Hunter x Hunter No. 414: Friends

Martial Law is finally here, and tensions are high, those excited to dominate through the military have already jumped the gun on violence. The bodyguards have begun their assault. Kurapika and his cohorts are still trying to determine how safe Prince Woble truly is, how Netero’s curse will play out, and if indeed the decoy baby is cursed too, depending on when the curses were placed. Bill believes they can get the information from Beyond, if they promise him a pardon from the Hunter Association. Bill believes by using Longhi’s ability, they may be able to force a penalty into any contract they make Beyond sign.

Kurapika is confused by Bill’s seeming betrayal of Beyond, but Bill makes it clear that he isn’t truly loyal to Beyond, after finding out about his heinous actions and plans, his priority is preventing loss of life, especially the lives of Woble and her mother. He cuts to the heart of the problem, the people who truly want the bloodshed to continue are only the King and those who crave his power, the V5 will support a cleaner image for Kakin. Bill thinks that Beyond will enter into our heroes trap, because he enjoys the gamified nature of Nen contracts. Beyond’s character is still so fascinating, I particularly enjoy Bill calling him a ‘man-child’ this chapter, because he truly is, he’s selfish and arrogant and sees the world as a game, his own personal playground.

Oito reiterates that she doesn’t know where the real Prince Woble is, which Kurapika explains means they can’t actually prove that she isn’t on the ship. If Woble is on land, there’s no way to intercept Beyond’s curse on her. Finding out which child of his is the sacrifice, and stopping them is one path to victory. The other way to solve the problem, is to find and exorcise Woble. There are still a lot of unknowns, a lot of paths that lead to absolute defeat. Bill is in awe of Kurapika’s deductive abilities, no matter how much information Kurapika has, he never rushes to any unearned conclusion, and in this way, keeps those around him safe. This chapter overall emphasises what sets our heroes apart from the rest of the Succession Battle, they care about collateral damage, they won’t make decisions to further their own ends, only to keep those safe that they promised to.

In that vein, the chapter ends magnificently, Kurapika invokes the power of friendship. Jokes aside, he has deep faith in Gon and Killua to help them out on the mainland if need be, in locating the real Prince Woble and exorcising her. Seeing Gon and Killua again, after all these years (I know we did see Killua over the phone, but still) is truly, truly a special occasion. I am not one who pines for the duo all the time, as I made peace with Kurapika as the protagonist a long time ago, I was happy with where Gon and Killua were left. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I got a little choked up. Kurapika believes in his friends, if it comes down to it, he knows they can get the job done.

There was a lot of text this chapter, but equally some of my favourite panels of the year so far, those last two pages will go down in Hunter x Hunter history as something special. The chapter ends with a brand new countdown. The Succession War ends in 49 Days. How this translates to chapter time is totally unknown, but I was right in thinking that the Saga was reaching its climax, time is running out. This not only means that we’ll be leaving the ship (something I know many people are sick of) but also potentially reaching the Dark Continent after all these years.