#prince kacho

[moretheta]

sidenote but i'm absolutely obsessed with this silly little subplot. kaiser's resting bitch face. kacho's shock. melody's lack of reaction. chef's kiss

[dee-rrh]

I am not okay....

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Let's have a fun one. I'm really excited for the next batch of Hunter x Hunter and plan to have a lot of fun here with the new chapters. Probably going to shoot for full reviews like I do One Piece, Jojolands, and Skip & Loafer presently. When you have these big cast shonens, I feel like it really helps to know what kind of fan someone is. Who do they gravitate to? This is the bulk of my top 10, #1 is after the cut but don't think there's a super important order. It was hard to pare it down to 10. The rest of the main quartet, Ging, other Phantom Troupe members like Machi, Shizuku, Kalluto, & Chrollo could have been on here.

Pariston & Pouf are such good antagonists. "I can't wait to see what I do to someone I hate" is a line that goes so hard. Melody on the other hand? She's just so lovely and the whole Sonata of Darkness quest is really cool world building. Alluka is a sweetie and we say trans rights here. Kurapika is a sweetie and we say trans rights here. I kid...but Pika's easily my favorite of the main four. Shocker given how much I loved Kurama in YYH.

Nobunaga's my favorite in the Troupe. I love samurai, even more when their backstory implies he probably went with that aesthetic because of some old samurai movie he found in the Meteor City trash heaps. I want a drag off of Morel's pipe. His ability is so cool. If you've followed my Kakin Succession stuff you probably know I like the twins and yes Katty & FuuFuu can share a slot. They just keep getting better. I love a good brat especially when one like Kacho has a heart of gold underneath. Speaking of brats, my most controversial entry but I love Neon Nostrade. Lovely Ghostwriter is my favorite ability, funny lil brat at first but she develops well. So now for #1...

Oh Biscuit. Bisky. Bisky-chan. Miss Kruger. I have loved this girl since she first showed up. Top-class hunter despite her ability being completely useless for combat. I think that says it all really. She's still that fearsome even if she uses much of her Nen for cosmetic reasons. Buff Biscuit is always a classic gag, especially this new guy on the boat who is absolutely smitten. All wrapped up in a lovely Fujoshi package.

I like that she's a mentor figure, especially the twist of being Wing's master, but how it fits in her own goals. Biscuit is a Gem Hunter, she sees her students as uncut gems. That's something I can really relate to especially as I get older. I love nothing more than working with younger people who want to better themselves. And that's why she's my fav.

[transexuality]

i really like the succession battle arc but where is leorio and cheadle : (

[ninthprime]

now that hxh is officially coming back here's my attempt to count how many plots are going on at once right now

a plot: the kakin royal family, joined by beyond netero, has chartered an expedition to the forbidden dark continent on a huge whale ship with thousands of civilians. the hunter association signed on to join with the plan of actually sending the ship to a fake “new continent”, dropping off the family and civilians there, and then continuing to the real continent. the problem is the king of kakin is also using this expedition to force his fourteen (legitimate) children into a death match, with the survivor as heir

b plot: kurapika has discovered that kakin’s fourth prince tserriednich is in possession of the remaining scarlet eyes and, in order to get close to him, has signed on as a bodyguard to the fourteenth prince, baby woble, and her mom queen oito. as it turns out all the princes have autonomous nen beasts so this is a more complicated job than it looks. by which i mean at one point he gave up a substantial part of his life to possess a cockroach

c plot: to get more specific, kurapika has been trying to keep the peace by inviting the servants and bodyguards of the other princes to come to nen classes taught by him (read: he and fellow bodyguard bill are just forcibly opening their nen abilities), but a mysterious nen construct called “silent majority” killed most of woble’s other servants and now keeps killing people in the classes. there are apparently multiple people who can use nen in the classes already and who are mostly not telling him.

d plot: the three big mafia families of kakin (the hei-ly, xi-yu and cha-r) have been invited onto the ship mostly because their leaders are all illegitimately related to the king and been told to not cause any trouble…but the king’s illegitimate daughter morena, the new leader of the hei-ly and certified #gamergirl, actively wants to the destroy the world and is breaking the peace by spreading nen to her followers using her ability and letting them gain “levels” by killing people on the ship.

e plot: the phantom troupe has shown up knowing that hisoka will have followed them here and are trying to track him down and kill him. they’ve split into groups and the only group we’ve followed- phinks, feitan and nobunaga- have teamed up with the xi-yu and cha-r to deal with both hisoka and morena. during this we get an extended flashback about how the phantom troupe used to be tween anime dubbers and originally became criminals to track down those who killed their friend.

