Hunter x Hunter Episode 126 Reaction Extended (YT link below)
Added 2024-07-24 01:00:03 +0000 UTCIn Hunter x Hunter 126, Zero x and x Rose, Netero slaps Mereum so hard that it inspires a different character in a different series.
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YouTube Link:
Comments
Wow, thanks for the insight Ryan. Cool info!
ODIS
2024-07-25 03:16:27 +0000 UTCThat was such a great fakeout in JJK because I understood the reference they were making and expected Todo's attack to work like Netero's but then it didn't lol and it was also a fakeout for Mahito
kingkoopa98
2024-07-25 02:01:12 +0000 UTC"Can we go into the negatives?" No, but we can split one...one atom.
Logan Williams
2024-07-24 15:46:54 +0000 UTCYeah, “evolution” as a word encompasses more of the discussion being had in that scene, but there’s something SO cold about Netero saying “You don’t understand mankind’s infinite potential for malice” while giving Meruem the most devious, terrifying smile of all time as skulls flash across the screen lol
Sunny
2024-07-24 12:09:32 +0000 UTC''It's society. Society must be destroyed!'' funny you say that when the King and Shigaraki share the same voice
Maurice Adler
2024-07-24 10:06:44 +0000 UTCThe ants are similar enough to humans that it would probably run along the same path. Probably explosive growth followed by a stability phase where their "evolution" turned less to the species and more towards social or creative evolution. There seems to be some natural law that I don't know the word for where exponential growth from success has a cap on continued marginal rate of growth. You see this in business a lot, so for example think about how when Netflix started its growth was meteoric, and then reach something like a natural saturation point, and then sort of continues to eke out an existence (YouTube channels often have a similar lifespan). That also applies to species. If a species is wildly successful, it will grow like crazy, but then reach a natural bottleneck where in order to go from here to there we'd need a corresponding exponential growth in the infrastructure to support it. For human evolution, it's sort of unclear how if at all we're evolving. If anything, it seems like we're doing a lot more sexual selection than natural selection, but im guessing that's something we can really only understand with a few millennia of data. What's interesting though is that human evolution, unlike other creatures, can branch out into 3D so that it's not just physical evolution that we can experience, but ideological, societal, and technological evolution, in other words our creations. Those too are subject to the forced of evolution to some degree (if they work they stay or get bigger if they don't they're gone). I imagine the ants would end up in the same basic paradigm after a period of insane growth and then be subject to the same bottlenecks, just with a lot more physical strength and more varried individual abilities
Alex G
2024-07-24 06:36:31 +0000 UTCVery interesting
Alex G
2024-07-24 06:16:52 +0000 UTCAwesome. Thankfully I think given the context it at least still conveys the feeling of both evolution and malice.
Alex G
2024-07-24 06:15:58 +0000 UTCVery interesting idea. I don't know if this is precisely what you're getting at or not, but in machine learning, there's a lot of discussion about a concept called "monotonic vs non-monotonic growth." Basically, monotonic growth means you are always either getting better or staying the same. You never get worse. In "non-monotonic growth," you might have moments of temporarily decreasing performance as you explore more of the space of total possibilities. As you abandon things you relied on in order to achieve your current limits, you temporarily get worse, but the goal in doing that is to find an even better set of principles that help you ultimately achieve a level so high that you couldn't get there with the baggage of the things you used to rely on. Machine learning algorithms aren't great at this because they're typically designed to keep things that help them improve, but without some tolerance for setbacks, they end up exploring a very small part of the total parameter space and only ever achieve a very restricted local maximum. (Or in other words, Haikyuu's first half of Season 2)
Ryan
2024-07-24 06:13:25 +0000 UTCTo realize that that was directly this moment was shocking for me
Alex G
2024-07-24 06:12:25 +0000 UTCThese two episodes seemed like they should go together 😂
Alex G
2024-07-24 06:10:53 +0000 UTCAs someone who, up until this reaction series, had only ever seen the anime without subtitles, I had no idea that this was a discussion at all, and if people hadn't commented, I would've had no idea to look up the manga panel. I'm very grateful (in the normal, human sense of the term, not the "God barfing" way) for the discussion. 😀
Ryan
2024-07-24 06:04:55 +0000 UTCYou can see what it looks like here: https://fanblogs.jp/xatutoto/archive/248/0
Ryan
2024-07-24 05:59:55 +0000 UTC(just found it a little lower down in the discussion 😄)
Ryan
2024-07-24 05:59:04 +0000 UTC👏👏
Ryan
2024-07-24 05:56:54 +0000 UTCAaahhhh finally found the language discussion that macrowave was talking about earlier! 😄 Okay so. I had to go look up the manga panel. ODIS is right: the word he says aloud is 'shinka', which means evolution, but this is one of those untranslatable things from the manga where Togashi writes the word "shinka" as 悪意 (normally pronounced "aku-i", which means cruelty or malice). So like, he says evolution, but what he really means by that is "malice / cruelty / malevolence." It's like in S4E21 of Haikyuu, where Tanaka says that Kageyama is giving him his "trust", but they write it as the word for a "threat" ( 脅迫, but glossed as しんらい ). So yeah.... I don't know how you deal with that in English, or frankly with spoken language at all. It's a quirk of the way Japanese is written where you can write one thing but pronounce it as completely another, and make the subtext into literal text. I hope that helps.
