"My friend who played it died-- his whole body turned into this... his friend had taught him on the condition that he never try it. We were drunk. I got this ability in exchange. But I'd give it all back to be the way I was again. I don't want anyone else to suffer like we did. I'll find the source and destroy it." — Melody to Kurapika in "September 1st: Part 2" |
Melody (センリツ, Senritsu) is a Music Hunter and one of Neon Nostrade's bodyguards.[1] She is currently a bodyguard of Prince Kacho Hui Guo Rou.[2]
Appearance
Melody's 2011 anime adaptation design
Melody is short and stocky. She is balding and has straight hair that falls to her shoulders. Her front teeth are pronounced and protrude much like a rodent's. In public, Melody typically wears hats. Her clothes are simple and usually of earthy colors, though occasionally with pale pink accents. She always wears long sleeves and leggings, as the Sonata of Darkness has changed her appearance dramatically; her exposed flesh is warped and lurid enough to make Kurapika flinch. Her appearance before the Sonata changed her is unknown. Given that she asked whether Kurapika wanted to see a photo of her previous appearance and her longing to restore it, it is hinted that she was a beautiful woman before the Sonata deformed her.[3] As a bodyguard for Kacho Hui Guo Rou, she wears a black suit and a tie.[4]
Personality
Melody is a kind person. She is typically of a calm disposition. Due to her extraordinary hearing as well as natural astuteness, she is very perceptive and caring when it comes to the feelings of others. Her goal is to find and destroy the Sonata of Darkness, so that no one else will have to suffer the fate that she and her friends have. She wishes she could go back to her original appearance. She has a special affection for Kurapika and watches out for him, and was not swayed in the least by his determination to kill her should she reveal his secret.[3]
Background
Melody is a Music Hunter. Her life changed as the result of one night of drinking with a friend. Having listened to a single movement of the violin solo part of the Sonata of Darkness she was deformed. Her friend, who had played the piece, had his entire body severely mutated and died as a result. Subsequently, Melody gained supernatural hearing; she can hear things as quiet as heartbeats. Her goal is to find the sheet music for the Sonata and get rid of it, so that none suffer the same fate.[3]
Plot
Yorknew City arc
Melody watches the TV with the "Boss" on it
Melody, along with five other applicants, apply for the bodyguard position in the Nostrade Family. The head bodyguard Dalzollene discusses the nature of the position, such as retrieving items for their boss. After the introduction with him, hooded assailants ambush the room and attack Melody and the other applicants.[5]
After the applicants find out that Shachmono Tocino is behind the attacks, Melody and the others look for the second acquaintance. She confirms that Squala is the one by simply listening to his heartbeat. The applicants take turns on interrogating Squala by revealing their Nen abilities.[6]
Melody, along with Basho, Baise, and Kurapika, return to the mansion and deliver the specified items to Dalzollene. Impressed by their work, Dalzollene starts to discuss the progress from the Nostrade's Mansion to Hotel Beitacle in Yorknew City. Melody and the others follow the head bodyguard as he introduces to them their boss, Neon Nostrade.[1]
Melody and Kurapika oversee the Underground Auction site
During the first night of the Southernpiece Auction, Dalzollene partners Melody and Kurapika together to keep watch on the building's main entrance.[7] During the watch, Melody asks for Kurapika's goal, while she shares hers: she explains that she wants to destroy the Sonata of Darkness, which caused her drastic change in appearance and killed her friend. Furthermore, she admits she wants to return to her original form and destroy all versions of the sonata.[3]
Sometime after the auction began, reports say that the auction items have been stolen. Dalzollene orders all remaining bodyguards to pursue the thieves[8] until they arrived in Gordeau Desert. Melody and the others witness the Phantom Troupe member Uvogin massacre the Mafia community members. Melody hears a faint heartbeat from underground, as the Shadow Beasts members Worm, Porcupine, Leech, and Rabid Dog arrive to confront Uvogin,[9] but are easily defeated.[10]
Melody hears the wraith in Kurapika's heart