f plot: unbeknownst to the phantom troupe, the xi-yu’s underboss hinrigh has already met with hisoka (or at least someone who looks a lot like him) and given him a passage to the top level, where the royal family is, because the mafia knows a fight against hisoka will be more trouble than it’s worth while also trying to stop morena. in other words: hisoka is going to where kurapika is

g plot: tserriednich, the previously mentioned guy with the eyes, is also a misogynist serial killer and has gotten interested in nen, so his bodyguard theta has decided to teach him nen herself in order to slow him down and potentially stop him. unfortunately he’s a nen genius and has already developed an ability that lets him see into the future and overwrite reality by reacting accordingly, which he used to get out of theta shooting him. his nen beast has now marked theta for lying to him twice and will make her “no longer human” if she lies a third time.

h plot: melody, hired to be here by kurapika, attempted to sneak the teenage twin tenth and eleven princes off the ship only for the tenth prince (and the other hunter she was working with) to be killed, revealing the princes cannot leave the ship. thankfully the tenth prince kacho’s nen beast is basically her ghost. melody is now likely going to have to deal with an investigation into her actions and has also noticed that eleventh prince fugetsu is rapidly having her nen depleted. kaiser, a member of the justice bureau, claims to have fallen in love with melody after she performed her music for the ship and intends to help her, but melody doesn’t trust him and thinks he’s using manipulation nen on himself. oh and a large amount of the princes have invited her to perform for them, including tserriednich.

i plot: first prince benjamin, a nen user, has control of the military and has used his customary status as firstborn to send one of his guards to each of his younger siblings, which in at least one case led to a successful kill (the eighth prince). he’s in lockdown currently however because second prince camilla, also a nen user with an extremely powerful ability that seems to prevent her from being killed, attempted to kill him herself, and the justice bureau on the ship is trying to figure out who started what.

j plot: camilla has a group of ultra-loyal guards from the lower caste who have developed nen curses to kill her siblings in exchange for their own deaths. their captain, sarahell, has been developing a curse on woble and intends to attend kurapika’s class to deploy it.

k plot: ninth prince halkenburg, a baby marxist who progressive civilians and the younger princes both see as a potential savior, tried to kill his father and then himself after the first death in the succession battle and got stopped by nen beasts both times. he has responded to this by going apeshit and developing an ability that appears to allow him to put the souls of his guards into other people. his testing of this involved having one of his men shoot himself while in the body of one of benjamin’s men, so benjamin has him arrested now too.

l plot: third prince zhang-li’s nen beast is dispensing mysterious coins and zhang-li is dispensing said coins amongst his guards as well as to melody, whose performance he liked. zhang-li also appears to be hiding that he’s actually the son of the king’s illegitimate half-brother onior, the head of the xi-yu, who he’s asked to look into the last succession battle.

m plot: hanzo and bisky, also hired to be here by kurapika, were working as bodyguards for the twelfth and thirteenth princes until the twelfth prince was the first death of the war. the kindergarten-aged thirteenth prince’s stress in response to his sister dying now appears to have led his nen beast to trap their group in some sort of reality bubble. bisky had to reveal her battle form to head servant vergei to explain nen and what was happening, which has mostly just led to vergei getting a mad crush on her.

n plot: izunavi and basho are also here on kurapika’s behest guarding the sixth and seventh princes, who both have not done much yet; sixth prince tyson has a mysterious religious creed that izunavi has convinced her to pass onto her father and seventh prince luzurus mostly likes to smoke weed everyday but seems surprisingly perceptive and, more importantly, apparently funds the cha-r.

o plot: despite being a deranged maniac, tserriednich has a group of childhood friends working fairly standard military guard positions on the lower floors; they’re trying to find out more about nen after picking up that the hei-ly, which tserriednich was allied with before morena took over, are using it.

p plot: fifth prince tubeppa, aware she has few allies and little knowledge of nen, has been trying to meet with kurapika for a while. the literal last thing teased before this hiatus was her bodyguard longhi revealing to kurapika that she knows nen and kurapika agreeing to meet with tubeppa.

q plot: the rest of the phantom troupe has split off: machi and franklin are both on their own (but nobunaga wants to go get franklin), chrollo is making a plan with shizuku and bonolenov that appears to involve a disguise ability bono has, and illumi joined the troupe on hisoka’s request so they could have a yaoi death battle and is with kalluto. speaking of which:

r plot: mizai ran into illumi and kalluto and has them staying in a room in the quarters the zodiacs are using. he’s currently trying to figure out whether he should be telling kurapika the troupe is on the ship or not, knowing it could risk the well-being of both woble and kurapika himself. (he also secretly gave melody clearance to try to save the twins.)

