Out of all the Q’s I’ve ever lobbed at the Vice Pit’s audience, the
question of whether I should watch every episode of this show, or continue skipping
ahead to the latest arc, is the one that drew the most responses. By far. Last
time I received such a groundswell of concern, it was over whether I should
watch all 100+ episodes of YU YU HAKUSHO.
Clearly, Togashi inspires a sense of completism in his fans that’s as
stubborn as lil’ Gon himself.
We’ll see how we work out the logistics of this. I’m trying to find
some middle option that's not me doing over 50 more episode-by-episode write-ups, or doing ‘chunk reviews’ with overwhelming viewing-to-writing ratios. At the
least, let it be know that I do listen to you lunatics…
ANYWAY! I’ll bring up YYH once again because, in this episode, Togashi has
demonstrated yet another thematic current linking his two major opuses. Yusuke’s
adventures ended with him coming upon what was more-or-less a fighter’s
paradise: a combat tournament that allowed all these larger-than-life warriors
to continue battling for the rest of their lives in a harmless controlled conflic. A shonen flipside to shojo heaven offered at the
end of MADOKA MAGICA, perhaps, it was a rather clever idea for what these never-ending serials
could ultimately lead to.
Togashi cut off YYH before he could play that premise out much further,
and he basically picks it up again here by having Gon and Killua enter a place
that is literally called ‘Heaven’s Arena.’ And it’s as ludicrous a
vision of a professional fighting league as Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory is
to real life candy production. I snicker a little, thinking of what zig-zag
economy would be needed to support all these match purses, or what kind of degenerate
gamblers would be placing that many bets on children fighting… and I’m sure
Togashi’s totally in on the morbid joke.
Watch “Arrival X At The X Arena" 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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