Hahaha but I actually think what you say makes sense: fully grown Kite played a role as a mentor figure and we had a lot more time with him than we have had with female Kite (and I’m not sure whether we will get much more with her). Her advice to Gon was sound, but she’s a child too. I mostly like what she represents: that death is not necessarily the end of the story in HxH, which this current arc seems to be exploring as well with the focus on postmortem nen, etc. That even when you think you’ve lost it all, there might be hope in a place you didn’t think to look. That second chances exist, for all of us, in both Kite and Gon and Colt too.
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.)
I definitely don’t disagree with you that
his frustration being related to unfairness! The ideas are not mutually
exclusive; I believe another layer to that unfairness is that part of
the reason he thinks it’s unfair is he does view Pitou(understandably!
Completely understandably) as a monster. You don’t have to agree of
course, but do you mind if I explain why I said that?
The struggle of
humans and ants to empathize with each other instead of categorizing
each other as monsters to be eradicated or cattle to be eaten was a
recurring theme. I don’t think Gon was concerned overmuch with the fate
of humanity, but Kite did warn him about this tendency of his here:
Gon did not want Pitou to be a creature who was capable of camaraderie, which Pitou’s actions with Komugi proved they were. I think that indicates that Gon did view Pitou as a lesser, eviler being, but was certainly frustrated when that was proved not the case. However, you are entitled to disagree!
Pariston is kind of just obnoxiously there but I would like to see more done with him in the future. I don’t like him at all, but I wouldn’t quite say I hate him… yet.
But remember when I said there were three characters I hated? Yeah, those are Ging Freecss, Silva Zoldyck, and Kikyo Zoldyck. I hate Ging. I hate him so much. Leorio punching him made me love Leorio and it’s still one of my favorite moments in the series.
What he did to Gon was traumatizing. And we see it throughout the story, in little cracks throughout Gon’s arc that start to eventually erupt in the Chimera Ant Arc. When he screams at Pitou that he’s tired of waiting, that he can’t wait any more to fight Pitou/get Kite back, it’s because he’s projected his abandonment issues onto Kite and because he blames himself for Ging leaving him like he blames himself for Kite’s death. It’s always been there, but Kite dying like… brings that to the surface. He’s tired of waiting. He can’t wait any longer. He just wants his dad, and he wants to be strong enough to find his dad, to bring his dad back, because clearly he wasn’t interesting or strong or brave enough to convince his dad to stay. Which is terrible when you consider that he was an infant when Ging abandoned him. It’s not your fault, Gon.
And then when Gon is literally dying Ging’s like ehhhh why would I visit him just because he’s dying? Because Ging is a selfish man who only cares about the next thrill, the next excitement, and doesn’t want to be hampered down with responsibilities like a dying child.
Remember how I said Hisoka was Gon’s shadow? He is, but I don’t think Gon and Hisoka will ever have some big showdown fight where Gon wins and is an adult. On the contrary, I think Gon needs to overcome Ging, not Hisoka (though I don’t expect it to end in some sort of antagonistic fight between Gon and Ging or any antagonism to really develop there; I would like to see Gon simply just… move on from Ging because Ging doesn’t deserve him and is harmful for Gon). Ging is a manchild who refuses to grow up and take any kind of responsibility, like Hisoka, except he does so in a way that is more directly harmful to Gon.
Ging also is a direct foil of Silva and Kikyo, the other two characters I loathe, in that they obsessively control Killua and try to force him to become exactly the assassin they want him to become. They’re like this with all their kids, too–they’re all controlled. (Again, like with Hisoka and Gon’s relationship, though Illumi is more directly Killua’s antagonist and shadow, Illumi is not the problem–like, Silva is the one who told Illumi to put the needle in Killua’s brain. If something happened to Illumi, Killua’s problems with his family would continue because of his parents.) Both styles of parenting are horrifically abusive and traumatizing for Killua and Gon, and I want to lock Ging, Silva, and Kikyo on a ship with Endeavor, Grisha Jaeger, Karina Braun, Mutsuki’s dad, and Washuu Tsuneyoshi and send them far far away.
hamliet 