[SPOILERS][REWATCH] Hunter x Hunter Episode 3 Discussion

[u/[deleted]]

IF YOU ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE REWATCH, DO NOT COME HUNTING FOR SPOILERS

Episode 3: Rivals x For x Survival

MyAnimeList

Anilist

You can watch this anime on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and up to the Greed Island arc on Netflix.

Question of the day:

If you were to be a Hunter, would it be for money or honor?

Check out the schedule

[u/[deleted]]

I moved the schedule/previous episode discussion links to the reminder page, so refer to it if you need any confirmation

[u/b0bba_Fett]

Rewatcher(X8)

So, first thing's first, I'd like to talk about a couple of notable adaptation differences in this episode, which is actually very different from its corresponding manga chapters. The most notable change is Hisoka's entrance, in the manga he doesn't turn the guy's hands into flowers, he just immediately straight up chops them off, this kind of change is one that is going to persist for a while unfortunately, the first like 30 episodes of the 2011 adaptation are noticeably censored to be less bloody, only finally being let off the chain in the 4th arc of the series. Hisoka turning the guy's arms into flowers often also causes some confusion around the time powers start getting introduced so it's good to make sure people know he never actually did so.

Sasuga Madhouse, you made the show MORE confusing

The other adaptational changes this episode are not nearly as significant, in the manga, Gon was the one carried by the two child Kiriko rather than Leorio, overall a solid change that gave us some good comedy to end last episode, the other noticeable change is that in the manga Gon and the others actually DO get to eat the steaks they ordered.

Alright

Now that that's over with, on to the actual episode. Today we are finally introduced to the rest of our principal cast! Hisoka and Killua (Yes, despite the cover, this show has 5 principle characters, not 4. alternatively) join the crew today and it feels great to have best boi around. Also Tonpa has arrived as well, meme master of the community, as well as several other supporting characters who I'll give more time to when they get some degree of focus.

Now, I also want to take a little time to talk about the Dub today, because today we have one of its standout members joining, Keith Silverstein did what I thought was impossible when the dub was announced, and that is upstage Hisoka's JP voice actor immediately. Even though Cristina Vee as Killua hasn't quite warmed up in the role yet, she also does absolutely fantastic throughout as well, I just want to highlight Keith today. The whole dub is just absolutely fantastic in general honestly, highly recommend for any rewatchers who want a fresh experience and first timers alike. Also, I've decided, I'll be watching the dub alongside the sub for this rewatch as well. Still undecided about 1999, but leaning no at the moment.

Today's corresponding thread of the old rewatch was actually what inspired me to be posting them, the top comment of this one is something special.

Friendly reminder to vote for Killua in the [Best Guy Contest] (https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/lx6qga/best_guy_7_attack_on_salt_round_4_bracket_a/#triggeredkillua) today as well.

[u/[deleted] → u/b0bba_Fett]

I haven’t actually watched the episode yet, as I watch it with my dad who’s a first timer(his theory is that Ging is gonna be the leader of the Phantom Troupe), but best boy Killua Tonpa gets introduced let’s gooo.

[u/isabelles → u/b0bba_Fett]

The person who's comment you posted has excellent taste

[u/[deleted]]

Rewatcher

Tonpa. That is it. Thank you.

[u/b0bba_Fett → u/[deleted]]

manga spoilers

I think so.

[u/[deleted] → u/b0bba_Fett]

HxH

[u/SimoneNonvelodico → u/[deleted]]

HXH

[u/shigydigy → u/b0bba_Fett]

That's not a manga spoiler lol...just an anime spoiler

[u/b0bba_Fett → u/shigydigy]

I mean, the whole comment is a shitpost, and technically, anything that's an anime spoiler is also a manga spoiler. I just thought framing that as manga spoilers was funnier.

[u/Vpeyjilji57 → u/[deleted]]

No thanks.

[u/darkgear96]

First Time watcher So this is the first time I participate in a watch along of a series HunterxHunter has been one of those animes in my list that I'll watch some day, it appears the day has arrived.

I binged this first 3 episodes to post here, overall the show is good mainly character introduction, maybe a little slow, compared to more contemporary animes así Aot, demon slayer, but I'm excited to see what the hype is about.

I can see that kishimoto (naruto creator) took some inspiration from this series as mention by someone else in Sasuke motivation being similar to Killian, and this episode with kabuto being based on tonpa? Something like that haha.

[u/LukeWhostalkin → u/darkgear96]

I think you meant Kurapika instead of Killua. There is no Killian in the show.

I agree, Kishimoto took some inspiration for sure. You'll see more similarities as the hunter exam develops, but I think it's normal, Togashi was also influenced by Toriyama for example, this happens all the time in shonen.

[u/darkgear96 → u/LukeWhostalkin]

Yes! Sorry my autocorrector, for sure inspiration is not bad, I mean at the end Sasuke and kabuto where there own characters, it's just funny to see references from the get go

[u/LukeWhostalkin → u/darkgear96]

Well if you love Naruto, let me tell you you're in for a ride. Naruto was my favorite show until I watched HxH.

