Hunter x Hunter Volume 3: Very Compelling Chapters

Kurapika faces off against his opponent, who solely talks big talk. To a point where Kurapika’s eyes had enough and he decided to end this man’s whole career for the moment. Literary. After seeing the spider tattoo, which clearly is a fake, Kurapika, out of sheer reaction, thanks to what the Phantom Troupe did to her group, grabs and slams him down in one of the most satisfying moments of the manga. Seeing Kurapika finally go off plus awesomely drawn panels plus one of the biggest takedowns in the series. Not even the 2011 went this hard, as the panel of him punching him looks as though Togashi turned the slow motion with how he repeats his panel twice. Aside from this satisfying moment, there’s not much else. On its own, this one moment not only defined this awesome chapter but the whole Hunter Exam arc. It is, quite simply, a way to start a volume.

The next chapter is decent, where we see the group discuss the whole thing from the last chapter, and… That’s mostly it, aside from some decent and creative fights from Hisoka happening. The main discussion chapter is if the guy Kurapika beat is dead, and while this is interesting considering Kurapika’s thoughts afterwards, it isn’t enough to hold the chapter on its own, and it shows.

After this, we get even more discussion on whether Kurapika’s opponent is dead or not, and it all feels a bit too stretched out. Again. While it is funny to see him try and act fainted and Leorio making sure thanks to all the gags that come from it, it still, regardless, could’ve been contained to its own chapter rather than feeling thrown in randomly in one chapter so we can end off at the rock paper scissors fiasco. Speaking of which, Leorio and his opponent are at first decently written, with it being joke-centric on Leorio himself, but it still starts to become clear the jokes write themselves since, at this point, most of them have already been set in stone earlier and the new jokes with him, while fine, feel slightly stale. It’s the “it’s getting old” for me. But alas, once this ends, we get one of the smartest, subervise, and most intense areas of the manga yet with Killua versus his opponent. Let me set it up for you. Killua’s opponent is not like the rest. He is really threatening. While you can say the others were terrifying, they felt somewhat like everyone else in this universe in that they were just people getting on with their day. Here, we arrive at someone who is stuck in their own power and truly evil. He is a murderer that makes his presence known, and, in most manga, we would make him a threat that would be prevalent or one that our character would struggle with and make him an unbeatable opponent. Though, in other ways, you could say it is a trope for this threatening character to be built up and then demolished, though, in many other ways, I would argue this manga likely helps start this stereotype as that is what happens here.

Killua doesn’t hesitate to take his heart right out. Quite literary. And, I repeat, quite literary, smash it in front of him. The level of savagery and swag cannot be understated and cannot even be stated since it wouldn’t do this level of savagery justice. He just took the little heart that was shockingly still in this man and smashed it right in front of him. In front of him! The disrespect doesn’t even have a level since it is off the charts above the ceiling. And he runs for his heart for Killua to just smash it in front of him. This dude is not just a goat, but, quite literary, one of the most iconic and dramatic queens and legends we have had in manga. This chapter is one of the most well executed in the series yet, as the set-up and subversion are so key to it and are performed so nicely and shockingly for a manga that started in the 1990s (let me repeat: 1990s). It is just… crazy. And brilliant. Not even 2011 was better here since there it relied slightly on being a bit too overdone, even if it worked there; but here, the manga does it shortly and nicely. In a quick moment, it is done. In a quick moment, Killua made it to the Hall of Goats without even trying.

The rest of the chapters in this volume are a bit less noteworthy, with the next one being the fight for who will leave the place itself after these challenges; shockingly, they all do, and it all feels slightly disappointing, as if building up for a fight to leave and someone being left behind, but it all comes off as if Togashi coped out. Then the next chapters are about our group surviving in this place with every hunter on their own fighting against each other to survive, and it ends with Gon following Hisoka. If I can’t stress enough, while the art is still fantastic and the story is decent to quite strong at points, the pacing and tone feels a bit tiring and random here. It feels as if Togashi is still trying to find his aim, pacing wise, for how long he wants to sit and meander on things that can feel a bit too loose in its world. Though I say “too,” since I think this sometimes works in helping to expand the world “worldbuilding” wise. But mostly, these chapters feel sluggish and okay. Overall, for all the chapters here, they are solid, but the pacing itself could do a bit better at juggling it all.