Finally saw the movie myself and I must say, it wasn't bad at all. I could go on and rant about it being horrible because Togashi didn't write it like a lot of us are doing here. But the thing is, I found the story itself to be well worth the watch. Whoever wrote this (Yonemura Shouji) at least knew what storytelling means.
The real problem was the execution. A lot of scenes in this movie had potential. Killua standing in front of the train could have wow'ed, brought tears to every audience member's eyes but it didn't because its execution was sub par at best. No music, closeups were lacking detail (not the kind of detail you'd expect to be there, but the kind that portrays realism to the degree of really affecting you), while all Mariya could do was salvage what she had. I think the best example of this would have to be Retz's past. I mean, her own brother used her body to experiment making dolls, that's
MESSED UP sh*t. And not just any normal messed up sh*t. That's messed up sh*t that can reach FMA Nina levelled messed up sh*t if it was done correctly. But no, we got a 10 second shot and no impact. The
directing of animation only shone in some action scenes but fell flat on its face on any of the emotional ones. The music was absent for most of those mentioned emotional scenes that needed it. When it was there, it was only okay. Most scenes felt rushed while the ones that weren't were pretty enjoyable. I have a feeling this movie could've been so much better if they only churned out some more money to make the dang thing longer.
Overall, this was just one of those rare kind of movies where you get the feeling that the average episode of the anime (extended to 96 minutes) has a higher budget than this ever will, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I almost wish all anime movies were like this. Fans would want to see most of the money go towards animating actual canon material. It was a good film, just not great by HxH standards.
- Ah Huntepedia. It's like that awkward friend you have who sits at the back of the class and always ruins the mood during your presentations by making funny faces but at the same time, you can't live without. I miss thou.
- Omake Gon and Killua thinking about Hisoka is my new av. Like right now.
- So the kids are playing catch and the ball lands by Killua's feet. Now they're telling him to throw it back. I bet Killua's gonna pull a spongebob, destroy it with his bare hands, and laugh maniacally while facing the sky.
- Oh wait. Nevermind.
- Five minutes into the movie and I can already tell this isn't written by Togashi. I mean, Gon's
flirting with Killua. With a creepy "drunk guy at a bar" look on his face too.
- Now we meet Palm's prototype version, on a blimp. Who would've thought.
- The beginning feels like a whole arc smooshed into an hour and a half mov-oh wait. It is!
- Why couldn't it have been a 3 HOUR movie instead???
- OR AN 8 HOUR MOVIE?!? ....24 hours! 8D
- Little Kurapika and little Pairo are told that the final exam is to go into town and shop. I wish my final exam was shopping!
- That village elder has awesome hair. Why didn't he just use it to fight the spiders off?
- "A weird pops told us to do this!" By threatening them with his pointy hair, no doubt.
- See? At least Pairo knows the correct way to ride a hors-chicken ostrache thing. I'm looking at you, Killua.
- Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio conclude their first priority is to look for Kurapika's stolen eyes and fight off the Spider who stole them. Aw. This movie is supposed to feature a character Togashi was planning for 10 years, right? Can't they just all play baseball or something? I bet Togashi's been planning that baseball analogy in the ant arc for that long too.
- Pairo took Kurapika's eyes. Gon took Kurapika's brain for a whole 2 seconds.
- Gon opens a crudely drawn crayola sketch of a hill. "Do you know where this place is?" I TOTALLY KNOW THAT PLACE.
- Now Killua's being a tsundere.
- Obvious reason number 2 that this wasn't written by Togashi: Retz is a
girl.
- "Stop it. That's creepy!" There you go, 98% of the fangirl population. Self insert OCs walking up to Killua and saying romantic sh*t doesn't work. Not even Yonemura Shouji could do it.
- What the heck, Kurapika? Hisoka just appeared by your bedside! How did you not scream like a little girl?
- Uvo's back from the dead and he wants to wreck some.
- Hisoka's explaining the plot to us. Uh-huh. So they're puppets...he steals eyes...they retain memories...uh huh and HOLY CRAP. So Retz being a girl isn't some diabolical trick?! Slow down, I'm still taking this in here!
