Hunter X Hunter Reaction Ep126 

Forgot to mention the way Togashi wrote Netero’s line of dialogue can be read as referring to “evolution” or “malice.” Referring to the cultural evolution of humans leading to weapons of war like nukes. But also the fact of our intelligence is why concepts of morality, good and evil exist. Ironically, we are the animal most capable of moralizing, of judging things as good or evil, and with that capacity for thought, in philosophy and science, we are also the most capable of evil.

There’s a person called *konai* posting big spoilers in the comments. Please be careful and don’t read his comments.

There was a nen user who worked for Neon in the Yorknew arc, named Dalzollene, he was Kurapika’s boss before Phinks killed him as he came in to rescue the poisoned/paralyzed Uvogin. He was said to be a strong nen user by Light, Neon’s father, because his TEN could withstand 10 bullets (real, not conjured/emitted). Earlier Uvogin was shot with an anti-tank missile, and said it tickled him. All that to put the power of technology in perspective. “The first test of a fission ("atomic") bomb released an amount of energy approximately equal to 20,000 tons of TNT (84 TJ). The first thermonuclear ("hydrogen") bomb test released energy approximately equal to 10 million tons of TNT (42 PJ).” “How many miles does a nuclear bomb destroy? - The volume the weapon's energy spreads into varies as the cube of the distance, but the destroyed area varies at the square of the distance. Thus 1 bomb with a yield of 1 megaton would destroy 80 square miles.” (I accidentally posted this on the other video as I was watching the episode 126 reaction on my tv, while commenting from my phone)

One of my favorite fights in anime. Kyo, you have such a positive energy! Makes it all the more fun to watch along 😊

such a great fight. The visuals were top tier and the music enhances and matches so perfectly with the episode 👌

I think this is the second best episode of the show it is a amazing ep

The tomb fits the Egyptian mythology motif for kings/pharaohs, as shown with the Royal Guard’s names, and also ties into the history of human culture, the belief in gods who were a mixture of human and animal traits. Like Bastet, the cat goddess with the magic to heal, the mother of Nefertem, depicted with the head of a lion (Pitou’s feline features). Or Montu, depicted as a hawk or bull (Youpi’s wings and hooves). Shai, god of fate, depicted as a pig or snake (not shown in Pouf’s design but it suits our view of him- yet ironically the deceptive/snake-like chimera is most human in appearance). The older religions showed more respect for nature and the qualities of animals but later religion’s view of God became exclusively human (like Pouf’s ideals are exclusively inhuman). And that past culture meets its modern incarnation in the technology of a nuclear weapon. This story can be so poetic and symbolically rich.

"was that a middle finger?" THAT WAS A ZERO

Goosebumps

The chanting in the background was repeating the Greek words for “Lord, have mercy!” Evoking the quasi-religious struggle between the religious man opposing an alien God King. Isaac Netero. Isaac means “he who rejoices/laughs” = he had the last laugh (or did he?); in any case he got the fight he wanted. Netero means “old song of prayer”?= reflecting this “old song” or “rhythm” of humanity constantly struggling and failing to avoid conflict with the Other, the unknown, and whatever is new or different. And when Netero says he’ll see Meruem “in hell” he’s putting the 2 of them on equal footing, morally. I think he laughed at the irony and absurdity of their conflict as there wasn’t a clear-cut higher moral ground = humans hypocritically assuming themselves above the treatment they inflict on animals). “I’ll see you in hell if there is one” = loss of faith in a higher power that could force him into such moral conundrums where a “necessary evil” seems to exist. Also fulfills his own words literally: “giving his heart and soul” as he crushes his heart, symbolizing his compassion and the embracing of malice, and by going to hell and/or losing faith, he’s lost his “soul.” The condition for the king to receive his name was for Netero to admit defeat which he did so by calling him Meruem. Also, hinted at by Netero saying he was not alone, this victory isn’t his, the bomb is not his own power. It came down to Meruem’s individual strength and biological evolution overcoming Netero’s but he then counters with collective strength and cultural/scientific evolution. One more layer in the meaning here: in Buddhism, “Hell” is called “Naraka” and one who goes there is also called “Naraka.” Naraka is also a place of darkness. So, Netero is becoming darkness just as the king’s identity became Meruem or “the light that illuminates everything.” Another complication is that Naraka is not a place for punishment but for purification and even good people can go there if they have any sins/defilements to be cleansed of before their rebirth (both Buddhists and ancient Egyptians believed in reincarnation: a recurring theme of this arc shown with the Chimera Ants retaining memories of their past life).

Also, great reactions as usual, glad you made it to 1k subs 🙏

The conflictos on of emotions and ideals is what makes Animes good

In the version I watched he said bottomless potential of humanity. not just malice. probably referring to making nukes

Merci.

いいね👍️ ネテロ(ﾉω･､)

the arm and leg that Netero lost, were the same arm and leg that he used against Gon and Killua during the airship ride during the exam, yes, there was a pattern in Netero Meruem learned that his strength could be surpassed "in some category". He learned it from Komugi when she said that she dedicated his whole life to the Gungi, Meruem wondered if the boy he had killed on the way to the palace might have surpassed him in something, and when Netero surpassed his praying speed, he understood that Netero had dedicated a lot of time to this action as Komugi to Gungi. Netero dedicated his entire life to training to face fighters stronger than him, but Netero always thought he would find a worthy opponent in the human race, in the end it was ironic that he found it in a mixed being Netero's condition before striking a blow was to pray and be grateful, it was not to put his hands together, rather he trained his mind and emotions for 4 years in a row Meruem had a utopian vision for the human race in which evil, "inequality", would not exist, and Netero realized how unreal his thinking was, no matter how much Meruem murdered humans to create his little society of good people, there would always be bad people who would oppose. Netero realized it and the immature of the king. The greatest proof of this was that he used a bomb (human technology without nen) as the representation of the worst of humanity, malice, (as happened in Japan in WWII). it was a fight to know who would be the dominant species. Whoever is dominant sees the other species as livestock, the ants would ultimately do the same as we currently do with the less developed species. Netero had character development even in the fight where he transfers what he learned with Komugi to other situations and people (philosophical and strategic). Netero also has a development where he finally finds the opponent he's been looking for all his life. before the fight Netero mentions that he should hurry before his heart stops (referring to his age and the little rose), I think he knew he could lose but he wanted to enjoy a good fight before, the "last act of his life" the zero hand, yes, it forms the zero with its thumb and forefinger, but it also raises the middle finger, I love those double meaning details. and so you can see details and double meaning details in this story but as a conclusion, in reality the human race has more malice than kindness (at this point in the story). I never get tired of seeing this scene, thanks Kyo Kyo for the two chapters

Love this ep. but the 1 thing I always hated about it, was how weak it made Netero look. If Netero fought any other Hunter at full strength, or even if they saw Netero fight at full strength they'd be terrified. When I first saw Netero bring out the buddha statue and hit Mereum with it, I got goosebumps. And to think back... Hisoka thought he could take Netero on the airship, no wonder Netero didn't pay Hisoka no mind, lol. #RIPNetero

"Popular in small dictatorships, miniature rose, or the poor man's rose." 🥲