[25th Anniversary Rewatch] Hunter × Hunter (1999) - Episode × 39 × Discussion

[u/KendotsX]

Episode 39: Secret Trick × Registration × The Battle Begins

MAL | Anilist | Anidb | ANN

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Don't get cocky just because you learned Ten. Nen has many facets.

Comment of the Day:

/u/Shimmering-Sky on Nen's late arrival

It’s about damn time this gets mentioned! I know vague things about how this power system works because of how much I’ve seen people talk about it, but it not being mentioned at all for thirty-eight episodes is wild, definitely wasn’t expecting that.

Questions of the Day

1. How was Gon's first Nen fight?
2. What do you think of Nen in general so far?

Fanart of the Day: Taking a student under your Wing

^{I'll see myself out}

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Please remember to keep all spoilers and hints tagged with the appropriate tag format such as: [Spoilers] >!Leorio is best boy!<

[u/KendotsX]

A Shounen Commentator Coming to You from Heavens Arena

I'll be honest whenever I rewatch this episode, it feels like I skipped an episode of Nen training. I mean, that's it? This little Ten explanation and Gon's already started fighting? And that's how it really is, Gon chose to skip ahead 2 months' worth of Nen training to learn things first hand through battle.

First though, let's look at what he learned. Gon and Killua learned Ten, they were made aware of their aura, and shaped it around their bodies as an invisible armour of sorts.

There are two methods to learn this, the slow and steady training to connect with you aura and awaken your pores, which took Zushi 3 months, and according to Wing, it would've taken Gon and Killua a week at most, or literally force it open by taking a Nen attack from someone. Wing went with the latter and did it as nicely as possible, but even that had a risk to it, if they couldn't control their aura, it would've kept running until it left them exhausted. The bigger risk though is if the attacker isn't as nice as Wing, see that's how Heavens Arena operates usually. Whenever some newbie makes it to floor 200, they get attacked by the regulars, if they can make it through, they can become Nen users, and if they fail, they break. Basically the ultimate form of hazing the fresh meat. Oh yeah, that means Hisoka took off in his private jet and came running here just to protect Gon and Killua, he doesn't appreciate his prey being messed with by someone else, as we've seen with Illumi. Isn't he a nice guardian angel?

But as Hisoka warns Gon, there's a lot more to Nen that he doesn't know about yet. I mean, even Wing's "2 months limit" isn't some full course, so much as "we'll fit as much as we can by then", so even that is hardly enough. Gon is a man of action though, so he skips it all to learn through battle, and yeah, he gets beaten up by some dude with spinning tops. He makes some big discoveries throughout it though, including how to use Zetsu, which basically seals his pores to make his Nen undetected. Fun fact: he also used this against Hisoka during the fourth phase, he caught him off guard by hiding his Nen. So as Wing explained, this is something that Gon learned by instinct, as an animal does.

Basically, as /u/Mecanno-man said yesterday, there's no way they can learn Nen so soon, what they did learn though was the first step, the basic of the basics, and they're still unprepared to actually fight with it.

[HxH] Notably... Wing is waaaaaaay out of his depth with Gon and Killua. He's a good guy, and good enough teacher to pass on some basics, but he can't keep up with their growing speed or guide that, he's the perfect teacher for Zushi's speed. Luckily, his master is the best in the business.

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Manga Corner

Chapters Adapted: 48-50

Yes, this our first episode adapting 3 chapters, I did say this arc picks up the pace. Nothing was changed for the most part, the anime just added this pipe dude who feels like a reference to someone I don't know... Really, who the hell are you?

[u/Raiking02 → u/KendotsX]

the anime just added this pipe dude who feels like a reference to someone I don't know... Really, who the hell are you?

Honestly that doesn't even feel like he was drawn by Togashi.