Ryan
2024-07-24 05:50:31 +0000 UTCWow. I don't know why but I never pieced together that it's the same two limbs. Thank you for that
Ryan
2024-07-24 05:43:23 +0000 UTCHaha! Really? I don't know what to add, really. I feel like Alex reached the full depth of what I would get to, anyway. Yes, Meruem's speech style is very distinctive, but we've talked about that before. Netero starts out calling the King "kisama" which is basically swearing at him like "you %#$&", and then evolved to saying "omae-san" which is still diminutive and normally from elder to younger but still respectful, and then eventually to his name. The title card pun is pretty basic (Rose and Zero as just the flipped version of each other, just like how the Zero attack is the individual power achieved through insane dedication and personal cost, while Rose is a massive destructive force chosen for its low input requirements) What am I missing? 😄
Ryan
2024-07-24 05:40:13 +0000 UTCSo, if evolution reaches a pinnacle as the Chimera Ant evolution has, would it slowly devolve so that it can go back to progressing forward? (I cannot word that well enough) Basically, humans are not fully evolved and thats possibly because every time we get close, we seemingly take a step backwards in order to take two steps forward and that step backwards makes us feel like we are far from being complete. The Ants are about five steps ahead of humans but to me, it seems like they can't progress anymore as they do not want to digress or their nature will not allow them to. If the Ants were to overtake the world, would their nature be the first to change or would the world favor humans innate nature? (Truly I cannot seem to find the right words and now I, myself, am confused)
Anya Mcghee
2024-07-24 05:22:46 +0000 UTCman I tell yeah the entire dub is worth it for this episode alone. Even if you don't record it take a watch, the narrator in English for this episode is some of the best voice acting iv experienced, you should check it out for your own pleasure.
Robert Traeger
2024-07-24 04:38:02 +0000 UTCI like this idea too, but for whatever reason the sub translation I remember watching said “don’t underestimate the potential of human malice” which just feels so cold and awesome to me. Especially since he just nukes him with a dead man’s switch.
Nicholas Bell
2024-07-24 04:33:46 +0000 UTCsomething else that i found interesting is that Meruem shunned human individuality as a concept, but engaged in combat with Netero for the purpose of learning his own name. this conflict really feels human on human
Chris Sharpe
2024-07-24 03:56:34 +0000 UTCinteresting tidbit that you kind of experienced in reverse: Todo’s line when he lost his hand in JJK “the act of applause is an acclamation of the soul” was a VERY clear reference to Netero when he lost his hand. basically anyone who had seen HxH before JJK was able to connect that (makes sense due to the series’ influence on Gege). The Shibuya arc in general seems to take heavy inspiration from the Chimera Ant arc, with similar themes of instincts vs human reason with Yuji and Mahito.
Chris Sharpe
2024-07-24 03:54:50 +0000 UTCNetero used the word SHINKA. Which in my dictionary just says: evolution, becoming more advanced, progress, etc... No mention of cruelty. I think the evolution one is the more accurate one. Ryan should confirm though. Also, the king was talking about the evolution of his species, so it makes more sense for Netero to say, don't underestimate OUR evolution.
ODIS
2024-07-24 03:12:42 +0000 UTCI think it was around episode 88 that Netero said something along the lines of, “I don’t think we can win this without sacrificing someone.”. Since it was a double upload, this might go on a while as I’ll just put all my thoughts here. This is one of those episodes that really stands out as one of the reasons HxH is as beloved as it is. Firstly, the visuals are incredible. I especially like the use of falling debris to show just how fast Netero is. In a world where it was truly just a battle of individual strength, it was no contest. Meruem won the game. Unfortunately, Netero came prepared with the classic move of dropping a nuclear bomb on the board. I’m sure someone who understands Japanese and has read the manga could give a more detailed explanation, but Netero’s last line of “infinite potential for evolution” has another translation. The character used for “evolution” could also be read as “malice”. They actually used this translation in the dub too. There’s been lots of debate over the years about this topic, and I think it’s interesting that both translations work very well. Evolution is interesting because it directly addresses Meruem’s previous comment about humanity’s individuality not being able to match the evolutionary chain that led to his creation. These episodes contained a lot of discussion about the pinnacle of human strength or individual ability. Netero is quite literally the shining example. Yet Netero also chose to be the head of the Hunter Association, willingly being in a sense, at the service of others. I think this is why Meruem’s point falls flat here. There isn’t really true individual strength. Even Netero was affected by those around him, and his decision to do “10,000 punches of gratitude” was in respect to the martial arts that allowed him to get that far. Martial arts that were created by other individuals. Malice is interesting because it is something uniquely human. It’s directly opposed to the “instinctual needs” side of the discussion. It is something that can represent the human desire to do something outside of the immediate need. Though that feels incomplete. As you and people in the comments have discussed recently, “instinctual needs” doesn’t need to oppose its “opposite”, if that makes any sense. I feel like I haven’t really fully put into words how I feel here, but I think the general point comes across. The use of the bomb is something that, like Meruem, is possible thanks to years of evolution. But knowing the effects, and still willingly using it would be by many considered an act of malice. The end of this episode to this day remains one of the most impactful moments in media for me, and the discussion that arises from it is something I never get tired of engaging in.
