Hunter x Hunter THEORY: Gon and Meruem - Parallel Journeys
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- The Chimera Ant arc is pretty straightforward in making you sympathize with the "villains" while demonizing the "humans". Gon and Meruem both go through huge changes in their character during this arc, but just how closely are they connected? Here's a hint I didn't mention in the video: Meruem is born, prematurely, on the same day that Gon is forced into a state of Zetsu by Knuckle's IRS.....
Watch as I compare/contrast the below scenes (and more) with Gon and Meruem to show how many of their experiences in the arc are practically identical. I know the two have been compared many times before but I believe this is different enough that many will find this enjoyable:
1. Gon fighting his first few Chimera vs Meruem's first interactions with humans.
2. Gon's fights with Knuckle vs Meruem's Gungi games with Komugi
3. Gon seeing Pitou heal Komugi vs Mereum's conversation with Netero
4. Gon finding out Kite is dead vs Meruem finding out he's going to die.
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THIS IS WHY THE WRITING IN THIS ARC IS SO AMAZING
*Dino, you're wrong. ITS IN THE ENTIRE ANIME*
+shadow YOU'RE RIGHT YOU'RE RIGHT
I love you
+Rhymestyle OMFG RHYMESTYLE YOUR HERE LMAO
I feel like I'm the only one who thinks that the writing is extremely basic ._.
They both also cared about people with white hair
Sunshine N Smiles gon didn't thought of killua for a single second
Somtochukwu Ekenyem i knew that, just mentioned killua also has white hair
DaRk DrAgoN 17 omg twin
Neraz
lol
+DaRk DrAgoN 17 If you knew he was talking about Kite, why bring up Killua? xD I call bullshit on that.
If Gon acts like this when he's told Kite is dead. Imagine if Killua was to die, bye bye Earth.
Imagine mito-san doe
Why not both
Imagine togashi dead
@@xl_hatake1075 JAILLLLL
Kilua fanboy detected 😁😁😁
This isn't a theory. It's an analysis.
The theory, which I didn't state too clearly looking back, was supposed to be that all of these similar and contrasting scenes where absolutely the intention of the author. That's why I pose the question at the end if you guys thought it was intentional or some were just coincidence.
TalesOfNerdia It's much more just an analysis. An interpretation and dissection of what the show presents. If you titled it as such you would also get more people who are looking for this type of video and as such more viewers. I just think it was badly titled. Great video though.
I'm always trying to improve my tags, titles, thumbnails, etc so I definitely appreciate the feedback. I'll consider these more carefully for future vids. Glad you like the content :)
TalesOfNerdia I hadn't really thought about this until this video. I haven't ever had a need to truly analyse HxH and I have so many things to do I didn't think I could take the time to do it simply for my own enjoyment and for a better understanding. However, I will watch any video on the topic if I see it in my subscriptions or recommended page.
Excellent.
*Meruem someone who took care of an helpless blind girl gets blind and helpless himself at the end and asks Komugi every second "are you still here?" while dying in her arms.*
I cried too brother. Harder than I ever have.
Anthony Turner i think everyone cried like a bitch lol
This was the only time I ever rooted for the bad guy ;(
Some Guy Meruem wasn't the bad guy tho
it was Just his responsiblitiy as the king
UGH THE ENDING HIT ME WITH THE FEELS AGAIN.
komugi. are you still there?
HAI, I sure am. I'm not going anywhere. :'(
i think im gonna take a short nap..
:(
Good Boy Milo I just finished yesterday😭
I was crying for two hours I still can’t 😭😭😭😭🥺
@@ScoobySnax. same lmao
And this is why an author taking their time is a good thing.
It's just that the issue with HxH hiatuses is that Togashi (the mangaka) is kinda old to be drawing weekly manga and he has had tons of health issues, mostly with his back.
I can understand the hype, but I'd rather he be alive to finish it than dead and other people writing it for him, or worse, leaving it unfinished (which is unlikely since he already left a rough plan about how he wants it).
He is certainly not old, but 51 years is old enough to make drawing manga a harsh task. If you understand at least a bit of how difficult it can be for some mangaka to keep a weekly serialization, you know how taxing it must be for a 51yo with serious back issues.
I'm not sure how you interpreted my statement ojf him being too old to draw weekly manga, but I meant it as in it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with a job like that as you age (as in many other jobs).
LiGht YaGami You do know that drawing manga is different from whatever miscellaneous task a normal salaryman has to deal with, right? You might not know if you haven't experienced it, but drawing is a much more taxing task than writing on a computer (or by hand, too). I've never made manga, but I used to draw A LOT when I was younger, and even the simple task of sitting mostly still while trying to draw as best as possible for a couple of hours or even just one hour straight can be very tiring. If just that is tiring, I can't help but shudder at the thought of having to abide by a strict deadline every week, and let's remember that manga isn't just about drawing, but writing too. I don't think there's a shonen manga as well written as HxH.
The drawing quality is inconsequential; it's not like he is purposely holding back and can make better drawings if he puts more time or effort. It doesn't work like that. The amount of effort he puts in his drawings may be as big or even bigger than some other mangaka with bettter artstyles like Kubo Tite or Tosh, yet the results are as seen. I have friends who can effortlessly fork out an awesome drawing that I would have to spend hours on, or maybe not even be capable of pulling off.
Well, I'm digressing, but the point is that you're seeing things in a very simplistic manner, what with equating salaryman work with mangaka work when you might have not even experienced any (I'm aware I could be wrong about that, but it's kinda telling when you talk like that).
