Hunter X Hunter Episode 117
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)
With the fights going on here being ones done in relatively slow motion, to the point where the last six episodes apparently cover about three minutes worth of time in the show, we’ve had a variety of interesting experiences overall. The most interesting for me had to be the previous episode though in seeing how Gon is ready to just do what needs to be done to win, and to get revenge for what happened to Kite, since he was all set to kill the Chimera Ant in front of him even as she was tending to the human, Komagi. It’s an unusual situation in a lot of ways but it fits with what we know of Gon and how Pitou is all about making sure that the King is served well, which means keeping Komagi alive no matter what. Having Killua be the voice of reason is a given but it was good to see him looking at it in a pretty analytical and logical way.
The first half here takes us around to several of the fights that are going on and we get caught up on events a little bit, with a good chunk of time spent on giving us Knuckle catching up to Shoot and realizing what kind of position they’re in. While Knuckle held his own and fought the good fight, Shoot was taken down hard, but what he realizes is that in taking down Shoot but not finishing him, Shoot wasn’t worth the effort. And that just sets him of all the more, though Youpi was more focused on just finding Pitou as he realized that bad things are going down elsewhere with his comrades. It makes a certain sense, but you’d also think that he would have just eliminated Shoot outright. But as we’ve seen, these Chimera Ants are the simple ones we saw at the beginning of this whole arc.
An interesting point to the show is when it focuses on Morel, who is in the midst of his own battle with the Chimera Ant that is going through a metamorphosis. It’s definitely not a surprise overall considering the way the fight has played out, but you’re left wondering what real curiosity is going to come to the surface because of it. Morel’s role has always been interesting for me since he comes across as the most experience one out there outside of Netero but has a nature about him that lets him be accessible in a way others aren’t, so even a little time with him is interesting. Of course, it’s not a lot here as a whole lot of what’s actually going on feels like the whole place is about to explode and you can see how the vibe of the battle is now wholly uncertain, causing even someone like Morel to really take stock of events and to become more cautious.
In Summary:
There’s a lot of little bits throughout the show that’s covering several areas, though some aren’t for the most part, but we get a good roundup of where everyone is at this point as it’s starting to come together in a larger context. It’s interesting that Youpi is sort of the central focus of it all though as that’s unexpected, but it makes for a different kind of character to latch onto and work through. There’s not a lot going on here in terms of actual fighting, but as a reminder of set pieces and where they are and some of the connections that are going on, it’s pretty nicely done and leaves you wanting more, which is always a good thing.
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.