#chapter 403

[dootdootmf]

[everyitachi]

[everytsukauchi]

[ronimacaroni77]

I am DEAD.

[myheromedia]

The Beginning

[basedkikuenjoyer]

HxH 403: We Need to Talk About Halkenburg

403 was...a lot to take in. Classic Succession War chapter and as much as I liked the Phantom Troupe interlude I am glad to be back to the real main thread for this chunk so far. Though it makes this chapter one where you have to recall things you maybe only read once a few years ago. A lot pertaining to the "top tier" machinations between two of the bigger fish. First Prince Benjamin and Ninth Prince Halkenburg. Upended by something Kacho's letter revealed, the latter should be a higher number because his mom is the first queen. They lied to protect him.

People guessed that last week, the really cool part of all this was when he did the arrow thing again. This time showing a new dimension; he doesn't just have to use his main retinue to build up the collective nen. He also gives the ability a name, and that name is an interesting reference. It can be read as an allusion to We Need to Talk About Kevin. An early 00s book then movie about a school shooter. Told through the lens of his mother and notably the boy uses a bow and arrow. So it doesn't feel like an entirely for fun nod. My read on Halkenburg for a while is that he's ripe for going beyond the pale justifying any means to his end after the confrontation with Daddy.

But now it seems like he's on death's door. Which is what really threw me. We have other threads moving forward in this chapter. Kacho/Kaiser/Melody seem ready to strike quick and Zhang Lei is getting desperate to court Kurapika's nen expertise. But Halkenburg is the real story of this chapter.

He's always been an intriguing prince in this clash. The reformer, and because of that he always felt like a big player. I don't think the First Prince's guard actually got to him with the bio-weapon in his boot. It seems like he knew about and expected this. So was he trying to finish something before a disease caught up to him? Is this a ploy? Trying to set up an excuse to go for a darker version of the plan with Kacho? Post-mortem nen? Who knows.

[progg]

Chapter 403 Thoughts

Here are my thoughts on Chapter 403 of Hunter x Hunter, “Results”.

Intertextuality

I’m always surprised by the amount of intertextuality in the Succession Arc.

I’ve never really seen a shonen manga that makes "highbrow" references like this (for Anime, only Sonny Boy comes to mind). By highbrow, I mean media that is considered part of a more “serious” or “adult” culture. It’s just one of the ways I think Togashi is pushing the boundaries of shonen and knocking on the door of something more.

Halkenburg’s Illness

It seems Halkenburg’s illness is not the result of Balsamilco’s poison. He simply fainted after transferring his soul to Balsamilco’s body, entering a state similar to Sumidori.

Balsaburg is lying to Benjamin here, but it's sort of a half-truth. Technically, Halkenburg's condition is a result of his ability, just not in the way he described. (I also want to mention that Benjamin falsely believes Halkenburg is faking his illness to postpone the trial. This is yet another instance of a character coming to a reasonable but incorrect conclusion due to asymmetrical information. In my opinion, this is very difficult thing to write. Togashi has been doing it consistently since Welfin!)

However, the question still remains: how is Halkenburg going to die if he isn’t poisoned? Not to mention, how was he able to make sure his own soul was transferred into Balsamilco instead of someone else’s? There’s still a lot we don’t know about Halkenburg’s ability.

Unma is Halkenburg’s Biological Mother

Unma being Halkenburg’s mother was predicted by some fans. I stayed away from writing about it because it was a theory based solely on visual clues (not unlike the Sheila=Pariston theory), but I always accepted it as a possibility. Mostly, I’m just excited we are getting more characterization for the queens, who I think will play an increasingly important role in the Succession Contest.

Unma in particular has an imposing appearance and looks to be crazy tall!

Is it just me or is she almost twice the height of that maidservant?!

Nen Lessons

I’m also keeping an eye out for Sarahell, Camilla’s guard, who is planning on cursing Woble very soon!

[ghost-the-writer]

I’m so normal about this