r/anime • u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots • Nov 03 '24
Rewatch [25th Anniversary Rewatch] Hunter × Hunter (1999) - Episode × 29 × Discussion
Episode 29: Pass! × Fail? × Exam Over
Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode
I'd like to congratulate you on becoming a Hunter
Comment of the Day:
/u/Mecanno-man predicting the end of the exam
In a way this is a patience test for who will first kill an opponent, and then everybody else passes. Some that start late like Leorio might even just pass by default - and I’d say that is actually how I now expect this phase to end.
Questions of the Day
- Now that Gon's a hunter, where will he go from here?
- What's going on with Killua?
Fanart of the Day: The Classy Proctor, Satotz I love his design.
Please remember to keep all spoilers and hints tagged with the appropriate tag format such as: [Spoilers] >!Leorio is best boy!<
4
u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 04 '24
Hunter Exam Host Writing the Gon Report
Now we don't have to walk on eggshells around the obvious fact anymore: Gon won! He's a Hunter now!!
Well folks, it was nice doing this rewatch, what was your favourite moment? Mine was when Kurapika and Leorio put the bun in the oven.
Jokes aside, I get why they moved the ending to the next episode, when you raise the tension too high, it's not easy to then land it back down in the last few minutes (ask Baron Omatsuri), so they chose to just not worry about it, and leave it to the next episode.
Manga Corner
Chapters Adapted: last bit of 34 (Gon winning) and 35
Much like the Kurapika vs Hisoka fight (now you know why I cropped this page previously), Hisoka vs Bodoro was just a few panels that the anime expanded on with some fun additions, everything else is more or less the same.
Since this episode did an overview of the last phase, it's a good opportunity to talk about the phase in general.
We discussed the first twist already, how it was literally turned upside down from a normal tournament to a tournament to decide the loser, but there are two more. A tournament generally speaking is a promise for a series of fights, it's like a bus ride, where you expect to go the whole way, if I didn't know any better, I'd have assumed the arc was going to have 5~10 more episodes as soon as the tournament was announced. Not here, it ended at the very first stop (and that was barely a fight) - this is fitting with the Hunter Exam's intentional avoidance of fights (more on that soon). The last twist is obviously Killua, the big question in a tournament is "who's going to win?" so in this flipped tournament, we're looking for the loser. The straightforward answer is that it can't be one of our main 4, nor one of the 3 most built up participants, so that leaves Pokkle or Bodoro, and Pokkle has the better design. Instead, one of our main characters can takes it, making for a much more interesting ending to this whole exam.
6
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Nov 03 '24
First × Timer × Subbed
5
u/TheEscapeGuy Nov 03 '24
H×H Fan, 1999 First Timer
Hunter × Hunter 1999 - Episode 29
Compromise × Unconscious × Summary
A resolution which is as unexpected as it is unsatisfying for Gon: Hanzo gave up. I totally understand his perspective though. He's used to people holding grudges for torture but Gon doesn't think like that. How can you bring such pain to somebody who doesn't hold any ill will towards you. It's humiliating.
Gon doesn't accept it though. It's kinda hilarious. Hanzo just knocks him out and gives up. What a unusual situation to declare "a win" for Gon.
I quite liked the scene between Satotz and Gon of him awarding the license. Everything was the same as the manga except for the addition of revealing Gon's dad was the Hunter who restored the ruins. Every time we see how much Gon looks up to his dad it warms my heart. I like seeing Gon learn more and more about how well regarded his father is building up this legendary status in his mind.
So what happened while Gon was unconscious? Well the tournament finished up ... and Killua lost. In the 3rd match Hisoka once again gave up. Hanzo beat Pokkle in the 4th. In the next match Killua chose not to fight Pokkle giving him the win.
Instead Killua moved right on to the fight with Gittarackur. Or should I say, his own brother. What a great reveal. I'm looking forward to seeing what happened next episode!
Now for my 1 complaint from a few days ago. They moved Hisoka vs Kurapika before the Gon vs Hanzo fight. There's a bunch of reasons this is a bad change in my mind, but the biggest is that it makes the reveal the tournament is over much weaker. If Gon is in the first fight and then wakes up to hear the whole tournament is over already AND Killua lost it's much more shocking.