s plot: beyond netero is still in lock up and being watched by members of the zodiacs. he hasn’t done anything yet, but it has been implied he’ll try to escape at the fake “dark continent.”

t plot: ging and pariston have a group allied with beyond who are going to the dark continent themselves; ging joined because he knows pariston must be up to something. it remains ambiguous whether they have their own boat or are on the whale somewhere.

u plot: leorio and cheadle are working at an understaffed clinic near the zodiac headquarters, meaning that once again Leorio Is Just Offscreen

v plot: a random member of the cha-r is trying to get the autographs of the phantom troupe members. this has been used to dispense plot info about how far we are from being out of contact with land. pray for his success

TOTAL PLOTS COUNT: 22

[ragde890]

The wait has definitely been worth it. This chapter is probably the best post-hiatus chapter we've had so far. Not only did Longhi go from generic bodyguard #19 to Isaac fucking Netero's granddaughter, but also any random bodyguard can become a relevant character now (or even Tserriednich's friends from chapter 394). Not to mention the Prince fathered by Beyond (or Princes, if Beyond's child is actually one of the Queens), who in case of being Tserriednich would make everything even more chaotic (and the possibility of the child being Tse is pretty high, seeing his resemblance to Netero when he was young).

Moving on to theories, Langhi is certainly assuming a lot of things which may not necessarily be true. One theory I've read and found interesting is that Beyond's Cursed Children aren't meant to kill the princes, but the Zodiac (which also fits the description of a group of +10 individuals). While perhaps too convoluted to be true (like the Chrollo-turned-into-Hisoka and Hisoka-turned-into-Illumi theories), it would certainly be interesting.

And the number of plots and subplots keeps growing. To recap, if I'm not forgetting any, we have:

The Succession War, involving the 11 princes still alive (12 if you count the fake Kacho created by the nen beast).

The War between the 3 Kakin Mafias, all of them chaired by relatives of Nasubi, the king of Kakin. We also Morena's plan, that could count as a plot by itself.

The Spider vs. Hisoka (a plot that has recently intertwined with the mafia war).

Bill's escape plans (the first involves Kurton, the second Pariston's help and the third Beyond's).

The Silent Majority murders.

The eyes of the Kuruta clan in possession of Tserriednich (Kurapika's original motivation for entering the Black Whale).

And now, the existence of Beyond Netero's unrecognised children that he can use to manipulate the war, and who are part of a plan he has been cooking up for more than 30 years.

This really recontextualises Beyond's famous words from a few years ago:

[progg]

Chapter 402 Thoughts

Here are my thoughts on Chapter 402 of Hunter x Hunter, “Letter”.

Salkov

Salkov has been able to use Nen since birth. Given the discussion in the previous chapter, this all but confirms that he is one of the “strong curse sacrifices” and Beyond’s son.

Halkenburg’s Illness

On Day 10, Balsamilco describes his plan to poison Halkenburg.

At 8:50 AM on Day 11, Melody reveals that Halkenburg has fallen ill. This could be the result of Balsamilco’s poison.

The Plan to Assassinate Luzurus

Kacho discusses assassinating Luzurus with a disturbing lack of empathy.

I felt a bit uncomfortable reading this!

Melody doesn’t flinch, though she expressed discomfort with assassination in Chapter 400. 

Another relevant scene is Oito’s reaction to Momoze’s death in Chapter 368, where she criticizes Babimayna and Kurapika for their lack of empathy in the Succession War.

Despite the grisly discussion about assassinating Luzurus, the prince is portrayed mostly positively in this chapter. He is absolved of blame for Fugetsu’s condition and shows sympathy for Kacho’s death.

In Chapter 362, Nasubi claims Spirit Beasts “cannot directly attack” other people with Spirit Beasts. However, the traps laid by his Spirit Beast may qualify as “indirect attacks”. It’s unclear.

Luzurus also expressed admirable views on rehabilitation to Basho in Chapter 366. Meanwhile, Kaiser is planning to make it look like he overdosed, which—when you think about it—is extremely dark.

On a side note, it seems Kacho was successful in convincing Fugetsu that everyone else mistakenly thinks she is dead—a plan she laid out in Chapter 400:

Covering Up the Truth

In my previous breakdown, I mentioned how I often reference the seemingly unimportant panel of Cheadle talking about the Silent Revolution. Another panel I bring up a lot is this one with Steiner and the IPA Director:

This panel sets up a major theme in the Succession Arc about valuing peace over truth. There are undoubtedly strategic reasons for keeping Luzurus and Halkenburg’s deaths under wraps, but I still believe the Succession War is going to eventually be completely covered up. Kaiser and Balsamilco’s plans echo this theme, as well as Kacho’s plan to conceal her death from Fugetsu.

