Within the most desolate gloom, even the faintest flicker of hope can light the way. During Hunter x Hunter such a glow proves to be the significantly constructive connection forged between Gon and Killua, love made manifest as they claw their way through a realm marred by indifference. Attempts at stifling what they share is tantamount to spurning the myriad positive qualities drawing on humanity’s capacity for caring, for in a world filled with strife what else can one possibly cling to? For the Zoldyck family – the blood of which flows begrudgingly through Killua’s veins – interpersonal warmth is perceived as a liability, stirrings of compassion beckoning towards ruination. The merciless environment of a Zoldyck assassin may have offered all matter of tools to maim and mangle, but not to further one’s psychosocial development rendering the boundless optimism of plucky upstart Gon a more distinctly chilling concept than anything Killua has previously faced.

Foreign, and to be avoided with a practiced swish of a skateboard. At the opposite end of an upbringing lacking in nurturance and communication lies a form of familial warmth facilitating Gon’s unwaveringly resilient nature; reflecting on halcyon days past a form of comfort during trying times. Positive peer relationships can often provide something of a buffer effect for children raised within high-risk dysfunctional environments, and what develops between Gon and Killua over the course of the Hunter examination lays a crucial developmental foundation which the narrative is keen to preserve; tender sincerity cultivated within a wasteland of blood-soaked desperation.

Although positive interpersonal relationships do serve as one of the more influential factors in reducing inhibitory elements linked with high-risk dysfunction such as negative self-concepts and lower self-esteem, Hunter x Hunter seldom opts for healing the lingering scars of maladjustment through Gon’s reassuring presence alone, frequently portraying Killua the Individual at odds with Killua the Assassin. Internalized schematic conflicts play across the grandeur of mirrored dreamscapes, suggestively reflecting the inherent duality with roles in flux – assassin disparaging individual within the restrictive confines of a window, individual acquiescing to assassin’s wordless disdain once competencies are called into question as a shadow grows longer and longer still.

Doubt suppresses what has grown into an otherwise genuine comradery, reemerging once Killua learns that Gon is more skilled in terms of interdisciplinary tactics during the examination’s final round, possessing that inherent ‘something’ it takes to become a Hunter. If Killua isn’t qualified to become a Hunter, it seems there is something more ominous lying in wait…

A susceptible emotional state arguably renders sibling Illumi’s oppressive approach designed to subjugate all the more effective, taunts of Killua never becoming a Hunter dragging out what had been prowling around his subconscious for all to see. This unknown quantity cutting a remarkably unsettling figure, his blank stare reminiscent of abyssal fissures threatening to engulf. Similarly positioned to reflect the Zoldyck family’s daunting influence, Illumi quite literally dwarfs Killua in each tense frame through taking on a larger-than-life existence. In comparison to the duelling hall’s vast scale shown in previous battles, it narrows in a devastatingly overpowering manner to reflect Killua’s mental state as developmental tools are deprived. Shattered into pieces, with seemingly no hope of ever reassembling.

Although Killua musters up a feeble rebuttal in a bid at warding off the psychological onslaught pulling him ever-deeper towards devastation (track resounding within the hall’s hellish depths quite solemnly titled ‘黄泉への扉’/‘Gateway to The Underworld’), his “I want to be friends with Gon” – something he had never previously articulated let alone acknowledged – falls on deaf ears. It’s a statement which results in a dull ache, for during emerging childhood the concept of positive peer relationships ought to come as naturally as breathing. Not murdering.

Illumi’s response is to cast aside a child’s attempt at bettering themselves, of living a better life, to scoff at the notion of an assassin even being qualified to have friends. If Killua can no longer pride in accomplishments which ought to have resulted in Hunter par excellence status, can no longer look towards friendship as a viable option ascertaining his humanity… Then it seems the only thing left is to quietly let the individual be killed, assassin rising from a sea of blood. It’s a sequence laced with distressing connotations, enhanced by the masterful production with Illumi positioned as gatekeeper to a developmental underworld painted in the bleakest of reds and blacks.

Takano’s voice distorts together with foreboding organs, Mitsuhashi’s trembling register bringing an internalized nightmare to life. A dark road stretching out into infinity with no end in sight, Kilua thrust into stygian gloom – and it’s all ominous flutters with convincingly torn character animation. The score is further imbued with a level of prophetic unease; among the more unnerving sequences I’ve witnessed through further utilizing binaural recording in order to instil the viewer with a similar sense of the uncanny.

To cast aside the individual is to die a developmental death, self-actualization and countless uplifting sentiments lost to the netherworld’s cavernous depths. Killua yielding to Illumi’s regressive spiel serves as an agonisingly poignant confirmation that those raised with the unfathomable confines of the Zoldyck estate are doomed to never truly live, traces of individuality ephemeral plumes whisked away into the psychosocial ether. While dragging Killua back into the light where he belongs ultimately appears to prove favourable for Gon & co., the shadows lie long and heavy. The anticipated sense of relief associated with emancipation is lacking, marred by a distinctly supernatural quality. Even if the individual were to travel to the ends of the earth, he would be sure to return as an assassin – a suggestion sealed with a blood oath, leaving an uneasy question mark hanging over the whole affair.

But people are stronger than they appear, and the same applies for both Gon and Killua. Through their meeting, their own worlds have changed for the better. As they venture out into the world, we are reminded that a flicker of hope can light the darkest paths, and that even the deepest wounds heal over time.

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