So usually in this segment I would talk about an entire anime or at least what’s out so far but this time I will be focusing in on a Chimera Ant Arc of Hunter x Hunter. Hunter X Hunter is an anime that most people put to the side because for the most part the first couple arcs are kind of like that good old Naruto character building that we as anime fans have become accustomed to but It’s the Chimera Ant Arc that sets this anime apart for the rest. Its kind of like if you walked into Disney World and as soon as you stepped past the gates it became a graveyard. It’s that much of a shock of how quickly this series took on a dark tone. Now one more thing before I jump in, there’s going to be tons of spoilers past this point so if you don’t want to get spoiled on what is essentially season 6 of 7 get out now.
With pretty much all of the character building done Gon and Killua have defeated Greed Island by winning the most op game of dodge ball I’ve seen in any anime or at least can remember seeing. So off they go using the treasures they received from Greed Island to teleport them to Gings location or what they believe to be his location unfortunately all they see when they arrive is the cool looking fellow with white hair.
This man happens to be Kite the understudy to the man known as Ging. Kites been wondering the world as a contract hunter and is currently investigating the Chimera Ant a monster of an ant whose Queen is able to give the likeness and characteristics of whatever she consumes to her offspring. For instance if she partook of a wasp her child would have wings or if she ate a cat her child would be covered in fur and have a tail and so on. Now you may be asking how is on Queen ant taking down these huge creatures, well you see this Queen ant is taller and stronger than a grown sized man. So with the help of Gon and Killua and his other friends Kite is able to track down the back to its nest where they are confronted and a deadly foe.
And just like that the new favorite badass is dead. Turns out that the Chimera Ant Queen had been busy at work creating soldier ants and luckily for them she had introduced humans in to their diet. Doing so allowed them to become more powerful like Neferpitou, her powers even surpassed the strength of Kite. Although he may have come and gone Kite’s final act allowed Gon and Killua to escape sadly not knowing what had become of him.
So then these stronger guys show up to fight those even stronger guys while entire villages are running scared trying not to get eaten and turned into monsters. Pokkle a B-tier character gets caught, killed and feed to the Queen Ant to give birth to the King Ant Meruem (basically Cell). At the same time Gon and Killua are out getting their last bit of character building on because they’ve become Freeza (not gold) just a power level. After all these events the world is now in more danger than ever. Meruem takes off from the nest with his three guards and flies to East Gorteau where he kills the ruler and takes over becoming the new leader cocooning the citizens. There seems to be no one that can stop him, no one but Komugi.
Enters the champion of the world Komugi. She is blind, innocent and and beast at Gungi, in this universe so would be considered the Yu-Gi Moto of Gungi. Komugi becomes the main force keeping Meruem from destroying the world as he can not defeat her. There was a point where Meruem thought he could win but during their many games her true power awoken to the point that she has remained undefeated to this day effectively keeping Meruem from destroying the world. In the entire series only Komugi has truly overcome Meruem.
So before I jump into the ending I just wanted to pause for a moment and talk about Knov. Knov’s abilities allows him to create portal from one point to another by visiting point A then visiting point B. While doing so to get a portal that puts them close to Meruem he only felt Meruem’s presence that flowed down the stairs and became full of so much fear until his hair turned white eventually fell out to the point that he now wears a hat. That’s the kind of “man” Meruem is.
The Hunters Association sends there strongest and most trusted fighter to take down Meruem, and in the case it happens to be Isaac Netero who is one of the mightiest old men in anime history. Everyone begins to pair off to on the Meruem and his 3 guards which eventually leads to Gon finding what has become of Kite.
This here is the result of the actions by Neferpitou and the powerful rage she was willing to accept. This is probably the most brutal of all the fights in the series and while this battle was not the only one it was one of the two most important, the other is between Meruem and Netero.
A fight between Gods that men can not stop.
Netero’s final technique while it took his life eventually took down the Meruem and his men. For all intensive purposes killing off the remaining Chimera Ants or at least the really bad human eating ones. The only real downside is the state that the final paired off battles left our main character Gon in.
And this is where I will end with Gon struggling for his life in a hospital bed. I stop her because the rest of the series constantly fights against this darker tone even with Killua to finally end the anime on a happier more friendship oriented tone.
Hunter X Hunter is usually a series for children but this arc is not that. This arc, the Chimera Ant Arc feels as though they were trying to escape from being compared to all the other mainstream anime. While the change happened quickly It was a well welcomed change. The other arcs of the series are just quick edible snacks full of fatty character building however this is a a four course meal with depth and substance which brought out the true character in each member of the cast. It may take watching 5 other arcs just to get there but I would say that it is well worth it and this why I’m giving the Chimera Ant Arc 5 out of 5 Rock-paper-scissors.
Anime Thursday: Hunter x Hunter – Chimera Ant arc So usually in this segment I would talk about an entire anime or at least what's out so far but this time I will be focusing in on a Chimera Ant Arc of Hunter x Hunter.