Oak
2024-07-24 03:09:47 +0000 UTCIsn't it crazy? We're watching this show where there's Nen, magical monsters, the most powerful villain/being in the world, constantly wondering how we're gonna win, and yet the humans in the show at no point were in doubt that they were gonna come out on top. And how? By not using any of that magical stuff, but something that belongs to our world. And they would have burned the world to the ground if that's what it took too... Indeed. "Who's the real enemy?" lol. Togashi makes it quite complex. As you said, the lines are blurred.
ODIS
2024-07-24 03:06:38 +0000 UTCi’m glad you touched on the nature aspect because it’s another example of how well togashi is able to connect his fights to bigger themes, in this case using implicit details to highlight how ‘unnatural’ or ‘impure’ netero can be viewed as. the impurity of the bomb is obvious (someone might have mentioned the double meaning of ‘evolution/malice’ already), but it’s also highlighted in how he twists the boddhisatva guanyin (typically understood to have multiple hands in order to reach out to as many people in need as possible) into the ultimate symbol of individual strength (hence she’s crying). the fact that netero is actually an enhancer but uses primarily emission and conjuration techniques (nen-types that don’t share a natural affinity with enhancement), can similarly be viewed as this disregard or ‘middle finger’ to any type of restriction by a natural or higher power. his constant buddha iconography is almost a perversion considering how his methods of ‘guiding’ others is shown to be so blatantly without compassion to those that fall outside his conception of useful in the hunter exams, a detail best highlighted by the fact he wears earrings to lengthen his lobes whereas meruem (‘the light that illuminates all’) is born with naturally long ones - the buddha usually depicted with long, empty, earlobes to show that he was once dragged down by wealth and material items but in finding enlightenment renounced said wealth and used his long ears to hear cries of suffering and respond accordingly. side info but this last one (earring thing) is actually somewhat common in anime, think Geto’s earrings in jjk0 and his explicit links to the buddha and ‘showing the way’ for a specific subset of individuals
armando
2024-07-24 02:34:01 +0000 UTCFrom what I understand from other comments on countless reaction videos, the word used for "evolution/cruelty" when written in japanese means both of those things, very deliberately. I believe Netflix is the only translation that uses subtitles saying "cruelty" instead of "evolution", but Netflix has problems with other parts that they translated all throughout the show so it's a net good that Goodwin isn't watching this on Netflix. I'm sure one of the commentators with knowledge of the japanese language will explain it better than me so keep a lookout
Sunny
2024-07-24 02:06:08 +0000 UTCwith that episode the real time palace invasion (and the real time netero v meruem fight) won't spoil you, although i could've sworn that netero said humanity's infinite potential for cruelty rather than evolution when i watched it (as imo this arc really fixates on the strengths and the negatives of humanity in general)
Fudgemancookie
2024-07-24 01:56:32 +0000 UTC"Applause... comes from the SOUL" -Todo
Sunny
2024-07-24 01:48:29 +0000 UTC"I think he needs that one. He needed that leg" Well funnily enough, he didn't need it to keep a ball away from Killua and Gon... lol
Sunny
2024-07-24 01:43:25 +0000 UTCI think what happened to Netero in his final battle is a really nice touch when you think back to the first "battle" we saw him in in the show - and the handicap he gave Killua and Gon
Guy
2024-07-24 01:41:41 +0000 UTCThe bgm on this 2 episodes are so good! also this end is the culmination of "reject the binary choice" the important was'nt win or lose, he had already won for pinning meruem with him.
Sonozaki Shinji
2024-07-24 01:39:08 +0000 UTCI NEED MORE
Goldy
2024-07-24 01:35:16 +0000 UTCLooking forward to whoever does the language break down for this ep
Sunny
2024-07-24 01:30:48 +0000 UTCI am so grateful that this is getting the AoT season 3 finale treatment of multiple Goodwin uploads. Real OG’s know…
bl0odm1st
2024-07-24 01:29:31 +0000 UTCTWO??? TWOOO????? LET'S GO
Sunny
2024-07-24 01:28:57 +0000 UTC
