon's intuitions were off the charts. I don't know if it was instinct, or him being luckily ignorant, but since Gon is technically hunting for Ging, he must've either known or luckily went along with Ging's hint at the beginning of the arc. Ging told Gon to enjoy the game. Ging is super intelligent and is later shown to be insanely good at predicting how people will behave. Not just ordinary people either, some of the most gifted Nen users in the world. Ging has been making it Gon's goal to hunt for him as some kind of test or something, I'm unsure. But Ging telling him to enjoy the game wasn't out of him loving Gon or even not caring for Gon and just wanting to show off, or even whatever else. He's telling Gon how to find him. Gon just has to be a good hunter and be aware of the hints that Ging is dropping if he wants to successfully hunt his target. Without saying too much, I think Ging is trying to prepare his son for the world by honing his skills, like his strength and awareness and all that. He's even steering Gon to encounters with people that can help him become a better hunter.
On a side note, I think the comparisons between One Piece and Hunter x Hunter is in how well thought the events are and also the world building and also the feeling of making you think you understand how simple the story is but, like I said, it being vastly more well thought out than you could imagine. I think where the comparisons stop is how either how passionate the creators are about their respective manga, or Togashi is just depressed or too afraid to live up to his potential, idk his life story.
" the scene with Hisoka is the most messed up thing I've ever read in a manga"
The editor : " I've seen things i wish to forget"
titles of those manga pls???
The first one with the girl laughing is called chainsaw man
The second one with the dark faced creature is oyasumi punpun
I couldn't identify the third one so if anyone could please do tell me
@@ahmedmubark7018 Made in abyss...Bondrewd...
@@ahmedmubark7018 Also Bokurano.
@@ahmedmubark7018 As Davide said, his name is Bondrewd from Made in Abyss, and let me just say, he is a lot to unpack. Let's just leave it at that.
8:35 Clearly he's never read Berserk.
is this supposed to sound like the "clearly you don't own an air fryer" meme?
I see, female Gol D Roger, Goodnight Punpun and I’m not familiar with the next panel
@@StevnxFemto it's makima from Chainsaw man lmao not female roger even if she's portrayed like him
@@StevnxFemto and bondrewd from made in abyss in the end
@@idirbouchdoug1567 and the one with those children?
Can we all agree that mark and his editors has such good timing when coming to editing? AND HOW Smart mark it with these reviews
Agreed
@Editor-san hi, I like your edit skills very much
@Editor-san you're doing great work🙏
The editing is great, but the reviews are below average.
11:40 - I’m unsure if I misunderstood, but I don’t think Hisoka saved them from losing - if he never used bungee gum, they would have just won, but not in the way Gon wanted to, with total victory. It was a sign of respect that hisoka decided to go for the hit on Razor
Also I’m a little sad about the passover of the fact that Ging saved Razor, a criminal who was on death row, and Gon ends up healing the Bomber - he heard the story of his dad and acted like him in that moment
Otherwise I binge these the second they come out, can’t wait for the next one :)
Those two comments of yours were much more interesting to read & think about than this entire video 👍
Unlike one piece, death is something that feels very real at could happen at any time. In One piece, death is very unlikely unless you are a side character that has a lot of people motivated by your death.
As soon as Kite was shown I, once again for probably the 20th time in my life had chills run through my whole body. I'm gonna go rewatch the arc again before I start crying. Also Mark you better not make us wait a week for this one!
5:12 I never watched HxH, so I cant say much, but isnt Gin the Creator of this Game? Doesnt that exactly mean, of you wanna learn more about him, like Gon does, observing the Game, its rules and how People interact whit it, is a great and clever way to do so.
You learn almost nothing about Ging in this game though
@@goldenboy140 You think so? Would be a wast of Potencial.
@@Sunaki1000 I think that the different trials one has to go through to get all the cards give a pretty decent idea that Ging does value kindness, kinda, but values the strength necessary to keep or take cards even more-so, which honestly seems like an observation that fits well with what we get to see of Ging; he's not a complete asshole, but he values the strength of doing whatever the hell you want above all else.
