I wanted to share something with you guys that I’ve been working on for a long time. I’m leaving it as unlisted so it’s only for those that click this video today kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mrenZ9pqvM28k4U.html

Kurapika was so confident that he would win against Uvogin that the man brought a shovel with him

Gon didn’t care that Killua was an assassin and murdered that guy in the Hunter exam. That was his first moment of being on that fine line

Kurapika is my favorite revenge story of all time. I remember my first time going through the Hunter Exam and I kind of rolled my eyes at his story because while I liked him as a character his background seemed very obvious... And then I got to this arc and came to understand how much of that story was going to be turned on its head and examined. His taking a life does not come without consequence both internal and external, and it's fantastic. Also, he brought a shovel.

I've read Hunter x Hunter like 5 times by now... and I've never realized what you just said: "Gon and Kurapika quests are similar, being carried out by a single minded will". That's brilliant!

I think to an extent Gon's morality is an extreme of the idea that morality depends on the person i.e. it's morally wrong for a vegeterian to eat meat because they broke a moral rule they set. he has his own moral code, but he doesn't expect others to share his morality as long as they're consistent.

Uvogin: "Who are you?" Kurapika: "You slaughtered my entire clan!" Uvogin: "Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?"

Once you finish the Yorknew Arc, I would recommend watching Ep. 51 and 52 of the (2011) anime. Those episodes really bring to life some great scenes from the manga -- just all around great orchestration, great animation, etc. The soundtrack in this anime is so artistically done; it can really aggrandize the emotional content or make battles that much more exciting.

The Nen system is my favorite power system in pretty much any series I've read. It allows for huge variety in what can be done. It has concise rules which make it so that no one character can become dominant in every category, the strongest enhancer is still weak to whats opposite it on the chart (and there's actually a chart!) Simulatenously, a jack of all trades Nen user will be weak to someone proficient in a category. And no one can gain power in this system without risk, its brilliant. Fights between Nen users end up resembling more of a chess match than a slugfest.

5:10 A perfect pronunciation . Also this is among the best arc of the series

I have never thought about it, however, I have seen "Magic system" and "Power system" been uae interchangeably and the main reason why I think we call it "Power system" is because abilities in manga are usually unique to each individual and thus they feel more like individual power that share the same source(Fairy tail, Hxh, Naruto, Black Clover, OP, etc). There are some Mangas that use a universal set of rules for everyone(Bleach, Demon Slayer, Dragon Ball, etc) however those Magas are usually based on phisical strength so the word "Power" fits. If I were you I would not think too hard about it, I usually use "Magic system" and people understand it perfectly.

00:00:00 ⟾ Intro - no notes, Format, Schedule 00:00:38 ⟾ Togashi lied, Tonal Shift 00:01:58 ⟾ Pacing, balance of elements 00:02:29 ⟾ Laying seeds, Togashi’s style/hinting 00:03:34 ⟾ Worldbuilding 00:04:01 ⟾ Unique Story Structure - Main Characters 00:04:56 ⟾ Name Pronunciations - Kurapika 00:05:22 ⟾ Format - 2 Parts: 1. Gon/Killua/Leorio 2. Kurapika 00:05:36 ⟾ 1) *Gon/Killua/Leorio* - Gon, Whale Island, Ging Nen box 00:06:54 ⟾ Mysteries - Ging, Gon’s path 00:08:27 ⟾ Gon Motivations - mother, father 00:09:48 ⟾ Plot - Auction, Greed Island, Money, Nen/Gyo, mafia 00:11:11 ⟾ Gon-Killua Dynamic 00:12:37 ⟾ Characters - Gon Morality: Zepile, ‘fine line’, badge, sidestepping difficult situations, future arc? 00:16:26 ⟾ Characters - Gon Morality: Shizuku arm-wrestling, empathy, future arc? 00:17:23 ⟾ Tangible Growth - Gon-Killua vs. Nobunaga, Hunter Exam 00:18:17 ⟾ Speed of Advancement 00:19:01 ⟾ Power Levels, Phantom Troupe 00:19:19 ⟾ Gon-Killua vs. Nobunaga 00:19:41 ⟾ 2) *Kurapika* - New Characters: Nostrade bodyguards, Phantom Troupe, mafia, Neon 00:20:23 ⟾ Revenge Plot direction - dynamic with Baise/Basho/Melody, corruption arc?, Neon, Uvogin, Hisoka 00:25:01 ⟾ Revenge Plot direction - Kurta Clan Phantom Troupe 00:25:58 ⟾ Kurapika: Nen system hacks 00:27:02 ⟾ Phantom Troupe: Shizuku, Nobunaga, Chrollo 00:27:57 ⟾ Kurapika abilities: Power and Drawbacks 00:29:03 ⟾ Nen - system, unique to individual 00:29:46 ⟾ Fights - unique pairings, Kurapika vs. Uvogin: Chains 00:31:20 ⟾ Kurapika quest and direction 00:32:00 ⟾ Phantom Troupe - detached, devotion, complexity 00:33:15 ⟾ Structure, Schedule 00:34:00 ⟾ Overall - worldbuilding, pacing 00:24:27 ⟾ Overall - revenge, Greed Island 00:35:06 ⟾ [Promo] [Credits]