- Come on, Leorio. Be an unripe fruit with us :3
- Kite or Kastro or Omokage for most luxurious hair?
- Nobunaga comes in and wrecks Uvo who's too busy wrecking some. Spiders show up to say they'd take care of Omokage. You know, if Gon and Killua just sat on their behinds and did nothing for the rest of this movie, things would've worked out a lot faster. I know it's not in their nature to take back seat but a small scene with them deciding to go anyway would've done wonders to make this film more familiar to HxH fans. These small details being missing is just another flaw in not just execution this time but the writting too.
- I'm getting...a pedo vibe from this dress shop owner.
- Illumi's back! With a new fashion sense and the inexplicit need to drone into long speeches about life.
- See, that scene where Killua is forced to run and leave Gon behind was another example of poor execution backed up by good writting. I know I would've cried if they just put more effort into the animation and directing. Wasted potential, say bye bye.
- Illumi walks up to Killua, grabs his face, slowly leans closer-okay. I'm getting that pedo vibe again.
- Gon after getting his eyes stolen could've been drawn to be a lot more horrifying. I want to punch whoever directed these scenes in the face now.
- I don't even need to go into how I feel about this train scene again. It was a vital part of the plot but was "dealt with" rather than "worked with" in a mere 3 minutes of the whole movie. It's disappointing.
- One positive about that whole scene: Gon just sniffed Killua out. There's my doujin sniffing canon.
- Omokage walks up to Retz, grabs her face, slowly leans closer-
Enough with the pedo!
- That part where they're in Omokage's mansion and he has a whole house filled with puppets where Retz is his most precious doll in the throne reminds me so much of that free pixal japan-oriented computer game "Witch's House". The ending was messed up.
- Ooh. Can Omokage make the puppets dance too? That's the kind of fun crap I'd do on the weekends.
- OMG.
LEORIO'S FIGHTING?!?! Can't we all love this movie and rate it 10/10 just for having a freaking
Leorio knife fighting scene?
- Gon and Killua initiate more manly yells > experience to beat out Illumi while Kurapika displays how underrated Leorio is by showing that he could beat Pairo without even using Nen while Leorio was knocked out.
- Omokage claps. I'd clap too. He just got front row tickets to some classic GonKillu/LeoPika cheese. That lucky bastard. He's like that random guy on the subway in York New who was watching Gon and Killua cuddle sleep.
- LOL. Gon's hair
- Magically regrows.
- Hisoka appears. *automatic pedo vibes* Ugh.
- Kurapika: "Emperor Time." I expected the whole building to explode right there. If Togashi wrote this it probably would have.
- Hisoka's so boss he just stands there and the bullets don't hit him.
- "If it's Gon/Killua, then we can combine!" Stupid perverted mind.
- *Hisoka fights* Great. The pedo vibes are just oozing out now.
- So Hisoka beats three of the strongest puppets. Gon and Killua form a shield by...
combining and Kurapika uses chain jail. They capture Omokage. It's a victory! I call Leorio doing all the work right there.
- Killua offers to kill Omokage in place of Kurapika; obviously that's true love for the raging shippers.
- The spiders show up, kill their puppets, and leave without saying thanks those ungrateful goons. Retz sets the whole mansion on fire because that obviously solves everything. They all mourn over Retz killing herself. And-where the heck is Leorio?! Yes. I noticed.
- The main four are standing together. "Someday we'll all meet again!" Yes, someday.... *hiatus* .... *15 years later* ...someday...
- Bisuke! Now if SHE were in this movie the whole building would've exploded right there.
- Aw, it's over.
- Time to sign a petition for an 8 hour HxH movie.
Kudos to whoever took the time to read this long wall of text.
Yeah. It was mostly about the number 4 guy; Omokage. I'm not interested at all to see the 2nd movie. So Togashi, stop making that damn movie(Or so I heard he is helping with it) and get back to the manga !
Now that's kind of rude.
)
