I wanna talk about the scene where Killua and Gon are at the gym and talk about dating (cause I have analyzed it so many times in my mind over the years and if I don't talk about KilluGon at least once a day I will explode).
Killua seems to have been wondering about Gon's experience with dates due to how well he handled Palm. It's a fairly normal question and a topic that friends talk to each other about.
When Gon does in fact answer positively saying that he indeed has gone on a date before Killua is rather shocked. But then Gon reveals that most of his dates were with his aunt Mito, a statement which makes Killua feel relieved. This can be interpreted as a scenario where a teenage boy feels behind his peer in the dating field.
However, his relief is short-lived as he registers Gon's response and realizes that there are hints that there was someone else too. He immediately demands to know who else was there and his tone makes him sound a bit jealous (the boyfriend getting annoyed at an ex kinda jealous, not the my bestie has dated and I have not kind of jealous).
Gon's answer though is what causes a chain of events that have me act like I am playing Sherlock or something.
Gon says he has showed older woman around the island and declares that they taught him stuff and Killua completely misunderstood his words as Gon having adult experience with Women.
I have also seen people the past years interpret this scene as Gon admitting to being a victim, which took me by surprise cause I never looked at it that way. I don't believe the scene was written to introduce a dark aspect of Gon's past. I am confident it was more of an old-fashioned joke that ages more poorly as the years pass by.
Firstly, Gon associates dates with Mito so by that statement only we understand that the dates are innocent and most likely they are more of advices on how to treat girls right.
Secondly, Gon seems completely clueless when it comes to adult stuff like that.
For example, back in the hunter exam Gon was the only one who could not figure out why Leorio bet that his opponent was a man.
During the palace invasion too, when the hunters were talking about Meruem reproducing possibly with Palm Killua acknowledges in his head that Gon did not really understand the context of the conversation.
Those two instances showcase that Gon is not really knowledgeable about that stuff and confirm that Killua did indeed misunderstand what Gon said.
All of this raises questions within my mind because there is no consistency if we include the gym scene in the equation, and this has bothered me for years.
Killua knows Gon the best and he usually reads him like an open book, yet in the gym scene it feels like Killua's knowledge of Gon's innocent nature was thrown out of the window at that instant. For sure, it could be for comedic purposes and for the sake of creating a little joke and not meant to be taken seriously.
But if we were to analyze deeper, I would question why Killua seems a bit out of character in that scene. What do I mean by that?
I mean that Killua is mostly portrayed as a very smart character and it is shown on multiple occasions that he is less clueless than Gon, he has the tendency to overthink things too. Given all those traits of his, he should have been able to deduct what Gon meant, yet this guy seems to have found a trampoline there in the gym or something cause he jumped to weird conclusions that do not align with Gon's character. I do not know what mental gymnastics he pulled, but he somehow concluded that Gon is experienced in adult stuff despite knowing for sure that Gon is clueless about stuff like that, and therefore he should not have any experience.
Then my mind drifted to another trait of Killua that the story explores (and especially in that arc during that point of the story) . In this arc it is highlighted that Killua's mind is programmed to think of the worst possible scenario in every situation, which leads me to the conclusion that in the said situation Killua's worst fear is Gon having intimate relationships with others.
(I do recognize that this sounds a bit silly and kind of ridiculous, but I think it aligns with Killua's personality and it fits with the tone of the scene which is meant to be comedic, I am open to people providing other views on the matter cause at this point I am pulling a Killua and overthinking it, but hey It was Togashi's conscious choice to wake up and go '' well, for today's chapter I am going to have Killua and Gon talk about dates and completely misunderstand each other).
While I do feel that this scene has the room to be read as Killua being surprised that Gon has been on dates before and maybe being annoyed that he has not been on one and that is all there is to it, on the other hand, I would like to point out that if that was the case it could be highlighted or more obvious if Killua expressed, either internally or externally, some sort of desire to go on dates himself, but he does not.
Instead, he just admits that he has never been on a date and that he has been with Gon the entire time, without expressing any desire or curiosity about dating.
Furthermore, inside his head he adds that being with Gon is what he truly wants.
We do not see him ask Gon any details about his previous dates, which would be a normal reaction for a teen of his age to be interested in his friend's previous dating experience to get advice for himself considering the possibility that he was envious he was missing out or in case was just curious.
We also did not see him thinking he was missing out when he was thinking to himself. He showed zero interest in going on a date.
No, what we get is Killua expressing to himself his desire to stay by Gon's side and how he dislikes the idea of being apart to the point his will to stay away from Gon in order to protect him is starting to waver. THIS IS WHAT HE THINKS RIGHT AFTER TALKING ABOUT DATING, IF I MAY ADD.
So is this scene supposed to be purely comedic? Or is it supposed to tell us something more about Killua's feelings towards Gon? 🧐
I must admit that I am biased and I am analyzing through a shipper's lens, but at the same time it's like the story itself invites me to read more into it, so can you blame me when Killua acts like this and this is the conclusion I reach?
To sum up, I believe that what is going on in that scene is that Gon says he has been on dates and Killua instead of taking at face value what Gon says, he panics out of jealousy and reaches an absurd conclusion.
Finally, I bet that the real reason the 1999 did not animate the chimera ant arc is because of how unapologetically gay it would be, there would be no room for doubt. Killua would say that he never has been on a date and Gon would respond with ''Oh really? we should go on one together, Killua! It will be fun.'' And you can't change my mind about that. The 1999 would embrace it for what it truly is and that is homesexualy gay. (Obviously I am joking,the real reason it wasn't animated was because of hiatus,but do imagine the power it would have if it was animated in 1999).
Did I really write a whole thesis based on a scene that lasts less than a minute? Yes, I did. The power Killugon has over me is too much.
With all that being said, please do feel free to share your thoughts! (And thank you to anyone who might read the entire thing!)
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