Review: Hunter X Hunter: The Last Mission

Hunter x Hunter is in a bad place right now. The anime has ended and the manga is on hiatus for the umpteenth time. Fans everywhere are scurrying in circles trying to find a quick fix. I decided to relax and watch the 2nd movie (first from 2013 anime) The Last Mission. It was bitter sweet. There were ups and downs in this movie but for the most part it was enjoyable, sort of enjoyable. I'll say this first, it's a mixed bag. Depending on why you enjoy Hunter x Hunter you'll either enjoy this movie a lot or just shrug it off and say "at least it's something."

The plot revolves around The Shadow trying to take down all hunters. The Shadow was once part of the Hunter Association. The two split with one half following Netero and the other half following Jed. Eventually those two fought it out and Jed lost. The rest of the Shadow members were either killed or imprisoned. They attack the the Heaven's arena where Netero is for a tournament of floor masters. That all sounds logical, when laid out like that.

The problem is the movie doesn't lay it out logically. Here's a plot point, here's a plot point half an hour later. The plot point about the split isn't even mentioned until the very last scene. But it's an important part because Bisky is the only other character old enough to remember. The assembly of characters is also weird. Hisoka is there for the tournament but he's not participating or watching. He's just hanging out. Zushi has become a top ranked competitor. Bisky supposedly trained Wing but didn't recognize him despite spending the entire day with him. Netero is there to watch the tournament to see the hunters in action, but no hunters are participating. But that doesn't matter.

The villains somehow have tracking devices planted on Gon, Killua, and Kurapika. Just those three. It's never explained why they were targeting Netero and the main group. They threw Leorio in a sewer just because. That's not the only plot point either. In one scene Gon and Killua are in a gift shop, and Gon picks up a fishing pole to use in a fight. Killua plainly asks "Why is that here," Gon replies "Because I used it in a fight once." Pretty sure Killua was speaking for everyone because that's the only fishing pole in the entire shop.

So the plot is pretty bad and there are a ton of loopholes. But, if you watch Hunter x Hunter for the action sequences and fight scenes. This is the movie for you, unless you wanted to see Leorio fight. There's some cool action scenes like the one where Gon is thrown out a window on the 200th floor. Killua uses his yo yo to catch him while Gon punches a hole through a wall. The funny part is Kurapika hears this and just shakes his head as if he knows it's Gon.

The final fight between Netero and Jed is also incredibly well done. Netero's 100 hand Buddha vs Jed's Rakshasa is incredible. Netero and Jed themselves describe it as two sides of the same coin. The two only come to blows by choice. Their Nen avatars fought the in the beginning but the two move closer together out of spite when it wasn't necessary. The only problem with this fight is that Gon get's a hug from Killua, this powers him up enough to turn Jed to dust with one punch, but Jed had almost killed him with a single attack just a few minutes prior. What is in Killua's hugs? Is it PCP? Is that how Gon got the power?

This movie provides a ton of action, most of that is because the plot is really bad. They added Hisoka for no reason other to annoy Leorio and because he's a popular character. Gon somehow has the power to beat a man that fought evenly with Netero. There's a ton of things that don't make sense story wise. If you can put those behind you, it's a good movie.

You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts.
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