Remember, in the Hunter Exam... in the cooking contest where everyone had to jump into a canyon to catch an egg? Gon wasn't fased at all that so many people just died all around him. Also, when he tailed Hisoka in the Forest... Gon was fine to use some random guy as a bite to get Hisokas pin. He didn't give a sh1t about that guy, only when Hisoka was going for his friends he got worried.

That's a very interesting take on Gon's morality Merphy. I'm more of the opinion he's only "morally good to those in his friend group". Looking forward to your next manga review!

Yorknew is my favorite arc. Sure, it doesn't have the combat of future arcs, but I loved the character development in this arc.

Your reaction to the York New arc was similar to mine. I thought this was going to be a happy-go-lucky anime with some slightly dark themes sprinkled throughout. My mouth dropped to the floor when I discovered this arc. It's such a contrast from the previous arcs. I look forward to seeing your reaction to the conclusion of this one.

Most revenge arcs have the character unwillingly lose themselves in pursuit of revenge. What sets Kurapika apart is that he sees that he is losing himself and he willingly goes down this path despite the fact that it is so against his true self. Also pay attention Chrollos character is very subtle but you can see some real interesting parallels between him and kurapika. And so Glad you’re reading my favorite series!

I think a common theme with HxH, especially from this arc onwards, is that "good" and "bad" are subjective to each person in a conflict. It allows for a lot of interesting depth and nuance to the villains and other antagonists to gon and his friends.

Can't wait for Merphy to read Chimera ant arc. The ending especially is epic!!

When Kurapika brought the shovel to the fight against Uvogin (Uvo or the strongest Troupe member) you KNEW it was going to be a brutal match to see

In my opinion, what Gon is looking for, which he says -as i believe- rather sincerely, is to know what kind of Hunter his father is, he wants to meet him and talk with him to see what exactly it is that made his father abandon him to be a hunter, he says "being a hunter must be so amazing that he was willing to abandon his own son for it" and as sad as that is, i don't think Gon thinks of it in any negative way.

Kurapika is not a master of every type of nen when his eyes turns scarlet, he gets ACCESS to MASTER any type of nen. He has to do training in order to be like that. Which speaks a lot of his character. In six months, five types of nen, at that level? He's not just a prodigy like Gon or Killua, he's a genius.

"With Hunter x Hunter I feel like we are regularly rushing through things" This is my first time, being fan of this series for over 10 years that I have heard this. It is usually the opposite I heard the most. Glad you are enjoying Yorknew, it is my favorite arc with my favorite characters getting focus.