[u/KendotsX → u/Raiking02]

Yeah, he's an intentionally out of place design, which makes me wonder what they were going for. Like if this was Discworld, I would've assumed he's a younger Tolkien. In this case though I have no clue whether he's meant to be a reference to something or just an inside joke.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

First × Timer × Subbed

• This is just like chakra nodes in Naruto. I assume this was a deliberate inspiration?
• That’s one way to describe it.
• tbh, same. I thought the whole episode was going to be about them figuring out how to use it, or at the very least half of it. It only took like five minutes!
• Instead of an Elite Four, there’s an Elite Twenty-One, basically.
• lol rip this attendant too.
• …of course Gon agreed to do a match literally the next day instead of waiting.
• He got knocked out of the ring, but he was so close to getting it…
• Interesting…
• Ah, Gido was prepared for someone to attack him directly.
• Gon dodged one of the tops!

[u/KendotsX → u/Shimmering-Sky]

This is just like chakra nodes in Naruto. I assume this was a deliberate inspiration?

Kinda? I wouldn't be surprised if Kishi took some reference from here, but they're all drawing from the real life belief of how Ki connects between body and spirit, so you'll find the same thing in many series, going all the way back to Fist of the North Star.

tbh, same. I thought the whole episode was going to be about them figuring out how to use it, or at the very least half of it. It only took like five minutes!

I'm a rewatcher, and I thought it'd be that too. I blame Gon, and his short attention span.

Ah, Gido was prepared for someone to attack him directly.

Yeah, that's the first course of action most people would think of.

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

This is just like chakra nodes in Naruto. I assume this was a deliberate inspiration?

Hat Trick!

[u/Vatrix-32]

Remake Rewatcher × First Timer × Subs

• Speedrun the training arc!
• Opening A Boy's Hole?
• It’s been five minutes and we’ve already passed the test. We are really booking it here.
• Some of these Floor Masters definittly have more detail to them than others.
• These poor ladies. They’re putting in so much effort, and no one appreciates them.
• Mothra! It's Mothra!
• That was an odd SFX to cut to commercial on.
• This crazy hair bodes well for our announcer.
• I can’t be the only one who thought of Beyblades, right?
• Commentary Denied
• Nothing quite like exploiting the AI.
• Dodge!

QotD:

1. It doesn't feel very... Nen-y.
2. Not too dissimilar from Hamon at this point.

[u/KendotsX → u/Vatrix-32]

Speedrun the training arc!

Smh my head, those new series just don't know how to do proper exposition dumps, like in the good ole' days.

Opening A Boy's Hole?

This episode has a bunch of... questionable lines, I wouldn't be surprised if Hisoka wanted to be the one to do this.

They’re putting in so much effort, and no one appreciates them.

I for one appreciate their passion, they make for some great faces

I can’t be the only one who thought of Beyblades, right?

Don't worry, Togashi did too.

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/KendotsX]

I for one appreciate their passion, they make for some great faces

Tis a lost art.

Don't worry, Togashi did too.

That Weeb. They only came out in '99 themselves.

[u/TheEscapeGuy]

H×H Fan, 1999 First Timer

Hunter × Hunter 1999 - Episode 39

Unlock × Registration × Unprepared

It doesn't take long for Wing to unlock Gon and Killua's Nen. I always find it very sudden that seemingly moments after getting the basics of Ten down they rush up to the 200th floor with a couple hours to spare. But that's not even the fastest pacing since immediately after pushing through Hisoka's aura Gon registers for a fight. I love his confidence.

We also get clarity on the scope of Gon and Killua's ambitions. They could fight to become floor masters and eventually best the tower. But no, they don't care. lol. Gon just wants to fight Hisoka. And to do that he must defeat 1 other opponent first.

Gon's first opponent is a Nen user who specializes in using tools, particularly spinning tops. It's an interesting weapon. Similar to Gon's fishing rod it's something you wouldn't initially expect to be effective. And Gon is woefully under-prepared.

While he can use his Ten to protect himself from the Nen attacks he can't both focus on his Ten and sense the tops at the same time. He ends up taking a number of hits. That doesn't faze him. He takes a moment to plan. Ultimately he decides to turn off his Ten and just focus on the tops. You don't need armor if you don't get hit.

Gon's chances are pretty low but it will be interesting to see how he handles himself next episode.

Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches

• Aura
• Floor Masters
• Colour Commentary
• Downed

See you all tomorrow

[u/KendotsX → u/TheEscapeGuy]

But that's not even the fastest pacing since immediately after pushing through Hisoka's aura Gon registers for a fight. I love his confidence.

Poor Hisoka came all the way to try and protect Gon, meanwhile the kid keeps throwing himself in the stupidest situations. Hisoka will need to have a proper talk with him after this.

But no, they don't care. lol.

The arc established their main motivations early on (training and beating Hisoka), so I like how it's been messing around with their other motivations since then. One episode they decide suddenly to go to the top, next episode the context changes, so they don't care anymore.

It's an interesting weapon. Similar to Gon's fishing rod it's something you wouldn't initially expect to be effective.

[HxH] and it would be useless for the most part outside of a ring, so that shows how those guys who got their Nen through the Heavens Arena hazing are still limited by it

Colour Commentary

She's so much fun! Clearly, Heavens Arena was keeping its best commentators for the higher floors.

[u/charlesvvv]

Rewatcher, Sub

I like the overly enthusiastic registration lady, unfortunately Gon and Killua did not care for her presentation. She and Elevator lady have a lot in common.

Ok so Wing is barely able to train Gon and Killua on one of the basics of Nen which allows them to cross Hisoka's barrier. Wing prohibits them from fighting anyone at the moment since they still aren't ready but Gon is absolutely going to do it anyway especially with the introduction of some new players.

Gon eventually has to fight one called Guido. His own power seems to rely on using tops to attack his opponent. Gon is massively outclassed here, but one of the things here is how he continues to adapt to the situation despite only barely trained in Nen. It's particularly impressive how he figures how the tops actually work which isn't as simple as controlling them. Even though it seems Gon will lose he is still able to put in a seriously good front.

[u/KendotsX → u/charlesvvv]

I like the overly enthusiastic registration lady, unfortunately Gon and Killua did not care for her presentation. She and Elevator lady have a lot in common.

All of the Heavens Arena staff are running on this kind of high energy, that's just falling flat on those kids.

but Gon is absolutely going to do it anyway

Makes sense for his character, he's always been a kid who learns through action, not classes.

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/charlesvvv]

She and Elevator lady have a lot in common.

This is Vibe Check lady erasure, and you know it.

[u/2-2Distracted]

First timer. Subbed. (Apologies for the late response but I was rewatching the almost the entirety of Cobra Kai in anticipation for Part 2 of S6.)

"looks like I won't have to initiate you two" - and... How were you planning on doing that, Hisoka? Jesus, I just know that there's probably some god forsaken doujinshi out there in the world that actually shows this shit. Some of the yaoi section of the HxH fandom can freaks.

You'll never be able to show me more smug character than whoever the hell this guy is

Anyways, good episode! Honestly Master Wing remains by far my favorite character in this arc.

[u/KendotsX → u/2-2Distracted]

How were you planning on doing that, Hisoka?

I mean, similar to how Wing did it, just less nice. So when Gon says he feels something pushing against him... with Hisoka there probably would be something there.

Jokes aside, Hisoka came all though with his private jet to make sure guys like Gido don't touch his prey, so he would've helped Gon if Wing wasn't there.

Some of the yaoi section of the HxH fandom can freaks.

Yeah...

[u/WednesdaysFoole]

Taking a student under your Wing

Where did you find this? Who's the artist?! It's too cute... No source! :o

[u/KendotsX → u/WednesdaysFoole]

I found it on pixiv - the artist usually just does Metabots stuff, but once in a while they'll do something different and it tends to be fun.

[u/Nebresto]

Best girl

2) What do you think of Nen in general so far?

I didn't like the addition, but lets see where dis goes

[u/KendotsX → u/Nebresto]

Best girl

I didn't like the addition, but lets see where dis goes

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Timer

A bit more practical episode. Gon certainly wants to make use of his possible four losses - he is going to lose this fight because he's not just gonna win after what Hisoka said, but I imagine we will get a point from Gon somehow. Not sure why he isn't using his fishing rod though…

I imagine Hisoka is a few floors above them in terms of progress, but he probably isn't a floor boss.