User blog:AssassinsTears/Episode 16: Didn't See That Coming (Review)

I've decided I'm going to start doing these. So here's my first shot at it.

The episode stuck pretty close to the manga in general, as the whole series has so far (I approve). I was a bit apprehensive about Kurapika and Leorio's encounter with Hisoka, due to the preview at the end of 15. But, as it turns out, that was only a vision in Gon's head of them both being killed... which hurt my heart... :'(

I adore the visual tools used in this new release. The silences are well-timed, too, rather than some cheesy music that tries to be epic. I didn't notice I was all tense during Gon's hunt until it was over, and I relaxed. The symbolism with the butterflies were very nicely placed, a tidbit not included in the manga. On that note, another touch that was added was Hisoka's "magic." Although he calls himself a magician, he's never really shown doing classic tricks in the manga. In this episode, though, he demonstrates it twice: a disappearing playing card with Kurapika and Leorio, as well as the multiplication of the butterflies after his encounter with them.

One of the things that makes HxH so special is the way it keeps you constantly guessing. Even though I knew what was going to happen, I found myself gasping with surprise as Gon was... blowdarted?... after successfully hooking Hisoka's badge and ''then! as if that weren’t enough, Hisoka nails Gon's ''attacker! And returns both his and Gon's badge to our little mini-Hunter!! Who would have thought? I applaud you, Togashi-sama, I applaud you.

I was somewhat hoping that they would cover Killua's hunt in this episode, for pacing... but it looks like we'll have... two more episodes in the fourth phase, by my estimation.

Now, for a novice's take on the episode: my mom. She's never read or watched HxH before, so this is her first experience with the series (although not with anime in general). At the end of my reviews I'll always include what she thought.

If I might take the liberty of paraphrasing, dearest Kaachan...

"Wow. Wild ride."

She then posed the interesting question: "How do you feel about the protagonist succeeding not by his own merit, but by the idiosyncrasies of the antagonist?"

And I frankly didn't have an answer. This is the second time Hisoka's spared Gon (helped him, actually), and that didn't occur to me since I'm so used to the crazy sadist's personality. So eventually, the best answer I could come up with was, "Same as Gon, I suppose. Frustrated. I want to punch him the face."

I'll leave you with that. Want to see more of these reviews? Tell me how I did!

Peace out Hunters. = ^.^ =