Melody uses her Nen ability to calm the enraged Kurapika and her anxious comrades. Though everyone is now in a calm state of mind, Kurapika still insists on capturing Uvogin and manages to do so. They escape by cars, although Melody notices the needle attached to Uvogin.[11] Due to the sudden interference of the remaining Shadow Beasts, the Nostrade bodyguards escape back to Yorknew safely. However, the Phantom Troupe has found out their place and proceeds to rescue Uvogin. Melody and the other bodyguards escape, although Dalzollene dies without their knowing.[12]
After Uvogin escapes, Melody contacts Kurapika and tries to contact Dalzollene, but to no avail. She suggests to contact Neon's father Light Nostrade about the situation at hand. She nominates Kurapika to be the new leader of the bodyguards, which Kurapika accepts.[13] Later that night, Melody informs Kurapika that Light will arrive that night.[14] Upon Light's arrival, he orders Melody and Basho to escort Neon until she is safe back home.[15] Melody and Basho then accompany Neon and her attendants on a shopping spree at Lingon Airport, and subsequently lose sight of Neon.[16] She updates Kurapika of the situation immediately.[17]
After the ensuing battle in Cemetery Building, Light assigns Basho and Melody to take Neon on a shopping trip the following day, much to their chagrin, especially Basho's.[18] She informs Kurapika the next day that the hunt for the Troupe is cancelled, after the Mafia found out they are from Meteor City.[19] When Kurapika decides to hunt down the rest of the Troupe, he contacts Melody, who later joins Killua Zoldyck on trailing the Spiders.[20]
Killua and Melody talk with each other
Melody tracks down the Phantom Troupe's movement across the city and notes that Killua's steps are the most silent she has heard, which makes him reliable for Kurapika.[21] They briefly lose track of the Troupe after exiting the station, and update Kurapika of the movement. After Gon and Killua are taken hostage instead of Kurapika, Melody regroups with him and scolds him for his reckless behavior. She tries to get in contact with Squala, who has the Scarlet Eyes, but does not receive any reply from him.[22]
Kurapika successfully captures Chrollo Lucilfer and escapes by car with Melody and Leorio. She tries to calm Kurapika from harming Chrollo,[23] but nearly mentally breaks down upon hearing Chrollo's dark heartbeat.[24] At Lingon Airport, Melody confirms that Pakunoda is the real one and assures Kurapika that she can identify if Killua is being manipulated.[25]
During the negotiation with Pakunoda, Melody contemplates about Kurapika's uncertainty.[25] She confirms that Gon and Killua are not being manipulated during the hostage exchange. Along with Kurapika, Leorio, Gon, and Killua, Melody returns back to Yorknew City.[26]
Greed Island arc
The next day at an undisclosed place in Yorknew City, Zepile inquires Melody about Kurapika's condition. Melody details her flute had no effect on him and deduces that his condition is not due to simple fatigue. Zepile offers to bring Kurapika to a hospital and if he's unable to he'll contact a friend of his that's a doctor to help him, which pleases Melody.[27] On September 6th around 2 P.M. Kurapika wakes up and is brought up to date about all that occurred while he was in a coma by Melody.[28] Before Melody and Kurapika depart Yorknew City from the Lingon Airport, Leorio and Melody talk briefly and Melody cites that Leorio's heart sounded the nicest within the city.[29] Melody briefly appears again telling Kurapika the boss wishes to speak with him.[30]
13th Hunter Chairman Election arc
Melody visiting Gon at the hospital
Melody votes in the first round of the 13th Hunter Chairman Election[31] and was also one of Gon's visitors in the hospital he was confined in.[32] As Leorio screams into his cellphone, demanding that he talks to Killua, Melody is distraught by Leorio's voice.[33] When Killua arrives at Gon's location, with Alluka at the room where Gon is being treated in, Melody stood guard near Goreinu.[34] She along with everyone else feels Alluka's tremendous power as it's used to heal Gon.[35] She then accompanies Gon and the others assists, as Gon goes to meet Leorio in the auditorium where all the Hunters were voting for the new chairman of the Hunter Association.[36]
Succession Contest arc
Melody listening to Kurapika's explanation of the mission
Melody is recruited by Kurapika to be hired by one of the Kakin Empire Princes as a bodyguard. She is employed by Prince Kacho.[2] When the Black Whale 1 departs, she overhears Kacho's plan to form an alliance with Prince Fugetsu to take down the other princes and learns that her entire self is a lie.[4] She's later contacted by Kurapika, who asks her if she's spotted any Guardian Spirit Beasts, but she claims she hasn't.[37] As Prince Kacho throws a tantrum over the food she's being served, Melody listens to what all of the other bodyguards and maids have to say about Prince Kacho and how Prince Kacho lies to herself is simply wrong.[38]