@@Sunaki1000 It certainly does talk a bit about Ging, specially in his disgusting side, although it does highlight some of his good sides too. Just remember in the first video when Gon tried to deny that the game was designed for people to try and kill each other and you'll understand how it stands in for Ging's personality. That said, it doesn't make the bad application of the game mechanics in the overall arc any less bad.
By the way, go read HxH before the next review, it's going to be really great
@@caiobruno8006 Yeah I heard a lot about the next Ark.
When "Legend of the Martial Artist" started I got hyped lol, can't wait for the next reviews
The panel of Meruem also sparked a fire within me. It's great to see that Mark has already reached that point
I was like "Awwwwwwww snap." XD
When killua said he's killed more than the bomber hit me hard.
Yeah, one of the big contrasts between villains like mark said in One Piece vs Hunter X Hunter is that one piece villains do this thing of "Proving they are irredeemably evil monsters" then right after they lose "Show flashbacks that attempt to make them relatable" it works occasionally, but often doesn't. Like Arlong, Croc, Flamingo, and Enel can all die, I really don't care about them as they are evil assholes. One Piece is better at making you despise and really root against a villain. but HxH has the aspect of "there are no purely evil people" even the ones with the highest death count like Meru, Hisoka, Something, and Chrollo are all kinda actually likable and you would feel bad if one of them died.
@@ghostkill221 Exactly. Like, I know I was "supposed" to feel a tiny bit bad about Arlong at some point, but it was setup in a way that made it impossible for me.
Still really enjoyable and I get the purpose, but it just doesn't work in a world where you can easily determine the "good" from "evil".
Good realistic characters in HxH make it all the more poignant when they hit you with the moral compass: "Hey you like me right? But I've done so many bad things how could you?"
Love both series btw
And I love how Killua makes that point to show the inconsistency in Goreinu's thinking, to the point he recognised it's not logical... Togashi was telling that to us to our faces! Hahahahahaha!! Yes, we have more ground because we know Killua's story and all that... But it was still funny.
@@KatherinaBathory Yeah, It's a good contrast in Goreinu and Gon as well, Gon (at this point) doesn't care about what people have already done, He mostly just cares about what they will do next. This seems to change a bit once the thing they have "done" affects him directly in a way he can't undo.
@@garagara4849 i mean, you can fell bad about Arlong and still hate him, those are not opposite fellings, and it makes Hoody more hateable, because he is as despicable as Arlong without even experiencing what he Arlong did
Besides your great reviews, the thumbnails especially for the hxh series are perfect. Theyre all beautiful, on point and super eye catchers! Id be really interested to see how you create this style! Keep it up :)
Jesus the goosebumps I got at the Chimera Ant portion at the end of the video with the OST playing, god the next videos will be so good
Think the next series he should take a look at should be “Fullmetal Alchemist”. It completed and it long for him to let wano arc to finish
"Greed Island could have happened at any random place in the world, it didn't have to be in a game." Well yeah, that's because Greed Island is just an random place in the world, it isn't in a game.
Then what was the point of wasting so much time learning about the mechanics of the game?
@@Substantial-hf1rm I think Mark doesn't understand that the process of learning which can be appealing is the point of this series. Except in the beginning where it is very traditional the deep motivation of the characters and the complex power system (all of which are explained in detail) are the fun factor. Its not a sit back story you watch/read because its fun to learn about things. I absolutely see his criticism but only from the perspective of someone that doesn't have fun or doesn't understand the point of the show. He is annoyed by the detailed explanation and he criticises the story for it. But only because for him its distracting and unnecessary while for others the details are what satisfying. And for those people learning about this place is the fun part itself. But I do see the problem. Its a pretty complex system for a single arc.
@@Substantial-hf1rm Was it wasting time? Every game mechanic that the show focused on ended up playing a role at some point in the story.
