Things to Like About the Hunter x Hunter Chimera Ant Arc

Here are some of the things to like about the Chimera Ant arc in the Hunter x Hunter 2011 anime (#ad) and manga series by Togashi Yoshihiro:

What's there to like about the Chimera Ant arc in the Hunter x Hunter 2011 anime by Yoshihiro Togashi?

(*Warning for possible spoilers, particularly from the Hunter x Hunter 2011 anime)

Introduction to New Characters

Plenty of new characters were introduced during the Chimera Ant arc. Some of them weren’t all that spectacular, remarkable, or memorable, but there were some who were really awesome and cool. Let’s take the following for example:

• Morel Mackernasey
• Knov

His ability is really quite interesting and useful. I only wish we’d been able to see more of it. It’s too bad that he couldn’t help much during the fight against the ants, but, at least he was able to help the others get into the palace.

• Palm Siberia

TBH, she looked really pretty creepy and scary at first, not that that made her less interesting or anything. LOL.

• Shoot McMahon

His fight against Youpi was really good. I really wish that he ended up beating said Royal Guard (even if it’s with Morel and Knuckle and even Killua’s help).

I hated how he’d been robbed of his victory (at least, that’s what it seemed like) even after almost dying during the fight.

• Knuckle Bine

The Nen abilities and personalities of these characters are really interesting. At first, I didn’t really care much about these people, but that’s only because we don’t know much about them yet.

But, as time passed, and as we saw and learned more about them, they slowly became more and more interesting. Needless to say, I’m really glad that none of the above-mentioned characters ended up dying.

Killua Zoldyck

Where do I even begin? Killua isn’t a new character in Hunter x Hunter. We’ve known him practically since the beginning of the series.

But that doesn’t make him any less awesome or interesting during the Chimera Ant arc. Here are some of the things that I particularly liked about him during said arc:

• Kanmuru

Killua in Godspeed mode is seriously beyond awesome. He’s just so cool. Actually, don’t you think he looks kind of like a Super Saiyan in this mode? LOL 😊.

• Fight scenes

I also really liked Killua’s fight scenes, like when he fought against the Ortho siblings, when he took on the ants that Flutter sent to beat him, when he briefly fought against Menthuthuyoupi (Youpi), etc.

I wish that he had gotten more fight scenes. I wish that he’d been the one who ended up beating Youpi.

Okay, what else? How ‘bout let’s just say that all the scenes that featured Killua were all pretty awesome, yeah?

Genei Ryodan

I was pleased to see the Genei Ryodan during the Chimera Ant arc. It’s such a shame that they only show up briefly. Their short appearance was not enough and left a lot of questions unanswered.

However, I do like the fight scenes featuring some of the troupe members because it allowed us, the audience, to find out more about their abilities.

And, really, after seeing all the bad things that the ants had done, after seeing how much and how many people have suffered thanks to these ants, it was good to see them getting defeated even if it was by a group of thieves.

Kite

I find Kite’s character interesting. I also like his long, white-silvery hair. It’s so long and straight. Whenever I see him, I can’t help but think that he’s like some sort of walking hair commercial (L'Oréal, because you’re worth it. LOL).

I like his Crazy Slots Nen ability too. It’s really cool, and I wish we had been able to see what all the different weapons were. I hated the fact that he died. I really wish he hadn’t.

And, yeah, I know about that Chimera Ant girl who has Kite’s memories. But, you know, she’s not Kite, not the one with the long, straight, awesome white-silvery hair, and I haven’t even seen her with Kite’s Crazy Slots, and it’s just not the same, you know?

I want the original Kite back. I wish that he’d been able to escape from Neferpitou or that Pitou really just had him under her control.

Anyway, these are just some of the things that I liked about the Hunter x Hunter Chimera Ant arc.

Your Thoughts and Opinions

What about you? What did you like about the Hunter x Hunter 2011 Chimera Ant arc? Feel free and welcome to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below.

*Notes:
- this was previously published elsewhere on 4 October 2015 at 4:18 PM
- pic is from Amazon.com; link shown above
- text was added to first image using Canva

Mini Review of .hack//xxxx Manga

I found this unfinished post in this blog's (Anime Meta (Anime Archives)) drafts list. The post's last updated date is listed as Friday, January 3, 2014. Yep, this has been sitting on my drafts list for practically forever already. It's definitely time I got 'round to publishing this.

Besides, like I mentioned in my other blogs, I have a lot of unfinished posts stored on the drafts pages of my numerous blogs (particularly Tumblr and Google Blogger). I'm now trying to finish all these articles, so I can publish them already and decrease the number of my drafts.

This is a review of the .hack//xxxx manga (#ad) by Hiroshi Matsuyama. This manga is an adaptation of the .hack games with some changes.

This review isn't complete though since I wasn't able to finish reading said graphic novel. Maybe when I get more time I'll be able to get back to reading this comic and actually finishing it.

Anyway, this review is in no particular order, and parts of it is in a stream-of-consciousness format of sorts.

Title

The manga's title is weird, but interesting in its own way. What does .hack//xxxx mean? Guess I'll find out as I continue reading through this manga.

Beginning

The beginning of the story came across as confusing and hard to understand. If you read the manga's summary, if you're familiar with the .hack series, or if you've read a bit about this online or something, then you'll already know that it's about this online game called The World.

