1999 provides an extended conflict for the violence killua was brought up around versus the friendship he’s fighting for with gon. with this additional content, we get a look into killua’s inner turmoil that didn’t have as much of an opportunity to exist before the chimera ants arc in the manga. we get a very early understanding of just how deeply the zoldycks’ abuse affected his behavior and perspective on life.
it gives him screentime in the first arc of which he didn’t have a lot in the original material, but that makes you completely understand why illumi terrified him so much in their confrontation.
people often focus on the form of something rather than the content. some fans dislike that killua lashes out at gon during the hunter’s exam, but if we actually look at the moment, it’s an attempt to protect his new friend. killua says “i’m someone who makes enemies”, knowing his presence endangers gon, seeing gon as something much more innocent than him, and so in order to prove this to gon he tries to scare him without hurting him. he expects gon to cower away but gon just stands, unflinching, showing killua he’s not only willing to take killua as he is but that he also has a screw loose. it’s a declaration of understanding.
this behavior is completely in line with early killua who was always narratively teased as being destined to hurt or betray gon or as being jealous of him. moments like these just enhance the fakeout and make it even more touching that killua ends up as such a loyal character.
1999 leans heavily into the struggle of the destiny of a bloodline and choice which is a theme present in the manga but wonderfully reinforced with 1999’s original content. if you look at these moments for killua that are sometimes claimed by the fandom to be “out of character” the resolutions to them actually always perfectly line up with him growing in a positive direction and rejecting illumi’s control of him. he can’t immediately stop himself from committing the violence he was tortured into seeing as normal, but he can understand he has a network of support that will help him as he struggles towards this aim. 1999 does not present an incorrect killua, rather a more thorough one. one that, i remind us all, was approved by togashi because he was closely supervising 1999.
we shouldn’t ask “is this different?” when assessing 1999. we should ask “what is hunter x hunter trying to say?” and “does this enhance that?” if you see hxh as a story about humanity, trauma, abuse, and exploitation, the answer is pretty unequivocally yes.
I almost cried while reading it. That's why I like version 1999 hxh more. And the scene with Aunt Mito and Master Wing, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HHHHHWWWWWW😭😭
