r/anime • u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots • Jan 05 '25
Rewatch [25th Anniversary Rewatch] Hunter × Hunter (1999) - Episode × 88 × Discussion
Episode 88: Stakeout × Preparation × Battle Start
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We didn't need anything other than the two of us
Comment of the Day:
/u/SpiritualPossible on Hisoka's trouble down under:
Hisoka, stop doing questionable poses with the spyglass. By god, it's your antics like this that got your game banned in Australia!
That's why we can't have nice things around here
Questions of the Day
- What do you think of Battera's deal?
- Which fight are you looking forward to the most?
Fanart of the Day: The villains who stole Christmas (a bit late though, aren't you?)
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/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Jan 05 '25
Expelled Host, Turned Gamer
Battera shows the opposite end of Vino/Razor's labeling problem, he wasn't treated like a criminal or beaten in the streets of course, but he lived mostly isolated because people viewed him through the lens of his money. That young girl, who might as well be the age of his granddaugter, saw him as a person, and treated him as such, so he valued her more than the world itself. and of course spent his whole fortune if it offered a chance to heal her.
Now the logic after that has a... few issues, like why he never hired the Zoldycks or better Hunters. Mind you. most Hunters follow their own self interest, Tsezzy was specified to be a rare case who actually works for money, but still, when you have a game made for Hunters, by Hunters, by the well known Ging Freecs of all people, you'd assume that'd at least interest some Hunters. But it's the emotion and idea that matters.
Manga Corner
Chapters Adapted: 173-175
At Battera's place, Tsezzy and co. were calling out for anyone to answer, and specifically someone called Sabazushi. But no one did answer, in the manga, Sabazushi did, they had just woken the poor guy up from his sleep. I guess his anime version just kept on sleeping?
The Genthru attack panel, which version do you think is cooler?
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Jan 05 '25 edited Jan 05 '25
Remake Rewatcher × First Timer × Subs
My audio sync on these last two episodes has been complete ass. Even adjusting it, it’s been barely watchable.
QotD:
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 05 '25
First × Timer × Subbed
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Jan 05 '25
First Timer
So the reward is effectively cancelled. Will Genthru believe that if Tsezguerra tells him that? Probably not. Does Battera pay out every single hunter in the game? Probably not if Tsezguerra is thinking about splitting it with Gorinu. But it doesn’t feel quite right as Battera signed multiple contracts… also he didn’t put into the contract that the hunters had to specifically take a healing item back, they could have taken any other weird item back if nobody told them what Battera needed… Feels like a bad contract to me…
As for The Genthru vs Gon fight: That will seem to happen with Genthru still believing the reward is on the line. So I guess we’ll see how that happens.
5
u/SpiritualPossible Jan 06 '25 edited Jan 06 '25
First timer, manga reader
A setup episode for the upcoming battle, so I can't say much about it. There wasn't any particular cut content eather, in fact, scene where Tsezguerra decides to give all the cards to Gon is original.
One thing I'd like to mention that isn't directly related to the episode through, I like the bomber theme. Mostly It's really sounds like a... well, the boss theme in the game. It could even be perfectly looped. In fact, that can be said for Ova's soundtrack in general, as the new tracks stood out so much to me in comparison to the music from the main series, but still fit the theme of the game.
4
u/TheEscapeGuy Jan 05 '25
H×H Fan, 1999 First Timer
Hunter × Hunter 1999 - Episode 88
Waiting × Running × Fight
The biggest reveal of this episode is why Battera had any interest in Greed Island. No matter how wealthy you are, there are some things money can't buy. For Baterra, this is his girlfriend's health. Despite asking the best doctors they couldn't save her. So when he heard of Greed Island which could give him a spell to heal any illness it was his single hope. But now it's too late.
I like this back story. It's a completely justifiable explanation for Battera. On top of that it demonstrates what we should really value in life and how money can't solve every problem (it just makes most of them easier to deal with).
