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Pariston announcing that the Hunters should vote for someone other than him is unsurprising. From the character’s point of view, that is the best way to keep his true motives hidden, and from the author’s point of view, this is the best way to keep Pariston mysterious. It’s not at all equally clear why he selected Mizaistom as the target of his votes, though. The specific target of his recommendation could be insignificant, as deferring to anyone else would maintain his image, but Pariston could just as easily have specified Mizaistom for a reason, and he hasn’t given any indication as to why.
Some political theory is interesting, but this much is overkill. Cheadle’s internal discourse about Pariston’s scheming is far too long and overly speculative. Togashi would have been better served keeping the message the same but paring down on the text overload by as much as a full page. Perhaps then he could have concentrated enough on actually drawing this chapter properly, instead of using embarrassing techniques like blatantly copying and pasting sections of the Hunter crowd.
Perhaps all Hunters are required to have body doubles
Regardless of the balance of text and plot, Pariston is being set up very well as a future villain here. This series has several great villains already, but those villains don’t complement all of the protagonists. Kurapika has the Genei Ryodan, and Killua has his family, but Leorio doesn’t really have a natural enemy, and while Gon may eventually fight Hisoka, that isn’t yet even a rivalry, let alone a real conflict. Pariston could make for a different kind of villain, as the series is full of obscenely powerful enemies but none who are as particularly bureaucratic as he is.
In stark contrast to the poor crowd art from earlier in the chapter, Gon’s hand is drawn brilliantly well. It’s absolutely grotesque, and both that drawing and Killua’s reaction finally help to give the reader a sense of just how helpless Gon is right now. Leorio’s desperate speech and Killua’s frenzied escape with Alluka were hints, but manga is entirely a visual medium, so no amount of dialogue or allusion can convey a message as well as presenting it this directly. Furthermore, the following pages do a fantastic job of conveying the tremendous scope of Alluka’s power. This is an instance where Togashi’s rough art style actually benefits the scene, as the shaky lines and blotched shading give an air of uneasiness that clean lines couldn’t achieve.
Splendidly ugly detail
The teaser text on the last page says that the climax will finally happen next week, so assuming that is correct, this is exactly the right amount of buildup to it. Tension was already very high because of Pariston’s speech, and Alluka’s power being noticed by everyone only heightens the excitement.
Final Flash: Next week’s chapter will define the quality of this arc, and given that this is the first new arc of Hunter x Hunter in nearly nine years, expectations are high.
