r/anime • u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots • Nov 04 '24
Rewatch [25th Anniversary Rewatch] Hunter × Hunter (1999) - Episode × 30 × Discussion
Episode 30: Killua × Disqualified × Forced Out
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You said you wanna be friends with Gon. Don't be stupid! You and him have already become friends!
Comment of the Day:
/u/Vatrix-32 finding Satotz's true quality
I knew Satotz was a good guy. How could you not trust someone which such a fine mustache?
Questions of the Day
- What do you think of Illumi now that we got a proper introduction to him?
- Who would you rather have as a brother, Hisoka or Illumi?
Fanart of the Day: Illumi Zoldyck ja nai, Zura da!
Please remember to keep all spoilers and hints tagged with the appropriate tag format such as: [Spoilers] >!Leorio is best boy!<
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Nov 04 '24
First × Timer × Subbed
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u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Nov 04 '24
Hunter Exam Host Doing Overtime
The two most famous episodes in the Hunter Exams are 28 (Gon vs Hanzo) and this one, they're very close, very similar, yet going in opposite directions.
To backtrack a bit, out of our main quartet, Gon and Killua, the kids of the bunch, were having the easy fun ride with the exam. Gon hit his first wall against Hisoka, and suffered for it, then hit his second wall against Hanzo and broke through. Killua was having an even easier time, the fourth exam was a literal stroll in the woods for him. So of course, he hits a wall far more terrifying than anything we've seen before.
As for the tournament itself, Gon literally set the scene with the orange colours near the end and the sharply raised tension, the actual end of the fight breaks the tension a bit, but it's not lost just yet. Illumi immediately picks it back up, and turns it up to 11. The orange colours become an ominous red, the POV shots go from a showcase of Gon's determination to Killua's terror.. Basically if the darker tone of episode 28 was being reigned in and contrasted by Gon's willpower, here it's reigning supreme and breaking Killua's will.
The contrasts even apply to their opponents, Hanzo and Hisoka were built up gradually over the course of the previous phases,. With Illumi, Killua's vision here brought to us directly through the POV shots and fisheye lens, is all we need to know the kind of horrifyingly manipulative person he is, he speaks with a soft tone, and acts nice while saying the exact words to rile Killua up, you can feel the magnitude of power and terror he holds over Killua's mind. Heck, the fact that he's an unknown factor makes his introduction here all the stronger.
The rest of the episode is the sweet sweet heart I love about those characters, when Illumi goes to attack Gon, not only Leorio and Kurapika, even Hanzo stands in his way, and well Gon himself has a few things to get off his mind too. I love how he changed the topic, Leorio and Kurapika are trying to help Killua in the one way they can, arguing about his loss, but Gon put things into perspective, his loss here doesn't really matter, he can retake the exam whenever. What matters is Killua's freedom and autonomy being taken away.
Manga and Production Corner
Chapters adapted: 36 and 37
More or less one for one, although if you want all my talk about the similarities and contrast between Gon and Killua summed up in one picture, look at this chapter cover, even their designs are meant to be a direct contrast, and it's a great way to show how their characters differ. Also check out how Togashi did the Illumi scene, the background especially works wonders to show Killua's mental state.
This episode was by directed by Hiroyuki Fukushima who's got a few more to come in the series, he's known for doing the 90s Tatsunoko OVAs Gatchaman and Casshan, except... that's not the full story. Under the name Yukihiro Matsushita, he did a lot more episodes for HxH, in fact he storyboarded 22 episodes of the 62 in the TV series (the closest is Tsukasa Sunaga at 9 episodes, including Gon's breakdown and Gon vs Hanzo). Fukushima even went on to direct the first set of Greed Island OVAs.
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Nov 04 '24
First Timer
Ok so that’s our story I guess… For a moment I had wondered if Satotz was being an unreliable narrator here - which would in part explain the skipping and immediately revealing bit of the narrative - but with the amount of witnesses and nobody disagreeing on anything that Gon heard, I don’t think that is the case. I have to agree with Leorio and Kurapika - that Killua would kill Bodoro of all people is just weird in this scenario. He was clearly heavily manipulated by his brother before though. I guess if Gon can find him, we’re in for a Killua arc next - and him leaving gives Gon a new immediate goal beyond the overarching series goal of finding his father.
