Hunter x Hunter 86 – DORARARARARARA

Wow, didn’t know Madhouse was going to work on Diamond Is Unbreakable! I bet that reference hasn’t been made a million times already! Amusingly enough, Knuckle Bine’s seiyuu, Wataru Takagi, is voicing Josuke Higashikata’s main buddy, Okuyasu Nijimura, in JoJo All-Star Battle. Everything comes full circle! (Meanwhile, Josuke Higashikata’s seiyuu, Wataru Hatano, is voicing Shaiapouf! It’s a small world.)

This week’s episode stresses the urgency of the mission to defeat the Chimera Ants while acknowledging that the available Hunters are likely not totally equipped for the job. I mean, the friggin’ chairman of the Hunter Committee takes one look at Neferpitou and says, “Hm, nope, I’m probably not strong enough to defeat that.” Pretty scary! No doubt Netero is still quite a fearsome dude; even when he poo-poos the notion of him being the strongest Nen user in the world, Morel and Knov still have enough respect for his abilities to believe he can defeat Neferpitou. (Also, I am sure you all are with me in being mad curious about seeing Netero battle at the peak of his powers.) Assuming we can take Netero at his word, though, this trio of Hunters has a massive task ahead of them and not much time in which to complete it, since the King’s growth appears quite far along judging by the preview.

And then you have Gon and Killua. Their roles in this arc will be quite interesting. Gon is correct when he says that simply defeating the two disciples is not their goal. Rather, their true goal is to get strong enough to enter NGL and rescue Kite. Essentially, then, Gon and Killua must rival Netero in strength, which seems rather … unrealistic. Even though Gon and Killua have gotten tons stronger during the course of the series, there has always been what I think is a realistic cap on just how far they advance. They are both acknowledged as prodigies by various people in the world, but they don’t take down Hisoka the moment they learn Nen, and they don’t beat up Genthru without a ridiculous plan after getting a ton of training. It’s long way from that to becoming near as strong as one of the greatest Nen users in the world, even if he is at half of his peak power.

At the same time, Morel’s disciples, Knuckle and Shoot, are also being tested, which adds an interesting element to the mix. They’re both total unknowns in terms of power and abilities, which is how Gon wants it, since it would be the same situation they confront with the Chimera Ants. I’m mostly sure that Gon and Killua will win, because they’re the heroes and all and they have so much on the line, but there’s enough doubt in my mind from the sheer amount of power they would have to gain in such a short time to actually be helpful while in NGL that I can’t help but wonder what would happen were they to lose. You know, just as a way to keep beating the optimism out of Gon. We’ll see, I guess; just too much stuff we don’t know to really say what will happen.

Meanwhile, Neferpitou becomes ever more frightening. That ridiculous En is basically a giant security alarm now, which makes any potential infiltration plans ridiculously complicated. Then it’s revealed that Neferpitou is strong enough to say, “Well, I think I’ll develop the power to bring the dead back to life! Then I can kill Kite again and again! Sounds like fun! Nyaa~” Good lord. The Hunters are basically being asked to kill a god right now. And Gon and Killua are supposed to suddenly become strong enough to take that on? Man. Horrifying. And then there’s Neferpitou’s bro, the rainbow-winged bug prince whose powers we don’t even know yet beyond the ability to read minds. So that’s fun.

In happier news, Biscuit is back and this lady, Palm, is also here and all dokidoki~ for Gon, and somehow it’s kind of cute and not creepy even though Gon is like barely a teenager or whatever right now. Also, if I hadn’t looked it up, I never would have guessed Palm is voiced by Kikuko Inoue. Lately I feel like I hear her only when I watch old stuff. Anime needs more Kikuko Inoue, I say.