Benjamin and Balsamilco

I once saw someone liken Benjamin’s character to the phrase “a ship with no compass gets lost at sea.” I think this is a pretty good description of what will happen to Benjamin. Benjamin, while powerful, is heavily reliant on others to steer him in the right direction. Balsamilco says as much:

In this chapter, we receive yet another reminder of how the soldiers around Benjamin elevate him. Kaiser believes he was only able to extract information from Benjamin because Balsamilco wasn’t present.

Kacho’s Letter

The contents of Kacho’s letter (really Kaiser’s) seem extremely important. We get some description about the contents from Luzurus and Melody.

Summarized:

Benjamin has some kind of secret that Luzurus thinks will ‘milk his tears’ and buy Fugetsu’s protection.

Luzurus and Tserriednich are ‘snakes’ and have ‘dirt’ (we already knew this, to an extent).

There is something that Halkenburg can ‘use’ (possibly to exonerate himself).

There is a secret regarding Halkenburg’s birth (I don’t think it's being Beyond’s child).

More information that shakes up the Succession itself (this could include Zhang Lei’s parentage)

It seem each prince’s letter contained different information, while Halkenburg’s and Kurapika’s contained all of it.

Basho

The dark spirits following Fugetsu flee at the sight of Benjamin and his Spirit Beast.

In a cool moment, the spirits also flee from Basho.

This could be because of the good luck charm, but I think it may also be a testament to Basho’s strength and character.

[timeskip]

Predictions and hopes for HxH as it continues:

Realistically could be in 10 chapters:

Kurapika helping Melody find an exorcism for Fugetsu!!! My number one realistic wish. I want to see Kurapika and Melody interact and work together again.

Nen beast Kacho causing chaos by revealing herself to be alive

Melody being forced into playing for a prince. I can think of SO many ways this could go (from her taking advantage of it to enact a plan, to her being forced to choose between helping the prince and dying...) and I want to see how it plays out!!

Camila and Halkenburg getting back into the fray

The mysterious announcement that's being broadcasted being revealed seems likely within the next few chapters, and I'm VERY curious about it!

More Theta and how she's going to keep working around Tserriednich's abilities while also not lying to him.

Probably too soon for this but I'm excited for the possibility:

AN ANSWER FOR WHATEVER THE WEIRD CHAMBER KING NASUBI HAS WITH THE 14 COFFINS IS

Machi killing Hisoka. Or at least getting a few blows in. I want an epic battle between them where Machi shows off her abilities!!

Some conflict with Illumi and Kalluto!! I'm holding onto the idea that Kalluto has a character arc related to the Spider locked and loaded and I'd love for this arc to lead to that... though I don't think it would be any time soon. Also, a more literal conflict with a fight with Hisoka, maybe?

Kurapika being in the same room as Tserriednich. ESPECIALLY if they're in a situation where Kurapika CAN'T immediately fight him, and thus they're forced to analyze each other and try to figure each other out mentally before any fight happens. I'd love to see it.

Bisky having a bigger role. She's here, I hope she really shines!!

[turtledotjpeg]

(chapter 400 spoilers)

i have been fed and i must make stupid internet doodles about it

my wife is so successful and popular (said with distress) and she is doing her best and she just wanted to do healing and said 'noooo' to murders and she cried about kacho and hates being called old and kurapika is the only one she can rely on and i'm gonna cry

more thoughts (not interesting) under the cut because this is an art blog but I am compelled to yell into the void about this chapter

man I was ready to be happy just to see Melody for one panel, but there was So Much in this chapter 🥺 feels like we're getting to see some new facets of her personality (see: Old Maid Melody lmaoo) and it's so fun

it was nice to see her and Kacho getting to interact a bit more openly - for some reason I was expecting nen-Kacho to be more of a separate entity, rather than the "brought back to life" kind of deal where she basically feels and acts like she's the same person? I like it though, I want to see her messing with Melody some more lol

I was wondering if Kurapika's goal might come up re: the fourth prince's invitation, but it seems like the immediate concern with Fugetsu takes priority, which makes sense Zhang Lei also wanting a private audience is interesting, I wonder if that could give her and Kurapika an opportunity to meet up and plan things out before she visits terrorsandwich? Before all that, though, they'd have to deal with Benjamin (assuming it's a first-rank-first-served kind of deal), no idea how that's gonna work out unless they actually pull off the Just Murder Everyone plan

also lmaooo the love confession 😂 one the one hand I feel like all her initial suspicion and mistrust towards glasses guy has to be a setup for him to actually be more honest than she expects, but I still can't help being a bit skeptical of him... both because there has to be something going on with the heartbeat thing, right?

