YORKNEW CITY ARC PART 1 (YORKNEW AUCTION & KURAPIKA'S BATTLE AGAINST UVOGIN)
1999 anime episodes 48-57
2011 anime episodes 39-48
Manga chapters 67-88
Interestingly, the manga and anime all open with different perspectives for Kurapika. Both anime seem to prefer giving the most background on how Kurapika learnt nen and then kinda shows the process from that to finding his job as a bodyguard. Whereas for the manga, Kurapika's abilities are pretty much a mystery and it immediately jumps into the interview part. Personally, I don't really like how the 2011 anime showcases the "important" bodyguards before the interview even starts because it takes out the tension of the whole thing and it doesn't feel very engaging. Not to mention, they're not thaat important later anyway so it's kinda a waste lol. Anyway, it doesn't allow you as the watcher to form your own first impression from the way they act in the interview but are instead given screentime to make them seem "cool" if that makes sense haha. Although I appreciated the 1999 anime putting its own flair to showing the bodyguards and the music, I think it kinda made it obvious who were the ones not being tested. Anyway, minor difference that no one cares about either, but in the manga and 1999 anime, when Baise uses Instant Lover on Squala, she records him acting as a dog to her, and I guess the way he acts is much more explicit than the 2011 anime haha.
I'm not sure why the 2011 anime skipped it, but in order to earn money to buy copies of Greed Island, Gon and Killua decided to have a race to see who could earn the most money by September 1st. I also think that the 1999 anime adapted the liveliness and fun of them investing and failing, and then arguing about it better haha, I think it really shows how cute and childish they both are lol, and shows that they did try methods of earning money before Leorio came along. One thing I prefer from the manga and 1999 anime is also the appearance of the Spiders. There's no cocky appearance of Hisoka with everyone waiting for him, no mystery as to what Chrollo looks like, everything is shown very straightforwardly and I think I like that much more than how the 2011 anime did it. I personally think the 2011 anime made it more "corny" and cliché than was necessary for their introduction, since I feel like what makes the Spiders cool aren't stuff like this, they don't need all these superfluous stuff imo, since I've always rather enjoyed how "normal" they actually are. But, I can understand why they would want to do that to make it kinda "fancy". In addition, I also enjoy the manga and 1999 anime reason for Gon buying a phone is to keep in contact with Kurapika more easily rather than just randomly, oh might as well get a phone like in the 2011 anime, since it's kinda like dude, why didn't you get one ages ago?! Lol. I'm also sad that the 2011 anime didn't even bother showing Leorio haggling for the phones! It's unnecessary but i's a pretty funny and cool moment for Leorio imo.
When Melody and Kurapika shared their past, a minor thing the 2011 anime didn't show was Melody offering to show Kurapika a photo of her original self before she listened to the Dark Sonata. It's not important but I think it was an interesting omittance since I personally am curious about what Melody looked like before haha. A minor difference between the manga & 1999 anime was that in the 2011 anime, they had Feitan kill the remaining mafia guy instead of Franklin just shooting him. Honestly, even though it was cool of Feitan to do something in the 2011 anime, I personally thought it felt out of place for him to bother, especially when Franklin could shoot him so easily. However, I did enjoy how flashy the 2011 anime made things, alongside all the corpses and blood. When Uvogin was facing off against the mafia guys whilst waiting for the Shadow Beasts, it's interesting to note that in the 2011 anime, he threw a rock that straight up pierced the eye of the guy sniping him, but in the manga and 1999 anime, he threw the rock to the torso blasting both the sniper and the guy next to him showing how much force and impact it caused. As usual, I personally prefer the Uvogin from the 1999 anime and manga, I think he has more of that "wild" feel with his attacks and appearance that the 2011 anime didn't replicate. I also love how in the 1999 anime, Shalnark and the rest were playing cards since the whole thing started like they said they would haha, I think it really shows how boring the whole thing was for them before it even started and it's kinda the same for the viewers, since that's how it's supposed to be. However, when it comes to Uvogin destroying the three Shadow Beasts with just his head, the 2011 anime was definitely superior in animation and the whole transition from biting Leech's head off and spitting out the skull and then shouting to blast Porcupine's eardrums. One thing I'm not sure why the 1999 anime changed was Dalzollene being with Kurapika and them when capturing Uvogin, maybe they wanted to keep it cheap on costs for VA etc since they don't do much anyway? Hahaha. They also made Basho be the one driving the car for them too when it's supposed to be Kurapika lol.
On the other hand, what an insult to Uvogin that Dalzollene was able to pierce his wound in the 1999 anime loll. I definitely think it's more in line with his strength to have the sword break from Uvogin's nen as shown in the manga and 2011 anime. Personally, I'm not sure if I liked the 2011 anime having Shalnark showcase his ability already by controlling the mafia guy Dalzollene spoke to since I feel like there wasn't really a need for that, especially since it's not like Shalnark used the guy to contact Dalzollene considering it was the other way around, so I don't see the reason why they needed to do that. In this case I prefer the manga and 1999 anime where it doesn't show that and just has Phinks and them rock up to save Uvogin, since I'm sure it's simple enough for them to find him without needing an explanation. I found it unnecessary for Dalzollene to try and buy time for the others to escape since Uvogin already shouted so loud, but I guess it's nice that there's a bit of camaraderie between the Nostrade Family bodyguards even if it's only been a short time. Something I appreciated the 1999 anime adding in was having Nobunaga do the usual Spider thing when they can't decide on something - the flip the coin decision, and Uvogin asking Shalnark for his help to find Kurapika, since Uvogin obviously wouldn't have been able to find him so fast if Shalnark wasn't there, which was also why Shalnark felt bad about it afterwards. I think having this part made it clearer that even though the Spiders aren't exactly "friends", they do care for each other. I think it was also a bit sad that the 2011 anime omitted Squala and them saying that Uvogin was running around looking for Kurapika, since I think it's important for context.
A big difference when it comes to Gon, Killua and Leorio discovering the bounties on the Spiders' heads from the Mafia would be how they got there. In the 2011 anime, it was pretty straightforward with some guy taking them to earn more money at an underground wrestling gym, but in the manga and 1999 anime, Leorio gets to show off a little by defeating a huge guy in arm wrestling and betting the 8 million they had on that, and then the guy tells them to go over to the underground betting ring at 5pm. Also, when they get there, it wasn't as obvious as in the 2011 anime that the conditional auctioning for the Spiders was a last minute thing since in the manga and 1999 anime, the trio kinda realised it for themselves looking at the setup of the place rather than the guy stopping people that were already fighting in the ring. Anyway, the difference isn't really important, but I do think it would have been nice if the 2011 anime followed the manga so that Leorio could have a bit more time to shine, since even though he may not be as strong as Gon and Killua when it comes to nen, he is still pretty strong without fully grasping nen.
One thing I prefer with the manga and 1999 anime was the little part before the Uvogin fight where it shows Leorio, Killua and Gon thinking of ways to find the Spiders. It' s not important, but I think them discussing Kurapika and whether he needs help etc, and having Gon say that they'll wait for Kurapika to reach out to them just seemed to make more sense to have it before the Uvogin fight, since it kinda contrasts how much Kurapika doesn't want to drag them into his personal affairs, but at the same time Gon and them are ready any time to help him as long as he needs it. It also shows how there was a lot of trial and error with them doing four hour stakeouts and other things to try and locate the Spiders before they decided to buy information.
As for the fight itself between Uvogin and Kurapika, I personally think the 1999 anime does it better. In terms of the actual fighting, the 2011 anime definitely looks much more fluid and clear, but the 1999 anime has its charm with the darker atmosphere and roughness of it. But the main reason I prefer the 1999 anime is because I feel like I can empathise and understand the 1999 Kurapika better than the 2011 one (and I just don't feel anything towards the one in the manga because I guess that's how it is too lol). In the 2011 anime, Kurapika's "arrogant facade" is more annoying to me tbh? LOL. I feel bad, but I think the way the VA speaks and says things makes everything he does sound so derogatory and arrogant so you kinda feel sorry for Uvogin instead lol. However, in the 1999 anime, with stuff like the anime original scenes showing Shalnark concerned over Uvogin, Kurapika's Master telling him that he should stop before it's too late and that he's too kind to carry this burden, I think it makes the whole fight have a different feeling, which is that whilst Kurapika is fighting Uvogin, you can understand so much more how much this is hurting himself, and how Kurapika feels like he lost a part of himself after it. Honestly, in the 1999 anime, it hurt to watch Kurapika in pain, but in the 2011 anime, I honestly didn't feel much for it. Maybe it's my own perception problem but I personally feel like the 1999 anime portrayed Kurapika's feelings better because by adding the anime original scenes, I feel like they understood Kurapika better imo.