I wasn't sure if you mentioned this when talking about Uvogin, the member Kurapika killed, but he is the strongest physically in the troupe. That isn't necessarily his ranking of overall power. I also wanted to say I've loved watching your videos since I found out about you through the Harry Potter series. It's been great to see you explore the world of manga through One piece, my favorite manga, and Hunter X Hunter. Keep up the great work Merphy

What fascinates me about Gon is that he has overall good holistic values when you look at them superficially but when you examine his action and motivations from the beginning even a little bit there is something somewhat unsettling about how simultaneously ridged he is in sticking to those values while also being flexible in what he deems “morally ok” or conscionable

Ayo, anyone else notice the extra funnies in the CC? Anyway, real interesting takes you've got here... definitely looking forward to seeing the reactions to the future arcs.

Phantom Troupe to Gon and Killua: Yeah, we kill people, does that piss you off? Phantom Troupe after Uvogin's Death: Oh, my God, who would do this? This is so fucked up.

I think the 2011 anime gives a lot more of those slow character moments. When reading manga you can sort of set the pace through how fast you read and sit on pages; but with the anime you're sort of locked into a pacing because it's more passive.

When you finish the arc you have to watch episodes 46, 51, and 52 of the anime. They are masterfully done from the music, orchestration, direction, and visuals. It’s truly something you shouldn’t miss out on

I will say in my opinion this far Gon has showed very selective morality as in I’ve only seen him have morality for his friends or ppl he considers his friends

The majority opinion in the fandom (or at least the meme space of it), for some godforsaken reason, is that Kurapika brought a shovel to his fight with Uvogin as a show of arrogance. I’m gald (but not surprised) that you correctly evaluated the burial as a sign of respect - not for Uvogin as a person, but for the value of even the worst monster’s life.

This arc is the one that got me really hooked. The dark transformation of Kurapika and the slow but gradual plunge of Gon into darkness is pretty great. I really love the Phantom Troupe. They're such a great antagonist organization. Easily the second best after a certain organization from an orange ninja series.

To quote an KZfaqr “ Yorknew was when I realized I loved Hunter Hunter” Hunter Hunter was enjoyable for me before but many fans agree Yorknew is when Hunter Hunter story changes the tone gets so dark, world is bigger, and the story starts incorporating many themes in the story. In the anime Yorknew is done perfectly the animation the music the voice acting. I remember when I first heard the Phantom Troupe OST

I really hope you ll continue beyond the animes final arc, because the dark continent arc, while unfinished, is incredible as well.

I know she is going through the manga but man i hope she watches some of the anime as well, particularly episodes 116 126 131 and 135 cause they outright elevate the source material in every way imo. and the japanese voice acting in these is just absolutely top of the line. also man waiting 2 weeks is gonna be rough lol.

YO whoever did the CC and transcribed her stuttered "we" as "Oui"; Well played, you got a chuckle out of me. 1:17

Kuraprika was one of those characters that were kind of annoying the first time around because he was always complaining and monologing about his clan he was a good character though it was just annoying sometimes But when I read the yorknew city arc he became my favorite character by far. In the arc he was a little more smart and calm about things and not to mention the fact that he was insanely powerful he grew as a character so much during that arc And by now Im pretty sure Nen is magic lmao

Talent in HxH is really that much of a booster to characters. Talented people just grow at an exponential rate with Nen; It will addressed later too.

You are going to love so many characters in this manga especially the Antagonists

Going on this journey with Merphy is going to be fun. When she reaches THAT arc...

Oh wow, we're already at Yorknew. I love that you're getting into more manga and HxH is one of my favorites. Especially the Chimera Ant arc is just a masterpiece imo. The anime adaptation of it may actually be even better than the manga. Would you be willing to watch the anime for that part too or certain parts of it? It is so good. The animation, soundtrack and directing is just phenomenal.

