I apologize if this has been asked recently, but in what order would you rank all the hxh arcs?

No worries! I’m going to leave out the current arc except to say that I am really, really, really liking it so far. 

1) Election Arc. It focused on the Zoldycks, my favorites, and Alluka was a fantastic new character with great thematic resonance. The juxtaposition of Killua’s quest with Pariston and the election could have been tonally jarring, but they managed to compliment each other as well. The writing was tight and the beauty of Killua’s arc really came to its head. 

2) Yorknew Arc. I go back and forth between putting this or Chimera Ant second. I love the darker aspect to it, and the way it’s just entirely thrilling and exciting watching Chrollo and Kurapika play their cat and mouse game. Illumi, Hisoka, Gon, and Killua are all present as well, so really, it’s great.

3) Chimera Ant Arc. Pitou, Meruem, Komugi, Pouf–they all receive absolutely brilliant arcs, and the arc really deconstructs Gon as a typical shonen protagonist. It spins your expectations around and exemplifies the futility of war and sets up the stage for the Election Arc really well. It’s where the cracks in Gon’s mindset that were starting to get frustrating are brought to a head, but in an absolutely devastating way. It’s peak writing.

4) Heaven’s Arena. I enjoyed Hisoka’s role and the introduction of nen. 

5) Hunter Exam. It’s a great introduction to Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, Hisoka, and Illumi. And it’s genuinely fun.

6) Zoldyck Family. I love this arc a lot, so I’m surprised it’s so far down? It could honestly tie with the previous one.

7) Greed Island. Sorry Greed Island, but it’s the only arc I pretty much am like ehhhhhh to. I love Bisky and the introduction of Ging as, perhaps, a terrible dad is really important, but it’s by far the arc with the least emotional stakes for our cast. Instead of a villain being themselves failing, family, someone who killed your family/loved ones, it’s just a game. It’s a good arc, works excellently for the story, and I enjoy it, but the emotional stakes are so much lower than those in the other arcs that it’s definitely last in terms of what I like.

I’m sorry I’m the one who asked about predictions for Black Butler yesterday, do you not like making predictions for it or you don’t know what to think? Sorry I didn’t want to put you on the spot…

No need to be sorry!! It’s just that I have a very hard time predicting it 😀 I try, but I haven’t been following it all that long (only since June?) and mostly my predictions are quite vague. I do think that Lizzie will eventually side with O!Ciel but she needs time. Soma as well, but he might need less time once he finds out there is a twin, because he will definitely want to stop whoever killed Agni. But how this will all happen, I’m not sure. I tend not to be very good at predicting specifics in any series 😛 (IM ALMOST ALWAYS WRONG) though general themes are easier to see. 

I believe we won’t get information about touya or dabi in 30 chapters

Maybe, maybe not. It doesn’t really matter to me so long as the story is compelling. 

I’m not really into doom and gloom predictions; I tend to have faith the story will be the best it can be, even if not perfect because no story is, until proved beyond reasonable doubt that it won’t be which is usually like, at the very end if at all. If we have to wait for more Touya/Dabi, I’m okay with that so long as it works for the story. If we don’t have to wait I’m even more okay with that because it’s definitely my favorite subplot by a lot, but it’s hard to tell what will happen after this arc since a lot of it seems to be filler. 

Judging by the pattern though, the arcs over the past 100 chapters seem to be alternating in pattern, though of course this doesn’t have to continue since the beginning arcs seemed to entwine the UA-focus and plot relevancy, heaviness and lightness together more. It’s been like… heavy & plot relevant (Hideout Raid), light & UA-focused (Licensing Exam), heavy and plot relevant (Overhaul), light & UA-focused (Cultural Festival), heavy & plot relevant (Pro-Hero), light & UA focused (the current arc). So I’m suspecting the next arc might be heavier again, but I hope it weaves in UA focus a bit more than, say, the Pro-Hero arc did. That’s what I’d like to see, anyways. If Horikoshi goes another way and it works, that’s fine, if it has Dabi-Touya drama, even better, but if not, also fine. 

What do you think about the way Horikoshi draws his girls?

Uggggh. I mean, I’m not a fan of how bnha treats its female characters and I’ve talked about that before, and how they’re drawn is indeed a part of that. The adult pro hero women all seem to have the same body type (abundant curves) and generally wear very skimpy outfits. Which is fine, nothing wrong with skimpy clothes, but I get skeptical when they’re almost all the exact same.

And then there’s Momo, probably the best written female character imo. I know ppl are like SHE NEEDS TO HAVE LITTLE TO NO CLOTHING FOR HER QUIRK ITS NOT SEXUALIZING as if the author had absolutely no choice in what Momo’s quirk and its rules were. Not the case. He invented those rules and that outfit to titillate the audience. Momo does have the best written mini arc and I would love to see more of her, but sigh.

I don’t mean to condemn Horikoshi either; it’s like hardly unique to him. Media sexualizes female characters in ways it does not sexualize its male characters and it’s rarer that media doesn’t do so. But it is a complaint I do have about BNHA.