@@Substantial-hf1rm Because the rules were vital to the story being told and it becomes all the more shocking to learn that Greed Island *is* the real world and these cards and their powers are very real as well.
@@Substantial-hf1rm Not sure its really a waste since its
1) Revealed to be the real world and therefore
2) Functions upon the rules of the main power system, nen
You can really tell Mark doesn’t read a lot of manga if that Hisoka bit is the most uncomfortable he’s been while reading one
mmmhh... im gonna be honest, that may really have been the most uncomfortable part in all manga.
well, maybe aside from the entirety of Chi no wadachi
Yeah that's very tame compared to other mangas.
@@YeahButCanISniffUrPantsFist berserk, chainsaw man, even later parts of HxH are far more disturbing imo. It’s not that bad to me
read NEEDLESS
its great and amazing and has one of my fave endings in manga history....buuuut it gets pretty uncomfortable
The laughs he added to that totally made me think he was joking... Although it's still pretty disturbing, and for completely different reasons as to why other mangas are disturbing.
Sees a Totally Not Mark video:
Always excited.
Sees an unironic RAID Shadow Legends sponsor:
Well...hope that money is worth it I guess.
Yeah. Not too excited to see them as a sponsor given what we know. I would think Mark knows as well. $$$
@@nullvoidzero Definitely a disappointment. :/
He sold his soul for this one. He straight up lies to us when advertising for it...
I have been really enjoying these reviews so far. But I feel like this video is weaker compared to your previous videos. There is way too much emphasis into the negative aspects which would be fine if you also talked about the positives in the same amount of details.
For example, the stuffs like Gon and Killua's character development and bonding. Also how much someone like Killua is willing to sacrifice for Gon and to which extent Gon is actually relying on Killua. We finally got to see how diverse and powerful nen can be. Then we also got a decent perspective on Gon and Ging's morality and how they feel parallel to each other. You also completely forgot about the nen exorcist. Some of the details and contrast felt missing compared to the other videos.
I also think this arc is the weakest of the series with some obvious weaknesses. But it establishes a strong dynamic between Gon and Killua and works pretty well as a training arc while also introducing the potential of nen.
I respect how well thought out your views on everything are. You put a lot more contemplation into some of the things I would normally just let fly because I'm overall enjoying a story. However in this one I have to disagree. You argue that Greed Island is a waiting point and the events could transpire anywhere else without being bogged down by the extra mechanics of the "video game's" rules. Seeing everything Ging and his friends accomplish by creating the game gives us a bit of scale on how much nen can actually do with proper rules and conditions. In the way Gon handles problems as they arise within the rules his father invented shows how similar their trains of thought are and just how true Gon is to his dream of understanding his father. Most importantly though, while it is a bit cliché these days, much like One Piece is a show about the journey to find the "One Piece" Hunter x Hunter really is a show about the JOURNEY to find Ging. Being annoyed by the detours is a shallow man's way of reading it. Much love though Mark. I really enjoy your content and I think you are very good at what you do.
I wouldn't say Mark is completely wrong about his assertions though speaking from where he is right now. Unlike One Piece for instance from the beginning it's framed as one big adventure that Luffy is taking so the journey a d detours to the One Piece will always be important and have a sense of progression as the story continues.
With HxH following Gon's narrative at least it should be just the focus on finding Ging. Gon is the Hunter-Hunter looking for his dad who is a Hunter (sorry for the redundant wording but you get my point.) The detours aren't really expected as necessary points to Gon's goal, he honestly gets either side tracked or involved by getting dragged into situations outside his control. However, the subject of the "journey" being important is not made a point until *SPOILERS in case Mark is reading*
his eventual meeting with Ging and he reflects back to all of his experiences.
@@KatsuImagitian gon's goal was never the series' goal though? It’s true that the detours are not necessary to HIS goal, but if this series was only about him then the York New Arc wouldn’t exist. Togashi's writing has never been about the grand finale but about the pieces that make the journey to get there interesting; that’s not something that he just came up with for that one scene you mention. If you stop to think about it, you’ll notice how most arcs in hxh don’t really have a concrete conclusion, the story just continues to flow naturally onto the next big series of events; the cool parts are never the endings, but what the characters do to reach those conclusions and what the story wants to say about it. And I can certainly see people disliking that because they might find the endings to these stories unsatisfying when compared to the stories themselves, but it really is a matter of what you enjoy and what you don’t.
