Peak Dumbass - A Reflection on Cheetu

the world of Hunter hunter is one where a person's ability to express themselves is limited only by their own creativity and ambition a hunter's license grants won free rein to explore the endless unknown and through the mastery of men characters are able to give themselves the specific tools they need to fulfill their desires with so many possibilities in play and so much emphasis placed on the individual the setting is seemingly designed to favor self-interest and greed yet this is rarely the case more often than not it is the selfish and narrow-minded whose actions come up short either because their will isn't strong enough to aim higher or because their conviction is so strong that they lose sight of the world around them a core component of Hunter hunter is taking the time to appreciate the journey enjoy the little detours to the fullest because that's where I find the things more important than what you want amidst the expanding narrative Gon and Killua go through training arc after training arc just to learn and refine the basics of men and as they do this they gain as much knowledge and fun out of their environment as they can at heavens arena gone prepared himself for Hisoka by fighting the initiation goons in york-new the appraisal techniques the boys learned from zip I'll came in handy against the Phantom troupe greed Island was basically built from the ground up to be a game that guides its players through essential applications of men to the point where a techniques difficulty was measured by the rating on the monster card that reflected it after all of that effort it's in chimera ant that we finally begin to see their fully realized abilities take shape it takes almost 200 chapters for these boys to start using their signature moves but when they do they've earned it they've considered how to utilize these techniques in combat they're aware of potential shortcomings there's substance behind the style in contrast to that is someone like g2a character I've surprisingly become fascinated with recently for reasons unknown okay so he's a dumbass cat boy and I have a soft spot in my heart for dumb asses and cat boys I'm sorry fitting then that the character I find to be aesthetically appealing gives no mind to practicality and is only concerned about what looks or sounds flashy as part of the Chimera ant collective he was already someone who sought to do things his own way but it was only after setting out on his own that she too could reach the depths of his uselessness whose brief encounter with knuckle and morale reveals a tendency to treat fights like a performance when he's on top the speed King acts like a royal bastard mocking his opponents and goading them to continue the game yet the moment he loses control he throws a tantrum and quits his rage blinds him to the most basic of basics zetsu an ability that wild animals are predisposed to learning intrinsically yet Chi - who has the genes of a natural predator within him fails to pick up on this simple technique to make matters worse he doesn't confront his flaws in the moment he instead looks for the quickest possible shortcut Mena's handled a bit differently in this arc the ones foreign and mysterious power system is granted to the chimera ants matter-of-factly there's no effort there's nothing special about it but that method of integration serves a narrative purpose Chi - didn't unlock his nen through training or his environment his net ability is gifted to him by Shia poof he doesn't earn anything and because he doesn't earn anything he takes his gifts for granted [Music] part of the reason why morale comes off as such a badass is because of Chi to one is a calm no-nonsense veteran with a versatile ability that can fit just about any scenario and the other is an impulsive incompetent buffoon whose power works against him they're polar opposites and they play off each other perfectly the fight they have could be written off as pure comedy relief and for how dark the Chimera ant ark has rightfully painted as Cheetahs role in balancing the toll is commendable but it's more significant than that Morell could just as easily have beaten t2 without saying anything but instead of doing that he actively tries to teach g2 a lesson his verbal jabs aren't just insults they're thinly veiled instructions on what g2 is doing wrong and when he explains how he defeated the childís cheetah it isn't just a clue the audience in on what happened it's framed as advice to his adversary this makes sense given Morel status as a mentor figure and that personality is reflected through his students most notably knuckle even though the chimera ants are supposed to be his enemy morale still respects them to some extent he doesn't overlook the threat that they pose nor does he ignore their humanity when he seizes and that methodology has major ramifications during the arcs climax yet Cheetahs response is just as indicative of his character he's ignorant and unwilling to improve instead of learning from his defeat and using that knowledge to craft a more useful technique he banks on a newer better one being handed to him if he had truly sought evolution he wouldn't have restricted himself with the condition that losing would cost him his ability gon and killua's journey shows that failure is inevitable true strength comes not from one's refused little fall but from the resolve to continue picking themselves back up she too lacks that resolve he's incapable of any serious self evaluation and as a result he stagnates he doesn't completely disregard morels advice after such a humiliating loss but his take away is the most inconsequential thing he could have possibly learned keep your eyes on your opponent great job Qi - you're a [ __ ] genius remember when I said that g2 takes his gifts for granted consider the glorious tradition of the mid-battle powerup the protagonist it's backed into a corner their reserves exhausted but in a crucial moment of personal and physical development they surpass their limits and discover an inner strength they didn't know they possessed I could list example after example after example it's a trope no doubt but its hype as hell hunter hunter doesn't have many of these moments so the fact that g2 has one makes him kind of special pulling an ability out of thin air is unpredictable and dangerous but of course this is g2 we're talking about his solution doesn't work at all it is a downgrade slower than his base speed and it only serves to reinforce the notion that he doesn't want to progress his dignity is not saved and I feel markedly Dumber giving him some sort of credit for this at least his stupidity is endearing Hunter hunter creates a world in a power system where people can freely express and represent themselves in whatever way they choose they can create their own ability however they want it with even restrictions being self-imposed but amidst all of that is Chi to the dumbass he pays no mind to the mechanics he doesn't care about how his ability works he just wants it to look cool this line of thinking runs counter to perhaps the biggest core theme in the series and that makes him a brilliant minor antagonist he thinks he's hot [ __ ] but he's complete fodder he doesn't have a significant influence on anyone's character arc he's just a bump in the road his battles don't further the plot in any meaningful way they're detours and while everyone else is reaching the culmination of their development during the palace invasion g2 dies anticlimactically from someone randomly falling out of the sky there's something kind of relatable in that a desire for something more that ultimately leads to repeated mistakes seemingly different approaches running into the same pitfalls every time the same cycle repeats itself on loop as if I keep banging my head against the same wall hoping one day it'll break before I do will anything come of this or do I simply exist to be someone else's distraction you you

Channel: Mathwiz

Views: 161,390

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Id: YZBMSxcPo6A

Length: 7min 53sec (473 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 22 2020