Also, I don't understand why people doubt Togashi's health issues being true, like, seriously? There's few people as dedicated to their work as him, and he even tries his hardest to fork out at least as most chapters as possible. He even (allegedly) went as far as hiring assistants (which he allegedly almost never used before) and (allegedly) letting his wife help with his work and entrusting her with it's conclusion should something happen to him. If that doesn't tell about his commitment to his work and his fans, I don't know what does.
Again, drawing manga is more demanding than playing a simple game... and yeah, I know how cancerous the HxH fanbase can be.
And drawings matter, but that's completely besides the point. I merely stated that the artstyle quality is inconsequential when factoring time and effort put into the manga.
But even so, HxH isn't a generic run-of-the-mill manga.
LiGht YaGami I dont disagree with you on the generic part. But damn is it impressive how well they create such original plot and interesting characters based on this "cliché." Also, you cannot simply describe your opinion on an art style with the word "bad." I dont like Gon's design and a few other ones but you need to be more descriptive and more objective when u judge art man
Great foreshadowing I noticed was when Netero first met Gon & Killua and they played ball during the exam. Netero used only his left arm and right leg. And later, in Netero's fight against Meruem, he lost his left arm and right leg #mindblown
At this point you could be overthinking things xD. But yeah, I guess in the first instance of the ball game, it shows how tough the old man is. Then in the fight, it shows how easily he could ACTUALLY be killed
It's more likely that Togashi looked back on that and decided to make that nod, mangaka do stuff like that all the time.
Another little detail that makes this fight so well written is the details of Netero and Meruems deal. The king must force Netero to admit defeat.
As in, Netero made Meruem take the final (non-hidden) Hunter test. The hunter chairman beat the ant king by using one of the oldest tricks in his book!
wing also asks himself if hes created or awoken a monster when he trains gon at heavens tower ;)
Hamza Cynic maybe thise are his strong arm and leg, and Meruem, knowing how crazy efficient he is, targeted them
I always regarded the chimera ant arc as one the most well written and overall best arcs in anime history.
*In Fiction history
Yorknews very close there as well, which has my hopes high for the Dark Continent arc, which it seems like will be the last or the 2nd to last arc.
Yeah but they could've made it about 1.5x faster in the anime and it would've been about 300 times better. I'm okay with the slow-mo.. I'm okay with it not being OPM-crazy style of constant fights.. I can even stand most of the narrator.. but when they repeat the same shit for minutes when they switch to a different fight/character, it's just fucking LAZY. And when the narrator states what is extremely obvious it's just so fucking obnoxious. They could've done SO much better.. hell, they just have to re-edit what they have and they can make something truly amazing and rewatchable.
thats because they had to extend the anime because the manga arc was still being finished by the author.
Sayuru Elaiyakumaran only problem is a lot of episode is spent to 3 minutes
Another parallel.
When Meruem is healed, he becomes immensely powerful and dies shortly after.
When Gon is healed, he loses the ability to use Nen and becomes weaker but lives on.
Nice! I stopped the analysis at the end of the arc but guess I should have looked further. To add to your parallel, look at the panels in chapter 333 and 339 of Killua holding Gon's hand and Komugi holding Meruem's hand: 66.media.tumblr.com/13eda11d0d78345b0def603fc5a063b9/tumblr_inline_npnkawTcnT1qd8pxx_1280.png
good point
Aether Veilborne but he gets nen back
@@ogjogi4506 when
@@noneofyourbusiness3096 alluka removed the restriction Gon placed on himself, he just has to reawaken it. I mean he is the main character
If only they had an interaction with each other
every life has it's regrets.
The one "interaction" they had was of Gon seeing him from afar
***** That wasn't really an interaction. Got didn't really think about it too much and Meruem didn't even see Gon, and that's my point
parallel
waddup with that rage
Another set of reasons as to why the Chimera Ant Arc is one of the greatest arcs in anime period. Great video, instant like.
To me the ark was too long and got boring midway
The Pope Never heard that before
The Pope I had stopped for awhile after the first 2 episodes of the arc, but after about 10 episodes into the arc I binge watched it like craz.
This is my favorite arc along with the york shin city, that was something out of this world, best shounen i have watched without a doubt.
The King while it is indeed one of if not THE greatest arc in anime history, I will agree that it was too long. The narrator overdescribed everything that was going on. "AND AS YOU CAN SEE, GON IS WAITING FOR PITOU TO FINISH HEALING. HE JUST TOOK A BREATHE. HE JUST TOOK ANOTHER BREATH" I think the narrator potentially ruins it imo.
Mind blown! Togashi is a genius!
What are you doing here, Filthy Frank?
Too bad he's bad in health and can't figure out how to write HXH without falling ill. I think he used to smoke and drink and is now an old man because this plot was written back in the 90's/early 2000s. Plus sitting for too long is bad for your health in many ways, and as an illustrator and author, he has to do that for longer much longer than normal.
Also the ending song of this arc is called ''Two sides of the same coin''.
The entire songs were one big foreshadow if you read the lyrics.
HOLY Shi- 💀
Almost cried in the end. What a great series. Thank you for this video
You're welcome, glad you liked it. I almost cut the ending short but just couldn't, it's too beautiful.
Me too. "Maybe Netero was wrong" struck a chord in me, and I felt sadness pang throughout. God damn.
What on fuck are you doing here? I watch your Naruto mod videos
almost-? BRO- I CRIED LIKE ANYTHING PLEASE ITS THE SADDEST THING EVER IM STILL CRYING WTH
A monster was made into a human when he found the right person
A human was made into a monster when he lost his.
To sum up this video, Togashi is a genius and HXH is freaking awesome.
4 years late but facts
mid x mid buddy
@@majin903 fatherless behavior
@@confusedxander5975 dont compare you’re experiences to me you social reject 🥸
@@majin903 How is it Mid?