That said, while I do disagree with some of the points Mark makes, I don’t think he’s wrong when he says Greed Island (the game) is not as integrated into the story as it could be. While there’s almost always a reason for it, there ARE points in HxH that feel like waiting periods until something more interesting happens (the next arc has some of the most notorious cases...), and making Greed Island so complicated results in various instances where you just have to stop and learn stuff before you can really enjoy what’s coming. Don’t get me wrong, I personally enjoy these bits a lot because, as Herotecha said, they are great to learn more about the character’s personalities and motivations, or add something deeper to the narrative, or are just simply cool moments for Togashi to talk passionately about a freaking game he designed for an arc in his manga. My point is, I can clearly see why some people enjoy this aspect of the story while others hate it, and I don’t think any side is in the wrong✌️
@@KatsuImagitian Very good point. I should be less harsh
@@flyingchickens3149 That's why I noted in "Gon's specific narritive as MC" his goal is finding Ging, with that framework the detours would seem like unnecessary pieces to his goal and all of these obstructions at least going with that framework would be annoyances towards the progression of that goal.
@@KatsuImagitian oops, you are totally right! I misunderstood that bit 💦
Oh my god, he isnt going to like the hype ass narrator is he? Honestly, for me,one of the best story telling choices for the final part of Chimera Ants, as it sells you on how fast things are happening
I don't think he's going to notice the narrator that much, considering he's reading the manga
@@bigorna4875 He watches the previous episode hes compared the 99 version to the 2011 and manga why would he not watch it?
@@tmerchead1 I'd be surpsied if they dont have him watch that episode that stretches 20 seconds into 20 minutes literally
@@AN-nw2ic I think you're being harsh on the anime there. That scene where a lot of time had seemingly passed but it was actually just 10 seconds was present in the manga as well.
@@theturkey4018 1. I love that episode. 2. It doesn't take 20 minutes to read like when you watch it lol
While going through the video, I thought that Greed Island is like a "Great Plateau" (from Zelda Breath of the Wild). It may not be needed, plot-wise, but it is a miniature version of the type of struggles Gon will be facing going forward and it would be a great "Hunter Tutorial" of sorts created by a father to his son (and whatever other hunter students he may want to help grow).
every arc is a miniature in HxH, to the point the world map is a miniature of the actual world, the ability togashi has to make the world bigger over and over is impressive
He’s complaining about GI for things he loved skypiea for
I see this comes up with Greed Island and One Piece's Skypeia arcs and I couldn't heavily disagree more. Everything that was introduced in Skypiea paved significance for the rest of the series as soon as the arc was over, and was a huge indication of the struggles the Strawhats will eventually have to accept. Besides establishing Gon's and Killua's bonds a lot more before the events of the Chimera Ant arc, Greed Island showed us, moreso than any other arc, how versatile Nen can be (it can literally bring people to life) and were all signs of what we could expect of Nen in the later arcs. Biscuit's character was introduced, who becomes significant later, and Gon and Killua received crucial training.
8:38 lmao I'm dying of laughter with the editor.
100% Blind Oyasumi Punpun review when?
@18:10 While you are right about what Oda probably would have done with his Villian , you are forgetting about what he would have done with his victim. We would have felt bad for dozens of chapters because the character "died", only to find out that they had survived and were inexplicably alive this whole time. So i prefer Togashi's route. If you aren't sure you want to kill off an somewhat semi important character because lol Shonen, then don't. Don't fake it or tease it because it sours the experience in the end.
Best sports anime ever with that epic dogdeball match and best boi Hisoka finally explains the properties of Bungee Gum
I just want to point out that the fight against the bomber was a nudge towards gon be a bit crazy. He literally let his arms get blown up for no reason tbh.
