Other arcs: "FINALLY the antagonist died!" This arc:

Crazy how the King died repeating himself, when he stated many times before that he'll never repeat himself. Love changes a person

"Goodnight, meruem." *Loud Happy circus music plays*

Some extra info: The little spark you saw at the end credit scene floating around was Meruem’s spiritual message en. He went blind from the poison, and therefore needed the en in order to see Komugi. Which is poetic how in the end they were both blind, and while he’s struggling to see, Komugi finally gets to feel his face for the first time and “see” what he looks like for the first and last time.

In a previous reaction, you ask for a "cruel death" for pouf. I can't imagine a worse death for him then what he got. At the moment he realized his king had finally became the ultimate being, he rejects pouf's ideology and sides with humans, leaving him alone to die surrounded by the "inferior creatures" he has grown to despise.

Fun fact: Meruem saying “Komugi,are you still there?” is due to him losing his sight and not knowing if she still alive.

Hunter x hunter opening be like: *Ok, I'll let this one slide. But only this time!*

"i'm not gonna cry for an ant" Famous last words

“Am I allowed to be so happy? How can so many wonderful things happen to someone like me?”

A blind girl and an unknown creature... It's very interesting to see the relationship between the two

I remember crying like a baby for hours after this aired.

I loved Pouf’s anticlimactic death because really, Pouf died in the last episode. Despite everything he tried to do Meruem became human; he spares Knuckle and Meleoron, he spares Welfin and recognizes him as an individual despite being defied to his face, and finally he spares Pouf. Even with his power, he is no longer the King who killed an innocent child, or went to kill Komugi in her room that day. Pouf suffered the ultimate humiliation of being spared despite his deception, and he died alone, with Komugi at Meruem’s side instead.

Muerem found his humanity and Gon lost himself to dispair and became a monster…

You got it right, Palm is part ant, that part adores and respects Meruem infinitely (him being the king of the entire species and such) so the KING himself kneeling before her was too overwhelming to the point that she broke her promise

Abi refusing to cry is me when watching any show with my family and friends

Telling you meruem is the best written character in the show for me 😭.

The growth of Meruem is one of the greatest stories. When I saw Meruem for the first time I would've never thought I'd be crying over this character.

"I'm not gonna cry over an ant" Yeah good fkn luck LOL

Someone explained the in-depth symbolism behind Komugi and Meruem on the hxh reddit, and it's utterly beautiful: Episode 135 has so much symbolism that once you understand it more it makes this episode way better. First thing to note, is that the entire gungi match was a reflection of this entire operation that the hunters came up with. So as they are playing gungi, Komugi uses Kokoriko (A gungi technique) Kokoriko, this technique is to win the game by making the king piece isolated Just like Netero and the Hunters were planning to do to Meruem in this operation as Netero took Meruem to an isolated place to kill him. (King piece=Meruem) Remember Meruem used kokoriko in episode 104 but Komugi tells Meruem this Technique is Shiro (Road to Death), which means the Isolated King must die. This reflects the Bomb Netero used to kill Meruem, but then Komugi shows Meruem a new technique to save the isolated king during the match in episode 135. It means that the isolated King doesn't have to die, Now this represents Meruem surviving the bomb, in reality, Meruem wasn't killed by the bomb, but after Komugi uses that technique to save the isolated king, Meruem counter attacks her new move that saves the isolated king, so the new move Meruem used to counter Komugi is symbolizing that isolated king must die after all (due to the bomb's poison) basically saying he can't change his fate no matter what, he will always end up dying. But then Komugi finds a new counter attack to the one Meruem used and said "i'll go with you" meaning the king is not alone anymore, so as Meurem is still trying to win he can't win even once (Meruem couldn't beat kokoriko) it means kokoriko is not not shiro (road to death) anymore, meaning komugi saved the isolated king. Which was beautiful showing that during this whole match Meruem was trying to win against Komugi to basically die alone, finding new moves to win, he was trying so hard to die as kokoriko (An isolated king) but Komugi manages to save the isolated king in each match, and in the end, she saves the isolated king (Meruem) by dying with him. So after this Meruem and komugi start one final game a game that they never finish. 1-5-1 Black King -> 9-5-1 White Lieutenant General. Immediately afterward, they die together, leaving on the board Meruem's one black piece and Komugi's single white piece, together in Gungi forever. This represents that the two were always united through Gungi, and will continue to be together even after death, undisturbed and united for all eternity. Meruem places his piece down, symbolizing his death, and then Komugi responds by placing her piece down next to his, showing that she is perfectly willing to die at his side. So after all this, it shows us he lost everything but gained what he truly wanted. He didn't need any soldiers, palace, countries, power, strength, even his sight (like Komugi), he just wanted to play Gungi with Komugi. Now the black scene towards the end where we could only hear their voices and Meruem asking Komugi if she is still there is due to the Rose's poison, it made Meruem go blind. That's why he has to keep asking Komugi if she's still there because he can't see her anymore. This is ironic because Meruem's name means "the light that illuminates/shines upon all". He even got some godlike light-related photon-based powers before his death (his en and spiritual message), allowing him to fulfill his name. In addition, as they are playing in the bunker before their deaths, Meruem sees a blinding light radiating from Komugi as she "reverses his reversal", making her "the light that illuminates even the all-powerful light". Despite being far weaker (and blind to boot), her light shined far brighter than Meruem's. Then, as Meruem is slowly dying Komugi holds him and feels his head, allowing her to finally "see" or know what his face is like. Thus, as they die, Meruem joins Komugi in blindness as she joins him in death. Meruem can finally see what Komugi has been seeing all along, and knows what it feels like to be blind like her, and Komugi finally knows his face, allowing each other to understand the other more as they fade away (the OST used during their death scene is called "Understanding").