One thing that I’ve noticed about Gon is that he cares very much for the people he likes and that are nice to him, but he cares very little about himself. He’s very quick to try to sacrifice himself for others and even allow himself to be hurt for the sake of winning, but won’t allow others to do that for him. He also doesn’t seem to care about whether a person is good or not; if someone’s nice to him, he likes them. Doesn’t matter if they’re a murderer or a saint, all he cares about is that they haven’t wronged him or anyone he cares about. There’s examples of all of this just within the Hunter Exam arc.

The way Togashi expanded the world is one of the great achievements in HxH. To say the least, it only becomes more true as the series progresses. But the ability to use his characters, the power systems (magical or political), and the settings to explore numerous complex topics but at varying levels of distance.

My theory on why Hunter x Hunter feels so different is that this was actually Togashi’s second long-running manga. I think having written something relatively normal beforehand, Togashi decided to be experimental and almost critiqued the Shonen genre in many ways.

The term "magic system" is perfectly fine. The medium of manga doesn't make the story telling umbrella term "magic system" any less valid. So both are equally correct.

I love listening to your reaction reviews while i work, but the next two arcs are easily my favourites in hunter hunter, and i am incredibly excited to hear your thoughts!

the few arcs after this one are my faves! so excited for you to reach them

I'm loving how you are reading this series and can't wait for certain arcs for you to read

Thank you for introducing me to the Gentleman Bastards series, Merohy. I’m having the time of my life. I always love your analysis on HxH and One Piece. I hope you enjoy more mangas out there. The medium has a ton of stories waiting for you to read them after this one ;)

Your analysis of Gon was really good. I can't wait to see what you'll think of future arcs with regards to his development!

Man I love this series so much, and this is some of the greatest to content to come out of it right here. So glad you're enjoying it Merphy! I hope that continues :D IDK if you're taking recommendations or anything for any future manga reads, but if youre looking for something a bit different from what you've read already, I would HIGHLY recommend Chainsaw Man! It's a dark, gritty, and hilarious coming of age about a teenage boy who makes a contract with a demon!

You’re asking all the right questions you really are an amazing reader

I don't who does the subtitles on your videos, but they are awesome and hilarious. I just wanna say I appreciate them very much.

I loved the YorkNew arc so much! It truly was the peak of the series to me.

LOVE your subtitles Merphy lol you add so much to them that make me laugh it’s like having a second Merphy in the video! I loved what you noticed about Gon’s morality and it makes you wonder what kind of life he experienced on his island to still see the world thru curiosity rather than rationality. But it’s also cause of this outlook that he has been able to advance so far in this world! He’s really a complex character more than I ever realized on my first watch through. Great video as always now I got to go and automatically watch the next one :)

Love your analysis! Great review as usual

Been loving your Hunter X Hunter videos. This is my favorite anime/manga for so many reasons, and I'm glad to see you're enjoying it as well. One thing I just wanted to mention is that while Gon certainly shows several characteristics that are considered morally just, he is also a very selfish and morally gray character. For example, in the hunter's exam, he stole Ponzu's badge for Leorio while she was unconscious and left her there. While technically he did what he said he would do in getting everyone out of the cave safely while they were asleep, I'd argue that stealing her badge while she was sleeping on Leorio's behalf was A. dishonorable and B. undercut Leorio and his desire to do the task on his own. There are other more notable examples, but you haven't gotten to them yet and I certainly don't want to spoil it for you. Gon is a highly determined person who has a laser focus on his goals and what he wants to point where it can be a detriment to himself and the people around him. If he takes a liking to a person, thing, or whatever, it doesn't matter if it's good or bad. What matters to Gon is whether or not something interests him or aligns with his goals or desires or thought process, which can lead to some dark things. This is what Zepile was hinting at in his observation of Gon and is a nice little seed planted by Togashi.

Oh man I thought we had another week before we got this review. THIS IS SUCH A SURPRISE!!!!!! I LOOOOOOVE this arc, truly makes Kurapika one of the GOATs

Found your channel for one piece content and am so excited to hear your thoughts on hunter hunter. These arcs are phenomenal and it's only gonna get better. I won't be mad if you keep blasting through content without notes!

