Insanity x And x Sanity
Surprise surprise; sugary goodness found in new Hunter x Hunter. Greed Island is on its final legs.
What an episode. Greed Island is leaving with a bang. And I’ll be one to say that while I’ve enjoyed a majority of Greed Island, it’s tiny details and the dodgeball game in particular, the Bomber subplot (or is it main plot?) never gripped me. Genthru isn’t a villain of great character like Chrollo or let’s say Hisoka, he’s much more straightforward breed of insanity compared to those two. And it makes him decidedly less interesting, along with his pals Sub and Bara who have some semblance of a personality, maybe, who knows. Episodes devoted to him I’ve found are perhaps the least engaging. See, since a majority of my enjoyment has stemmed from Gon and Killua, they’re interactions and the deepening of their friendship. That, and once again, the cool adventures Greed Island has to offer. All that said though, they do provide decent foil for the kids + Bisky. This right here, pure quality-wise, is outstanding.
Poor Battera. In a relationship that would be considered taboo, he wanted nothing but the recovery of his lover after a horrible accident. While the rich man isn’t very relevant to us, it explains the copious spending he put into the game back at the auction and is the major reason why the boys were able to make it to Greed Island at all. Poor guy, Breath of Archangel was only weeks away. Same goes to Tzesguerra, whose extensive work in the game has all gone to waste now. Although while he’s been out of the game for a full 10 days, his influence is still felt by Goreinu, possessor of the smarty pant’s 30 most valuable cards. A last-ditch effort, so to say, to keep Genthru away from his cards as well as keep the cards in play. If anything, the man is clever and deserving of his rank.
Never mind all that though, since it’s nothing compared to what comes next.
Now with the allotted time over, it doesn’t take long for Genthru and co. to confront the kids. And boy, are they not as prepared as they should’ve been. Keeping the act of frazzled children, they successfully lower the Bomber’s guards and split there forces into 1-on-1 fights, coupled with fun commentary from Biscuit. Still a mentor figure to the boys, even in her own mind. This alone means very little however, as while Sub and Bara may not possess very much strength on their own, Genthru is definitively stronger than Gon. He’s a teensy-weensy bit crazy and defiantly arrogant, but undeniably strong, with or without his Bomber powers.
Which is why watching the two of these guys duke it out, physically on Genthru’s part and mentally by Gon, is such a joy. Accompanied by some further pre-fight talk from Biscuit and the lovely track from the dodgeball game, we have some of the best animation from the series yet. On that point, it’s also bring to attention how elegant Genthru’s design really is. His jaunty body makes for all sorts of interesting poses, all of which have that slight unsettling quality to them that accentuates his ruthless and bonkers nature. Yet the guy is perceptive as all get out, instantly discerning that Gon both knows his identity and the details of his powers. He’s smart. Which is something I’m happy to be able to say about a majority of this series’ characters, including Gon.
Though I guess being smart doesn’t necessarily mean that our trio will follow the most sensible plan. Because if Bisky was up against Genthru, we may have already been done away with the Bombers. Biscuit may not have the pure talent Gon and Killua radiate, but she’s had at least 40 years worth of cultivation of skills. And her battle with Sub… Bara… one of the goons puts that on full display. Ah, to think Biscuit was really a character from Jojo; reminds me how both series have a remarkably well thought-out power system. Regardless, her reasons for taking on one of the mooks isn’t expounded on, although you could pretty easily guess at a variety of them. As a mentor she likely doesn’t wish to take the center role from her pupils, and we should understand Gon by now; his stubbornness isn’t to be quelled. Also, if your femininity is something you enjoy, I can see why you wouldn’t want to be seen in your real form. Not that you can’t be feminine and also Kenshiro at the same time. Just check out Dangan Ronpa.
Moving onto Killua, haha, another new sweet track added to the list, and another cool fight for the senses. It doesn’t have the weight to it that Gon’s does, but as a show of skills, it has me excited for the upcoming arc. Pulling out his bag of tricks, Killua uses some old fashioned assassination tricks (with no killing involved – heck, we haven’t had any of that for a long while on Killua’s part), as well as new skills in the form of a lightning palm and a pair of 5o kilo yo-yos. It takes a distinctly different tone to Gon’s, a more strategic and layered bout on a technical level. Even the tree smashing and taunting was to shift his focus to the power of that one yo-yo, clearly intentional on the author’s part. Man, I don’t normally get very excited over future fights or anything, but I definitely wanna see more of this on a large scale.
Phew, that was what, nearly 7 minutes of good animated action from a long-running show. It’s not the first time its happened here, but it manages to impress me nonetheless. And on top of that, it’s not entirely mindless as thoughts run constantly. While Gon is all set for the grandiose plan that’s been stewing for the past few episodes, his arrogance and dislike of being beaten so thoroughly keep him from retreating until Genthru shows off his powers. And thankfully for Gon, the conditions set by Greed Island keep it so that Genthru cannot kill him if wishes to complete his goal. So it comes down to a mental battle à la Hanzo during the Hunter Exam, with one notable exception; Genthru is no goofy ninja.
