i definitely went into the chimera ant arc expecting a horrifically dark exploration of Grey Morality and not that it ISN’T that but i don’t think i was expecting all the most dramatically significant moments to be predicated on, driven by and centered around love. killua’s love for gon, gon’s love for kite, meruem’s love for komugi, pitou and pouf’s love for meruem…. the repeated imagery of “heart” used with netero and the significance of the poor man’s rose being activated by his heart stopping…. the reason i personally find this arc so earth-shattering is not because of how dark it is but because of the way it builds up these immensely powerful feelings characters have for other characters, how their vulnerability comes from opening their hearts to other people but how that can also be such a powerful and beautiful thing. the fact that the climax of the arc is not a battle but the moment an invincible king hears the name of his favorite person and remembers how much he loves her…….. THAT’S why chimera ant is good