The Enlightened Spirit of Isaac Netero (Hunter x Hunter Analysis)

it's no secret to most that have watched the show or read the manga but hunter hunter is filled to the brim with religious symbolism and parallels from the christian symbolism of crow to the buddhism of jinn it's clear that yoshihiro togashi studied up on all types of religions and philosophies all over the world i would argue that the character that embodies this the most is the chairman of the hunter association isaac neterow my personal favorite character in hunter hunter is netero for many reasons i will try and explain later but i feel he's one that not many understand fully many either label nitro as a character that only exists to fill in the bad ass old mantrap that fiction is known for and some may judge netero on his actions during the chimera ant arc and suggests that his soul is as dark as charcoal many misjudge and or general isis man and i feel it is a strong disservice to how much of a beautiful character he is quite simply netro is the most balanced character in this story for many reasons at least in my view i'll try and explain why netaro balances out both the tone of the story and his own heart from the beginning of his life netero has strived to become the best at what he loves the most martial arts this not only means he had to train his body but also his mind like no other human in the world full strong then users to do this he set out to throw 10 000 punches and pray 10 000 times every day for the next two years at the age of 46 he succeeded in reaching enlightenment after studying in the mountains for so long returning to the dojo he originally trained in after the grand master watched netaro's punches that were faster than the speed of sound he was moved to tears and gave the man the title he previously owned grand master of the dojo at some point after this he was elected as chairman of the hunter association after both becoming grand master of the dojo and after traversing into the dark continent with him sadly not finding anything to match his skills in combat as netro grew in status his heart became more dark over time with him developing a hatred for those who are weak this does not only include physical weakness but also mental weakness with netro training for so long as a tribute to martial arts he holds nothing but disgust for people that cannot put as much effort into their passions as he does he holds an extreme amount of pride and seemingly only pays attention to those who are strong in his eyes which is why he fills the hunter exam with so many dangerous traps in nitero's eyes the weak shouldn't become hunters because those who cannot overcome adversity to reach their goals should simply die however he shows nothing but admiration for those who strive for more with him seemingly testing gone and killa during the dodgeball game they share not only because it seemed fun to him but also as a way to gauge their potential assuming that netaro was the one who organized the tournament bracket later on we can even see this reflected on said bracket it's no secret that this bracket is uneven and certain applicants get way more chances to become hunters than others why does gon get more chances than someone like kyoa because killa gave up on the ball game while gon did nothing but persist and try to beat netaro even so netero gave kila more chances to become a hunter than someone like leorio because netero no doubt recognized the assassination technique kilwa used on him during their dodgeball game this is likely due to the fact that netro was the only man who survived a fight with maha zoldick and his close relationship with zeno so he no doubt recognizes that killa has potential at least compared to someone like leorio who he most likely viewed as a weak-minded person this makes sense due to leorio making it much harder for his friends during the third phase of the exam as netero no doubt wanted to observe the applicant's via cameras it isn't even just the chimera ant arc that explores the darkness of netero but it was foreshadowed all the way from the hunter exam if you view it with this context in mind even so however netro isn't as dark as you may think it's quite clear that one of his main motivations for the dodgeball game wasn't just to gauge gone and killa but it was also just to have fun with the boys hell when gon asks netara what the assassination technique that kyowa used was [Music] [Music] it's as if netero is trying to shield gone away from something as depraved as a technique used for brutal murder most likely due to gone's innocence furthermore it's quite clear that netero is a bit of a goofball this is most likely why he hired someone as devious as periston to be his vice chairman most likely because he thought it'd be funny he seemingly gets a lot of joy out of playing pranks on other hunters or just cracking jokes with them as explored in the chimera antarctic he also respects kindness from others whether they be a human or an ant as nitro himself says the heart is what matters the most netro has an unbelievable amount of respect for humanity as a species for both the wonderful things we have done and the awful things we have done part of the reason why he came to fight a so-called ant kane was to defend his species after all while the other side of him was looking for something fun and challenging to fight nitro simply wants to go all out during a fight and