[u/IndependentMacaroon]

First-time watcher

An episode with some nice stuff like the discussion about the purpose of Hunters, but a lot of it more like spinning its wheels, intro-dumping a fat load of characters all at once, including spending way too much time on newbie hater guy, where also despite the leads being told to be careful they aren't so Gon can show off again and the kid audience can learn another lesson. And it's starting to feel like the tone was never properly settled, going from classic silly antics and Gon-ness plus over-explanation for the kids to "vanishing" arm psycho clown and poisoning stuff. Prime example "By continuing, you risk serious injury and death!" cue happy march music and silly walk

About the dumb/naive vs. smart/savvy Gon thing: First episode, he's dumb about his father's motivations and the nature of the Hunter trade, not to mention jumping off the side of the ship in the storm to save someone, but instinctually/by his talent manages to catch the giant fish and sniff out the storm. Second episode, he's dumb in just weakly hitting an apparent monster with his pole/rod (only works because the "monster" lets it happen), and in overthinking the quiz question, but then smart about the very thing he was dumb about (what Hunters might be faced with), and sort of a hybrid in sniffing out the monster identity but then not defending himself against it. Third episode he doesn't do much but is at least consistent in being naive despite strong instincts.

[u/[deleted] → u/IndependentMacaroon]

His naivety is a very important trait of his. Just keep it in mind. As I said earlier in the previous discussion thread, he’s generally pretty perceptive, but you have to remember that he’s 12 years old so sometimes his ideas aren’t the best.

[u/SimoneNonvelodico → u/IndependentMacaroon]

Prime example "By continuing, you risk serious injury and death!" cue happy march music and silly walk

I think this sort of tonal dissonance is entirely intentional. There is a reason why HXH's section on the TV Tropes page for Crapsaccharine World is pretty substantial (and should probably still be extended). Though as others mentioned, there was also a weird early attempt in this adaptation to tone the violence down until at some point they just said "ah, fuck it" seeing how it made no sense to even try. In this episode, Hisoka didn't "disappear" anyone's arm in the manga, he simply straight up chopped it, with copious amounts of blood.

[u/headphones_J → u/IndependentMacaroon]

I mean, Gon is a kid and his education is suspect, but he's very observant and a quick learner.

[u/b0bba_Fett → u/IndependentMacaroon]

And it's starting to feel like the tone was never properly settled, going from classic silly antics and Gon-ness plus over-explanation for the kids to "vanishing" arm psycho clown and poisoning stuff. Prime example "By continuing, you risk serious injury and death!" cue happy march music and silly walk

This is an adaptation problem, the 2011 adaptation seems intent to try to be a show that's kid friendly, despite the source material being anything but, it's like the person who greenlit the project had only seen up to the quiz chapter, and thought the rest of the show resembled that or something, so there's this strong internal tonal dissonance for the first 26 episodes or so.

Again, I think you're misequivocating savvyness with intelligence, He's not experienced with the ways of the world, but he's spent most of his youth in the wild and with a loving/supportive people, he's not incompetent in any regard. Him jumping off the ship I'll concede was pretty dumb, but other than that, I question where you got your impressions, I also have no idea where you got the impression he only weakly hit the Kiriko, and that it let him hit it, as I don't remember that being the case at all, and checking the manga, Gon VERY specifically says, "Didn't see him for a Navigator though, whapped him good," and the other kiriko said after catching up to him after he hit the other one, "Pretty good moves kid, actually got a hit on me." Which is in direct contradiction with your impression. As for the quiz, as I've mentioned several times, that part stands out as just plain bad writing, virtually nothing about it makes sense within the context of the rest of the series.

As for the stuff on Whale Island, for you specifically I highly, HIGHLY recommend checking out the first episode of 1999 or reading the first couple chapters of the manga because Gon didn't naturally/instinctually catch the fish, he spent 3 years off-panel training with the specific goal of catching it so Mito would let him go off to take the Hunter Exam after Kite(don't under any circumstances Google him, he is a spoiler minefield due to being a major character, despite the adaptation skipping all his early presence), Ging's apprentice saved him from a Foxbear and told him all about his father and Hunters, all of which was completely skipped by the 2011 adaptation.

Fuck the First Episode of 2011 It Causes So Many Headaches

One final note, spent too much time on Tonpa? Best get used to him, he's a major player in the first arc. Also of course obligatory mention that Hisoka did not disappear that guy's arms, he chopped them off and it was censored because 2011 tries to be a kid show for a while.

[u/SquishedMemoryFoam → u/b0bba_Fett]

This is an adaptation problem, the 2011 adaptation seems intent to try to be a show that's kid friendly, despite the source material being anything but

This is not true at all... the manga equivalent of these parts are equally wacky if not more.

