A Meeping Summary: Hunter X Hunter
I’ll be blogging Hunter X Hunter from now on, but since I’ve essentially missed the previous 36 episodes, here’s a little recap episode. I suck at this kinda stuff though, so really, feel free to use anything else, even Wikipedia.
Select members of society who have the license to do nearly anything they wish to. These are Hunters. They can dedicate their lives to discovering unknown lands, tracking down priceless artifacts, extracting justice on wanted criminals. Just to name a few career paths. However with access to a wealth of information and resources, as well as a permit to kill, all prospective Hunters are put through a rigorous examination process. This is where our protagonist, Gon Freecss, comes in. Left to live with his aunt Mito at infancy by his father Ging, he aspires to become a professional Hunter. His motivation being to one day find his father, a Hunter himself, and to understand why he would choose his profession as a Hunter over being a parent to his child.
Packing up his bags, Gon is off to the Hunter examination, the very step into the Hunter X Hunter world. On a sea voyage to his destination he meets Kurapika, the final remaining member of Kurta clan out to exact revenge on a group of thieves called the Phantom Troupe, and Leorio, a doctor in training who wishes to use a Hunter’s license to fund his education. In the exam proper, they also meet Killua Zoldyk, a young boy born into a family of world renowned assassins wishing to relinquish that part of him. Here, I even have shoddy pictures from the opening to show off these colorful personalities.
Lots of things happen. People die since this is super dangerous stuff. Throughout the grueling trials, our group of friends, Gon in particular, catch the attention of jester-like Hisoka, an androgynous natured freak of nature who takes sick perverse pleasure in his murderous malarkey. He views Gon as a fruit he must let ripen until the day he plucks it himself, while to Gon, Hisoka is an eventual goal to achieve. In the final phase of the examination, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika manage to pass and become Hunters. Killua however is manipulated by older brother Illumi into openly killing another contestant, a disqualifying act. Taken back home by his family, the three remaining friends go off to find out what this nonsense is all about.
Well whaddya know, Killua has undergone torturous experiences since a young age in order to become a great assassin. His family is pretty wack, yet still very family oriented. As much as a family of killers can be. After a conversation between father and son, Killua is permitted his freedom to leave with his friends. It’s at this point where the four decide to go their different ways, agreeing to meet again in 6 months at Yorknew City. Killua decides to stick with Gon though, and they head to Heaven’s Arena, the world’s most popular fighting arena in order to both train and earn money.
It’s here where they meet Wing and apprentice Zushi. Wing teaches the two about the concept of Nen, something I guess I’ll reluctantly have to go through due to it’s importance. Nen functions as the magical power of the series, and admittedly is one of its most thought-out iterations which makes it kind of a doozy. If you don’t no squat about it, best to read carefully or just watch the series. Krhm.
All living beings produce an aura essential for, well, living. Most individuals are unaware of such a thing and cannot see it, however Nen is a technique which allows an individual to perceive and control their personal aura. The art of Nen is divided into the following four major principles.
Ten – Ones aura naturally flows away from oneself. Ten is the act of flowing the aura back to oneself, around and into the body. As it involves bringing back your life energy, it slows the aging process. In addition, this is a state of concentration, allowing one to defend from mental attacks.
Zetsu – This is to stop the flow of ones aura entirely. This state allows for a heightened sensitivity of the aura of other people, in addition to hiding ones own aura. On the flip side, this leaves on very vulnerable as they no longer have their own aura protecting them.
Ren – The ability to produce and unleash more aura to surround oneself. As Ten has already taught a Nen user to preserve their aura, Ren can be learned in order to use it in higher quantities safely. This state increases the innate strength and durability of an individual, as well as naturally allows for increased use of ones own aura.
Hatsu – In essence, Hatsu is the personal expression of a person’s unique aura. The personality of an individual typically coincides with the type of Nen ability one is able to use with Hatsu and is, sigh, divided into 6 main categories.
Enhancers – Typically straightforward self-centered honest individuals, Enhancers are capable of increasing the abilities oneself or an object beholds. Physical ability, the functions of ones own body, stuff like that.
Transmuters – People who are generally a little shifty, strang, perhaps even shrewd, these people can allow their aura to take the property of different substances, such as fire and electricity or more imaginative properties such as making ones aura stretchy and sticky.
Conjurers – They can be calm and cautious, observant, Conjurers unlike Transmuters can create a tangible visible object with their aura, ranging from weapons to other sorts of things, I’m sure.
Manipulators – Probably tend to be the smartest and most logical of the bunch, also somewhat protective as well as independent, Manipulators can control both the living and the non-living to a certain extent, that extent dependent on the user themselves.
Emitters – These are the most rash of the bunch, hot-blooded is probably the best way to describe ‘em. Emitters are capable of separating the aura from their body and have a degree of control how it leaves their body. The simplest emission to picture would probably be firing off a blast of aura from ones hand.
Specialists – Specialists are… well, they’re… people who basically don’t belong in any of the previous categories. And well, same goes for their Nen ability. We haven’t had any examples yet, so hah, I’m not typing squat.
Clockwise from the top: Enhancer, Transmuter, Conjurer, Specializer, Manipulator, and Emitter.
A last note on Nen, it’s possible to use Nen from beyond you category. However, the further the type of Nen ability ventures from ones native category, the lesser ones efficiency is at it. Looking at this handy dandy alien language diagram, that would mean Enhancers could still be fairly adept at Emission and Transmutations type abilities, but Manipulation and Conjuration abilities would be quite weak. Specialization is unique in that you can either have specialization or you can’t no matter where you are on the chart. If you’re going to watch any episode, I really recommend watching Episode 35. It explains most everything relevant to Nen ability stuff.
Now. To make a long story short, Hisoka is also at Heaven’s Tower. Gon pays back a small debt with a right hook to the face, yet is still far from Hisoka’s abilities. Gon and Killua learn they are Enhancers and Transmuters respectively, and they leave to go visit Gon’s home on Whale Island. There. Done. I did it. No more. Long summaries are the worst. This is not a good summary. Maybe you should watch the episodes instead. Hey, that sounds like a great idea blog-goer, I wholeheartedly support it. Hop to it.