And the "I'm sorry, I'm going to be selfish" bit is amazing... So self-aware and foreshadowing!!
All of Marks blind notes on what he is reading, makes me realize how well HxH holds up on a reread/watch.
Only to be met by despair when getting to the end now salivating for more but it never seems to come 😢
Can agree I finished rewatching hunter x hunter yesterday and it was even more enjoyable
@@fireassassin16 I remember watching it the first time and thinking Gon was a bit bland, and now, with the context of the Chimera Ant arc... It just becomes really appearent how well written and intriguing Gon is when you actually understand how he thinks. It’s the same with a lot of other things in there too.
21:53. I actually really like that Gon and Killua don’t stay injured forever showing they don’t have permanent physical damage from the game. It kinda shows how Gon hasn’t really faced many permanent consequences for his reckless actions and I believe leads directly to his choices in the Chimera ants arc and his ultimate fate at the end of it. Had he faced permanent consequences the lesson many characters like the guard of the Testing Gate and Tezguerra have been trying to teach him about thinking of the consequences of his dangerous and reckless actions and their affect on both himself and his friends, might have stuck.
At the end Ging wasn't watching the entire time. The girl was just reminiscing on what Ging had told her if Gon had completed the game and tried to meet him.
What made the dodgeball game so entertaining was that both Gon and Hisoka agreed that the "victory had to be flawless".
Hisoka, Killua and Gon's dynamic with eachother in the dodgeball game is so good you forget he was just staring at their asses not too long ago
mark controversies--
. yes they could have trained outside the game but had they didnt get in the game they wouldnt meet Biskey, then teleport to Kite, & also where would they even test their result of the training?!
. & also showing Ging's character that he shos interest in games /w mechanics & interaction /w his friends. also give Razor a purpose
. as for Hisoka, thats his character. He gets aroused that way but clears out at the same time. Even in the haven's arena the blocked his d*** /w light when he got aroused to fight & hope u get the point. i get uncomfortable thinking about the guy...
. as for Genthru of the bombers, he is GREED personafied, completely driven by it. but after the fight he becomes someone reasonable enough to take the L & asks to even heal his buddies first. on the other hand Gon is someone starts becoming more unreasonable & selfish, breaking Genthru's will to even fight, making him submit & beg at the end, that just not typical shounen protagonist type.
. & i was hoping to see Razor in the thumbnail, not hisoka coz he's more of a supporting cast rather than a main villain or whatever
[great video as always, no hate btw. but u'll understand more after u r done /w the series or dive deeper]
7:10 "..It didn't contribute much.."
So learning that the game "creatures" and "spells" exist in HxH's real world is insignificant? That's massively underselling the amount of worldbuilding this arc alone lends to the world and even Nen as a power system (everything is created through nen in GI.) It does in fact contribute to later arcs in the manga by the way. You are factually incorrect. And I'm guessing you expected Gon and co to somehow come across this revelation as way of it contributing to the arc but that simply wouldn't make sense, neither for the characters in question nor for the arc's narrative to progress in that manner. Gon is trying to genuinely enjoy the game Ging created why would he even care about that. It happened to build HxH's world and it does its job perfectly. You can't fault something for not meeting expectations it never promised nor intended to meet. And in this case it wouldn't even make logical sense either bruh.
This video wastes too much time over explaining unnecessary thing while managing to miss some crucial details. He barely touched upon Gon and Killua's character development, forgot about nen exorcist, completely misunderstood Ging's nature. Feels like he's unnecessarily rushing the story.
@@user-rw6op8yp8x I feel like Mark wants to enjoy this story by expecting the "great things that come with the shounen package"...
And completely misses the point on some of the other aspects. Like Mark, you know a character can have multiple goals? Did you forget Killua isn't just a plot device but an actual character with morality? Mark noticed most of the nuances before, but I think the whole "this is in a game, oh no" aspect blinded him to some extent.
