Hunter X Hunter Episode 122
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)
Having the incursion team getting taken down a few pegs along the way, some more than others, the group as a whole feels like it’s in shambles now since they’ve met a pretty impressive force and some of them have even been ignored because of how little of a threat they seemingly represent. We’ve had some tension with what we see from Gon and Killua of course, but even that has a different feel from it that keeps it from coming across as the same kind of issue that Knuckle is facing as that group tries to recover after the blows they’ve been dealt. It’s been interesting to see it unfold, haphazard as it may have been at times in terms of flow of story, but the end result has slowed any momentum that More and the other Hunters may have had for a bit.
This episode takes us away from that for a bit as it puts us to the locale we haven’t seen in quite a few episodes, bringing us to where the King and Netero have gone off to in order to talk. There’s a good bit of tension that comes from it early on as the King makes it clear that he was born to rule, but he also knows that Netero is a vastly different person than most of those that he’s dealt with so far and is being a bit cautious in his own way. Though we get a few nods to other events going on, the main focus here between these two is really engaging to watch because they’re both so powerful, understand their position in relation to each other and are proceeding with the kind of caution that makes sense when you come down to it. And when you consider the larger mission that Netero has and his understanding of it, his calculated approach makes all the more sense.
With Netero not able to just let things slide considering the threat that the Chimera Ants represent, we get to see some truly impressive power put on display in order to attack the King. But he also discovers that his opponent is tough, and that the fight there will definitely draw the attention of others as well. Seeing how the King plays this is interesting since he makes it clear that he can hand such impressive attacks and still simply wants to sit and talk with him, which figures into the King’s mindset quite well. But it’s surprising for Netero to be sure. The sparring between the two is certainly intriguing, and Netero brings out an interesting reveal to use against him in a way, talking about the King’s mother and what his fellow Hunters are up to, in order to see if he can draw him out and into what he wants.
In Summary:
Hunter x Hunter spends most of the episode focused on the matchup between Netero and the King and it’s definitely a very different than usual kind of approach. It’s calculated and calm, not laid back, and it puts two very powerful people in a position to truly size each other up without really letting it be all emotional when you get down to it. There’s a lot to like with the back and forth and some of the additional nods we get as it unfolds and reveals itself. But mostly, it’s just great to see what’s going on with this particular part of the story at all since Netero is just a great character to watch and this pairing off has been kept to the side for awhile now. The payoff definitely looks like it’s going to be there for 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.