and also, even if it is probably what's most practical for the situation, I'm not toootally sure if I love this "stop being sad and go use your powers to help us do murders" thing lol (granted kacho was very on board with both of those, too, but. idk man, maybe at least try to comfort her a little or something? xD)

that said, he is kind of risking his neck to help them, and i Am extremely in favor of anyone and everyone being in love with melody, so i appreciate him for that haha

okay, totally baseless "theory" #1: he's melody's dead sonata friend possessing the body (& therefore lying about the not believing in ghosts thing) - probably unlikely given Fugetsu is also said to be "possessed" and that looks very different, plus it sounds like that's something Melody should be able to notice? but it'd give him a genuine motive to help her out while lying through his teeth about all the details

or totally baseless theory #2: he's literally just a normal guy with a medical condition

melody: but I just don't get it, HOW can your heartbeat be so calm and steady all the time?!? kaiser: oh, cause of the pacemaker you mean? melody:

(**based on about 2 minutes of research I don't think that's quite how pacemakers work, but it's hxh universe, there could be Something)

(on an unrelated note, I also really liked Tyson in this chapter…sounds like she was basically pressured into a death battle she assumes she won't win, but she's still just out here baking birthday cakes and trying to have a good time :( rootin for her)

...and finally can I just say, even if there was a good reason for it, I think it's hilarious that Melody's reaction to someone liking her is just "hmm... 🤔 kinda sus" alternative responses to "i love you": "with a heart rhythm as precise as an atomic clock?! yeah right!"

[moretheta]

they're my roman empire tbh. my hbo succession

[halt-kun]

Hunter x Hunter Chapter 402 - Letter

Okay so chapter 402, we'll probably switch away for Beyond for a few chapters.

Okay so this is why Longi was crying ? Because Tsubeppa can't be King anymore (is the title of king also gender neutral in Kakin ?)

This is such a strong alliance, two of the first five prince together means a lot of ressources together

Ridan will be sooooooo stressed we might have an entire chapter of his inner monologue

Oh Tenfutori gets a second coin, the number will rise then ?

Oooh Zhang Lei is finally figuring out his power further

And Tsubeppa just wants him to get killed by Benjamin before her. Good idea to forget about colluding with Tse too

Is Tsubeppa relaxing because of the alliance ? Her nen beast reappeared.

Or Ridan is right and it's a beast that works well with diplomacy. But what kind of substance would it create then, I was expecting more of a poison kind of substance. Oh that's true it needs a partner. So would that partner be Kurapika or Zhang Lei ? I thought it would be Longi or Maor

OH NO, biological warfare is a big NONO

would they care about Geneva convention ? A Bactery too ???? Well it's sooo risky and it might even mutate and not act as you thought ???? I hope we won't have an epidemic on the boat. Even with Cheadle and Leorio it would have time to spread on the first floor before they can do anything. Maybe Tsubeppa's beast could create a substance that counteracts it.

Oh Halkenburg is a nice target for infections but you might also die before you can approach him.

Could Balsamico be one of Beyond's children ?

Tse is learning zetsu too

Though Gon and Killua learnt it before ten and were more proficient with it I think. Maybe because they learnt it before we can't really know how long it took them, especially for Killua but I do believe they learnt it faster. Not everyone learns everything as fast. Maybe Tse is just relatively bad at zetsu which would make sense with his personality.

And another of Beyond's children is revealed.

AH TRUE, he will focus on Melody now. shiiiiiiiit

Well at least his nen beast power is getting analysed and deduced somewhat.

THETA DEFINITELY DIDN'T LIE

Oh noooo

she got injected already ?!? But isn't she away from Benjamin's guard now ? His ability should be deactivated.

Make her get far from him if he's still around, let her be detained.

Oh so she wasn't just delirious, someone else put an ability on her

I can only think of maybe LMuzurus nen beast that would fit the description.

Bull's eye ?!

So the plan is to let Fugetsu visit Melody ? Or Melody would just be visiting the tunnel from the exit ?

OOOOOH ! This is an assassination plot and not just "let tire Luzurus so his nen beast stop targeting Fugetsu"

Melody is really getting wild now although the urgency of the situation makes drastic measures the most logical ones.

That plan seems a bit unreliable but it could work

Giving yourself more options is always a good idea, this is very smart.

But they should be targeting Benjamin, he is the actual danger here I think.

