Crime
The Irrational
The Irrational finds a behavioral scientist asking questions about memory and the human condition while investigating murders.
On a large tree in the middle of Whale Island’s biggest lake, Gon Freecss patiently waits for the Master of the Swamp to bite down on his fishing hook.
He’s waited a week for the bite to come. And people call him a fool, since not even five adults working together would be able to reel the beast in. But the 12-year-old boy isn’t concerned with how long it takes or how hard it may seem. Aunt Mito told him that he could take the Hunter Exam if he catches it.
In truth, Aunt Mito presented the task as a fool’s errand. She doesn’t want Gon to take the Hunter Exam—and it’s easy to see why.
The annual test is so difficult that it’s often fatal. But the Hunter Association wants to make sure that not just anyone is able to obtain a Hunter License. You see, the world’s a dangerous place, filled to the brim with strange monsters, hidden treasures and uncharted frontiers, all of which may be too dangerous for the average person to find, much less handle. A Hunter License establishes someone as an elite member of society, allowing them access to such places and things and letting them ignore certain laws.
Gon’s father, Ging, obtained one such license when he was Gon’s age. And when he got older, he returned to Whale Island to drop Gon off to be raised by Aunt Mito. Gon wants to find his father and understand why being a Hunter was more important to him than raising his own son.
And that’ll require a lot of adventuring.
It should be noted that a “Hunter” isn’t a job so much as it is a designation: No one tells Hunters what to do; they’re freelancers who set their own agendas. While Gon may be hunting for his father, other Hunters can have entirely different goals in mind.
Take Gon’s companions, for instance. His closest friend is Killua Zoldyck, another 12-year-old boy who comes from an infamous family of assassins. Tired of the lifestyle, Killua ran away from home and decided to take the Hunter Exam simply because it sounded like it’d be fun.
Kurapika, meanwhile, has more serious reasons for wanting to pass the Hunter Exam. He’s the only survivor of a massacre of his people, and he wants to hunt down and kill those responsible. A Hunter License would make obtaining information and resources to take said people down much easier.
And Leorio? Well, he’s just in it for the money. After all, with all the perks that come with the Hunter License, it’s pretty difficult to possess one and not eventually get rich.
But regardless of why they decided to take the task, they’ll all soon understand one thing.
Being a Hunter opens up the world to you. And oftentimes, that world can be a very dangerous place.
Hunter x Hunter stars the happy-go-lucky Gon, and that might trick you into letting your guard down. The same might be said for the first several episodes of the series. Those scales will fall from your eyes the moment one character’s heart is forcefully pulled from his chest.
The threat of death for Gon and his friends is very real, especially as later story arcs grow more dangerous. And when people around them do die (including a couple of children), it can be gruesome and bloody.
As for other content issues, some female characters dress in revealing clothes. And the show’s frequent antagonist, Hisoka, has a certain sexual lust for fighting and killing other strong fighters. His obsession over watching Gon grow in power to eventually fight him, then, can be uncomfortable.
In other words, we’d heavily advise parents to heed the show’s TV-14 rating.
Hunter x Hunter ranks high among fans of anime for its impressive worldbuilding, touching plotlines and engaging fight scenes, boasting a stellar nine out of 10 stars on IMDb after over 100,000 ratings.
But in the world of Hunter x Hunter, Gon’s youth doesn’t matter to the people and things that want to kill him. So despite Gon’s friendly attitude, it may be best to keep your younger children away from the series.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Gon departs on his journey to pass the Hunter Exam. On the way, he makes a few friends.
A fierce storm threatens to destroy a ship. The winds nearly toss a man overboard. Leorio and Kurapika threaten to fight each other. Kurapika recalls the slaughter of his people.
A captain is continuously buzzed as he drinks from a flask. Leorio hopes to earn money to buy “high-shelf booze.”
Gon and Killua meet Kite, a previous student of Gon’s father, Ging. He informs them of a new and dangerous species of ant capable of taking the form and powers of whatever it consumes—including humans!
The Queen of these “Chimera Ants” eats a live, raw fish and a live bat and crab. She sends out her mutated children to find her food, and one—a giant crab-like Chimera Ant—attacks and kills two children offscreen (the oldest of which is 9). We hear the Queen eating their bodies, and we see their torn, bloodied clothes on the ground.
Two characters seem to be stylized on racist stereotypes.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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