Still, I respect his opinion, but I can't help but feel like he missed the point unfortunatly.
not really since the arc didnt benefit from being in a game which makes perfect sense
Greed Island's main problem is that it is sandwiched between two of Hunter x Hunter's greatest arcs
Your point at the 18 minute mark isn't a good example of something that separates HxH from OP. Yeah they are very different series but not for the reason you said during this part of the video. HxH did the same thing OP did in the previous arcs. It happened during the Hunter exams with Illumi being evil to Killua. During the Zoldyck family arc with Milluki torturing Killua. During Heaven's arena with Zushi being kidnapped by the crippled nen users. In York new with Kurapika and the Phantom Troupe. Togashi did fail to do that with Genthru, but not because he isn't able to do so as a writer, but because Genthru simply represents another competitor in the game. Yes, he is vicious and cruel. But his adversity towards Gon's team doesn't strictly require anything to be emotionally personal. The fact that only a single team can win the game is enough to make them fight each other. I agree that it would have made Genthru a way better Villain/Antagonist, and Togashi not doing so made him by far the weakest antagonist in the show. In One piece, if the Villian doesn't cause harm to someone Luffy is fond of, Luffy has no reason to fight them. The conflict in OP is always done in this way and honestly it gets very repetitive and predictable.
I agree with your point of HxH but One Piece being predictable? be real bro.
@@jason4494 I'm talking about how Luffy gains his animosity and motivation to fight the villains/antagonists of the arcs being predictable, not the whole story.
It's always done by the villains harming someone Luffy cares about, whether it's a strawhat or a new "good guy" character introduced in the arc. It's consistent and thus predictable.
@@astrozombie1394 I see, fair point.
Gon did make it personal with Genthru when he heared him killing the other players he was friendly with beforehand. That's the thing narratively there is no personal reason for Gon to be so gungho to fight Genthru himself but its Gon as a shonen mc by nature to seek it when he feels someone does something bad in his eyes (which freaks even Genthru out).
8:43 Now I want Mark to read/watch Made in Abyss.
I believe the thing with Ging was that it wasn't that he was disappointed in Gon for having his friends help him but that he was afraid that, if he used accompany, he would be bringing someone else to come have a confrontation with Ging and/or beat him up for being a deadbeat. He never even thought that Gon would be bringing a friend purely just because he wants to introduce his father to his friend and vice versa
The funny thing about Sing and Zootopia is I feel the exact opposite to the way you do. Sing has a colorful fantasy world that doesn't ask you to question it, much like Loony Toons, whereas Zootopia attempts to tackle real world issues with a colorful facade and I am just put off by that. I think Beastars does what Zootopia tried to do much better, but it can't be billed as a family friendly feature.
I agree that the greed island arc is not the best arc in Hunter x Hunter. Probably even the worst.
But it is in its own way perfect. It was not as intense as most of the other arcs but it is exactly what is needed inbetween the two surrounding arcs.
It creates a great contrast compared to them and helps Hunter X Hunter to maintain its overall atmosphere. Without it the whole series would feel a lot different.
Long story short: the mostly light atmosphere and especially the basic villain makes you appreciate the other arcs much more.
The only thing better than your analysis are the little edits you throw in throughout the video. The first few seconds had me dead
"maybe other people can use nen to enchance their bodies" Glances at chimera ant arc *cries*
I think the arc does a good job with highlighting Gin’s crazy side. He lets Killua fuck his hands up for a game, and doesn’t care about the weird scissors guy being a killer as well as the main antagonist Genthru and their murders.
But in a cute and innocent way
I watched the video on the morality of Gon. The main point I took away from it is: That if the character helps Gon in literally any capacity Gon will ignore any past deeds they did providing the past deeds did not affect negatively anyone Gon likes in anyway. For example, the Scissor guy has killed multiple people in the past, however Gon ignores that because he is useful to him right there and then, likewise he hated Illumi (Killuas brother) because he did something negative to someone he likes.
