their is no way for me to exaggerate the importance that hunter x hunter has had on my life. it quite possibly the greatest piece of writing in any language after the gospels and is only rivaled by Jim Dodge's book stone junction for second place. i honestly am at a loss of words in trying to explain yoshihiro togashi masterpiece. it's wonderland with rules. it's nostalgia fighting it's way out of the grave. and above all it is a child's adventure story that will haunt you for the rest of your life. the premise is simple gon wants to meet his father and becoming a licensed hunter is the most immediate way of doing so. but the trials and tribulations of a life that involves "giving up what you have so can get what you want." is more complicated then the little boy can understand. he befriends a motley crew of associates that includes killua, the heir to a clan of assassins who is looking for a way to salvage his soul from the cruelty instilled in him for his survival in the family business. kurapika a young man who want to avenge his people and collect the eyes cut out of there faces so that one day he may finally have peace. and leorio a man who wants to be a doctor so he can help those without the means to get what they need to survive. the series runs the gambit from film noir crime stories to a mmorpg with stakes so high that the children dance with death surrounded by the embers of hell. and learn that innocence is as dangerous in equal proportion to how vulnerable it makes you. a boy looking for his father, fighting chimera monsters and trying to figure out why all his friends are serial killers.
in one of my favorite exchanges between gon and nobunaga. gon says "why don't you save some of those tears for all the people you kill!" and nobunaga amazed by the reckless abandon of the youth decides the child will now be surrogate brother, a replacement for his dead comrade whose tears were claimed by gons wrath when shed for his dead friend. and in another moment much later gon (spoiler alert!) finally meets his father and breaks down crying saying it was his fault that kait (there mutual friend) was turned into a girl the chimera like empire ants and there shockingly conflicted king. to which ging the boys father says "it was his fault (kait), he got cocky but you are weak and you can take responsibility for that." and that is the parable of the series: you can do whatever you can get away with and still live with yourself and they can do whatever you cant stop them from doing. when confronted by monsters both human and savage your ability to change the situations is all that matters. to quote captain jack "all that matters is what a man can do and what a man can't do." to the winners go the history books. to the victor the spoils no matter what or who they are. the power to influence realty is a primary theme and motif within the series. the inherently japanese idea that if you work hard enough you may be able to stop the monsters from stomping the life out of their chained victims that are dying in the bad way for no other reason then someone enjoys doing it. life is a arena and the cage is the primary weapon of our oppressors. hope is the enemy of Nirvana and bliss goes against the apparent will of the powers that be. savage and ruthless more then any thing hunter x hunter tells us to not wait for some feel time with a therapist to look for our inner child and consul him/her if only so that we can find peace and stop raging like a bull in a china shop at every living thing that wants the same thing as us...to not be food and to have somewhere to rest out heads in-between our conflict with oppressive social energies and the quiet ones who stalk us as prey waiting for a moment we slow down so they can accelerate so that they can drown and resuscitate us on repeat until there is nothing left but a corpse. don't fear the reaper but fear his messengers because they (unlike death) enjoy the process.
it's just a adventure story but so is everything that happens between birth and death. but before i leave you let me just say hunter x hunter has been adapted into an anime three times and while the one currently airing on toonami is the best the anime has the relationship to the manga that super-book has as a adaption of the bible (just saying) which is to say it is very good but you are much better of going with the source material. in closing hunter x hunter is a playground for psychopaths a place where people get erection from killing. a place where turtles grow strawberry on their backs to lure men into the fog so that they may eat them. its a world made of the stuff of dreams but sometimes that shit is dangerous and it is best to leave that shit alone and not fuck with it. it reminds us why maturity is finding quiet place to call home and trying to protect it. not because the world is hostel but because it is indifferent. but more then anything it reminds of lonely it is to be a true seeker to give up what you have so you can gain what you want. it teaches us to respect our prey even as we rely on people we cant trust. seek and you will find understand and you will be understood. for the hungry will hunt and the prey will fear the hunter.
Comments
Post a Comment