Hunter x Hunter Volume 2: A Solid Continuation

Volume two kicks it off right with Hisoka fighting with everybody before he finds the finalists. Kurapika and Leorio. While Kurapika runs away, realizing the fight isn’t worth it, Leorio fights back, and before Hisoka can strike him… Here comes Gon! Though he stands no chance for Hisoka and loses quite easily, but Hisoka lets him go!

This fantastic scene really executes each character’s core traits. Kurapika is more likely to rely on his wits and understanding if, like here, the battle will be too much and he is able to put pride behind him. Leorio is likely to be a coward, but one with a heart who, in the end, will stand his ground. Gon is, without a doubt, going to help his friends at all costs. Killua is likely to be chilling and vibing somewhere. And… Hisoka is likely to have secret intentions and rely on his quick “in the moment” nature with sides of consideration towards those he sees as having potential. He is a danger in his multifaceted and hard-to-grab aurora. This dynamic really finishes our understanding and clears up the core traits of the characters that were much more spread out and discussed and now, here, are given the spotlight. While also hinting at things to come through Hisoka’s dialogue, threatening presence, and literary letting Gon go, highlighting that villains come in different forms in this exam. It is not just literal monsters, which they were fighting, but mental ones that sort out their prey and when to feast. Though, thankfully, not every scene in this volume feels like a reality television show with the level of tea overflowing.

Next, we arrive at the second phase: cooking! You heard that completely right. Cooking. Want me to say it again? Thankfully, as you might expect, Togashi has something up his sleeve. No, just kidding. They get the animals to make their food out of and… make food. Yeah, really. Then we see Menchi, the person who judges the food. Judge the food. And… they all failed! Yeah, the food was that bad. Even Kurapika’s overthinking skills fail him spectacularly. Thankfully, they are given another chance and pass. They are able to pass through the jumping and catching of some eggs. I say “some”eggs” as a hint at how great the scene is compared to the 2011 version. Yeah, the anime really improved this scene, slightly unfairly since the reason the 2011 version worked so well here is that the animation was so fluid, so there wasn’t much Togashi could do in that regards. But regardless, it feels rushed and quite disappointing; the 2011 anime just helps make it clearer and more iconic.

The next part is… a fight! Between Killua and Gon versus… Netero! In a game of catch-the-ball, our leads fail horribly. Though, considering Netero’s true power revealed later and backstory, it is really an unfair battle. Also, since Killua and Gon really know nothing about Nen, which would surely help them, as you will see later, A great part of the action scene here is the paneling, which pops with a frantic joy that is quite exciting as we see, mainly Killua, use all he has, quickly, to take down Netero… and loose easily! Overall, a fun little section that is made better for the incredible paneling and art that comes close to the 2011 version in its similar excitement in seeing our leads fight together against a hard opponent. The one thing we also get out of these two chapters is Killua killing two opponents who annoy him as he leaves Netero and Gon, hinting at Killua’s unforgiving nature to some and his upbringing. Even if we know Killua is unforgiving, from before, this seals a core evil nature of his character, showing a different side to him, which Gon may help him conceal.

After this, our group ends up at another part of the exam at some location with no other than… Tonpa! And he ends up causing trouble for our group as they face opponents in an almost arena-like one-on-one with one of our group members versus somebody else. We see Tonpa, immediately, give up when faced with his opponent, hurting our group in success and quite hilariously with how Togashi builds up to it. And now its Gon’s turn… Gon fights a player who tricks Gon in a game in which the candle burns the fastest loses and gives Gon a candle that, on Gon’s end, burns faster. Luckily and cleverly, Gon just runs up to him, super quickly, and blows out his candle and wins. It’s as funny and simple as I’ve made it out to be. Here is where we end off, and it’s incredible. A mostly strong group of chapters.