This has changed my view of this entire arc. So good. Can't bvelieve I never saw this before. Man HunterxHunter is so good!!
What was your view prior?
I read it in the manga first and thanks to the hiatuses I had plenty of time to go back and read the chapters. I was nowhere near as detailed as this video, but by the time I was done with the arc the only way I could look at it was Meruem went from evil being like a innocent child and gon went from innocent child to evil unfeeling beast. I'd like to know some other outlooks though.
Damn mind blown. If I'm not mistaken the 2 characters never encountered each other too
Gon saw Meruem from a distance, and that was that
Yeah just from distance but he never focused on him
Mr Bushido as gon was looking at meruem we could already see his anger and the black aura around him. But his main "focus" was pitou
when he saw the king, he realized he can't do anything against the king
what's really nice about the two comparisons is that when Gon unleashed he full potential he was equal to Meruem in power, but he had to lose his humanity in order to do so.
I never wached a show that made had so many confuse feelings. First I hated the ants...then i was disgusted by them... then i started to like them and hated myself for it. Then i felt sorry for them and realized... They where not monsters... they where the human victims who died in a circle of death and rebirth. I even felt sorry for Pitou and for a moment... i hated Gon, when he killed her. For me, this ant arc... There was no villains. There was just pain.
I get what u mean but what Pitou did , anyone in gone place would wanna kill him
The genius of the arc is in showing that even monsterous humans (which is what most of the ants are) are still human, even the most evil person isn't one dimensional. The king killed countless people and intended to kill the majority of humanity, even at the end of the arc. He was capable of loving and caring for another, yet still commited to a horrible path. This is the dichotomy of people doing immoral things, they're still people with their own hopes and dreams.
Importantly, this doesn't minimize the damage their immoral actions cause and will cause. The fact that the king and pitou didn't feel remorse for their actions is why they ultimately had to die. Take the king's death scene and amplfiy it a billion fold, and you'd get a taste of what he had in store for the world and humanity. Being a human capable of love and empathy doesn't give you leeway to take other's lives without consequence
The king also had a moment of remorse saying how if he was like this before things may have turned out diffetently.
Pitou literally planned on killing Gon. You still feel bad for her more than a child whose been through hell?
@@justsomegirlwithoutamustache It appears you have misunderstood my words. It's was not about hating one or the other. And if you really think that Pitou was evil, I suggest you watch it again. This time pay attention.
Komugi= White Hair
Kite = White Hair
Killua= White Hair
Pitou= White Hair.... WHUT?????
zeno=white hair
Kite in the 1998 JUMP special OVA: blue hair
Kite in the 1999 anime: brown hair
Komugi in the colored manga: brunette hair
Pitou in the colored manga: blonde hair
Netero has white hair
Isn't that just gray?
not in the non colored manga
the only thing I hate about this is that it's not so much longer, AMAZING video my friend !
h
JerryHasGame i hate the part where the narrator is narrating every fucking thing
Well, i think that if it was longer it would have been dragged out.
Something else too!
When Gon lost his will to care about the person he was trying to save (Kite), he gained enough power to kill Meruem as Pitou said.
When Meruem gained the ability to care about someone deeply (Komugi), he lost the power to kill other living things easily like when he wanted to talk to Netero, his opponent.
Meruem never lost anything. Netero was just strong
+The visitor101
I didn't say that Meruem lost. He did in fact live while Netero didn't. I'm just saying that instead of fighting, Meruem wanted to have an open and honest conversation.
LolerioNark about Gon, when he gained power he attacks pitou at the head
I do believe it was this anime they were saying you need to abandon your humanity or you will never beat them and what you just said made me realise when Gon lost his will to live he lost his humanity and therefore was strong enough to beat Meruem
There's also the parallels with how their arcs concluded. Meruem died painlessly, as if falling asleep. Gon lived, but in utter agony (at least until he was wished back).
thats beautiful
Pretty sure dying from radiation poisoning is really painful as your body literally melts
Probably meant like died happily, or satisfied.
cicii
@@JM-po5hu I don't think radiation poisoning alone affects chimera ants let alone the King. I believed the miniature rose(the nuke) had a property of rendering its victims incapacitated slowing taking away their sight, hearing, speech and sensory organs making the body numb until the body just shuts down. If it didn't we would have seen Meruem and Komugi writhing in pain.
Also, after their fights, they have opposite effects: Gon loses his nen but lives and Meruem gets the strongest nen ever but dies.
Aaaah, I didn't think of that. Thanks for pointing that out.
ficici
I love that their final moments in the arc were completely the opposite: While Meruem died in peace as teen in love for the first time, feeling true happiness with the Komugi, Gon "died" in anger, guilty and profund sadness.
Killua: Gon you are light. Sometimes you shine so brightly I must look away (looks away)
Queen of Ants: Meruem, it means light that illuminates all (proceeds to stare directly to light)
I think, the reason why Gon got so angry at Pitou during their encounter (when she healed Komugi), was that he subconsiously knew that the moral momentum was on Pitou's side. But that scene is really similar to his fight against the bald ninja, when he took the hunter exam. Only, that Pitou played his part, and he was the menacing enemy. His opponent then also got angry because Gon had the moral momentum. The broken arm is another similarity.
Woah, that's a great comparison I never thought about.
Wow! nice analysis
I also like to see this as gon not wanting to be like the ants and killing people because he felt like it, in that moment pitou redeemed her action of killing kite by saving komugis life and killing her would make gon the villain. So he wanted pitou to lie to him about being able to save kite so he could justify killing her without being morally wrong
Who ever found this comment have the best day of your life
Meruem is one of the best characters ever created, I love great villains. Hunter x Hunter best anime forever.
