Hunter X Hunter Episode 114
What They Say:
Gon, a young boy who lives on Whale Island, dreams of becoming a Hunter like his father, who left when Gon was still young.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The slow moving but engaging fight has had some solid moments so far, especially with the way Zeno and Netero have ended up going up against each other in a hugely controlled way, albeit one with some real fallout to it that will bring the King in to set things straight. The way events played out previously definitely added an air of different but real danger to things while the rest of the Hunters moved about in their own directions to achieve their own goals. Splitting up the cast isn’t exactly a surprise as they all have objectives to achieve, but it is interesting to see how Zeno sets things so that Netero willingly goes with him and the King in order to fight in their own location and try and set things straight without any additional fallout to others around them. That feels like a huge change for the King himself, so it’s sort of a win all in its own.
Because of this, the first half has a kind of odd feeling to it as it plays out since there’s a lot of standing around and looking towards where they’re all going next. That makes for some interesting minor moments as it progresses, but mostly as we get the start of the standoff between Shaiapouf and Morel, which is done with a real push towards the beautiful because of his wings. The two definitely are different in their own way, not that we haven’t seen this kind of lead up with Morel before, but there’s a different sort of confidence coming out of him that should make people worry that he’s too sure of himself with what he’s facing in this Chimera Ant. He’s had some good fights before and obviously has skill to back it up, but there’s still something that leaves you nervous about it.
The second half is a bit more active with what it does as it focuses on the separate fights that Knuckle and Shoot are going through with their opponents. They’re in the same place but it’s got Knuckle going up against the Chimera Ant he’s facing in a pretty reckless way, going all out and taking plenty of hits along the way in order to try and wear him down. It’s a hugely active piece with the way Knuckle flits about, but it also brings in a bit of quiet time along the way as the little construct with numbers comes up again, the thing we saw seemingly an age ago that Gon had to face off against. It’s a decent bit of misdirection to use to thrown their opponent off, but it comes at a significant price in terms of danger that they have to face. But that lets us see how Knuckle really will go the distance in his fight to win and survive, something that wasn’t always apparent from his past incidents that we’ve seen.
In Summary:
While I’m left wanting a whole lot more about Netero and the fight he’s about to be involved in, I do get some decent material with a pair of fights that are going on. Morel has been a character that I’ve grown to like and his fight with Shaiapouf has a certain familiarity to it compared to the last Chimera Ant he faced, but you know it’s got to take a twist in order to be compelling. In a different way, seeing Knuckle fighting against Youpi works well since it’s a chance to truly see him go all out against a very tough opponent while Shoot gets things set up to try and help. It’s a decent pair of fights, neither of which get a conclusion here, that has more of a forward motion to it and less narration, which definitely helps the overall flow of it.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.