Hunter x Hunter, why do you have to remind me of all the reasons it’ll be so hard to say goodbye to you?!? Uuugh.

I didn’t really expect this episode to start with a ten minute monologue on karmic cycles, the nature of the soul, and the ways human failings perpetuate themselves, but given everything that’s happened so far, it ended up being pretty damn appropriate! This was essentially a bookend to the themes and questions of Chimera Ant, and served to tie it in nicely with the questions of consequence and forgiveness that have dominated the Election Arc. Just like Ging tells his son, Kite tells our penitent koala that you can’t run away from the consequences of your actions. The koala (I wish he had a name, it’s kind of absurd to refer to him that way, but eh, HxH) gets pretty esoteric in his musings on the nature of fate and consequence, which is appropriate for the tone of Chimera Ant. That arc struggled constantly with the awkward contradictions of our nature – but here, with Kite actually present, the answer appears simple. “No one will allow you to take your own life and hit the reset button. You must live, and apologize to me every day.” Our natural instincts may perpetuate cycles of violence, but we can individually rise above that instinct. When you apologize, you have to promise to do things differently next time.

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