I completely agree!
Could you put a link to the image of gon and meruem mirroring each other in the description or something?
Not sure why he is when he barely started to be the villain
I'm not sure he is the villain when most of the dark deed was done by the queen and her soldiers... He didn't exactly plan this.... It's a situation he was forced into
He is a grown up baby who was learning outside of his programming as a king of the ant but he doesn't exactly know what to do as a king
Also the humans in him are more dominant than the ant
Yup besto shonen
The human becomes a monster, and the monster becomes human. Both are only children.
It was really interesting to me how even though Meruem was the “bad guy” he was the one that wanted to talk it out, while Netero went as far as baiting Meruem with his name just so he could fight him. And throughout the whole fight Meruem was mostly appreciating Netero’s abilities and enjoying the fight, while Netero was mostly belittleing Meruem.
Netero had a job to do, he had to take out Meruem by any means necessary, he even said he should make it quick because he might start to have empathy for him.
Meruem and komugi's final moments is the Most Heartwarming yet saddening thing in history of anime, never ever felt like this, this arc is a masterpiece, a masterpiece that hasn't been matched yet, i've watching anime for 5 years now and never I came across an anime / arc that took me to the journey of emotions, it was saddening to see gon in that state, it was like we all felt same as Killua.
It's confusing that when kite was killed I was really angry at pitou and yet I wasn't satisfied by her death, that's some good writing, I don't know if I felt bad for pitou or gon or kite at that point.
Togashi is just above everyone else. That guy is more than a genius.
@@louayker4249 💯
I do think that Gon and Meruem were definitely intended to go through mirrored character arcs, and in that way contrast each other. In a way, at the end of this arc, Gon ended up in the place Meruem started, while Meruem ended up in the place Gon started. This entire arc shows the protagonist on the heroes' side turning into a villain, while the protagonist of the villains' side becomes a hero. Togashi loves reversing these two roles. Knowing Togashi, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd carefully planned out all the points you brought up, since he was writing this arc for literal years, taking his time with the story and its progression, especially character-wise. Though, some of these may very well be coincidences, but brilliant nevertheless, because they fit so well and make sense.
A very good analysis indeed, I enjoyed watching it and thinking about all this again, as I've just recently rewatched HXH.
On an unrelated note, will I EVER stop crying over Meruem and Komugi? LOL impossible. A single look at THAT scene and I am in tears...
Alexandrina I wouldn't say Gon turned into a villain
Atomic Void threatening to kill a blind and innocent person who is on the brink of death and nothing to do with you is what a villain would do to black mail the hero in other sources of entertainment.
LynxKnows Gon didn’t know if she was innocent it looked like a enemy healing there comrade
From Gon's perspective why would a monstrous ant help a human being. The one who killed Kite no less. It looked fishy as fuck to him. For all he knew, Komugi could have been have been some kinda ace up the ant's sleeve. Remember Alluka? Would explain why Pitou did everything to save her.
@@lynxknows7911 to Gon it was so unfair
Why now and not back then
The situation reversed on them
Gon may have said those but he didn't mean it or else he would just have killed her like pitou did to Kite
aahh this is great!!!
this makes me so sad :( i hope you're drawing amongst the stars right now
You're the netero of hxh youtube community
That's the greatest compliment I've ever received. THANK YOU!!! I've cosplayed as Netero before too. It's on my twitter you just gotta scroll down 3 or 4 posts: twitter.com/Tales_of_Nerdia/media
+TalesOfNerdia Well deserved, my room mate saw me watching this and actually started watching the series as I write this reply. I never thought of it this way, but had I not known about HxH and seen your video, I would have been highly intrigued to explore the anime myself since you present it in the most inviting fashion that sparks interest in the HxH universe! Great job & keep going!
+TalesOfNerdia Let's just hope you don't meet Meruem
@Мотхер Фуцкер is that a joke?
As a guy that watched HxH 2011 four times and currently re-watching again, i only managed to see some of these points after my 3rd watch.
What do you mean 'as a guy'?
guy as in person, he wasn't trying to point out him being male.
Danen3 TRIGGERED!!!
Triggered how?
Danen3 Look at your comment. It probably wasn't your intention but you sound like a feminazi. You look like you took what he said out of context.
gon basically turned into the king and the king turned into gon
I just realise that Meruem and Gon both "died" in their battle but also won as well. Meruem beat Netero but got killed by the bomb inside Netero's chest. He was then revive by Pouf and Youpi. Gon almost died after fighting Pitou since he gave up his nen and only survive because of nanika.
Gon ended his battle weaker than before, losing his nen but at least surviving while Meruem ended his battle being stronger than before but ultimately dying.
Why Gon and Meruem never met is beyond me
I don't see the point of that,
Just fighting pitou took a lot from him
@@williamthekiller7219 they don't need to fight just have a debate or something
@@thirdplanet4471 lol... You still expect them to fight
Netero and Meruem did debate and still fought
And that's not Gon's goal with all the hate and anger compiling within himself
And not sure what Gon would debate over except his policy of no killing... Although he killed pitou
Not sure he's in the position to lecture someone
@@williamthekiller7219 no l don't expect them to fight
@@thirdplanet4471 that's you but Gon would still fight him if Kite didn't happen
Two more parellels:
in the first hyori ittai ending, when the animation shows the coins flipping in the air, the first one shows meruem with komugi (which is the person meruem cares about the most), the second one shows gon and killua (which is the person that gon cares about the most), and the third one shows Pitou and netero (meruem and gon’s opponent)
The other one is when meruem fought netero, netero set off an explosion after losing his arm as the killing blow. and when gon fought pitou, gon set off an explosion after losing his arm as the killing blow.
