Leorio does not approve of laxative-laced juice beverages!
Anyway, I thought this episode was kind of dull. Weirdly enough, it actually seemed to stretch things out compared to the original series. The first Hunter x Hunter gets the introductions and whatnot over with in the first half of episode 6, without any hint that Tonpa is a total douchebag. As far as our main characters know, he’s just some random dude who has taken a shine to them and doesn’t have several cans of Explosive Diarrhea Classic on him. Then again, I guess they still don’t know, but are sort of on their guard, so the trick he’ll eventually pull can still be done. (Not really a spoiler since you all knew he would do something again later, right?)
But, yeah, basically a way to introduce the major players of the Hunter Exam arc. My first thought was, “WTF is up with Hanzo’s eyebrows?!” Isn’t the point of being a ninja to NOT stand out? Despite what a goofball he initially appears to be (and he does the same “lol sup dudes TOTES A NINJA HERE” shtick in the first series), Hanzo is actually pretty awesome. He might be my favorite character from the Hunter Exam arc, actually, so look forward to that!
Next up is Killua! From what little we heard of him, I think he’s got a decent new voice. Sounds enough like a little kid, and his voice still has that playful edge to it. Still, it’s kind of lulzy when he’s mentioned he’s had training so that poisons won’t affect him. Killua went through a lot of shit to build up that particular resistance! But, yeah, in case you didn’t guess from the OP and ED, Fourth Main Character Alert! Killua is pretty cool, but I wonder how far this adaptation will go in his storylines. There were some weird tonal shifts with him in the original series, and then it kind of ignores what seemed to be one of his main conflicts, so who knows . . .
And then we have he of the glowing crotch, Hisoka! Guess they’re going with the red hair from the beginning. Always wondered why Hisoka randomly changed his hair color in the middle of the first series . . . guess he got tired of the green.
I expect Daisuke Namikawa’s performance will be one of the most divisive aspects of the new series among fans on this side of the Pacific. It’s definitely different than Hiroki Takahashi’s Hisoka, which is why I want to give Namikawa a chance and see how he develops throughout the series. I definitely think Namikawa could be decently creepy in the role — it’s just that he’s more the slithery, slimy evil type, whereas Takahashi made Hisoka sound like a god damn child molester, haha. It’s a great, creepy as shit performance, which is why I didn’t expect Namikawa as good nor did I expect him to even take the voice in a similar direction.
Maybe it won’t end up as good, but there’s still plenty of room for Namikawa’s Hisoka to be good. I am cautiously optimistic for now!
So, yeah, I’ve got nothing else to say, so here’s a pic of Satotz and his awesome mustache.
The Cart Driver 
That’s not a moustache. That’s actually his mouth. Didn’t you notice how he talked out of it?
“There were some weird tonal shifts with him in the original series, and then it kind of ignores what seemed to be one of his main conflicts, so who knows . . .”
What conflict was that?
Don’t want to be too specific, because it’s a spoiler, but I thought the arc right after the Hunter Exam resolved Killua’s issues too quickly and neatly.
You’re probably tired of me harping on the manga by now, but Killua’s issues have only been truly “resolved” in the latest arc, and now it seems like it might be cropping up again due to… certain events.
I guess that’s good to hear. That’s one of the few complaints I had about the original series.
Another inconsistency with Killua was that the original series hinted that his family thought his nen without him realizing it (it was during Heaven’s Arena I think). I just didn’t understand the reasoning behind it other than to make Killua’s childhood look more depressing. I dunno.
“Weirdly enough, it actually seemed to stretch things out compared to the original series.”
This adaptation is following the manga pretty faithfully, while I think the original anime cut out the laxative juice altogether as well as the introductions of other characters. The reason why it seems stretched out is that the anime is hamming every single character up to the max. If you read the manga, the pacing of the exact same events is crisp and quick, so it never seems dull or stretched out. This adaptation, in contrast, is so overwrought it’s swiftly sinking under its own weight and bombast.
And that goes for the voice acting as well. That’s all I’m going to say about Hisoka.
(It’s not entirely Daisuke Namikawa’s fault though, to be fair.)
Kind of wish the whole laxative business had been cut out here, too, because it’s kind of dumb lol
The way the laxative thing was dealt with in the manga was actually pretty cool. The fact that it was light and briskly-paced helped to not make it dumb, like it come across as in this adaptation. It made Hanzo and Killua – and well, pretty much everybody Tonpa tried to push the drink on – look ridiculously badass.
Here’s the page featuring Hanzo: http://www.mangareader.net/207-14015-4/hunter-x-hunter/chapter-6.html
The way the adaptation totally fucked up one of his coolest moments in the early parts of the exam makes me want to slit my throat with one of Hisoka’s cards.
Yeah.
I have no idea what the fuck they were thinking when they did the eyelashbrows. Probably thinking, hey, let’s put this guy’s eyelashes on his forehead because the viewers will think he’s wacky and fun and like he just stepped out of One Piece which we oh so desperately wanna be.
I wonder when, and if, we’ll get Gon’s flashback from chapter 1. I first thought it might show up during the running in the tunnel, but maybe it will come later… like, that painful scene a certain someone loves.
If the show this time is more visually faithful to the manga, then I definitely prefer the first series’ approach. Everything here is just a tad too ‘cartoony’ for me. That blob-guy being green or the mysterious pin-head dude looking like he’d wandered away from a circus. The colour palette is a little too bright for my liking. I definitely prefer the original’s slighty subdued approach.
The choice of having antagonists show their true intentions straight away is another hindrance, whether it follows the manga or not. I understood the second episode’s need to cut corners to move through the plot briskly, but delaying the reveal of Tonpa’s intentions was one of my favourite parts of the first show’s early episodes; it made me understand what the true tone of this show would be.
As for Hisoka… well I guess the new VA is acceptable. The voice just sounds a little too much like every other sly, evil villain from this type of show. On the other hand Takahashi’s interpretation was like no other voice I’ve ever heard in anime; shrill, whiny and slightly peevish, yet with an unmistakable air of menace. It was masterfully done.
So yeah, I guess I’ve already become an annoying first-series fanboy. Oh dear…
Ha. The cartoonish visuals are so far away from the original manga I can hardly believe they’re from the same planet. Good point about Hisoka’s VA. The animators seem intent in squeezing out every drop of individuality they can and making HunterXHunter just like every other shonen fighting series ever made.
there are so much more different with the original version,
the remake i think is closer to the manga