See, if Gon were only a little older, he’d have seen OVER THE TOP, he’d know that the secret to winning any arm wrestling match is to wiggle your
pinky at the moment of truth. He’d have no trouble with this mysterious lady.
Hell, considering how often the little guy gets into ROCKY-like underdog scenarios,
there’s probably a whole plethora of lessons he could learn from the Sly
Stallone filmography.
While we’re slinging 80’s pop culture references about, it would just tickle
my black heart if this whole sub-plot with Greed Island was actually a coy riff
on that infamous landfill that’s supposedly full of all the unsold copies of
the E.T. Atari game. Really, the notion of a video game that’s limited to only
100 copies - - that was designed, coded and pressed only for play by
the world’s deadliest assassins, no less - - sounds as charmingly preposterous as some
rumor a 10-year-old would've believed after overhearing it at an arcade. Recalling the patent absurdity of the gambling system in Heaven’s Tower,
this actually seems to be another major part of Togashi’s creative M.O. The
conception of this series delivers boys’ wish fulfillment so totally.
I mean, c’mon
- - this is a world where every adult in sight just happens to be enough of a
compulsive gambler that Gon can raise money arm wrestling in about the same way he’d sell lemonade.
Of course, yet another part of Togashi’s M.O. raises its hand to be
counted in mole-lady Melody’s secret origin. The Lovecraftian quality of her disfigurement
- - being so fundamentally cursed by harmful sensation - - recalls that
part of the “Chapter Black” saga in YU YU HAKUSHO where a VHS tape of
atrocities drove Shinobu to evil. Togashi definitely revisits a number of
themes throughout his work, and they don’t all have to do with
games and point systems.
Watch “Gathering × Of × Heroes" and “Defend × And × Attack" and
decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode.
About the Author
 | Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk |
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