Hunter x Hunter: Chimera Ant Arc (Part 1)

Hunter x Hunter (2011) Arc Review: Chimera Ant Part 1 Review

Episodes: 32 of 148 (76 - 97)

Author: Yoshihiro Togashi

Characters

• Returning Characters = Gon and Killua of course! Bisky from Greed Island, Chairman Netero, members of the Phantom Troupe (except Chrollo), and a few old Hunters like Ponzu and Pokkle.

• Kite = An old friend of Ging that Gon and Killua find using the Greed Island card. He’s hunting a lead on the dangerous Chimera Ant.

• The Queen = The epicenter of the Chimera Ants expansion. She devours any and everything, especially humans, to give birth to the King and create a Nest in NGL.

• Rammot = One of the first Chimera Ants to come in contact with Gon and Killua and live. First to awaken Nen and attacks them again, only to be vanquished by Killua.

• Neferpitou, Shaiapouf, & Methuthuyoupi = The royal guards to the King, birthed by the Queen. Each is insanely powerful and an incredible force on their own.

• The King = The merciless spawn that rules all Chimera Ants and kills his own mother (the Queen) by forcing his birth. He hungers for more human flesh and to rule over the NGL and more.

• Morel & Knov = Pro Hunters that Chairman Netero calls in from the Hunter Association. Mentors to Shoot, Knuckle, and Palm. Selected for the Chimera Ant Extermination Squad.

• Palm = Mentee of Knov and one trainer of Gon and Killua after their escape from Pitou.

• Shoot & Knuckle = Mentees of Morel that are selected for the Chimera Ant Extermination squad. Face Gon and Killua to prove their place on that team and win.

Plot

• Arriving at the same location as “Nigg”, Killua and Gon find out that it is instead a man named Kite - an old friend of Ging.

• Kite, in the middle of a dangerous expedition to locate a dangerous species called a Chimera Ant, brings them along to NGL where he suspects the creature is.

• As the Chimera Ant queen is shown growing a taste for humans, the party of hunters dwindles to Gon, Killua and Kite.

• Another group of hunters that have been shown before in the Hunter exam arc are quickly decimated by humanoid Chimera Ants, but manage to send out an S.O.S.

• The Queen gives birth to Neferpitou, one of the royal guards to the king, while Killua and Gon hone their techniques to kill the smaller ranked ants as they get closer to the nest.

• The stronger Chimera Ants learn of Nen, and unfortunately, Neferpitou becomes incredibly powerful when it learns how to control it - confronting our heroes in a freakish blitz. Gon and Killua narrowly escape at the expense of leaving Kite to fight alone.

• Chairman Netero of the entire Hunter Association shows up at the NGL after receiving the S.O.S. and brings with him the Pro Hunters Knov and Morel to attack the situation.

• In order to win a spot on the extermination squad Gon and Killua must defeat Morel’s students, Knuckle and Shoot. Bisky and Palm, Knov’s student, train them.

• Despite their harsh training regiment, Gon and Killua lose on the arranged day and Gon loses the ability to use his Nen for 30 days. Killua struggles to protect Gon against Rammot until he finds that Illumi implanted a needle in his forehead.

• With the royal guards all born - Neferpitou, Shaiapouf, and Methuthuyoupi - and the King, killing the queen with his own forced birth, the Chimera Ants expand their territory with a plan to feast on humans.

• Meanwhile, the Phantom Troupe find, fight, and kill the Chimera Ant problem in their hometown of Meteor City.

The Praise

Right from the start, the Chimera Ant is a different force than anything seen before. The Queen is terrifying and shown to feast on any and all lifeforms - before moving to the unfortunate human children that are brought to her that create an insatiable appetite for more. The facts are the facts, no other villain or antagonist eats people, and to me, that alone makes this enemy horrendously genius. Anime is not shy to put children in harm’s way but the brother and sister that are devoured at the start extremely contrasts how Hunter x Hunter began. The merciless slaughter of old, familiar characters only makes the threat so much more daunting. The Chimera Ants as the opposing force not only represent a threat to Gon and Killua but the human world as a whole, and worse, they adapt the powers of Nen. No other enemy is as devastatingly powerful and complex. And even if the Phantom Troupe rivals them as an opposing force, they don’t eat people (except the late Uvogin’s one bite of the Shadow Beast) and that gives them the terror factor.

The character development in just HALF of this arc is insane. As Gon and Killua advance deeper into the NGL with Kite, they are told

to kill. Killua simply has a switch but this is unexplored territory for Gon in a serious setting. Still, even with all of these facts, Gon and Killua are only children in the midst of this chaos. The extreme difference to seeing Kite’s arm severed was a great scene - for Killua’s rationality and Gon’s raw power. Nothing quite compares to the foreshadowing heartbreak that I felt when Gon was so hopeful that Kite was okay after I knew that he was killed. His happy-go-lucky innocence is one of the main pieces of this arc that will be ultimately tested and I was stuck to the screen watching every minute. Bisky revealing Killua’s weakness and his overcoming it was fitting for Illumi’s manipulation and comforting. Gon and Killua’s reunion with Kite was even more damaging and I could tell that Gon was changing. Lastly, the introduction of more Pro Hunters is another smart move because it adds to the Hunter world as a whole, while giving Gon and Killua a chance to grow. The soundtrack dramatically shifts and it looms in the air with a dangerous orchestra that suggests impending doom. Even though the OP theme remains the same, the EDs dive a little more into the true nature of the arc. As usual, the breathtaking visuals are only amplified when there’s a combat scene - and this time, almost all the fights are serious death matches.

The Critique

Truth be told, there aren’t many flaws to the overall story. It is noteworthy that this arc is MUCH longer than its counterparts mostly because it is dense and the first animated version. So long that in order to do an effective review of it, I had to split it into 2 different parts. Another point to note is that the dramatic tone shift can or will scare some audiences because of how unfiltered the violence and death is.

The Verdict

This arc is famous among shounen anime and for a reason - and this is only half of it. The gorgeous fight scenes, Nen expansion, chilling soundtrack, and character development make this arc something that cannot be missed. Truth be told, there’s not much that takes away from it and it features elements from all arcs before it that mold it into greatness that stands above all other arcs. The Chimera Ants are Hunter x Hunter’s ultimate enemy to date and I can guarantee that you will experience a force unlike any other.

Arc Rating: 10 gold nuggets out of 10

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