Losing/breaking an arm is like the go to symbolism for self sacrifice and stubborn recklessness
Also I guess you could point out, that Gon started off pitying his "weakness" and Meruem started off celebrating his "brute strength", but in the end the poison deprives Meruem of his brute strength, and Gon achieves his brute strength in that transformation
Two characters with so much in common. Two people becoming the opposite of one another. Two souls that never once met.
Close but not really....
this Anime made me cry.
Me too, several times 😥
me too, don't be ashamed, beautifully written
it's a shame what's happening 2 it rn
Amazing stuff and well thought out. I fucking love Hunter x Hunter so much, and even more after having watched this.
You deserve a Hunter license.
SPEEDWAGOOOON!!! Thanks. I actually printed "business cards" that look like a hunter's license with all my social media accounts on it to pass out at conventions lol.
Togashi > Oda
This is obvious, even a half completed Hunter X Hunter is better then all of One Piece. Togashi is just the better writer...BY FAR.
I had this hunch by York -shin- New, but felt this way without a doubt by the time Chimera Ant had just begun
Not really. One Piece lost it's steam after they entered the New World.
The anime indeed did around there
oda's the better author however
Miura >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>togashi>oda>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>mashima
It's amazing how much growth Meruem had as a character during his short life.
Arguably more than our 'protagonist' Gon, who was more and more moving away from his humanity, and whose naivety gave way to darker emotions.
If there's one thing that I feel is often overlooked, it's Pitou after she is finished healing Komugi. She does go with Gon to Peijing, but right when she gets that call from Pouf saying that they've got Komugi (a lie), she had ample reason to disregard the promise and kill Gon immediately.
Rather than killing him, however, she goes with him and tells him the truth. It shows that she wanted to uphold her promise even though she KNEW he was an enemy she needed to kill to protect Meruem, making it all the more tragic when Gon lets the monster consume him.
"Are you still there, Komugi?"
Man, I cried ...
I almost cried to thatbut the happy music that started playing JUST AFTER THAT made me laugh
I don't think the parallels were accidental, either. Reminds me a lot of Aang and Zuko's journey to fullfilling their destinies, and how intertwined they were. It's really badass, when this kind of thing happens. It's really tragically uncommon.
Of course they weren't accidental, the ants represent the primal animalistic parts of a human, while gon and his comrades represent the higher levels of humanity and thinking and how these aspects interact and can change as people age. I believe it was netero who made a comment about gone saying he was scared he might have awakened a monster, as he had once been too.
"I'm a nameless King... in a borrowed castle." God I love this show so much, meruem is king!
Togashi is a genius
man you fucked my brain so hard, best video i have seen in years
amazing video, totally worth to be liked, shared, andsubscribed for
Thanks you so much!
+TalesOfNerdia pitou wasnt the first ant with nen- it was the ant who was Hit by gon
Sorry if I wasn't clear. What I meant was it was the first ant they encounter that can consciously use nen. Rammot gains awareness of nen after their encounter and they don't see him again until after Kite's death.
+TalesOfNerdia no Problem ;) i Just want to say it (bis name is rammot) but i really like your hxh theory Videos please Go on with this ;) sorry abaut my Bad english
When Kite told Gon that "You must crush the head" when they first encountered Chimera Ants, it came full-circle when Gon faced Pitou where he continually crushed her head
Legit? That final scene with Komugi and Meruem made me cry.
I just realized Gon and Meruem never never met each other. I mean, they rly didn't have to but still. Main Protagonist, Main Antagonist.
Gon did watch him from afar though back when Meruem was along Killuas grandpa and Netero.
I almost just started crying watching this thinking about how Mereum says he was born for this moment to die to w Komugi and indirectly saving the world… Incredible show
the fact that gon and meruem are literally the two sides of the same coin makes the chimera ant arc a lot better. The way they're both literal children, not knowing what's right and wrong, pure curiosity, their strength, and EVEN THE WAY THEY SIT lol.
"There is a fine line between good and evil" this message perfectly sums up their characters and Togashi's perfect portrayal of this message to this masterpiece of an arc is amazing
Close but not really
@@williamthekiller7219 wdym?
@@sciki5533 on the surface what you say might make sense...but it's not simple as that
@@williamthekiller7219 bc it does make sense, the ed hyori ittai basically said humans and monsters are two sides of the same coin. Togashi conveyed this message pretty well in the arc
@@sciki5533 @sciki I do not disagree with you there
But the parallel argument between Gon and Meruem just doesn't sit well with me.... I agree with some of the contrasting comparisons you make between them since it was designed that way...
Meruem as a villain....how it came to be was questionable
It was not his sin the queen and her soldiers killed and consumed those humans
Meruem was searching for his identity...like netero said he's wavering between his ant side and human side
Probably the best reason why Gon can't meet him because even with Kite dead....he won't be able to find a reason to fight him... And Meruem won't fight unless provoke
All these build up just to see them discussing their ideology if it was Gon who was there instead of netero
And Gon might be a kid and he doesn't fully know the depths of evil
I disagree with you.... He's fully aware if he's doing bad things... That's the source of his naivete after all
Oh damn.. Just looking at the final part of your video, of the flashback of all the times Komugi and Meruem had made me tear up.. Literally the most an anime has EVER made me cry.. This was an amazing anime, and an amazing video. I seriously had not noticed any of these comparisons, or rather differences between these two characters while watching the anime, I was too focused on each individual's storylines
Meruem still planned on using humanity as a larder for the ants, just cause he'd grown to value some humans doesn't make him a good guy. As for Gon he lost his temper after being told Pitou could help Kite and finding out that wasn't true, how does that make him the villain of the story now?