I doubt they could do much though

DON'T TRUST THIS MAN, I AGREEEEEEEE

USE HIIIIIIIIIM

Melody is soooo good

Kacho is so smart too

Oh wow, they're already pulling up !?!!!

Fugetsu is not looking good shit

GOD

EVEN BENJAMIN ISN'T FEELING GOOD ABOUT THIS

Did he give her some reprieve ?

Okay normal letter thus far

Musse is goo

Oh, so this was a sidequest for this guy too

To ensure Benjamin would go against a court of law if he became ruler or even before

having a military leader as a ruler is always a bad idea for democracy and justice after all

Zhang Lei and Tse didn't care

Tsubeppa did of course

Taithon is sooooooo worried

Luzurus took the bait

OKAY WHAT LEAK ?

Will Luzurus believe it then ?

OHHHH Luzurus is doing good. He is calm and collected

He must be good at leading his mafia

I don't believe he'll take the bait, they'll have to force him into the escape pod, if they succeed

Her evil spirits dissipated ???

Well maybe she's feeling better then ?

Oh, of course it's Basho ! What a nice guy

does he know they want to kill his prince and weed buddy ? Does he even know he's a mafia leader. Oh, it's true he's also mafia hahahahha

I doubt he would agree to kill Luzurus though

Okay so this is progressing fast

Benjamin's soldier ability must be inactive now so why was there still an injection mark ?

Balsamico apparently succeeded in infecting Halkenburg and he must have fled his body during the night to infiltrate the judiciary department ?

Was it just for survival ? No, he must also have some other goal. Is it to target Tse ? And is he Beyond's child then ? What is Ben's secret though ?

So we might have one or two prince death coming soon : Fugetsu, Luzurus, Halkenburg or someone else.

[tokiro07]

I've realized that in doing my reviews for Undead Unluck and Ichi the Witch, I'm putting a lot of focus on remembering their stories, events and themes but not much on doing the same for the rest of Jump

In the interest of trying to improve my engagement and retention for Jump as a whole, I'm going to try summarizing the events and narrative or thematic significance of every chapter in this week's issue from memory (only looking up things like names for accuracy)

If this goes well/isn't too difficult to do, I may start to do this consistently, but we'll see. With that:

Toki Reads Shonen Jump 2024, issue #46

One Piece: Luffy and co. are revealed to have been captured by Road, Hajrudin's navigator, who doesn't accept that the New Giant Warrior Pirates are now subordinate to the Straw Hats. This may lead to internal conflicts within the Straw Hat Grand Fleet

HxH: Kaiser has Fugetsu visit each of the remaining Princes on the pretense of delivering letters from the deceased Kacho so that she can use her ability to infiltrate Prince Luzurus' room and assassinate him. I honestly have no idea how this will contribute, I feel very lost when reading HxH piecemeal

Mission Yozakura Family: The Yozakuras begin their battle with the Asa-possessed Taiyo. Things are going too well, so the Bad News phase is likely to come up soon

Undead Unluck: Julia fights her way to Apocalypse and nearly loses an arm in the process, but Apocalypse's vision of justice allows him to return to his senses and show Julia Juiz's memories in retaliation to Luna's attempts to cheat. Apocalypse's death may in and of itself be the trigger for Unjustice

Me & Roboco: Three brothers straight out of a romcom move next door and try to hit on Roboco, attracted by how unattracted she is to them and their one-note, stupid gags. This is a rare gag that actually puts Roboco on the backfoot

Sakamoto Days: Shin and Heisuke reach the maze-like B2 of the prison and meet Tenkyu, a member of Slur. Tenkyu likely wants to find Atari for Uzuki's sake, which will likely put him in conflict with Shin and Heisuke and make him the antagonist of the arc

Elusive Samurai: Shizuku's human emotions of love and jealousy allow her to manifest a human body at the cost of her divine powers, saving her from vanishing from their overuse. With Mima and Shizuku's divinity lost to both sides, the war between Tokiyuki and Takauji can no longer rely on miracles or divine protection

Witch Watch: Suzuka once again asks for help cheating on one of her grandmother's traditional arts tests, this time on haiku. Tenryuu's perceptions of haiku are changed in the process, though this likely won't have...too big of an effect on his character going forward

Blue Box: The boys basketball team goes out of their way to keep Taiki and Chinatsu separated out of envy, resulting in Taiki being locked in a shed. This moves the focus back to the main couple and adds a little bit of drama to their relationship, which has otherwise been going pretty swimmingly so far

Akane-Banashi: Shiguma is diagnosed with throat cancer and may lose his voice; Issho dissolves the Shiguma School and forcefully inducts Akane into his own school. Whether Issho plans to sabotage Akane's attempts to learn Shiguma's Art or aid in it is unclear, but Akane will certainly learn something useful for it in the process

Kill Blue: Shin sacrifices himself to save Juzo from losing the cavalry battle. The battle will likely conclude next chapter, as otherwise it would now be two-on-one

Nue's Exorcist: To better understand Rido's philosophy on love, Gakuro asks to be introduced to Rido's girlfriend; it turns out that she left him because she has a terminal illness. This will likely impact Gakuro's views on love and motivate him to make a decision on which girl to confess to - hopefully we'll take the polyamory route?

