I think Historia was in on some aspect of the plan concocted by Zeke and Eren and Yelena (I strongly suspect all three of them have different ideas of what that plan is, though). However, I cannot ever see Historia being remotely okay with Eren murdering children. (And I say that as someone who loves Eren and doesn’t think he’s beyond redemption.)
Eren’s plan is not going to bring about good things for Historia–so far, we’ve seen him just hurting the people he most wants to protect. I mean, Mikasa and Armin, stated to be his motivation multiple times, almost got blown up last chapter. So my guess is his plan is going to be hurting her as well, and part of it will probably be that he’s killed kids. Historia is currently spiraling and paralleling her mother, but I still think she’d be horrified. Ymir certainly would be.
The most frustrating part of the story for me right now is that besides her pregnancy which we know Yelena suggested to her (but Eren seemingly was opposed?) we have not been given any access to what Historia actually thinks. I wanna see Historia’s perspective dammit. I miss the queen.
It’s hard to give one without the full translation! But judging by the framing, Nicolo is clearly in the wrong here. He almost killed two kids, encouraged Kaya to become a murderer, and may have poisoned Falco. I am hoping that was blood and not wine dripping into his mouth.
I loved Mikasa. In contrast to Eren killing kids, she protects an Eren parallel, stopping Kaya from turning into a murderer like she wasn’t able to stop Louise and Eren from joining this new uprising, and comforting a traumatized child who murdered in her trauma (oh look, a parallel to her own childhood self). She’s making steps in her arc and I am here for this.
I don’t know whether or not it’s entirely literal. I don’t think so, but I think it does get the vital importance of connection that HxH seems to be trying to convey. Because she isn’t saying suffer so much as instead stay with me.
Kite’s worldview was framed as a bit dodgy in his human life, notably here:
The problem is, of course, a strong fellowship is what dooms the ants and also points out the flaws of the Hunters trying to exterminate them–because there was absolutely no need to do it. It was a futile effort that only brought hurt to both the Hunters and the ants.
At the same time, connection comes with pain. We see that in Killua and Gon’s relationship; as beautiful as it is, it’s also flawed like all relationships, and they suffer for caring about each other. Komugi dies because she connected with Meruem and chose to spend the rest of her life playing Gungi with him, because that connection (which her descriptions of her family tell us she didn’t really have elsewhere) was the most important thing in her life.
To suffer continually I think would be to repeat this cycle that Koala describes here:
The “I shot her to protect myself” I think gets at the heart of what is going on with Gon when he attacked Pitou, when Kurapika is seeking revenge on the Troupe and going after the eyes, when Illumi is trying to control Killua and Alluka, when Chrollo is stealing, when Hisoka is being Hisoka. It’s about them. They’re seeking to protect their own sense of worth. Gon in fighting, because his father taught him fighting=you can earn the right to meet me. Killua in protecting Gon=I have a purpose and something to do. Kurapika seeking to honor his heritage (where his worth comes from), Illumi in seeking to control the family that abused him, Hisoka in seeking near-death experiences and pleasure, Chrollo in trying to find out who he is (since he currently defines himself by the Spiders).
You can’t ever erase what you’ve done, especially if you’ve taken a life. Which at this point all our characters pretty much have except, like, Leorio. But I think for HxH, redemption is really just genuine connection. I’ve written a bit before about how redemption is different in different stories. Like Meruem and Pitou never showed remorse for the children they killed, but I think most people would consider them kind of redeemed–because they formed genuine connections. Pitou with Meruem, and Meruem with Komugi.
So, should there be any redemption for those characters, it would rely on their ability to make connections. Kurapika’s connections to his friend and to Oito and Woble are likely to save him from his spiral. Chrollo is connected to his troupe, but also equally attached to to his troupe’s ideology, which is why I expect him to choose at some point, and his choice will decide his fate. Illumi’s connection to his family is twisted and obsessive and objectifying in nature but he does have those connections, so it remains to be seen if he can learn how to not objectify his brothers (perhaps through realizing his parents have objectified him, if that were to happen, but that’s me guessing). Hisoka however does not have direct connections, and that’s kind of a calling card of his character… but he is, at this point, kind of connected to Illumi, so we’ll see how this plays out.
(I’m genuinely not worried about any of the narrative six characters dying until like, the very end of the series, and then I have no idea.)
It’s actually hard to answer that! Almost nothing is straightforwardly an existentialist work; certain stories just have existentialist themes.
I think SnK has them in EMA’s arcs, and Historia’s and Ymir’s. Historia is encouraged to choose her destiny instead of letting her blood define her. However, there is also the conundrum that she is a Reiss and therefore has a responsibility for becoming queen. Mikasa struggles to find something to live for and finds it in Eren, and then Eren’s memory, and then Eren again, and hopefully will graduate to something else (like herself) by the end. I do think a lot of the endings to these arcs will have a pretty strong effect on the story’s message on existentialism.
HxH has a lot more. The Chimera Ant Arc is filled with existentialist questions and philosophy, as fundamental questions of what makes someone human and the reality of having choices abound. The current arc also seems to be playing with these themes as well. Well, the story as a whole definitely plays with these themes, but in these arcs (and in Yorknew) it’s particularly prominent.
No particular reason! It’s a great arc. I don’t think Noragami’s quality really varies from arc to arc so it’s just a matter of personal taste. I was personally more moved by the character interactions in the other arcs. I didn’t go into it being like “this is my least favorite arc!” I was actually surprised it was last, too.
I’m not quuiiiite sure how to divide some of these arcs (I think they could be divided further but don’t have to be) but here’s my ranking. I’m also really liking the current arc so far, even if we’re still in the set-up phase. It’s like a massive dose of All My Ships and the promise of incoming disaster.
hamliet 