I just like how in the beginning, we are all like, that king ant has to die. And now we’re like, “he doesn’t... have to die”

*Cries over Meruems death* *Loud happy end credit music plays* *Cries harder*

Boi Im not ready for this again...

Well girls this is why hxh is one of the best shonens in the industry....... And the reason why the fans wants togashi recover and returns to draw the manga :'c

This episode never gets any easier 😭

Like how Pitou was glad that Gon used all of his everything on her rather than the King. I'm glad that all the hype went to episode 131 instead of this one because this one is really what I was looking forward the most for you to react to.

Imo Meruem is one of the greatest villains ever. I love his character development so much and this arc as well. It's truly a master piece. It's a shame the anime isn't continuing.

Before anyone copy & pastes that one long corny essay with the wrong interpretation of Kokoriko, here's the obligatory ep 135 comment ; "Kokoriko" Is a defensive Gungi technique that isolates the King / Marshall piece, then using all the other pieces to protect it from the inside against external attacks. Hence reflecting what the Royal Guards did to shield Meruem. It's not "an advanced technique that isolates the King and killing it off"... "just like what Netero and the hunters did" yadayada. Killing the King is the point of these board games to begin with, Gungi as a whole reflects the entirety of this arc, that was the implication from the start. It has nothing to do with what Kokoriko signifies. There's a video on YT that went in depth on the symbolism of Gungi.

The interesting part is how Ants evolved became more human. Take the King for example, he was nothing more than an emotionless beast who only sought power and destruction. But in the end he was the most kind human of all. Meanwhile, Gon did the opposite and became a monster like entity with no emotion and only knew to kill.

One of the many things that had me crying, besides the obvious, was when she asked him, "Do I die after I've addressed you without the honorific?" and he says no, there's no reason for that, but in the end, that's exactly what happened. It's such a beautifully tragic love story.

Mereum went blind at the end there and was using his En to see with those tiny white particles. So Mereum became the same as Komugi at the end there. And Komugi finally got to see what he looked like by touching his face.

Remember Episode 1? Remember a bright, cheery young lad catching a big fish and following his dreams of adventure! ... how did we get here?

Queen Komugi will live in our hearts forever!

Kokoriko symbolized the King's certain death. Kokoriko is a position that garauntees that you lose, and so the King got offended because he thought Komugi did that to lose on purpose and insult him. However, Komugi figured out a way out of it and won. The deeper meaning is that Komugi saved her KING from certain death. I can't.

This is like my tenth times watching this episode and I cry every time

I waited for this epsiode reaction speficially. The character development was what solidified this arc as one of the best. Personal analysis here... the thought of dying alone in complete darkness is a fear that can haunt humanity... The constant calls on whether komugi was there was a cling to remove lonelines imo and seeing that conceptualized visually made me cry... Hearing Komugi ask if this acceptance and happiness is something she could truly have was just pure gut wrenching.... This episode to me was beautiful. Imon didnt disappoint with the reaction i was expecting.... Tears of passion, pain and satisfication wrapped into one... too good. thanks ladies :)

Pouf and Youpi's death were anit-climatic (in a battle-junkie sense) in a way, but dying the way they did was tragic and unexpected.

This episode always makes me cry, it’s one of the reasons I love this anime❤️❤️😭😭

At last,komugi called him “meruemu” ,not “meuemu-sama”. His dream came true just before he died😭

I love how Komugi finally understanded how he looked when she felt his face and meruem understood how Komugi felt when he couldn’t see anymore.

idk why ive been torturing myself to keep watching reactions to this episode because i just keep crying and crying

The protagonist that sought revenge. The antagonist that found peace.