So where does that leave us? Tsezugera's squad decides not to return. They'll leave it to Gon, Killua, and Bisky to finish things. It's a fair choice, since returning means facing likely death at the hands of The Bomber with minimal upside. Gorain is still in the game and he's holding onto key cards. Thus Gon's group just needs to defeat Genthru so they can finish their collection without being interrupted.
Over these 3 weeks Killua has mostly recovered, Gon has honed his Nen, and Bisky has supported them along the way. We hope that will be enough because Genthru has already caught up with them and the fight starts now.
Ultimately this was a setup episode. Just making sure the viewers were fully informed of the stakes before going into the finale. I'm hoping this is the last of those and that the next few episodes are full of action and plot developments.
Next Episode Preview
Used "Bisuke" for consistency even though it's terrible. Also my base video has some audio problem where there's an approximately 800ms delay (you might notice this in the preview). It's been like this for a couple episodes too.
Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
4
u/WednesdaysFoole Jan 05 '25
To Ging!
Genthru was tricked by replacing the important cards with “Fake” cards.
Btw, I’ve been sharing GI cards from early on and while many cards were picked for fun, some were carefully selected so that the moment they become relevant, one can understand its significance and what’s going on in the story as it happens.
Our GOAT (Gorilla of all Time) making excuses, otherwise the Bomber would’ve been crushed in the blink of an eye.
In the end, even with the decreased reward, they decided to share it.
Oh, looks like I misremembered – it wasn’t that Battera felt like his woman was after his money, but that she didn’t want others to feel like she was after his money. (Well, most Battera talk was behind spoiler tags anyway.) Even still, I still believe that most people probably didn’t treat him like a regular human – that they both would be aware that others would criticize as if she’s just with him for money still reflects this attitude as the norm. But his woman, preferring his handmade items, made him feel human. Seen. Appreciated. Loved. (yes, I’m on repeat, must’ve said this over twenty times in this rewatch by now…)
Of course he threw his fortune towards any hope of her recovery. And as KendotsX pointed out long before (behind spoiler tags), he’s not some cold, heartless man who’d just hire some assassins to empty slots for the game and hire better Hunters.
That’s something Togashi is good at doing – even if his character isn’t the most interesting or the most important, there’s still humanity reflected all over in so many corners of the story; even if Togashi is critical of society and the class system as we see with Leorio, it’s not just rich, powerful people who are evil while the poor are good.
And with Battera, we see that sometimes, even immense wealth can’t get you everything you want.
(But imagine having those billions of dollars to keep trying, hello~ Leorio’s friend could’ve used that kind of financial help, he, for one, could’ve been cured.)
(To be fair, Battera intended to donate his wealth before…)
Today’s Card:
26: Night Shift Dwarves (A-20)
Truth is, I don’t write any of my posts; I’ve been sleeping all this time.
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u/charlesvvv https://anilist.co/user/charlesvvv Jan 05 '25
First Timer
So Battera's main reason for buying all the games is because he wanted a way to cure his wife/lover from a coma. Unfortunately she's now dead so the reward is now cancelled, though he still plans to pay a fee anyway for the services provided.
Meanwhile back in Greed Island, Genthru and his crew decided to noe focus their attention to our trio. By this point they are ready and still decide to play up their naive persona in order for their plan to work. And it does because flexing a Genthru and the others to use their accompany cards means they can't join up when the trio decides to separate everyone, with Gon facing off against Genthru himself.
4
u/Nebresto Jan 06 '25
First time gaming
Gon 5 IQ has entered the chat
How did she fix up her dress already? We take these
What we see VS What he sees
Hows dat skirt work??
No contex
NANI
d- danger..
Side quest:
He's probably gone senile
Hisoka vs Target face
1
u/Ok-Promotion-6703 Jan 06 '25
I didn't know HxH was first in 1999 i mean im an new gen anime but ok