#chapter 402

[everyitachi]

[javierscowlick]

novel aged kimchi is canonically blond and blue eyed. also, his playable cheat codes below:

can't sleep. can't faint. can't freeze. can't burn. can't be poisoned. all stats at lv. 999. can't die and is immortal.

i was actually going somewhere. wow. i def need to update the 2nd point LMAO.

[everytsukauchi]

[progg]

Chapter 402 Thoughts

Here are my thoughts on Chapter 402 of Hunter x Hunter, “Letter”.

Salkov

Salkov has been able to use Nen since birth. Given the discussion in the previous chapter, this all but confirms that he is one of the “strong curse sacrifices” and Beyond’s son.

Halkenburg’s Illness

On Day 10, Balsamilco describes his plan to poison Halkenburg.

At 8:50 AM on Day 11, Melody reveals that Halkenburg has fallen ill. This could be the result of Balsamilco’s poison.

The Plan to Assassinate Luzurus

Kacho discusses assassinating Luzurus with a disturbing lack of empathy.

I felt a bit uncomfortable reading this!

Melody doesn’t flinch, though she expressed discomfort with assassination in Chapter 400. 

Another relevant scene is Oito’s reaction to Momoze’s death in Chapter 368, where she criticizes Babimayna and Kurapika for their lack of empathy in the Succession War.

Despite the grisly discussion about assassinating Luzurus, the prince is portrayed mostly positively in this chapter. He is absolved of blame for Fugetsu’s condition and shows sympathy for Kacho’s death.

In Chapter 362, Nasubi claims Spirit Beasts “cannot directly attack” other people with Spirit Beasts. However, the traps laid by his Spirit Beast may qualify as “indirect attacks”. It’s unclear.

Luzurus also expressed admirable views on rehabilitation to Basho in Chapter 366. Meanwhile, Kaiser is planning to make it look like he overdosed, which—when you think about it—is extremely dark.

On a side note, it seems Kacho was successful in convincing Fugetsu that everyone else mistakenly thinks she is dead—a plan she laid out in Chapter 400:

Covering Up the Truth

In my previous breakdown, I mentioned how I often reference the seemingly unimportant panel of Cheadle talking about the Silent Revolution. Another panel I bring up a lot is this one with Steiner and the IPA Director:

This panel sets up a major theme in the Succession Arc about valuing peace over truth. There are undoubtedly strategic reasons for keeping Luzurus and Halkenburg’s deaths under wraps, but I still believe the Succession War is going to eventually be completely covered up. Kaiser and Balsamilco’s plans echo this theme, as well as Kacho’s plan to conceal her death from Fugetsu.

Benjamin and Balsamilco

I once saw someone liken Benjamin’s character to the phrase “a ship with no compass gets lost at sea.” I think this is a pretty good description of what will happen to Benjamin. Benjamin, while powerful, is heavily reliant on others to steer him in the right direction. Balsamilco says as much:

In this chapter, we receive yet another reminder of how the soldiers around Benjamin elevate him. Kaiser believes he was only able to extract information from Benjamin because Balsamilco wasn’t present.

Kacho’s Letter

The contents of Kacho’s letter (really Kaiser’s) seem extremely important. We get some description about the contents from Luzurus and Melody.

Summarized:

Benjamin has some kind of secret that Luzurus thinks will ‘milk his tears’ and buy Fugetsu’s protection.

Luzurus and Tserriednich are ‘snakes’ and have ‘dirt’ (we already knew this, to an extent).

There is something that Halkenburg can ‘use’ (possibly to exonerate himself).

There is a secret regarding Halkenburg’s birth (I don’t think it's being Beyond’s child).

More information that shakes up the Succession itself (this could include Zhang Lei’s parentage)

It seem each prince’s letter contained different information, while Halkenburg’s and Kurapika’s contained all of it.

Basho

The dark spirits following Fugetsu flee at the sight of Benjamin and his Spirit Beast.

In a cool moment, the spirits also flee from Basho.

This could be because of the good luck charm, but I think it may also be a testament to Basho’s strength and character.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

HxH 402: King Shit

Okay...this is literally the densest chapter of HxH to date and that's saying a lot given this manga had a superpower based on compound interest. Which is a bitch to be fair. Tonight thought we have a huge lurch forward in the Succession Contest itself and let's start with the beginning. Which is where we picked up from last week. Kurapika has gotten Woble into a formal truce. King Nasubi has stated "sole survivor" is up to interpretation so it matters we now have an agreement that #3 wins if only #5/#14 are left standing.

Tsubeppa's fine with this because she more than anyone else wants Kurapika close, and I'd imagine is operating under the idea she won't have to worry about #3 making it to the end. The core theme this time is how they're all playing a very unassuming game. And there are a lot of parallels here like the coin beast mentioned above and Basho getting a great little moment later. Zhang Hei is in a weird position, from the looks of it and his own assumption his Nen Beast is weaker here but potentially great after winning. He curried a strong showing in our poll, but now let's move on to someone who only got one vote. Mine.

Kacho? Kacho? What the hell girl. I dig it. Batgirl over here. Y'all, this chapter broke hard in the direction I wanted to see this contest go. Everything. So let's recap. The twins tried to escape with Melody's help. In the process we saw freaky hands go crazy and Kacho died, revealing her Nen Beast in the best moment of the arc so far. Season of Two - First twin out resurrects to aid the other. Fugetsu's ability is a tunnel to anywhere she's been, but it does require Kacho to shut it. They and Melody are under investigation for the escape attempt...but the Justice Bureau officials have seemingly been on their side. That said, FuuFuu has been getting a little crazy.

That's all well and good, but why would I think that can beat things like the freakish Nen savant or the First Prince with the military edge?

This isn't a fistfight. It is a political battle for succession. Fugetsu is the one no one is worried about. The younger ones are unpredictable and their moms are the real threat. None of the others really even know Woble or Maryam. Fuu's in that sweet spot and seems like the type everyone at least kinda likes.

But the biggest thing is that Kakin has a mostly modern government outside of this. It's the bureaucrats, yet again Melody feels she should be suspicious but nothing Kaiser has said really warrants it. This is the choice that makes sense for someone in his position. And all this scene is laying out that basic theory; Fugetsu's power is the type of thing that allows so much leeway to play this game if you have people willing to get dirty for you.

If you mistrust Kaiser, I want you to consider why. Would you say, mistrust Gon deciding he likes Melody and Fugetsu and he'll fight the bad princes for them? Is it because Kaiser's a G-Man? Oh, see that's exactly why I trust him. If you've ever been around high-level bureaucrats you'll probably know what I mean. If they're good enough to rise to that rank they could have been a politician, military officer, something with more glory. He's just the type of guy who wouldn't balk at the Trolley Problem and is used to making real decisions of that magnitude regularly. Melody's music attracted a lot of people, she's a beautiful soul, someone maybe actually doesn't care about how she looks. King Fugetsu is the type who'd just play the nice figurehead and let the advisors run their own lanes.

And he's already paid huge divdends, just like that. Fugetsu easily waltzes right into most of the other Princes' rooms. No one suspects anything, it all seems above board, Kaiser knows exactly what to do.

But I think it's easy to miss what's important here. Melody and Kurapika both hint the letter truly is a bombshell that'll upend this whole Succession Contest. Once again, of course a bureaucrat of Kaiser's rank just casually has dirt on all of them. You can really see it here with Luzurus but they're all pretty good at playing coy. And Fuu just casually fleeced them all.

[derikisu]

[the19thduckpotato]

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR MHA 402

how to break an All Might fan in one panel

[beatriceportinari]