Killugon meta: ăĺżä¸ă ăŞă âA loversâ suicide, I guessâ
Hey everyone, welcome to yet another addition of HXH translation meta with your old pal hunterxhell. This time, Iâm taking a look at what I think is, hands-down, one of if not the most important scenes in HXH for understanding Killua and his feelings for Gon. In fact, Iâm going to make the case that this scene proves that those feelings are romantic in nature. Unfortunately, the translation for this scene was absolutely butchered (itâs by far the worst translation in the series), so all of the meaning was lost, including the wonderful Killugon subtext.
I wanted to ask you about your take on 'shipping' gon and killua like romantically? your drawings are ambiguous enough (idk if thats the right word) but I was wondering whether you see them that way and what you think of the discourse of it's 'gross' or 'disgusting to ship 2 kids'. Thanks and I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way. Your art is awesome and always makes me happy (*ďźžvďźž*)/
Hey! Ty for the question! This is like the longest running discourse huh... I'll do my best to share my perspective! Putting some of it under a cut because I accidentally wrote too much ^^;
I do see the ickiness of the phrase 'shipping two kids' when you put it like that, but I think that's because the word 'shipping' has this... umbrella connotation of like. HEAVY romance with adult and often sexual implications attached to it. Which is a huge red flag when u think abt kids that way?? and obviously you shouldn't??? and thereâll always be some nasty fans who do, but I think a lot of us see them the way we see most ships in kids' shows.
Because BECAUSE the thing is, we see romance all the time in children's media. Kids have crushes. Kids get into stupid relationships at 13 where all they do is peck each other on the lips awkwardly and pass notes to each other in class and hang out on âdatesâ at each other's houses to watch TV. And it's totally normal! So when people say 'ew shut up gon and killua are only friends, stop thinking abt them like that, they're children' you have to wonder where that's coming from. Bc would they be saying the same thing about a boy and a girl of the same age?
To bring up specific examples: think about aang from atla (is a 12 yo with an enormous crush for a majority of the series, and gets together with her in the end) and sam and danny from danny phantom (are 14 yo), and these are shows with like. An actual on-screen KISS at the end. Nobody bats an eye at that, and not to be dramatic but the double standards are showing. It's implying that 'queerness' is what's vile and adult but like. Queer adults were once queer children, right? Gon and killua are 12 at the beginning, and nearing 14 at the end, so the discourse of đĄdonât ship 2 kids!𤏠stops being valid when you think about it in a larger perspective, in relation to similar media. Like sure, youâre welcome to see them in a strictly platonic way, but if the ONLY REASON ur not ok with a wholly harmless, innocent romance is because theyâre children, and harass other fans abt it, then to me it sounds like a load of bull to cover up ur homophobia.
(also whenever I say âyouâ i mean an abstract third person, not YOU you anon, if thatâs not clear hjghfdgs đ)
As for hxh specifically, itâs my personal take that the subtext is deliberate. Togashi would have to be pretty ignorant of his own writing if it werenât; killua is so heavily coded as developing a very romantic, very boyfriend crush on gon and considering togashiâs history with queer rep it wouldnât be far-fetched for anyone to call it intentional. And who are any of us to take that away from queer fans who see themselves in these characters?Â
And as for me, using the word âshipâ makes me feel weird (which is totally a silly personal thing) but I think my feelings on killugon can be summed up by this exchangeâ
âwhich is a very underrated moment imo and explains killuaâs feelings perfectly. They go from talking about dates to killua thinking to himself that heâd rather just stay with gon forever, and like... to me thatâs IT. He doesnât care about dating or romance when he can just be with gon. No dating experience with anyone else will be AS MEANINGFUL TO HIM as being with gon. Tell me if that isnât the sweetest and gayest thing youâve ever heard.Â
So itâs my personal opinion that, all things considered, what gon and killua have transcends any platonic or romantic connotation; itâs more like a âyouâre IT for meâ in whatever way you choose to see it. Do I think killua has a big fat crush on gon?? yeah. Do I think anyone seeing their friendship as ONLY a friendship is valid? also yeah.Â
The only thing is that justifying them being strictly bff bros because 'they canât be more bc theyâre children ewâ isnât gonna fly. Bc if you take it to mean anything more than an innocent depiction of young love then you're the one making it weird. As long as weâre not sick in imagining gross things then whatâs wrong in just wanting them to hold hands?Â
gracieabrams
2087
romaincrisis
turnnoffyourmind
dailybridgerton
theartofmadeline
amandla
stormborns