Beggining of the arc: DEATH TO ALL ANTS End of the arc: PLEASE STOP *SOBBING*

The thing you have to keep reminding yourself about these “ants” is how old they are when you’re deciding what to think about them. Their intellect and power does not make them equivalent to adults. Also just how heavily predisposed they are to animal behaviors that for a person would be described as evil. To have even the slightest development in this short of a time period would be an incredible rate of progress given their starting points.

The king went blind. That’s why he kept asking if she was still there.

I like how through out the show, Meruem constantly says that he does not like to repeat himself, yet at the end he tells palm “I shall repeat myself again”. Simply amazing.

This and the last arc are favorite. Meruem & Komugi are such iconic characters.

And there we go. The Chimera Ant Arc: the story of a boy forcing himself to become a monster, and a monster learning to become a man. 131 & this episode were the reason I was saying you should switch to ending on odd-numbered episodes. They're so sad and intense and powerful, and good job on keeping your composure, Abi; I don't cry at a lot of things, and this episode always wrecks me. 18:50 Exactly, Abi. He was all about being flashy and dramatic, and in the end, you don't even get to witness his final moments. He got what he deserved: dying alone, away from the king he spent his time both exalting and scheming against, with no one paying him any mind, losing the wings that had been his power to the wind blowing across the wasteland.

Watching since the beginning, more than one year now, just to see this episode, thank you girls!

I'm not even that big of a fan of HxH, but this scene breaks me everytime. It's one of the reasons I love anime, that it can take you to worlds you could never dream of, and meet characters you be happy and sad for

"I'm not crying over an ant" me ugly sobbing at 3 am

I love how they made the room dark to show how Meruem had lost his vision and was now with Komugi, sharing her blindness. They both passed into the light together too. This is the best shonen arc of all time imo

I watched this anime and read the manga many times but I still cry at this scene and cried watching your reaction to it. I'm glad you liked it, I think it's an amazing anime and arc in specific, so so good!

I cry every time I watch this episode. The story telling and artistry is just too powerful, and you really don't see it coming the first time around.

There's a lot of shows that make me cry when i see a sad scene for the first time and i can resist the tears rewatching it, but this death is so sad and beautiful to me that i just prepared myself to let the tears flow. Also, i know it was a "bad thing" but i just adore Palm as an ant, I love how the King recognized her 🥺

I started the same way as Abby "I'm not crying for an ant!" a few minutes later Meruem goes "Are you still there?" I was just bursting into tears, completely inconsolable! XD

You know its a great show when it makes u cry over the last boss

The first time I watched this I was almost tearing up from the start when Meruem and Palm are talking but the gasp and tears started falling the moment that Meruem started to kneel; it means SO MUCH and it's just so sad to be that desperate that he'd do things outside of his nature.

It always hurt so much when the king say he wasn’t diserve their loyalty, cause it’s true.

It hits me everytime. ;_;

One of the most beautiful moment in anime.

I've watched this entire animation half a dozen times and I still cry every time I watch this episode. I love this anime.

He got to die, in her arms, holding her hand, and hopefully hearing her say his name one last time, without honorifics. So much about this arc with those two fucks me up bad haha, but this especially. Of all the ways to go, it was tremendously beautiful and kind. If I ever gotta cry on cue I'll think of them lol

their are only 2 moments in fiction that make me tear up, the tenth doctors death and this scene

Hunter x Hunter title at the end with the music is such a flex lol

I binge-watched Hunter x Hunter last year but I remember taking a week-long break after this episode. This episode is just so beautiful & sad that it left an impression on me; it reminded me to appreciate the simple yet sublime things in life. Also one of the very few moments where I allowed myself to shed a tear over a show / movie.

Some People bitch about "Where a muh Fights in Hunter x Hunter?!" and i think leaving out such typical Shonen Fights is what made Hunter x Hunter my favorite Anime (It took like 20 Years until something dethroned Berserk for me). We dont got the typical side Characters beating the Royal Guards and MC Powerups to beat the Villain. And i personal liked Meruem more then Gon in the last Episodes of the Show and it hit me like a Truck when i watched 135. Togashi is a fucking Genius in the Way he wrote the Story and the Characters. And dont get me wrong i fucking love Anime Fights, i can watch exploding Bodys all Day like in Fist of the Northstar or Ninja Scroll, but i think not having so many typical (HxH still has enough Fights for me personal) Fights made HxH realy Special. Also Pouf was a great main Villian but i still feel a bit sorry for him, in his mind he was doing the right thing, he thought all he does was in the best interest of the King and only in the end he realized that he fucked up. Damn what a ride, this fucking Episode always drains out every Energy i have. ^^

God, your guys' reactions are actually fucking great, this was such a different thing than you'd usually get in ANY shonen, let alone hxh, but it's so good.