This is how the story begins, but I still found it confusing. Right away, we get introduced to some characters, but we have no idea who they are.

This comes across as rather abrupt. We get some characters introduced to us readers, but we can't really care about them because we don't know who they are or why they're showing up.

There's an air of mystery, but it's just annoying for those who don't know anything because it's like when are we going to get to the explanation? I mean, this is all well and good for those who know about this game already, but what about for those who don't?

Overall, I felt frustrated. The first few pages were so confusing since I was new to the manga and series, so I had no idea what was going on. We basically got a bunch of characters along with their names, but nothing made sense.

Chapter 1

In the first chapter of the .hack//xxxx manga, we see Kite, Orca, and Yasuhiko. We also get a flashback of sorts. As if this story wasn't already confusing enough as it was.

So Orca gets a bracelet. But it's all so fast-paced. It's not really interesting because you don't know what's going on. Everything is happening so fast.

We don't even get much of an intro about this, which isn't helpful at all for people who didn't get to play the .hack// game. This makes it all the more confusing.

How Does This Game Work?

I find the concept of playing an online game fascinating and interesting, but I'd like more information about this such as in terms of:

• how does this game work?
• what's the world about?
• what are the different classes?
• what about the magic system? How does it work?
• is this like a virtual reality game or something else?

For instance, we find out that Kite is apparently a beginner. But what class is he? Does he start as some knight? Does he get to choose? What about Orca? Did he evolve or level up or something? How did he get so good?

Since the characters are inside the game, did they design their game characters and weapons, or did they have to choose from a selection of pre-made characters and weapons? Do they look the same in-game as they do in the real world?

It's interesting to note that the faces of Kite and Yasuhiko weren't shown in the real world. Kite was looking down, so his hair was covering his face while Yasuhiko's image was cut.

It's still confusing though. I mean, how did they get out of the game? If they die in the game, does that mean they leave and end up back in the real world? It seemed so abrupt. Like, how did Kite survive that? And who was that girl?

It does make me more curious about this game. What is it, really? Who made it? How come it isn't just a game? I mean, what made it like this, so that it was more than just a game? Is there an actual story explanation, or is it like this is only because of the plot or premise of the story?

More Info About Yasuhiko

I wonder how Kite and Yasuhiko know each other. Yasuhiko appears to be older than Kite, or is this just because of what his character looks like in the game? I also want to know what happened to Yasuhiko. In the real world, how did they explain how he suddenly got sick and fell in a coma?

Interesting Plot

Needless to say, the whole flashback sequence could have gone much better. It could have been done much better too, so it was less confusing and annoying. Nonetheless, I decided to continue reading the story though it was getting rather frustrating.

Thankfully, things started becoming a bit more clearer, not to mention more interesting. The plot is interesting. I like fantasy. And am curious how the magic in this world works.

The Mystery Deepens

There's a summary in one part, but it doesn't really help much. Still, it's good that it's available.

There's something about an illegal program, but not much info yet. New characters show up, but we still don't really know them all that well at all. I still have no idea who they really are.

Kite apparently knows that the guy who showed up is a twin blade user like him, but how does he know that?

Confusing Flashback

Looks like I spoke too soon. Just when I thought things were finally becoming clearer, things became confusing all over again.

It should be easy to tell if we're in a flashback or not. The manga attempts to explain how BlackRose and Kite met, but it basically seriously failed, so it ended up explaining nothing at all.

This just made things even more confusing for readers. Ugh.

More Information About BlackRose

I thought BlackRose was pretty cool. This includes her name itself and her sword. The huge sword reminded me of Haru Glory's Ten Commandments.

Haru is the main character of this anime and manga series by Hiro Mashima called Rave (also known as Rave Master and The Groove Adventure Rave).

Ten Commandments is the name of Haru's sword. It's huge and can transform into 10 different forms, hence the name.

Actually, as far as I can recall at the moment, it seems that if a form of media (like a book or movie) features a huge weapon, it's usually a guy who'd be wielding said weapon. So I found it especially refreshing to see BlackRose with a big sword. Because women should be able to wield those kinds of weapons too, right?

Anyway, we soon find out that BlackRose apparently has a little brother that she wants to save. We get more info about her past as well as about her brother suffering the same fate as Orca. This is interesting and all, but I also found myself wondering what about Mistral? What's her story?

Also, what's up with that scene between BlackRose and Aura? Said scene went nowhere. What's the use of that scene?

More Questions About the .hack//xxxx Manga

• Why didn't Lios throw Kite out of the game if he was causing them problems?
• Why didn't he confiscate the illegal program?
• Why didn't Kite explain that the bracelet was just given to him? Actually, it was originally given to Orca, so why didn't he say that?
• Why did Lios just leave without doing anything else?
• Why didn't he do something about the illegal program sooner?
• How come he's attempting to delete Kite's character now and not before?

Kite's Friends

How come Kite suddenly started hanging out with Cubia and Balmung? What about his friends, Mistral and BlackRose? What happened to them? Did he just throw them away? How could he do that?

Conclusion

Overall, I found the .hack//xxxx manga pretty interesting, but also quite confusing.

Your Thoughts and Opinions

So what about you? What do you think about this? Feel free and welcome to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment or by answering the poll below.


*Notes:
- Pic is from Amazon.com; link shown above
- Text was added to pic using Canva