This is why he completely loses it at Neferpitou. They killed and tortured his friend right infront of him, for no real reason. Neferpitou had killed literal entire villages of people but that played absolutely no part in why Gon lost it, he only cared that his friend was killed.
I understand where he was going for with that 'Sing' argument, but that was such a bad example. Stylism and setting dont all need justification, the setting can be built upon to derive incredible stories, which I understand isnt what Greed Island did for you, however.
But what's the thing though, the setting hasn't been built upon well enough narratively speaking.
i agree on the stylism part. But i dont think the game setting is a style choice
see but the sing “stylism” wasnt any different from any other movie theyve made in the past. it looks exactly the same as every animated disney/pixar movie from the 2010s. the characters being animals added nothing to the stylism. they could have been replaced with humans and the movies animation and style would have stayed exactly the same
my point exactly. just cause them being animals doesn;t play DIRECTLY to the plot or setting isn't a bad thing and it's a poor criticism. You don't see people getting pissy over Snagglepuss for being a talking cat, for crying out loud.
@@fern3684 reagrdless, they don't 'need' a reason to be animals over humans and vice versa, its still a stylistic choice even if it doesn't do anything for you. There are tons of other, well regarded examples of stories, mvies, cartoons and games who have animal characters without having it be a direct part of the plot or setting.
Hell, the Sly Cooper games are a good example!
While how to play the game might not have been that important for the whole arc. Greed Island it self is very important. It serve as a place where all those character have a reason to meet each other while having their own goals. For example, if it's wasn't because the gem that Biscuit want can only be find there, what reason would there be for the boys to meet her and learn more about nen. Finding dad and looking for gems don't have anything in common.
23:20 as someone who has watched this anime 7 times this editing gave me cHILLs. so excited for your analysis on this arc. it certainly has some downpoints, but when it hits it hits hard.
Going on the topic of hating ging
Greed island takes on a different light when you consider that the island/game is designed in some ways similarly to a prison
Never actually thought about it like that...since to leave you need to get a certain card or finish the game. Other than that your stuck there.
I can’t wait to hear his thoughts on the Chimera Ant Arc. That arc itself proved itself to be so revolutionary to anime as a whole
2:40 may be jumping the gun i didnt finish the video yet but i wanted to jot this down before i forget, you mention that although you did enjoy this arc that the actions our charecters went through would have meant more if it hadnt taken place in greed island but i feel thats becuase youre looking at greed island the way gon is. I say this because like gon you see this as a video game world. meant to be enjoyed while i see greed island as a country for hunters made to nurture and improve their skills :p
and Greed island is in the real world, don't understand why he keep saying that is a game and that they can train the same way in the real world
Goddamn, the music drop when kite entered was amazing. Very good job, editor!
Man, this is the first video of yours I watch. Charlie sent me this way. I love your take on the arc, great perspective. Best of luck going forward and you have a new supporter!
I for one loved the game and its mechanics. I wanted to see more of how certain cards are obtained and I especially wondered (and do to this day) what people had to do in order to get card number 1. I also really liked how they abused card limits and game mechanics in general to their advantage. To me the game wasn't an obstacle drawing out the conclusion, it was the part of this arc that I enjoyed the most. It was thought out really well and this arc was also the one I liked the most during my first watch through.
So you're wondering if there's other characters who can enhance their body, huh Mark? *cries in chapters 305-306*
- It doesn't hurt...
Hunter X Hunter really loves to dangle fascinating plot threads just out of view. I know that it drives a lot of people crazy that there's all this world building that is superfluous to Gon's plotline. For me tho, Gon being a very typical shonen protagonist in a fully alive setting that is LARGELY INDIFFERENT to his role as the shonen protagonist is really, in my opinion, Togashi's true master stroke for reasons that will become clear in later arcs.
Can't believe you didn't mention Gon's big decision at the end of the arc when asked if he wants the regular ending of the game or the special ending just for him. Great video though, can't wait for Chimera Ant Arc
I can't wait for Marks reactions to the next arc, which is one of my favorites in the series