Your right, gon killed many violent ants while Meruem killed hopeless, unprepared humans. Mereum can't be forgiven as he doesn't care for the majority of the human population. Life under his rule would be horrible, where certain humans get treated better than the rest. How can anyone really sympathize with him?
Hossain Ali this was before his realisation(s). Gon threatened to kill an innocent blind girl because he couldn't get his way... how heroic of him...
Douglas Tarbox that's what he said before he remembered komugi
Hossain Ali Not if your a chimera ant, life would be fine. Meruem looks out for the survival of his species without much regard for humans except as a source of food, Similar to the way humans eat other animals to survive.
@@lynxknows7911 not really
He said those out of anger..because the situation was reversed and Gon said it was so unfair
Many people say mean things when they are angry... If they are really evil, they would have acted on it instead of saying it
Gon's situation was more extreme
He's seen her and them kill like it's nothing but why now and not back then
Im not ashamed to say this but 3 years ago when i first watchted this anime I cried when both komugi and meruem died I cried so hard I get so attached to characters and it honestly felt like my heart would break I have a problem if I i get that attached but i couldn't help it
Same here, no shame. It still gets me when I rewatch, especially when Reina reunites with her mother 😧😥
I love you nerdia, thanks for this awesome video.
Usually in shows you have the main protagonist and antagonist fight but this one is special, as you know, because they never fight or come in contact with each other but tell each other’s stories in reverse. Meruem goes from being bad to good while Gon goes from good to bad. Overall I’m really glad Togashi didn’t make it like every other show where the two main characters of a story fight to conclude the story. Idk just think it’s cool how he do it lol
Also... if you think about it... Pitou, Pouf, and Youpi are pretty similar to Gon's 1st friends when starting his journey. Pitou resembles Killua, Pouf resembles Kurapika, and Youpi resembles Leorio.... I mean just look at the hair color.
Meruem ripped off his arm out of respect for Komugi, and Gon let Pitou take his arm out of anger and vengeance.
scene where Netero strikes a deal with Meruem:
Netero will tell the Ant King his name if he makes him 'admit defeat'
but even after losing two limbs and running out of aura, Netero never planned on admitting defeat.
You could refer this to the scene where Gon is fighting Hanzo and he just doesn't admit defeat despite that he's absolutely losing.
Mind blown I honestly never thought of this when I watched this series & I've seen this series going on 3-4 times now its always been interesting I never knew why it had more to it than character developments & fighting scenes I guess in general you'd have to really think about it ina deep state to see why this is such a good anime & this goes to show it definitely in the chimera ant arc
There's also some idiosyncrasies you can find in the manga which the anime left out
meruem
Gon
Just finished watching all your videos.. Lol any plans for berserk?
I've only read up to chapter 306 so I'll need to catch up, or even reread the whole thing before I do any videos because I'm not as knowledgable about the series. I do really like it though so it's possible, just not soon.
cool
Zeathorn
This arc killed me;;; My heart was crushed, but I was also happy that Komugi and Meruem got to be together forever.
Dude this is a really well put together video. Kudos!
Great video dude! This makes me want to rewatch Hunter x Hunter 2011 now. Although, I wish Leorio had more screen time :/ That's really my only probably with Hunter x hunter.
Thank you! He comes back eventually. Are you caught up on the manga? There's only 21 chapters after the anime but you'll get to see more Leorio at least.
Sadly no. I'm not the biggest fan of reading but I did finish Uzumaki, which is a great horror manga if you haven't read it. Anyway, if I read the current chapters of Hunter x hunter would I miss much because I've only seen the 2011 anime.
Leorio's even better in the manga. The anime sorta dumbed him down
YoodiHoshi is right. I'm reading the manga in full right now and already in the first two volumes he is better than his anime version.
If you start at chapter 340 you'll be right where the anime left off. The 2011 anime did a really good job with the story even if there are several bits here and there than were changed or left out. Overall there isn't any huge details that come to mind that were missing.
I just realized, netero didn't tell Meruem that he had defeat the old man. Rather the king had to make Netero 'admit defeat', which would make things difficult for the ant King.
A call back to the Tournament arc, when the hunter candidates had to do the same.
Beyond strength of his nen, I believe this is what makes Netero dangerous. The ability to get inside his opponent's head, and to switch off his humanity.... For the sake of humanity.
Dude, this theory fucked me up. Hell man. How did I fail to see the parallels?
some people say they hate or think that gon was an asshole bu to me i liked his character development more than any other shounen main character who does not kill even if it is absurd.......aka naruto! if i was in gon place i would have done the same thing, i would have got a clouded mind that is full of rage and lust for revenge and i would have done anything in my power to do that! for the ant king i liked him by the ending and it was actually pretty difficult not to get emotional
Two sides of the same coin 🤔
Good reason why the Chimera Ant Arc is peak Shonen writing
It's interesting to think that gon barely even encountered meruem
I just recently discovered this video, so i'm maybe late for the party. But, following that train of analysis, they are additionnal points that reinforce the duality between Meruem and Gon that hasn't been shown in this video.
For example both Gon and Meruem fought Netero, both times with Netero giving a reward if both managed to beat him ; for Gon it was the hunter license if he could catch the ball Netero got a hold on, for Meruem his name, if he could make Netero admit defeat :
In case of Gon, he initially wasn't alone trying to beat Netero, Killua Zoldyck was with him, however Killua ended up giving up after he realised that they could never beat Netero, which he underlined with the comment _"Have you not realized yet ? The old man [Netero] __*__"hasn't even used his right leg and left hand until now"_* Then Gon, realizing that Killua was right, decided to switch from Netero's objective of _"catching the ball"_ to his own personnal objective _"make Netero use his right leg and left hand"_ , which he succeeded to do. Even if that wasn't what Netero originally agreed upon, Netero, instead of granting Gon his hunter license, decided to call the pilot of the Zeppelin they were into and tell him to slow down - giving an alternative, "gentle" reward for Gon, that Netero simply thought of on the spot.