I found your channel because of your one piece reviews and I’m so happy I did. I love listening to your analyses and commentary on series like One Piece, Avatar, and now Hunter x Hunter. Your videos always make my day better and I’m very appreciative of the amount of time and effort you put into each one, thank you merph!

I'm so glad you're loving this like I knew you would. And like you said with the pacing! Heaven's arena is when I started to think HxH might be a pretty decent show- I was not sold on it at all at the start and the well-written characters were the only thing keeping me going, but Yorknew city is when I realized it was an amazing show. For me, this is when Togashi really started to take these characters that you already love and started doing amazing things with them. I'd say in most Arc's HxH is weakest at the start, but Yorknew comes out swinging.

Yorknew is my second favorite arc of the entire series it's also one of the most loved arcs by the entire fandom because it's what hooked them to the series

I’m so happy whenever I see a new hxh review!!

It just get darker from here on. It is my second most fav arc from HxH. Chimera arc hands down takes the top spot. I can't wait for you to explore that arc.

You mentioned it in your vlog, but I also appreciate the callback made to Leorio being the one of the trio to push the heaviest gates back at Killuas place. Just a cool feat for who seemingly is physically the weakest of the MCs lol. And for Kurapika's chain, iirc the ability that he's limited to only using on the troupe is the heart piercing lie detector chain. All the other things he can still utilize whenever, including the Scarlet eyes boost. But again, may be remembering wrong.

Little clarification: kurapika can master all nen types only when he has red eyes because he became a specialist. On the other hand, he put his life on the line only to increase the strenght of his abilities, not to unlock them

I'll consider this my birthday present. Uploaded just when I'm leaving work too. Thanks for the great content

You finally made it to my favorite arc 🤩

The power system is so brilliant because it counteracts the problem of most power systems that the scaling just gets impossible to keep up with. Most battles can be won by innovating or just having a diffrent type or knowing certain restrictions, you don’t have to fire a meteor out of the sky to become stronger then the next steongest user you just need to be more creative

Nen is the greatest power system I've ever seen, and I am infinitely hyped for it... But somehow, the best thing about HxH, even above Nen, is its approach to morality. Holy moly macaroni.

I love that you spent time appreciating the foundations Togashi has been carefully placing and using to expand upon. Its a consistent theme throughout the series with every arc the story and world just growing and evolving. With key elements from all the previous arcs always being relevant

I just came to check if you had released your video today and you hadn't , I went to my home page and saw your video uploaded 17 seconds ago. Insane timing merphy.

Togashi once said he set out to write a story about a good boy who left home to become a Hunter. But then he realized, if he was really a purely good boy who only cared about friends and family, he wouldn't have left like that. And that's how we get Gon.

Great review Merphy. Can't wait for u to talk about my favorites arcs (CHIMERA ANT arc & THE DARK CONTINENT) yorknew city is great but not the best of this serie .

these vids are so cool to watch. sick to see someone experiencing this stuff for the first time

Oh my GOD! The English subtitles in these videos so good!!! Thanks )

A tip with the japanese names: you seem to be wanting to put exclamation on alternating syllables like in English. Japanese doesn't do that. All syllables have equal exclamation. Their language is a set of consonant-vowel pairs, so its never kurA-pikA or kUra-pIka, its always kU-rA-pI-kA.

Yorknew City arc is my favourite of HxH but Chimera Ant arc is brilliant as well

It's so interesting seeing your thoughts about where the series is going to go while knowing what happens later on! Also, trying to keep this spoiler-free, but I don't think you will be dissapointed with where Greed Island goes

I love how your willing to listen about how to say certain names some people can’t take any slight trying to be helpful correction in there eyes 🙏🏾

finally york new arc Yayyy

What I find interesting about the characters of Hunter x Hunter is that often, it all comes back to the ancient philosophical question of "what is good?" It really digs in and explores that particular theme. The best revenge story I've ever read in manga has to be Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura. I almost hesitate to recommend it because there is one REALLY triggering scene (I couldn't even stand to look at the pages as it was happening), but the characters were so well-developed and interesting that I kept going anyway. The same guy wrote "Ohikkoshi" (a romantic comedy) and "Luncheon of Tears Diary (Vagabond Shojou Mangaka)" (I'm not sure how to categorize this one-shot, but I LOVED IT).