seeing as how he was deemed as the strongest human alive he would naturally have trouble looking for such an opponent while there are no doubt some characters in the series that could rival netro in terms of strength such as gene biscuit crow or most of the zoldicks it's quite clear that he's still the strongest human in his world but perhaps the answer the netra was looking for wasn't from a fellow human but from the king of a species that was looking to wipe out humanity this would kill two birds with one stone as netro would not only get to defend humanity but also fight the battle he's been looking for for so long considering how netero was most likely bored with him constantly messing around with other hunters and causing chaos in the association this was the best thing that could ever happen to him although things wouldn't go exactly the way they wanted due to meruem at this point of his life becoming much more of an ironically human ant during the palace raid netero showed some respect to meruem by not harming komaki due to maryland showing genuine human care and affection harming someone who is embodying the best aspects of humanity currently would put a scar on nitro's soul and leave him with nothing to be proud of meruem even shows his gratitude by sparing netero and zeno when meruem at the beginning of the series would have slaughtered both of them and gotten away with it all of this comes to a conclusion during the fight between netro and meruem netero can quite clearly see that meruem is evolving and becoming more human than ever and this greatly pains the old man fighting the ant cane is simply something that he needs to do and while one side of him is excited that he'll experience the greatest fight of his life the other is a bit more somber netero quickly stops the talking between the two as he knows that if he doesn't stop then he'll agree with the king's proposal on his ideal society and work with him as someone who doesn't respect the weak netero would most likely agree with meruem's idea of a perfect world but there is more to netro's view on the week in my opinion [Music] nitro to an extent views the weak as those who need to be protected rather than those who need to battle others in the world of hunter hunter fighting is how you go forward in life and netero used his power for others since the beginning what did netero do after he mastered his technique he trained others in a dojo with his power as chairman he could no doubt rule the entire world if he wanted to as a monarch but he doesn't he purposefully lets others have the freedom they crave it could be the netero views the weak individuals who enter into the hunter exam as misguided and aims to put them out of their own misery from the traps and harshness that the exam shows anyone can take the exam for a reason netero is a character of balance every aspect of nitro can be viewed from either an innocent or malicious way and that's part of the beauty of his character a man who has dedicated his life to martial arts would know something about balance in the heart the concept of the yin yang is very prevalent in chinese philosophy the idea behind the yin yang is that one must achieve balance in their heart between the two sides of light and darkness if one is more prevalent in the heart of said person then they become consumed by the side that their heart favors there are characters who embody the light like leorio knuckle and melody and there are other characters who embody the dark like saridnik hisoka and paris them but netero distinguishes himself on the morality scale as he embodies light and darkness combined if duality is not maintained then one cannot recognize the light in the darkness and the darkness in the light that is why the symbol of the yin yang has a white dot in the blackness and a black dot in the whiteness the one who embodies both sides of the human heart is the one who sees the clearest netero in embodying the yin yang is the most enlightened character in hunter hunter knowing this the actions he takes during his final fight are nothing short of breathtaking during the battle nitro uses prayers and gratitude to attack his enemy defending humanity with the most light-sided aspects of his heart but in order to truly put down the ant king for good he uses the rose bomb to embody the darkness of humanity and end the fight even in his final moments what truly made netero win this fight was the balance of his prayers and the rose the yin and yang in this confrontation and the light and darkness of not only netero but humanity itself the main theme of the chimera ant arc is the idea that humans and ants are not as different as many think there are two sides to the same coin and the idea of the light and dark coins on the goongi board during the ending sequence supports this netero's entire character concept supports this main theme as i previously explained and in my view he is what makes the chimera antarct work so well thematically everything is enhanced from the perspective of isaac netero and that is what truly makes him a special and beautiful character thank you for watching and i'll see you in the next video [Music] me you

Channel: ElijahKaiVA

Views: 4,951

Keywords: Hunter x Hunter, Isaac Netero, Analysis, HxH, Shonen, Manga, Anime, Buddhism, Meruem, Yoshihiro Togashi

Id: BKNn10kOMNo

Length: 13min 57sec (837 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 18 2021