On the second day aboard, she watches over Queen Seiko as an investigator from the ship's Supreme Court questions her about Barrigen's incident.[39] That night, she hears Prince Kacho's pulse accelerate and rushes to her side, but sees her unharmed and calm through the canopy. Kacho puts on a cold front again, leading Melody to encourage her to rely on her bodyguards more. The prince replies to them it is in fact just a job, so she can just keep working and pretending to be concerned until she gets paid. From her heartbeat, Melody understands she feels obligated to act the way she does. The Hunter claims she does not have anyone she wants to protect as much as her employer, but that she is ready to stake her life on her mission. Kacho retorts that she cannot understand her, as she is not forced to kill her siblings and to put her own life at risk against her will. Kacho then asks her why she thinks she is doing it for someone else. Melody prepares to tell Kacho about Nen.[40]
Kacho and Melody silently communicating
The next day, the prince orders Melody to help her with her studies. While seemingly chastising the bodyguard, she uses a high-frequency device to communicate with her in Morse code, instructing her on how to find one for herself. Following her directions, Melody finds it in the kitchen cupboard. She thinks to herself that Kacho really thought things through in order to survive and resolves once more to protect her.[41]
After a conversation with her mother, Kacho informs Melody that they will perform at the next banquet and the two give each other instructions. Melody takes the task of finding a route. She silently wishes Kacho would stop pretending to hate her so that she will save Fugetsu if forced to choose between the two of them, thinking that the prince's kindness would make her sister herself unhappy. Keeney tells Melody he sensed someone appear in Kacho's bed the night before as if coming out of a manhole. Due to the Tenth Prince's behavior, they surmise it must be Fugetsu and her Guardian Spirit Beast. Melody muses that they have everything they need to organize their escape, but is worried that Kacho's Nen beast has not appeared once, and that it might even become hostile to them if it is a warlike one. She tries to think of a way to make it so the prince will be unable to summon it.[42]
At 13:44 on Wednesday, Melody is called to the phone by a fellow bodyguard. She is informed by a proxy of Mizaistom's that Fugetsu was found in Tier 3 of the ship, which confirms her suspicions about her Guardian Spirit Beast and makes her wary of the word spreading. She is tasked with preventing Fugetsu and Kacho from escaping, with Keeney as her superior. She relays Mizaistom's message to Keeney.[43] They decipher Mizaistom's code and Keeney shows Melody a picture of his late wife and daughter that he keeps in his pocket watch. He tells her that ever since their death two years prior, he has been looking for a place to die and that he will commit suicide after Kacho and Fugetsu escape to make it seem like the Hunter Association is not involved.[44]
Melody performs Hyle's Requiem
Distraught, Melody resolves to carry on nonetheless. She plays Hyle's Requiem for Seiko and an investigator, earning enthusiastic praise from the queen in particular. In response to her, Melody states that she has prepared a more fitting piece for the banquet, and Seiko excitedly assures she will take care of the broadcast. As they walk away, the investigator claims to have been swayed by her music and give her suggestions on how to help the two princes and change King Nasubi's mind. However, his heartbeat sounds strange to Melody, too calm even for a professional, leading her to suspect that he is being manipulated or anyway that he is trying to thwart the twins' escape plan.[43]
Melody's performance at the banquet
On the eighth day of the voyage, Melody attends the banquet with her client Kacho and her client's sister Fugetsu.[45] She is scheduled to be the second last to perform, right before the twins. She is relieved to hear that despite the changes in schedule, the twins will still go after her, as well as that Prince Benjamin and Prince Camilla, both Nen users, are absent. When Keeney finishes his performance, Melody bows to King Nasubi and begins to play, putting all listeners into a trance for three minutes. While she does, she reflects that Kacho's Guardian Spirit did not appear even at the very end and reminisces about Keeney, which spurs her to keep playing so as not to hear his heart beat with suicidal resolve.[44]