Also, since they were into a Zeppelin, Gon fought Netero *in the sky*.
In case of Meruem, it was Netero that initially wasn't alone with Zeno Zoldcyk (Killua's Grandfather) carrying him to the location where the duel would take place (with his Nen ability), then left them both to their own end. Just like with Gon, Netero baited Meruem into fighting. But this time Netero was the challenger, Meruem being undoubtly stronger. Eventually, Meruem cornered Netero *_"tearing his right leg then left arm"_* to make that statement clear. Then, after seeing Meruem withstanding his ultimate attack, Netero admitted defeat and told Meruem his name... and the Rose - giving an alternative, "cruel" reward for Meruem, that Netero had prepared for all along
Also, since they were underground, Meruem fought Netero *in the Earth*.
¤¤¤¤
Keeping on that train of thought, one could even say that Netero is for Meruem a sort of reflection of what Hisoka is to Gon. Both Netero and Hisoka enjoy strong opponent :
Hisoka is ready and willing to look after Gon's growth, even taking hits at his hands ; Netero was ready and willing to fight Meruem, doing everything to not take a single hit as much as possible.
Both aren't afraid of dying in the attempt. Both being selfishly driven in their motivation and modus operandi.
Gon encountered Hisoka through coincidence. Gon then took upon the opportunity to repay Hisoka for his punch during the exam.
Meruem encountered Netero through plannification. Meruem didn't look forward fighting Netero at all, even willing to sit and discuss instead.
Both Gon and Meruem are sought after by Hisoka and Netero.
Hisoka prevailed over Gon at the top of the heaven's arena battle tower ; a place filled with people.
Netero lost against Meruem in a vast underground tomb ; a place completed devoided of people.
Hisoka won after over Gon after landing three critical hits - two punches that Gon couldn't avoid and send a rock flying at Gon's face by tricking him to look the other way. An unexpected move that Gon lost to. Gon himself, in contrast, managed to only deliver one critical punch on Hisoka.
Netero lost after having taken three hits from Meruem - loosing his right leg and left hand at Meruem's will, the third when Meruem withstood Netero's Hyakushiki's Zero, that was appearing in Meruem's back. An unexpected move that Meruem didn't lose too.
After his fight with Hisoka, Gon came down of the *Heaven's* arena ; alive and well.
After his fight with Netero, Meruem rose up from the *Earth* tomb ; near death.
Gon had to power up in order to get to the last floor of the Tower before Hisoka could allow him to enter ; learning Nen with Killua and Zushi, under the tutelage of Wing. Gon was a student.
Meruem powered up after beating his Netero in the Tomb ; resurrecting after Pufu and Youpi litteraly comitted their life and flesh for him, giving him Wings. Meruem was a master.
And that isn't even all. But i'll stop there because this post already took a bit too long to write...
I'm glad there is people out there that saw the parallel structure of this arch. You actually found more contrast than I did, and I love you for that
Togashi is simply a genius
The most dangerous man is the one who has nothing to lose
This change in Gon actually pissed me off because he didnt seem to care about anything or anyone else. I wouldnt have minded if Gon had taken something away from the experience but he was in a coma after the arc and when he got healed he. just seemed to act as if nothing happened. Idk was just kinda dissapointing to me.
He felt better knowing Kite was still with them, and also lost his Nen capability
That made it all the better and intresting Gon is not perfect and is still growing so it was understandable
RetroMonkeySage he can't use Nen anymore
this is interesting shows how most humans act after someone got killed.
RetroMonkeySage I completely disagree, I love how Gon became a compete badass
I think it's also worth noting that Meruem's change came after he knew he was going to die. He started forgiving people for not doing what it's right to him way before reading Palm's thoughts, so in the end Meruem's human side prevaled after his fight with Netero, which, ironically, is what sentenced him.
If we wrote papers like this in high school I would’ve liked English but we spent so much time studying “classics” like Romeo and Juliet.
I'd always think that a being as powerful as Meruem was to be so human at the end was truly beautiful. For all one's omnipotence and even ability did he realize that humanity was beautiful because of its ability to know how weak they are and how fragile they are. That's why I always think that with greater strength a good soul becomes gentler and not crueler with that power.