Hell yeahhhhhh, been waiting for thisssssss

Only seen the show version. Everytime that outro hit I couldn't wait for the next ep. What an arc!

I see Gon a bit different I think his more moral when it comes to the decisions made by him but curious about other people's decisions, he doesn't try to force his way onto others

I think gon has always been a bit different with morals than what it might seem on the surface as i agree with zepile's deduction and i think he's always been like that, as he was very angry with nobunaga as he killed innocent people and cared about his comrades though i don't see how that is any different from killua who is an assasin who cares about his friends and when gon found out about killua he wasn't angry at killua i think cuz it hadn't affected him or the people he cared about and more importantly he was intrigued or more so in this case friends with him so what i gathered from that is that gon doesn't care about morality when it's about people he cares about and things that he is curious about or is very intrigued in Keep in mind that i am not caught up and have only watched the first few episodes of the arc after york new

I love hearing your speculations on a characters development

Oh wow i was already SO happy when I found out you were reviewing One Piece and now to think you've caught up to the Yorktown arc too??? I'll be looking forward for the rest, hope you keep on with the series. I also hope you check out Monster by Naoki Urasawa and Oyasumi Punpun too!

The phantom troupe is one of the coolest groups of people in manga. My desire to become one of the spiders is off the chart.

Ging is considered to be one the best father figure in manga... He is a super cool dude

hunter x hunter is my favourite manga (along with one piece) and i am so glad that you are enjoying both 💕 yorknew city is my favourite arc. i am excited for you to learn about these characters more and what makes togashi so great. his writing style is unique, distinctive, polished and intentional. i can't find it in any author.

York New City was my absolute favorite arc by far. Kurapika is my favorite character, and the troupe is my favorite set of antagonists -- it was just my perfect storm.

Gon's ethics and morals are strange. All he cares about are how people interact with him. From the Hunters to Killua (kid literally has Kill in his name), Gon interacts well with people that interacted well with him, like a mirror. Usually this leads him to people rough on the outside with good on the inside. Killua being the example. Other times, it leads him to people like Hisoka; a murderous animal that recognized Gon as potential fun prey. Anyone in their right mind would stay as far away from Hisoka as possible. But for some reason, since Hisoka did Gon a favor in the Hunter exams and issued him a challenge, Gon doesn't see him as evil but as a challenge to overcome. Idk why he's like this. He did seem to have been raised in the wild by animals, but even animals will be weary of someone like Hisoka. One thing to note is that we rarely hear his internal monologue inside the manga, just like we never really hear Luff think in One Piece. This kid is all action and his actions speak loud.

I really liked Uvogin, especially his line about not needing money. To him, it was pointless since if he wants something, he just takes it anyway..

York New is still my favorite in HxH, and what you are saying about Kurapika is a big part is what made me love it. And the Nen conditions also played a big part. Knowing that the more you restrict a determined ability the stronger it becomes opens SO MANY DOORS that I fell in love immediately, with a system I was already super into

Once again I’m loving your unique perspective, I’m excited for you to cover more manga in the future. Berserk would be a fun departure from Shonen for you to cover.

I don't think power/magic system terminology is that important. It is unambiguously a magic system, the characters are making things happen with an unknown power from inside them. It's magic.

Chrollo Lucilfer is one of best villains in manga. There are parallels between the Phantom Troupe & Jesus with his 12 apostles.

Oh man, I can't wait for you to get deeper into Gon and come back and analyze these scenes through a new lens.

hearing merphy talk about gon's dad like this made feel things