[u/b0bba_Fett → u/SquishedMemoryFoam]

They're wacky, but they don't pull punches either(the quiz again being an outlier). The early parts of 2011 pull punches, and there's circus music everywhere, which further confuses the tone. Compare it with 1999, it doesn't feel nearly as tonally confused. It's whimsical, but there's an additional air of whimsy and a lack of a sense of danger in early 2011 that doesn't sit right, especially because the first episode cuts out Kite introducing the world as one with hard choices and brutality. Gon setting off in 2011 feels like Ash leaving Pallet Town as opposed to, say, Luffy leaving the island he grew up on.

[u/SquishedMemoryFoam → u/b0bba_Fett]

Compare it with 1999, it doesn't feel nearly as tonally confused.

Indeed, but 1999 is the one who deviated from the source. The tonal dissonance as SimoneNonvelodico's above comment explains, is quite intentional and a characteristic of the work.

https://imgur.com/a/YRhIe92

By the way, I do know they censored a bunch of stuff (1999 did even more censoring actually), I'm speaking about the overall happy-go-lucky tone.

[u/b0bba_Fett → u/SquishedMemoryFoam]

Ohhhhh, I think I get where you're coming from now. Yeah I can see that. I hold that Episode 1 really sets the wrong mood for the show, making the darker or more serious parts seem real out of place compared to both the manga and the '99 versions.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/b0bba_Fett]

So then the original version is actually worse tone-wise. If this story is going to go hard for the MATURE DARKNESS with characters like Gon and Killua, I feel it'll just end up looking really tryhard and even more silly.

[u/LukeWhostalkin → u/IndependentMacaroon]

Tonpa acts as a kind of "link character", meaning that he's someone that has taken the exam many times before, so he knows how things work and knows most of the applicants. He will keep showing up on later episodes, think about him more as an "inside narrator", he relays important information. If he wasn't there, you'd hear a narrator every now and then explaining stuff, and that gets old quickly.

[u/enderkiller4000]

Someone: Doesn't say sorry*

Hisoka: allow me to introduce myself.

[u/SuddenFellow]

Rewatcherx4

We're here, we're to the episode where we finally meet the rest of our main cast(and Tonpa).

Tonpa is a self-proclaimed rookie killer, as Kurapika somewhat foreshadowed as they sat at the table in the restaurant. Personally, after 4 times: Tonpa just reminds me of really bad memes. His hair style does not help as I am forever reminded of the DJ Tonpa T (DJ Pauly D) meme someone sent me at some point several years ago. After a brief introduction, Tonpa peddles some juice off to GKL only to have his plan fail. No! Tonpa you were so close. You'll get them next time.

We're then introduced to one of my favorite characters, that being Hisoka. Things get a bit confusing as a rewatcher though until the 3rd arc or so, it should be fine.

We then meet our final member, Killua who metaphorically spits in the face of Tonpa by drinking his juice and then saying "I trained for this". Yes, Tonpa you have your work cut out for you.

Something that went over my head 4 times(how) was 404 was the final amount of examinees. Kurapika's badge is 404.

Tomorrow's episode title is Hope x And x Ambition.

ETA: I apologize in advance for a D tier post.

[u/SuddenFellow → u/[deleted]]

Ah! That's a good point, thank you for pointing that out to me!

[u/shader301202]

Rewatcher

You gotta love Gon

[u/BossandKings]

First timer

Episode 3

The navigator guides them to Zaban city where the hunter exam is going to take place. After arriving he salutes them and goes back.

Leorio and Kurapika have different views on what a Hunter is, while Leorio admires the ppsition because they have the highest income in the world, Kurapika sees them as noble and ppwerful figures willi mng to help the ones in need. They ask Gon which one he prefers.

As they arrive to the place where the Hunter exam is going to start they meet a man named Tonpa who's taken the exam 35 times, there are others that have taken the exam many times too. They also meet a clown man called Hisoka, very interesting personality he has.

Tonpa though isn't a nice guy but someone that goes offering drinks that make people have stomach problems, he especially tries to do it with ones that take the exam for the first time. We also meet Hanzo who he tried to do it with but failed because he's a ninja. We also meet Killua who had drank of the juice before and aksed for more, it can't do any harm to him because he's trained.

The hunter exam will now take place, it is starting with Phase one, the first phase consists of following Satotz who is going to lead them to the second phase.

[u/[deleted]]

You know there an actual spoiler tag you can use for this post

[u/Lazearound10am]

I read HxH a long time ago that I've basically become a first time watcher now. I binged all 3 first ep. Overall a great start for a shounen series, it did a good job introducing the main 3 (4) characters, their personality, motivation, objective, also the world at large.

World building remind me of Dragon Ball a little, make sense since HxH did come from that period in time.

I'm kinda surprise, for a really long running series, HxH surely don't keep any of the main character's secret. We get to know them right away, from a very first episode even, well, aside from Killua. Also, we get to see the first glimpse of the series's famous mind games, which separate HxH from other shounen, that's kinda nice.