Kagurabachi: Hiruhiko continues to pressure Chihiro into risking the lives of civilians so he can convince him that they're both the same kind of psychopathic killers, but instead Chihiro finds a new way to use Enten to escape his trap. Chihiro's views on murder are further elaborated on as the idolization of the Swordbearers as the heroes of the war is criticized

Super Psychic Policeman Chojo: Chojo is plagued by visions of perverse tragedies occurring to the women around him that will supposedly damage their faith in him. An ominous voice tells him that fate cannot be avoided, suggesting that even after saving the women, his strange behavior in the meantime may have still hurt his standing

Astro Royale: Himuro's backup cops are revealed to be artificially created Asteroids, taking drugs to enhance their abilities that are specifically designed to synergize with Himuro's Astro. The possibility for artificial Asteroids raises the threat level beyond what people happened to wish for when they didn't know they'd get powers from doing so

Yokai Buster Murakami: To save Kuin from execution by a council of Gendo Ikari imposters, Murakami convinces each of them to take on a new, albeit kind of cliche persona; in the process, he establishes Kuin as the new Gendo-like leader of the exorcist organization. Whether Kuin will continue as the leader is questionable, but such a sudden rise in the ranks has troubling implications for the series' longevity

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi: Kiyoshi decimates his proctor for the Grand Cross exam, denouncing the ideology that talent is necessary to reach that rank. Kiyoshi may or may not have precluded himself from being given Grand Cross rank in doing so, but his convictions to Effort and Friendship will likely prove far more valuable

Hima-Ten: Tenichi goes to Himari for advice on his potential relationship with Kanai, which she seems all too happy to give. With this early of a development, something is either going to get in Tenichi's way (likely the new girl, Kanna) OR they'll date for a short while and break up

Ichi the Witch: Ichi rejects Uroro's proposal to go on a witch hunt, earning the approval of the Witches Association; Ichi is finally given his iconic uniform, and Kumugi is forced to join Team Desscaras. This likely marks the end of the prologue, and the real story can finally begin

Shinobi Undercover: Hibari is troubled by her lack of friendship with Mukai, despite being assigned to be her best friend, and asks Yodaka's advice; receiving nothing helpful, Hibari just becomes confused until she's attacked by Miyake and needs to protect another classmate. The main difference between Hibari and Yodaka is likely that Hibari puts on an act while Yodaka is genuine, which she will likely learn through getting to go all out against Miyake

Hakutaku: To gain experience and get some networking in, Hikuma and Noto join a game jam; there, they meet Seo, a programmer, and likely their first major rival, Kitahara. This both builds the roster and establishes the flow of the series, as competitions like this will likely be a recurring element

I think I had a little trouble this time since it's my first attempt, but I remembered a lot more than I actually expected! If I do keep up with it, my hope is that I'll have better insight than I did this time, as I don't have a strong connection to a lot of these series and can't remember or articulate their themes as well as I can for my favorites

If I end up refining this process, great! If I end up dropping it, oh well! For what I got done this time, though, I did enjoy it, and I hope you do too!

[basedkikuenjoyer]

HxH is coming off hiatus, it is now officially my birthday, of course it means more Late Night Togashiposting. And yes, I might just do chapter reviews on random nights. You gonna stop me? Picking up from last time we did actually have another place the Restricted Voyage Agency guy showed up. Revealing his name is Steiner. He was part of the group that went to arrest Prince Halkenburg. Which does make some amount of sense, the V6 agents are a solid neutral authority not to mention weaving in that he's there.

We last left off on Chapter 400 as the the Phantom Troupe focus yields back to the Succession Contest. And interestingly enough this is where we last see Steiner. Who seems to have carved out a niche not unlike the Hunters working for the Princes but instead being on loan to Kakin's Justice Bureau. Which does seem to work somewhat like the US Dept. of Justice. Obviously still influenced by the leadership and we set a very real threat of martial law superceding them...but by design you are supposed to be independent. The Succession Contest is so cool for being this like, turbocharged Chunin Exam where the goal is to break the law without getting caught.

