Hunter x Hunter 121 Reaction

17 thoughts on "Hunter x Hunter 121 Reaction"

1. It’s fun watching these reactions having just finished the show. I’ll be very interested in their thoughts at the end of this arc. For me, the payoff was incredible to watch.

2. Knov saw poufs aura. Palm saw pitous aura coming back

3. This show is in my top 5, but the whole gon scaring the shit out of the royal guards thing just screams shonen bs to me and isn’t believable at all.

   1. That’s an understandable opinion, but from my point of view, the only guard who is legitimately scared of him to any degree is Pitou, and she is entirely defenseless to nen currently, as she has no nen capabilities while her hatsu ability is active. Which would likely explain why, it’s either disobey the King, or potentially killed by anyone with Nen AKA Gon

   2. I’m the same. Like I know what’s coming and stuff but Gon just really annoys me around this part of the series. Like why the fuck would Pouf listen when he can kill Gon instantly. It’s very much shonen bs xD

      I know protags being reckless idiots is a big thing but seriously – he needs some sense slapped into him and it bothers me that nobody *cough* Killua *cough* tries to talk him out of it. I suppose that’s how their characters are but it’s….unsatisfying for me I think? Idk. Still this is my fave anime ever and generally not because of Gon xD

4. Personally, this was the episode Youpi became my favourite Royal Guard.

5. Hunter x Hunter is really disappointing me, the only reason I see why people try to put it up so high in best animes of all time is for the few really really bad philosophical things they try to say.. ants are not bad.. even though they ate killed and murdered legit everyone, and the fake deaths upon fake deaths upon random dumb ants talking about nothing my god, probably mid-range anime to be fair. This isn’t steins gate and people are acting like its the go to all the great thoughts in history lmao.

   1. That’s a perfectly fair opinion to have, because I felt the same way about Steins Gate, I thought it was a predictable generic time travel story, that tried to act like it was more philosophical then it was. That’s what I love about anime, is there is so much of it, and each person can find wildly different views on the same thing.

      1. yes true, to be honest i watched steins gate and i was so bored watching it, but i can’t say it’s a bad anime it’s just not my type of a show and i didn’t like it

   2. Sounds like your more worried about it being as good as other people say instead of watching it with an open mind and trying to enjoy it on its own merits.

   3. I can see how people wouldn’t like HxH or think it is overrated. Whenever I recommend a series I like I always try to say pros and cons and ask the person what they like to try to gauge if they might like it or not. Honestly I wasn’t sure if Blind Wave would like this arc because I wasn’t sure if they would buy the ants development or agree with the narrative on humanizing them. Their discussions show really proved me wrong about that. HxH gets so much praise that I think there are bond to be a number of people who feel disappointed by it. I hope the next series BW watches is more your tastes.

   4. A fairly typical misreading of the Chimera Ant arc is that because the Ants are progressively “humanised”, they are therefore progressively more “sympathetic”. Anyone can sympathise with the Ants if they want, but I don’t think that’s the point. Hunter x Hunter dedicates dozens of episodes to the point-of-view of utter psychopaths. The Phantom Troupe are unrepentantly, unambiguously genocidal (both the Yorknew City arc and the Meteor City mini-arc are basically Evil vs Evil). The Zoldycks aren’t merely assassins, they REVEL in death; they are habituated to torture (of themselves and others) in their childhood, and their house is a veritable mausouleum. Even Gon isn’t a “good guy”; he’s an impulsive, possibly insane preadolescent, a fact that the narrative absolutely does not ignore (his self-destructive childishness is the catalyst of the entire subsequent arc, which is every bit as bonkers as this one).

      Togashi (the series’ creator) is not interested in whether or not HxH’s protagonists and antagonists are morally good: he is interested in whether they are individuals. The “evolution” of the Chimera Ants that makes the difference as far as the series’ themes are concerned, is the evolution of personality and of the ability to decide one’s fate for oneself. Many fans mischaracterise the climax of this arc as “humanity is just as bad as the Ants”. True or not, this isn’t the point. The point is that the Ant King, the Royal Guard, and the Officers are all, in the end, fully realised people, irrespective of their moral positions. The anime is such an absolute banger for me because of how the choices of its various actors (human and nonhuman alike) affect and interfere with one another. There are few anime like it.

6. Great discussion. One of my favorite episodes of the series. If you remember, Knuckle told Gon and Killua when they first met that he only joined the extermination squad to stop them from doing their job. He wanted to see the humanity in these ants from the very beginning.

7. At this point, Youpi hasn’t really done anything. The king killed the soldiers in the castle and Pitou and Pouf are organizing the selection. The worst we’ve seen him do is eat people that were already dead.

8. Its pretty obvious that gon or killua really don’t stand any chance to beat a royal guard

   1. Yeah but Eric’s right that they are the most skilled hunters there besides netero. Also Ep 131 gon totally could

9. Love the discussion. There’s a lot of good points brought up on both sides. Eric is looking from a very basic perspective, but it’s basic for a reason that’s it’s mostly right. Hard to argue against something you believe in, and punishment for genocide is a hard thing to argue against. At the same time, the discussion into how much was instinct and how much was though also works, although to the limited extent of what it represents. I’m interested to see how things will go after the main meat of the topic gets brought to its head