Melody is subsequently detained by the investigative department, where she spends the night. The following morning, the detective who offered her his help a few days earlier brings her a bottle of water and tells her that the length of her stay will be determined by her willingness to cooperate. He tells her that Keeney's will seems to clear her of blame, and that some of the princes,[46] including, unbeknownst to her, Tserriednich,[47] have invited her to their rooms, claiming to have been moved by her performance. Melody surmises that she is being detained for her own protection and that the judicial branch truly is independent from the army. She enquires about the two princes, whom the investigator has also invited and whose exact degree of willing participation in the escape is difficult to determine. When he states that he will have to question her several times, Melody silently thanks him and resolves to use that time to prepare a new plan.[46]
Equipment
Flute: Melody's main medium for her Nen ability is a flute, similar to a Western concert flute. She uses it mostly to emit relaxing sounds to calm agitated people around her.[11]
Mosquitone Device: Melody owns a communication device which produces high-pitched sounds, similar to the buzzing of a mosquito, that only people below a certain age can hear. It is activated with the press of one's thumb and used to send coded messages, for example through Morse code.[41]
Abilities & Powers
Melody has all the benefits granted by her status as a Hunter. She has considerable prowess as proven by the fact that she successfully retrieved an item as part of a test required in order to be hired as Nostrade's bodyguard.[1] Contrary to her petite appearance, she is agile enough to fend off attacks from Tocino's Nen puppets, although her astonishment at Killua's acrobatic skills suggests hers are not nearly as developed.[21] She knows Morse code.[41]
Melody using her hearing abilities
Unfathomable Hearing: Melody, after listening to the Sonata of Darkness, acquired extra-sensitive hearing and uses this ability in many useful ways.[3] She is able to track targets or eavesdrop on conversations from hundreds of meters away. By listening to a person's heartbeat she can discern their emotional state, whether they are lying, and also if they are being manipulated.[6] She can even differentiate among hundreds of people's footsteps, enabling her to determine the number of people in a crowd whilst picking out the distinctive sound of her target's strides. Her hearing also enables her to ascertain the skills of others from the sounds they make, such as knowing Killua is a former assassin from his silent steps.[21]
Masterful Musician: Melody was said to have mastered all manners of musical instruments, with flute being the one she can play best.[21] It also serves as a medium to project her aura.[11][27] Her skill with it left Queen Seiko astounded.[45] Melody's musical talent also plays a part in allowing her to distinguish subtle changes in heartbeats and other sounds with her superhuman hearing.[21]
Nen
Melody is an Emitter who projects her aura when she plays her flute.[28] Outside of Hatsu, she can use at least Zetsu.[22]
Template:Melody/Nen ability
Battles
| Battles |
|---|
Quotes
- (To Kurapika) "I chose this job because I hoped one devil would know another."[3]
- (To Kurapika) "His heartbeat is normal. He isn't upset or agitated. There's no dissonance caused by fallacy... no fear of death. It's not that he doesn't think he may die... This is the sound... of full acceptance of death...!! He enjoys the fact that death is always by his side... I've had enough! I don't want to hear it anymore! His heartbeat -- or yours!!"[24]
- "Kurapika... You haven't realized the inconsistency in your own heartbeat...! No... the hint of dissonance is there, so you're aware of the conflict somewhere in the back of your mind...!! But you're refusing to acknowledge it..."[25]
- "You see loathing when you face this woman. But she's here for the same reason you are... to get her friend back!"[25]
- (To Leorio) "You know, you're very uplifting. You have the nicest heartbeat in this city. It's warm and gentle. I'd bet you'd make a great teacher or a doctor."[29]
- (To Kacho) "I... feel pride in my work. I don't have anyone close to me I'd want to protect with my life like you do... but if protecting someone is my mission, I'm prepared to offer my life."[40]
- "She's racking her brains in order to survive... I'll save her. I swear...!!"[41]
- "After I heard his heartbeat how could I stop him?"[44]
Trivia
- Viz translated Melody's name literally: when written as "旋律", "senritsu" means "melody".