I like how upright and honest edward is edward is not naive he knows about ceils position as the earl of phantom hivehe doesn’t stop ceil with his duties even warns the prefects about himhe even says to ceil that he was afraid of ending up likes choses prefects like the sin of murder is equal to justicethats what i like he’s a character who is not naive and good and honest

Edward is seriously a well written, good character. I am hopeful to see more of how he and the other Midfords are handling all the revelations. 

BNHA 205 thoughts. On top of every other “Dabi is Touya” hint, this chapter also plays the “how many times can Shouto physically resemble Dabi” game. The two most striking ones are the full-page of Shouto with messy hair and the “back off” glare, which is such an edgy Dabi face. I think Shouto’s hellfire flame was scorching his face a little bit in some panels. I’m expecting Shouto to have some new burn scars next time we see him. Either way I’m hyped for more Todoroki fam Dysfunction Junction.

It DOESSSS The hair in that panel, if black… the resemblance would be uncanny. And yes! Please more Todoroki dysfunction. I’m encouraged Horikoshi doesn’t appear to be dropping it. 

what I like about SnK is how no one is to blame. fans are quick to hate Gabi but in Gabi’s eyes Sasha and the others were the evil ones. she doesn’t know the unbiased history so she isn’t evil and that’s why it was important Sasha’s father forgave her so the circle of hate doesn’t continue. if he killed Gabi and Falco waked up he would have wanted to get revenge too

harostar:

While I understand the fans that are horrified and angry about what happened to Sasha, I definitely agree that they tend to be too extreme in their reactions.

They seem to focus a lot on Gabi’s biases and ignorance of the world, as opposed to seeing that she’s a child that has been raised with these beliefs. She’s never had the opportunity before to see those things challenged, GENUINELY challenged. And one aspect of her character that I think people miss a lot is how Gabi has some serious Krista-level issues concerning self-sacrifice and wanting to be “good”.

She’s completely swallowed and internalized the lies, and based her entire self around the concept of being a “Good Eldian”. This 12-year old girl has so deeply internalized concepts of shame, sin, and personal blame that her greatest wish has been to SACRIFICE HERSELF in battle to appease her abusers.

Because I think that is one thing so important about the Braus family, and their interactions to Gabi. They IMMEDIATELY recognize her behavior as stemming from an abusive background. They see that this child has been taught to fear others and to expect violence from them. Even without the vague lies Falco made up, they recognize that Gabi is a child that adults have failed completely and utterly. 

I think we could all learn something from Mr. Braus, and his wisdom in recognizing that we must “leave the forest” (expose ourselves to different experiences) and also accept that death can be a consequence of our actions. He recognizes that his daughter was a soldier fighting in a violent conflict, and that her own death was something that happens in times of war. The soldier that shot her is not to blame, when they were both fighting for their lives and the people they care about. 

We know that Sasha was a good and kind person, but she was also not blameless in her death. She made the decision to participate in battle and to kill other people. Just as the characters and audience grieve for her loss, there are people grieving because of what SASHA took from them. We saw Pieck and Gabi both grieve and rage over Sasha killing their comrades. Would we hate Pieck as much as people hate Gabi, if Pieck had been the one to take revenge for a comrade Sasha had killed?

I think people focus too much on Gabi’s anger and violence, without looking at her other traits or the reasons behind her behavior. She is violent because she has always been encouraged and rewarded for it. Remember, the Warriors are intended to be sentient weapons for the military. Their entire purpose is to mercilessly and brutally slaughter anyone and anything their commanders point them at. Gabi has simply been taught from birth that destroying the enemies of Marley is what a good and noble Eldian does. She has been actively praised for this behavior, by her commanders, her family, and her community. She’s never had to witness the OTHER half of those actions, until now.

But Gabi is not simply an angry, violent girl. She’s also exceptionally caring, though in a different manner than Falco. While Falco has sympathy and love for everyone, Gabi is someone that cherishes her people and her comrades with a devotion that is honestly dangerous. Like Reiner and Krista, she is someone that takes her desire to protect and please others to a self-destructive degree. She wants to inherit the Armored Titan, not because of glory or recognition, but because she is desperate to reconnect with and understand her cousin. This 12-year old girl sees an adult that is suffering with things she doesn’t understand, and wants to share that burden. 

She also looks at herself as less valuable than others. Her entire argument in the trenches focused on how she is less valuable, and how her sacrifice could save dozens of other troops. While she got tons of praise and recognition for her actions, what really mattered was that her people survived the battle. She saved them, and when Liberio is attacked and she decides to board the airship……she again frames things as “Only I need to die”. She wants Falco to survive and go on living, but she sees death as the only path forward for herself.

I really am looking forward to what happens from here. Gabi’s world has been completely shattered. From here, she can only start to rebuild herself and hopefully take what she’s learned to apply her best qualities to genuinely helping.