And I love what we get with Kaiser & Melody here. The theory Melody has is so interesting, that Kaiser is a skilled manipulator using his ability to appear as a non-nen user. But it doesn't explain why he's so proactive in seemingly allying with Kacho/Fugetsu. Which I love and actually hope is just Melody overshooting this guy actually falling for her. If you saw my Succession Contest Roundup before the last batch of chapters you might remember Fugetsu became one of my top candidates for the eventual winner. Solely because of Kacho's "Without You" ability.

In that Roundup we talked about a basic likelihood of an arc like this, the mass slaughter of a bunch of the Princes in a sudden turn to winnow down their numbers for the final phase...Ghost Kacho is taking the initiative and we seem to be heading towards that plan. And don't miss Fugetsu going haywire. People may be worried but I think she's awakening into someone with the stomach for this wicked game.

I said it back then and I stand by it, count me on Team Twinsies. Especially when they could easily have groups like the Justice Bureau and Restricted Voyage Agency in their corner. Because Fugetsu is the exact type to position as a consensus candidate who would be fine with the part about letting Kakin settle an empty island and just call it the Dark Continent.

[monosanimegenericzone]

Hunter x Hunter: 402 liveblog

oh my goodness my little nerd brain.

kacho is a devious level individual i love her.

i did not catch on zhanglei's involvement in the contract but that's interesting. and it does add some new context.

they've set us up with a strict time limit too.

tubeppa has gained a 'research partner' and a poisoner has been exposed. that is not coincidence. there is going to be a race against the clock for who kills who first and it's going to be GREAT.

KACHO DEVIOUS LEVEL INDIVIDUAL PART TWO

also aww fugetsu going to each prince's room and the princes actually being like. decent human beings for once.

thats so fuckin sweet

i almost teared up when they went to benjamin and he actually said he was sorry for fugetsu.

my heart.

THE IDEA TO RAGDOLL LUZURUS XDDDD GRAB HIS STONED ASS AND YEET HIM OFF THE SHIP THAT IS C R A Z Y XDDDDDD.

dude this chapter was so lore heavy and my nerd ass was drinking it all up.

would have posted this yesterday but my ass was zoinked bruh. sleep deprivation went crazy.

[witheredgardenparty]

Bad HxH predictions based off of rereading the recent story plot when I was supposed to be studying. Spoilers up to 402

Hisoka becomes a prince guard. Kurapika is very frustrated his (in law?) is now part of the competition. Maybe he guards Woble that would be fun

Woble is Beyond's secret "prince" and Oito is hiding it because she is aware of the stakes. (Based off of: drama and how Beyond's body is blocking Oito's during the opening ceremony shot. Also Beyond's "prince" has to be someone who could not reasonably be expected to win on their own. So someone from the younger group.)

My back-up guess is Marayam (13th), since his mother was willing to immediately sacrifice his sister for him. Kind of fucked up honestly. And Togashi likes to pick unusual answers to literary questions.

For a hot second I thought it could be the twins, because they got a lot of extra protection from the Justice Bureau, but then one went and died. So. Maybe not.

Halkenburg (9th) body thefts Balso. Kills Benjamin (1st). Halk permanently loses his own body to the bioweapon. Maybe even thefts Benjamin's?

Tubeppa (5th) betrays her own contract, sets off her own nen beast's conditions. Unclear what that is right now

Melody and Fugetsu (11th) are tricking Kaiser. Not entirely sure if they are testing his allegiance or if they already know for sure he's the cause of the problem. (Based off of: we already know that's not how her ability works. She's already teleported to unknown locations before. Besides, it's OOC for Melody to condone murder. And the logic for why we're suspecting Luzurus (7th) is bonkers.)

Separate but related: Kaiser is a Pariston spy. That's why he's overly invested in "helping". He's trying to get rid of the other princes to help secure Beyond's "prince". Not sure if he thinks going along with Melody's plan will help do that or if he's trying to implicate Fugetsu further

Separate but related: Kaiser does love Melody and isn't completely lying? Call that wanting people to love Melody the most precious creature in the world. Please let that be true even if Kaiser is an enemy spy

Melody added other bits of information to the letter sent to Kurapika including her plan to trick Kaiser and the truth about Kacho's (10th) nen beast situation. This is not known to Kaiser, who fed Fugetsu different information to share with Kurapika, which might be related to the other prince's mafia ties. Since Kurapika already knows about the Tserriednich's (4th) mafia ties, I would put money on Zhang Lei's (3rd) since it would give him leverage over his alliance.