- In the Crunchyroll's translation of the 2011 anime adaptation the music that Melody plays using her Nen ability is titled as "Wild Flower".[48]
- In the manga, one of Melody's casual outfits[citation needed] is the same as the uniform typically worn by Japanese kindergarten students.
Anime and Manga Differences
- In the 1999 anime adaptation, Melody first meets Kurapika on a train, rather than in the Nostrade Mansion.[49]
- In the Nippon Animation anime adaptation it's shown she can play the piano.[50]
- Unlike in the manga where she brings a piece of Dracoderma skin in order to become a Nostrade bodyguard,[1] in the 1999 anime adaptation she brings a piece of brain tissue from an assassinated dictator named General Sharman.[51]
- In the 2011 anime adaptation, Melody first encounters Kurapika by passing by him after he receives a job from the Sengi Guild.[52]
Intertextuality and References
- In Volume 11, the author (Yoshihiro Togashi) revealed Melody was inspired by the character Nausicaä and possibly Yupa from Hayao Miyazaki's manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and Ashitaka from the film Princess Mononoke.
- Melody's ability of listening to people's heartbeat is reminiscent to Shigeru Murota's tapping ability in YuYu Hakusho. The similarity is strengthened by Melody's reaction to Chrollo's dispassionate heartbeat before death,[24] which parallels Murota's upon sensing Shinobu Sensui's thoughts, a character whom Chrollo shares affinities with.
Translations around the World
| Language | Name | |
|---|---|---|
 Chinese
|
旋律 | |
 French
|
Senritsu | |
 Korean
|
센리츠 (Senricheu) | |
 Russian
|
Сенрицу (Senritsu) | |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 8, Chapter 70
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 33, Chapter 350
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 8, Chapter 73
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 34, Chapter 359
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 8, Chapter 67
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 8, Chapter 68
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 8, Chapter 72
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 9, Chapter 74
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 9, Chapter 75
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 9, Chapter 76
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 9, Chapter 77
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 9, Chapter 78
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 9, Chapter 79
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 10, Chapter 84
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 10, Chapter 89
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 11, Chapter 94
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 11, Chapter 95
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 11, Chapter 101
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 12, Chapter 105
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 12, Chapter 109
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 12, Chapter 110
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 12, Chapter 111
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 12, Chapter 114
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 13, Chapter 116
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 13, Chapter 117
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 13, Chapter 118
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 13, Chapter 120
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 13, Chapter 121
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 13, Chapter 124
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 15, Chapter 149
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 30, Chapter 320
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 324
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 325
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 331
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 333
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 334
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 34, Chapter 360
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 35, Chapter 366
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 36, Chapter 372
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 36, Chapter 374
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 36, Chapter 376
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 36, Chapter 377
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 Hunter × Hunter, Chapter 381
- ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 Hunter × Hunter, Chapter 383
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 Hunter × Hunter, Chapter 382
- ↑ 46.0 46.1 Hunter × Hunter, Chapter 386
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter, Chapter 385
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Episode 44 (2011)
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Episode 45 (1999)
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Episode 48 (1999)
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Episode 50 (1999)
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Episode 39 (2011)
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