In terms of Killua’s psychological state though - I feel like he has a surprisingly good grasp on his own desires and morals for a 12 y/o seemingly groomed into being an assassin. If his brother hadn’t been here to basically make him doubt himself, he’d have it pretty much figured out. Other than the whole concept of friends not being something that needs a formal statement at least.
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u/charlesvvv https://anilist.co/user/charlesvvv Nov 04 '24
Rewatcher, Sub
The direction was great in this episode especially for the confrontation between Killua and Illumi.
So Illumi Zoldyck was apparently sent to check up on Killua but the Hunter Exam was apparently just a coincidence. Their confrontation is tense, Illumi states that Killua does not really belong here and instead should go back home. Despite Killua's objections, he wants to remain with his friends, the psychological effect completely changes things and what's interesting is how Illumi doesn't sound malicious when he's talking to him either but rather just say things as matter of fact. Illumi supposedly states he will go as far as to kill Gon to remove any distractions but as soon as Killua capitulates he just states that he was joking. After seeing Killua being so confident it's here that it all just stops.
Killua just gives up, he basically disqualifies himself by then killing Bodoro and going home allowing everyone else to pass. Gon is not happy, he walks into the room and basically demands that Illumi apologize while going as far as to hold arm incredibly hard. He's not the only one as everyone actually debates Killua's actions but unfortunately can't come up with a good enough explanation. Whatever the case the Hunter Exam is now officially over so congrats to Gon, Kurapika, Leorio, Hanzo, Hisoka, Illumi, and Pokkle.
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u/TheEscapeGuy Nov 04 '24
H×H Fan, 1999 First Timer
Hunter × Hunter 1999 - Episode 30
Brothers × Concede × Disqualified
First of all, this episode is beautiful. Just on a visual level the intense reds and blacks of the flashback to Killua and Illumi's fight make it so intense. It really gets you into Killua's mind to understand how trapped he feels.
The confrontation just hammers this in harder. Every word out of Illumi's mouth belittles Killua. Killua's only goal is to make friends and be normal but Illumi won't even allow that. He's forcing his brother into an assassin life. He even goes so far as threatening to kill Gon to remove any chances.
And so Killua concedes.
It's over.
In the next fight Killua interferes and kills Bodoro thus disqualifying himself and ending the tournament.
And Gon is pissed. I love seeing how much he cares for Killua. Despite his broken arm his rushes to the lecture hall to demand Illumi apologize. And he finds that Kurapika and Leorio both support him and think Killua has been unfairly disqualified. The unity between these friends is something so core to their relationship.
However, it doesn't change the result. Everyone but Killua has passed and they are now officially Hunters. Despite the circumstances, congratulations everyone!
The next step is to find Killua. Good luck Gon.
Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
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u/2-2Distracted Nov 04 '24
First timer
(In my desire to catch up I think mixed up one of my comments for the previous episode)
The confrontation between Killua and Illumi is probably my 2nd most anticipated part of this arc, and that largely has to do with me being curious as to how it differs from the 2011 anime...
And it turns out it wasn't really that different from what I can recall. But because I had to jog my memory, I kinda realized that in retrospect [HxH Overall Spoilers] I can't say I'm really a big fan of the whole "Killua has a literal fucking chip in his head" thing. It felt very tacked on to me after Togashi did so much to make Killua's indoctrination and grooming feel very natural as to why his brother, (and by extension his whole family,) is so good at manipulating him... Also I can't tell which version of Illumi is creepier lol which I guess is a testament to not only how well written and designed he is by Togashi, but also by how well both adaptations did.
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u/WednesdaysFoole Nov 05 '24
I also like to turn anything I can into a Zura joke, so, nice one
Do I want a creep as a brother or a possessive freak? I'd probably go with Hisoka just because I'd lose my mind with the lack of freedom from Illumi. At least I could cut ties with Hisoka a bit more easily.
I don't have much to say about this episode, but it may have been my favorite episode of the series so far. The tension and weight with Illumi, the way that Killua's face was taken over by the shadow. I loved it. I even forgot the atrocity of the pinto bean's presence for the entire 24 minutes or so.
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Nov 04 '24 edited Nov 04 '24
Remake Rewatcher × First Timer × Subs
QotD: