Seriously?
I don’t even want to tell you the context of this image.
I mean, I guess people exist who become sexually aroused by fighting strong opponents (who are twelve years old), but do we really want to be normalizing that behavior? (What do you know, I managed to tell you the context.)
More importantly, who is the target audience? Hunter x Hunterfeels like a cute kids’ show with a tad too much emphasis on fighting for the most part, but then you get stuff like this. What are kids supposed to learn? That it is cool to have some older guy obsessed with you to the point of wanting to get off on hurting you? Or are adults supposed to learn a more sinister lesson?
Aw, look at the cutesy way Gon and Killua imitate Hisoka in the “Hunterpedia” portion of the episode! There’s nothing disturbing about this at all. :P
Foreword: It seems I prolonged my reply more than I intended. But now that I wrote it I hope it reaches many over-protective parents out there. Which I would expect to come and read the original post. I don’t mean imply anything about Heather’s educational methods. I don’t really know much about her. I don’t know even if she has kids or not. I welcome criticism.
HunterXHunter is NOT a show for small children. It is very misleading tough, since the main characters are small kids. I too wonder what the target audience for this show is supposed to be. Be aware that things get a lot violent (gore violent) in upcoming parts. If you are concerned about your children misunderstanding reality after watching TV, don’t let them watch this show.
More importantly though, kids aren’t supposed to learn from TV shows like this, and neither do adults of course. Or at least not while confusing reality with fiction.
It is the job of the parents, to be a parent and show their children good role models, and be themselves good role models as much as possible. If the kids have someone they admire, which wouldn’t support a certain “bad behavior”, they won’t follow such bad behavior. A character like Hisoka is meant to be creepy and disgusting. In other words, not a role-model.
If your kids end up imitating things like that “Schwing!” thing, as Gon and Killua did in the end of the chapter, it would be very disturbing… even if I find that move to be absolutely hilarious. If the kid is too young or naive to be able to understand *why* that scene is so wrong, it may be best to forbid the kid from watching that show further. Otherwise a good explanation is due. It will mostly remove the subconscious effects that move may cause.
Above all its important that children gain the ability to discern whats right or wrong by themselves. So that they don’t blindly believe what TV characters, friends or anyone (parents included) tells them to do. Teaching them critical thinking saves you of worrying about them, learning bad stuff when you are not watching them. After all you they will need to fend for themselves, and it is in their best interest to have do skills to do so. Ordering a smart kid around is not easy, but if you are consistently justified in most of your orders and decisions, the children will learn to trust you, and acknowledge your wisdom and interest in doing what is best for them.
Thank you so much for your comment! I definitely agree with what you said about children learning critical thinking skills.
I don’t have children myself, but thinking that the show was a typical sports-genre anime (where characters level up, make friends, and learn good lessons) I had been watching it with my nephews, aged 12 and 8. As an aunt I don’t want to be a bad influence, so I was watching the episodes in advance. Lately, since Gon and Killua have been so focused on fighting for the sake of fighting and not really doing anything I would consider to be personal development, I haven’t been as eager to share the show with my nephews. We haven’t watched together since before Killua left his family with Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio.
I still feel like this show is presented in a very “cute” way, as opposed to say Naruto. And having been a student of Japanese culture, I know their approach to sex is quite different from the approach here in the US. (I saw huge ads for pornography right near the entrance to a family park in Tokyo, for example.) I also felt that while there was violence in Hunter x Hunter, it was presented in a way that wasn’t as disturbing as the violence in Naruto or Bleach (which I would say are targeted toward teenagers) or, obviously, more “adult” titles. I guess this is why I still have trouble figuring out what age group is supposed to be watching the show. I know it simulcasts on Crunchyroll on Saturdays at 10:30pm Eastern time, which means it airs in Japan on Sundays at 11:30am. That kind of sounds like a time when younger kids would be watching, right? It’s not exactly Golden Time (prime time).
Have you seen the original series? Is that what you’re basing your interpretation on? Maybe they are going for a younger audience for this version…?