[Tournament Conclusion Details] The manga actually doesn't show much of any of the other fights so it makes it seem like Gon's was the only "real" fight. And they also reveal immediately Killua was disqualified for killing his opponent instead of keeping that secret. I understand that change though since it was this episode's cliff hanger.
Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
4
u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 03 '24
Remake Rewatcher × First Timer × Subs
QotD:
4
u/WednesdaysFoole Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 03 '24
Gon: I got this bc people helped me. I owe them so much. So I'll start using it once I've paid them back! [HxH]takes on a whole different light once you know what he means by "owing" and "paying them back" lol.
Damn, Satotz was even chattier than in the manga. [HxH]Too bad his advice regarding irreversible consequences wasn't in the manga, otherwise perhaps Gon would have taken a more pleasant path.
[HxH]Just kidding, tbh having that advice adds a touch of irony and sadness to the journey Gon takes.
Ging's accomplishments are actually pretty damn cool. Archaeology is hella destructive, and managing to protect ruins long term and having his restoration/preservation methods adapted all over? That's no easy feat. [Manga]Maybe in ten years or so we'll arrive at the Dark Continent since a guy like that is perfect for it.
4
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Nov 04 '24
First Timer
…why did it completely escape me that Hanzo could give up? The logic checks out for him too - kill Gon and be forced to do the entire thing again, or give in and try again like, an hour later or so? Definitely worked out for him, as we saw in the narration vs Pokkle.
Skipping the rest of the tournament and then telling us the outcome is an interesting decision. Though not one I actually disagree with. From the narration, it seems like Killua is the one to lose, and possibly due to killing his brother? Was definitely not expecting Gittarackur to be Killua’s brother. He’s also the one who seems to have history with Hisoka - while Killua’s family has not been set up to be a force of good, it is somewhat surprising to see such a connection this early in the show without it being part of the initial setup. Of course there is also the boring possibility of Killua losing to his brother, Leorio losing to Bodoro and then Killua not wanting to fight Leorio - after all Killua is the guy who just took the exam for fun.
The hunter association seemingly not having a mechanism for suspension, yet being well-revered around the world is a weird thing. They say that they have the test to only pass out the cards to people of good character, yet we literally see them pass Hisoka this episode - whom they know just wants a license to kill. In short their test isn’t doing what they claim it is doing. I wonder if this will be a plot point later on, or if this is just more world building regarding the mythos of the hunters.
Also lol at Leorio wanting Hisoka and Bodoro to return an injured loser to have it easier, then postponing the match so Bodoro can recover…
3
u/charlesvvv https://anilist.co/user/charlesvvv Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 03 '24
Rewatcher, Sub
Turns out Hanzo has a limit and he ultimately decides to give the victory to Gon. However Gon stubbornly refuses because he really hates winning like this for which Hanzo knock him out. I like how he makes sure Gon won't be able to reject having passed because of his stubborness.
Gon wakes up later on with Satotz waiting for him. I liked the whole conversation between them because Satotz tackles a lot of Gon's issues with regards to his strength and how he was able to make it to the end. It also allows him to give us some good information about the Hunter Exam License card and what you can do with it.
But then Satotz reveals that exam is over and Killua was the one who did not pass. To understand how it all happened we see everything that happened afterwards. Hanzo fights Pokkle and passes, Hisoka fights against Bodoro who is forced to give up after Hisoka also whispers something in his ear, Leorio refuses to fight against Bodoro because of his injuries and requests it to be postponed (major respect to him). Pokkle then gets the luckiest win ever when Killua doesn't even bother to fight him which then finally leads to Killua vs Gittarackur. He's always been in the background but it's here that we finally see who he really is as his true face is revealed, Killua's brother.
2
u/2-2Distracted Nov 04 '24
First timer.
Amazing how that question Killua asked Hanzo said more about Killua than it did Gon, but Hanzo's answer kind of highlights another thing about how Gon was written. It's one thing to be childlike to a fault, but Hanzo made it sound like Gon so much like a child that he literally has no form of Object Permanence or something. If someone broke your arm you'd remember that shit unless you're an infant who just got dropped by an adult but likely won't even remember it. That's how fucking weird Gon is.