No matter how many times I watch this episode it’ll always makes me cry

To me this is the best episode of the series. Doesnt matter how manny times i see it, it still gets me bawlin. The boy turned monster, the monster turned human. Both ready to give their lives for 1 more minute with a passed loved one. what a show....

Just rip my heart out why don’t you? I had no idea I would feel or even shed a tear for the King. What an amazing arc and twist.

This what you get when you have a gutsy writer who is not scared to make critical decisions in his writing.

such a heartfelt episode 🥺 love u girls

Last part always gets me even when I first read the manga then watched the anime still got me in the feels train

Saw this ahead of time on Patreon and new yall would love their reaction to this episode :)

So their last game had a lot of meaning, Meruem’s play, the “kokoriko”, was all about isolating the king, like his life was, and Komugi’s play was all about coming around the king, as she did, really beautiful

Everybody: I hate the king!!! Mereum: you will love me!!! Everybody: we love the king!!

It is moments like this that are proof beyond all doubt to me that no matter our race or religion, we are all the same deep down inside. The emotions you two have expressed during this 20 minute expression of the human soul, they are one and the same for hundreds of thousands of us. We are the same at the core. No matter how many layers of difference might exist between us on the surface, we are the same at the core.

Saw this episode like 16 times and i cried the first 10, teared the rest. Such a good episode

Greatest love scene of all time!! R.I.P Meruem&Komugi

The more you watch this arc, the more you realise how wonderfully and masterfully everything is interwoven and comes together in the end down to the smallest and seemingly insignificant detail. It's truly is a masterpiece.

I've finished watching this whole anime for the first time in 2015 and after that I've been rewatching it at least 2 o 3 times every year since then. Best anime ever in my opinion.

One of the most emotional moments in all of anime.

This show always hits so hard but from the direction you're least expecting. Yet, somehow. They manage to make it feel right, like it is the only conclusion that makes sense.

I cried manly tears. What an amazing end of the arc.

The post-ending is just "Oh, look at all this emotional knives! They are so neat! Here you go *sounds of repeated stabbing*"

All Hail Togashi!! I've enjoyed this ride, like many of your viewers! This is one of those episodes of a series we wait for both of you to see. Some of us have to subvert your expectations for characters like Meruem .... just so we can see the water works lol 10:31 the moment when Imon's defenses have been breatched and nothing can stop the FEELS from flowing

You gotta keep in mind that he was only alive for 40 days, and he went from a complete monster to morally superior than the entire human race in that short amount of time.

this was actually the episode i waited for you guys to react to. everyone waits for 131 but this one is the one that broke me.

This got me AGAIN! I thought surely I wouldn't get emotional...and yet.

Wow. That “Bounty triple roll” ad right when the emotional stuff started happening REALLY kept my emotions in check. 👍🏻 Close one.

It's like Meruem and Gon's character journeys are a mirror of each other. Meruem goes from Monster to All heart and our 'sweet Son' Gon went from All Heart to a Monster (not evil but someone consumed by anger and rage) * No shame ladies, THIS had a lot of us hysterically crying. MeruemXKomugi forever😫💔

I don't think I'll ever be able to watch this episode without crying.

Something ironic with the Komugi and Meruem ship is that some people are like “KOMUGI IS A CHILD”. The king is like 2 months old😂 But I really don’t see them like romantically loving each other because yeah they are both children. BUT I STILL LOVE THEIR RELATIONSHIP. ITS SO SAD BUT BEAUTIFUL.

God damn it! I told myself I wasn't gonna cry this time 😒😭😭😭

First words of the video "last episode was very powerful" OH BOY we are in for a ride It's always amazing seen how nobody saw this end coming. This is my favorite episode of HxH because it goes where nobody knew this show would, and gives one amazing ending to two great characters (Meruem is one of my favorite characters in all fiction). It also makes the BS moment when Meruem survived against Netero way more acceptable, and totally worth it in the end. By doing that we got both ends of the spectrum to the finale of the arc, the HYPE moments and the FUCKING FEELS

I have watched this episode countless time, but I can't help not crying like a 4 year old kid, jesus.

only Togashi can make us hate a villain who ruthlessly rips a girl's head off and at the other moment we mourn her death ps: love you Imon

131 and 135 , is when i realize... This mangaka is f'ing genius

Ive seen this anime about 10 times, if not more, and every single one, i fucking cry harder than the previous time, at least this time i also laughed because of both of you

After watching this I am determined to teach my kids to never step on ants for my boi Meruem