Just watched episode 36. Hisoka almost had an orgasm. Wanted to barf.
This wouldn’t bother me so much if the show wasn’t so cutesy and the main character wasn’t 12. I’d probably find a guy who got off on fighting other adults pretty hilarious.
Hunter x Hunter is for 15+ audience, so it’s not for kids.
Don’t want to give you spoiler. Hisoka is more and more sadistic at manga. Even I wonder why HxH get ‘shonen’ genre. The anime tone down the gore. He killed his opponent in gore way, like slicing their face with cards *brrrrr*. But, the anime don’t cut his ‘perverted’ side (I wonder why).
Thank you for the information. Where did you find out that it’s for ages 15+? Is that written online somewhere? I would like to have a better way of evaluating the shows I choose to watch.
I am seeing that Hunter x Hunter is considered shounen, but shounen is an extremely broad term that isn’t useful for determining whether or not a show is appropriate for a given age range. Naruto and Bleach are both shounen, but so are shows like Hikaru no Go. Shounen titles are apparently marketed to boys aged 10 and up, which means there is no differentiation between tweens and teens and older teens/adults. (Seinen is marketed to college-age, but we apparently don’t see much seinen here in the States.)
It doesn’t seem like there is a more granular ratings system on Japan’s side, which makes figuring out how to classify new releases difficult. I guess it’s just safer to not expose my nephews to new shows at all (even though I enjoyed that they had to read the subtitles to know what was going on). They already watch shows released through American distributors, and those shows are rated by age, so that’s probably fine.
While I won’t be watching Hunter x Hunter with my nephews anymore, I haven’t decided whether or not I’ll continue to watch it on my own. The pedophilia really bothers me. But now that I’m not thinking of the show in terms of my nephews, I can step back and evaluate it just as a story. I generally like stories with interesting settings, characters who grow and change, and complex plots, and Hunter x Hunter seems to fit the bill. So I will probably watch a few more episodes and see what I think.
It does really annoy me that Gon and Killua spent so much time training to fight, and there was so much emphasis on Gon learning to love fighting. Sigh :> Competition can be great, but I don’t like having so much focus on bettering oneself by harming others.
So we’ll see.
if you dont like it dont watch it. i.find it hilarious and awesome. peoe who take away from.scenes.like this are so.ose minded its stupid. its anime. its entertainment.
I wish you had read the comments before posting. I was evaluating the show not just for myself, but for my nephews, and now that I have taken a step back from that, I am going to give it a chance on its own merits.
While I agree in general with “if you don’t like something, don’t participate in it,” I do feel there is a place in society to discuss and critique aspects of culture and try and determine what, if anything, they might mean to people.
While on the surface it can be easily read that Hisoka is turned on by Gon, a kid, I interpret it as Hisoka at the prospect at fighting an opponent with so much potential due to the subtle cues throughout the episode. During the moaning in episode 36 he talks about how he has to hold back and let Gon keep growing so he can then defeat him. Hunter x Hunter differentiates itself from similar shows such as Naruto and Bleach with its complexity and depth it portrays on its characters/plot.
On another note the art style being friendly and inviting was the whole point the manga artist drew it the way he did. You think it’s going to be a happy go lucky show but especially in later arcs/stories it can get very gruesome.
There are clues to that scenario throughout the series, from when Hisoka first meets Gon onward. I agree that it’s not that Hisoka wants to have sex with Gon. I was even okay with him getting excited about Gon’s potential at first, all the way up until that last encounter. I thought it was interesting, that he wanted to in effect nurture Gon, drive him to succeed, in order to one day fight someone on his own level.
My reaction was completely from my gut and based on the fact that I had been watching the show with children.
I am still wondering why it airs when it does in Japan, and exactly how gruesome it’s actually going to get in this new incarnation. But my understanding of Japan’s cultural norms for young people’s entertainment is obviously low; I didn’t start getting into Japanese culture stuff until I was in college.
I wish it was easier for people here in the States to know what to expect from an anime series.