Your analysis absolutely NAILED IT! Brilliant!It had never occurred to me to compare Mereum's development with changes in Gon. Now I see this story arc from an entirely different perspective. I have always been impressed with Todashi's character development and nowhere was it more brilliant than in Mereum's death. When I first viewed this arc, I thought it was needlessly long and in some parts tedious. With the death of Mereum, I understood what Todashi was trying to do. Now you've exposed a whole new dimension to my eyes. Thank you.In the anime, instead of the standard final credits music at the end of that episode, we hear the last conversation with Mereum and Komugi. Then I heard this sound. Fortunately I was by myself because the sound I heard was my own sobbing. I had been emotionally blind-sided by this. We have an megalomaniacal human/alien hybrid that views humans as sustenance and a snot-nosed, idiot savant who has been reminded several times a day how worthless she was by her family. What happens? They fall in love. By the end of this arc, mass-murderer, brain-eating Mereum had become someone I was sympathetic with. That scene is perfect. So perfect that every time I see or read it, it invokes the same emotional response.I have noted the none of the characters are the same as they had been at the beginning. An excellent example is Leorio, the loudmouth blowhard with his heart on his sleeve. In the 90s series, he said he had a strong sense of duty. Say what we will about him Leorio Paradknight would never leave a friend in trouble. in Phase 1 of the exam, he almost gave up. Gon watched him as he stood their gasping and waited. Leorio got his focus built his resolve and took off like a maniac. As a reward, Gon carried the attaché case Leorio had abandoned. That scene was important because at that point he'd become a man. imperfect but a man nonetheless. He's often been the voice of reason, trying to talk sense into Killua while he was under Illumi's spell, the only one that could control Kurapica in the YorkNew arc. The one who took care of them when they were hurt. He even punched Ging Freecs with a perfectly executed warp punch when he thought Ging was a lousy parent (correct).Then he finds himself in election he cares little about but if he can use these guys to save Gon's life well okay. The Association sees his character and he damn near won that election. But when he saw Gon healthy and whole, the tears came and he dropped the mike. He had all that he wanted. Interesting evolution for a guy I saw as a blowhard when first introduced. He's grown up considerably.As for Gon Freecs, he went through some serious crap in the Chimera Ant Arc. He has lost the ability to see or manipulate Nen or has he. It could just be a psychological effect of his emotional trauma. He needs time to reset. Ging wisely told him to use this time to figure out what he wants to do with his life. He is only about 14.
Omg can they just put out the dark continent ark or let another anime creator take over cause it's not fair that the creator of HXH just stop making this amazing ANIME and I know lots of people feel the same
YoSAmm He does have medical issues to deal with you know, chronic back pains, other medical issues. That makes it hard to write. I can wait for the english version of volume 33, though. It's gonna take a long time for it to be released :(
I'm too lazy to check right now but I believe vol 33 comes out in March.
It's already out in Japan, came out June 3rd, but the English version comes out then.
Alyson Faith Games really 😳😳😳😳😳 dark continent is out in Japan omg I need to fly over there and learn Japanese
TalesOfNerdia can't wait
You know an arc is beyond amazing when you get surprised even after completing it.
Subbed. amazing video, amazing arc, and amazing anime!
Thank you! Can I ask how you found my video? For some reason in the past two hours my views are skyrocketing and I don't know why lol.
recommendations buddy,suddenly it popped up in my recommendations and I assume it's the cause
Sweet, thanks. I'm guessing everyone is getting home from work or school now so I usually see a small increase but I went from a steady 100 views an hour to over 800 last hour and it's still rising. It's blowing my mind. I assumed it got shared somewhere but don't see anything on twitter or reddit from the past couple hours.
TalesOfNerdia well either ways it's really well thought,subbed
yes i believe this was intentional of Togashi
I loved Meruem so much. I couldn't continue watching after Meruem died. For me that was the last episode. I just hated Gon so much. Gon became a bad person, Meruem became a good person.
Remember though that Gon is a child. He has plenty of growing up and changing to do. You should continue watching and read the manga. The focus right now is not on him at all.
That's one of the reasons I hate Gon, He is 12. Meruem is basically a baby, yet he quickly matured and changed to become a good person. I'm truly touched by how Gon is actually a bad person (or at least in my eyes he is) while Meruem, the one supposed to be bad is actually good.
Red Berry It's a bit unfair to compare their ages though. Meruem is a completely different species and the rate that they mature is insane.
The line between good and evil is tough to draw, it's complex. Good people sometimes do bad things, and vice versa. I hated the way Gon treated Killua during the invasion and would say he acted like a shitty friend. He also practically turned his brain off to ignore the fact that Pitou actually cared about someone because he couldn't handle it. In the end though it's hard to say if he made the right decision or not to kill Pitou. After all, she did say she had to kill him. In a way he was just defending himself. On the other hand we don't know if trying to talk things out with the ants would have worked. In the end, I think what he does next will define him. But we'll just have to wait and see. Maybe Togashi will let him mature off screen and focus on other characters for a while.
I know I sound like I'm contradicted some of what I said in the video, but I just don't want you to give up on such a great series. Togashi won't always give you what you want, but that's what makes him such a great story-teller.
TalesOfNerdia I was deeply touched by Meruem. I admire him. I might not have an objective way of telling good and bad apart. But Kurapika, Meruem and Komugi are for me the most noble people in the series. I'd prefer to be Meruem than to be Gon, And I wouldn't have felt sad if Gon was poisoned instead of Meruem.
Honestly, I love Meruem and Komugi too. I cried like a baby at their final moments. At least we still have Kurapika. I don't always like how he treats Leorio and some of his peers but damn he can be such a badass. Overall a well written character. You should definitely catch up on the manga since he appears more ;)
i love hxh theories. imo its the best shounen manga out there with so much depth in it and definitely the chimaera arc is a masterpiece, whats funny is that i hated the arc at first but now i see it as possibly one or the best shounen arcs in history not just in entertainment but also in depth of the plot and characters development. its a shame that we wont be able to see the end of the story (imo togashi will not be able to finish the story).
now that i think about it as well the fight at the end mirrored the beginning as well when gon overcame pitou/ants and completely destroyed her vs netero/humans completely outmatching the king in the end causing him to feel fear
"Gon. You are light."
"Meruem. It means the light that illuminates all."
O fuck
You just earned yourself a sub.
Only 5 minutes and I can already tell this is gonna be a quality video, great points and I've never thought of it this way! Glad you linked it on the HxH subreddit. You just gained a sub!
This probably the reason why Gon and Meruem never crossed paths in the anime
You are really smart for seeing this - I'm usually the type where nothing goes over my head but dam I agree w you so much-
You got a subscriber my friends - and a like
Thank you, Thank you so much for this analysis my tears is all over the place in this moment I'm "Happy" because of you.