Honestly, I would have liked to see Killua make a bigger deal out of Gon pawning his Hunter Licence like it was in the manga and 1999 anime lol, since it emphasises how crazy Gon can get haha. I also think it was saddening that the 2011 anime likes to cut out details such as when they bought the auction catalogue. Not only does the catalogue provide them information on what exactly was being auctioned, it also gave the entry card to the auction which is limited to bringing a maximum of five people in and only one person can bid. Something I also enjoyed was the amount of detail the catalogue goes into the items it auctions by explaining how they check if it's a fake and how you can login to Greed Island and other specifics of it, which explains why the catalogue is so thick and why it would be worth the money, but it's so thin in the 2011 anime lol. It also elaborates on how one copy of Greed Island will be sold each day of the auction until the 9th and 10th when there will be two copies sold each day for a total of seven copies. Honestly, it may sound like useless information no one cares about, but I think it's important in context to understand this, and to also understand why it's worth it to buy the auction catalogue lmao, since it seems so useless in the 2011 anime where they just kinda confirm that the starting bid will be $8.9 billion lol. I also love how when they're discussing about their funds for it, Killua says they still have Leorio's Hunter Licence lmaoo.
In addition, in the manga, Leorio is the one who explains to Gon and Killua how the market works with placing bids on paper, so honestly sometimes I feel like the 2011 anime likes to make Leorio redundant lol. Oh and I found it weird why Leorio, Killua and Gon were talking really loudly about the Ben's knife and how it's worth something blah blah but the seller didn't really care etc, and it's true that it's weird because in the manga and 1999 anime to an extent, Killua got Leorio to bargain with the seller to get the knife for 300 Jenny straightaway without even needing to bid, and then it was after they obtained it that they went somewhere more secluded to discuss why this knife looked special to Gon and what Killua knows about it. I also really like the backstory the knife had (rather than the simple one the 2011 anime had where it was just made by a killer), where Killua told them that the blacksmith forged these knives as a souvenir for each person he killed and even engraved a number on all of them, and when he was in jail he even wrote a book about it all lol, which is very fascinating to me. It was also nice to know that the knife was in fact worth 5 million. Maybe it's petty of me, but I found the explanation for why the auction people couldn't take their items to be so..standard in the 2011 anime as if they didn't say anything? Lol, whereas in the manga, they properly explained that these items were decided at least 6 months ago and they're already working on the next catalogue so it was impossible for them to auction other new items right now, especially since they take great care in checking the authenticity of the items and the condition etc which I found very reasonable and I would have preferred to hear that lmao. It was also very nice that the manga and 1999 anime clearly showed how much they bought the three pieces for and how much money they earned when they got some random guy to appraise it.
What I found to be sad was also how the 2011 anime kicked out the whole Merchant's Market thing. Like yeah, it described some of the techniques, but what I really enjoyed from this part in the manga and the 1999 anime was that Gon and Killua got to personally experience and understand these techniques first hand by seeing appraisers do their job in the market, and to see how hard it can be to sell items even if they are authentic because buyers will always be wanting to purchase these items at a cheap price, so I really liked how important Zepile was to helping Gon and Killua identify the items but also sell them properly for the highest price. In terms of the whole arc, it's not important but I personally think it really helps to expand the idea that Gon and Killua are really discovering the world around them together. Honestly, Zepile may not be the most important character but he was definitely much more useful for Gon and Killua's learning than just selling their stuff for them in the 2011 anime lol. I also think that Gon finding the actual discussion between Zepile and the price droppers/negotiators to be interesting was much more understandable than just thinking the techniques were interesting in the 2011 anime. However, I can understand why the 2011 anime would opt to cut this part shorter if they needed more time since even though I think the manga better demonstrates Gon's pure curiosity of things and has no interest in how others may view it, and how he only cares about how he views it (and obviously Killua literally just does not care lmao), it's not a necessary event.
Overall, I definitely prefer the manga and the 1999 anime. Not only do I like the atmosphere more, but I also think the designs of the Spiders look better in the old version? Like yeah, they look nice and crisp in the 2011 anime but I think the roughness in the 1999 anime suits them more. Anyway, the reason I prefer the 1999 anime more is because when it comes to this part, there's nothing in the 2011 anime that makes it more worth a watch other than the superior animation. Maybe that's enough for most people to watch it, but for me I never minded the HxH manga even when they looked like sketches so I can live with anything lol. On the other hand, the additional context the manga and 1999 anime bring to table with Zepile, and the better insight into Kurapika's feelings in the 1999 anime makes me better understand how sensitive and kind Kurapika is on a deeper level, and it aligns with his character well. This may sound mean but I can say that right now, I hate the Kurapika in the 2011 anime but I really like Kurapika in the 1999 anime, and it's that kind of difference that makes me prefer the 1999 anime.
No comments:
Post a Comment