| The more I watch Hunter x Hunter, the more I realize this. I know HxH gets a lot of points for being more than "your typical shonen anime", but apparently there's a cost to that, and the cost is...nobody really gives a fuck about Gon LOL. Take a look at DBZ--people loved Goku. Too much even, since Toriyama tried to pass the baton to Gohan and everybody bitched until he changed it back. Take a look at Kenshin--people LOVE Kenshin. YYH, people love Yusuke, though in general most people just tend to like that entire cast. But with HxH? People really tend to talk more about Killua or Kurapika or the many...many...many...many villains of the series. Gon's kind of an afterthought. He's just...there. (In other words, you've inverted things, and made the main character dull while making everyone around him interesting.) And its weird because I used to defend the guy for still being kinda cool... ...Except he isn't. Every single time he's needed to succeed as a Hunter, or even just as a character, he's failed. Or his success isn't clean. Even when he spent all that time training and growing stronger to take Hisoka's tag on the island? Someone poisoned him, took both tags and Hisoka had to save him. :P He's not (intentionally) funny, or especially strong--he's not even smart (though he can show flashes of brilliance on the battle field, they're brief flashes). Again, he's just...there. And I was okay with this until 91 revealed he had failed AGAIN. Beating Knuckle wouldn't have meant much of ANYTHING in the grand scheme of things: He still wouldn't have been strong enough to fight the Royal Guard, much less the King. But instead we just get Gon crying for like the third or fourth time about how weak he is. Now, I still love Hunter x Hunter. It's one of my favorite anime series of all time, and one of my favorite shonen series behind Yu Yu Hakusho and maybe Kenshin. I enjoy the crazy plot twists and the way they plan out fight scenes and the intricate tactics used. But I had to accept, just now, that Gon isn't really the main character of this story--Togashi's crazy world is. |
| Jumping in Headfirst - I hear reading it causes immortality. Warning. Reading may not actually cause immortality. |
SageShinigami said: But I had to accept, just now, that Gon isn't really the main character of this story--Togashi's crazy world is. Why?because he's not the strongest and he doesn't win all his fights?I don't get your point at all. Gon has his good qualities,they're just not so focused on or exaggerated that it takes away from other characters or lowers the quality of the series. I do hope Gon gets stronger in the future,and I know he will.If you look back at the beginning,Gon has already gone a long way and improved a lot.I'm sure he will have even more development in the future,and it will mean that much more when it happens. |
| It's because Gon always goes up against nen users who are stronger, more intelligent, and more experienced then him. His ideals believe that he's weak, but in the process, that what's makes Gon into a stronger protagonist and try to contemplate on how to become stronger with his nen. He's also a bit naive at times , but still has a realization on things which what makes him a bit of a "weird" character. You're also right though. Remember when Genthru threatened Gon, Killua and Bisuke and Gon recklessly called out Genthru through emotions without a plan or anything? That's what makes Gon foolish and weak as a character sometimes. Togashi portrayed Killua as the cooler type of protagonists and different from Gon with his calm and cool personality mixed in with his electricity type nen and how intelligent he is using it. Same with Kurapika, people like Kurapika because he sticks to his ambitions of getting revenge and how he made his nen oath which turned him into a certain specialist user which can give him great enhancements for his nen. People love Phantom Troupe because of what they do and how they fight always speculating on things. Nobody talks about Leorio because we don't know how much he's fully grown with his nen or as a character fully. |
S-ER said: SageShinigami said: But I had to accept, just now, that Gon isn't really the main character of this story--Togashi's crazy world is. Why?because he's not the strongest and he doesn't win all his fights?I don't get your point at all. Gon has his good qualities,they're just not so focused on or exaggerated that it takes away from other characters or lowers the quality of the series. I do hope Gon gets stronger in the future,and I know he will.If you look back at the beginning,Gon has already gone a long way and improved a lot.I'm sure he will have even more development in the future,and it will mean that much more when it happens. He literally doesn't win ANY fights clean. There's always some extra shit that has to happen. Like the thing with Hisoka on the island. The thing with Knuckle the first time where Knuckle was exhausted AND took Gon's technique head-on. Or Greed Island where Gon lost an army to defeat Bomber. That's what I mean by extra shit. And his growth? It's worthless because he's placed on the same sorting algorithm of power every other shonen character is. He's gone into training like three or four times so far...and we rarely get to see his strength in a way that isn't "well if he hadn't trained he'd be dead right now". Things are seldom ever "even" and certainly NEVER "Wow, he kicked the crap out of that guy", with the notable exception of the couple no-name ants he fought. Again: This doesn't make Hunter x Hunter a bad series. It's a good series. But you can only fail so much as a main character in an action series and still be taken seriously. There's a reason why people are like "OMG Killua" or "OMG Kurapika" and rarely, if ever, going "OMG Gon's so awesome". |
| Jumping in Headfirst - I hear reading it causes immortality. Warning. Reading may not actually cause immortality. |
| i think that was pretty much established since gon's fight with the ninja hunter applicant in the last hunter exam. he's nowhere near as strong as killua or kurapika, but his charm lies in his being a little insane and his refusal to give up no matter what. i've accepted then that if i want an op mc i have to look elsewhere. also what do you want to happen? you want to see him fight with a clean win. good luck waiting for that. i dont reallyvsee a point in complaining about this. |
| Well, I used to like Gon until his fight with the bomber guy, now I slightly dislike him. Yea it's true, he is the main character but he is an after thought to me as well, I'm more interested in Togashi's crazy world and some other characters than him. The story just completely overshadows Gon. I love HxH, I loved the original back then and I love the remake now, but one thing I noticed about it, is that unlike other series I love, I don't love the characters here as much, I think the story is just better than them. I mean like, I don't have a favorite character in the show, I like and dislike all the characters in some way. |
 |
| I honestly like that Gon tends to fail, I find it rather endearing. It's actually one of the aspects that I think really separates HxH from the pack. I don't think anyone could not notice that Gon is, at heart, your typical shounen protagonist. He's loud, a bit daft, and doesn't always think things through. Unfortunately for him HxH's world and it's inhabitants are very unforgiving when it comes to that kind of behavior. Anyway, I'm sure you could look at Gon and his role in the series from other angles. But, this is what came to mind when I came into this discussion. As far as characters I prefer Killua and Kurapica from the main four with Gon being my 3rd favorite. I just think that his role in the series is instrumental to reflect the overall tone of the series as a whole. |
| "Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job." - Geralt of Rivia |
Dolan-chan said: He's not 'dull'; he simply isn't a self-insert MC so you can't put your self in his shoes and feel like the best thing ever while playing the Naruto main theme. Lol? Naruto is self-insert ? you and hurricansweet really give the HxH's fanbase a bad name. |
|
| Gon is boss. My favourite character from the hunter x hunter. (90's and 2011 version)I like his janked attack , the next kamehameha. |
 .. |
MsAnneONeamus said: Also, I meant to ask you this. I may not have been following the anime as closely as I thought I was because I honestly thought Ep. 91 is the first time I'd seen Gon cry, and it was to be honest kind of touching. I don't remember him crying or complaining about how weak he was at any other time. Maybe you can point out which episodes? Episode 18, when he cries in the airship with Kurapika. Besides that scene, I don't remember him crying any other time either. |
Salce said: MsAnneONeamus said: Also, I meant to ask you this. I may not have been following the anime as closely as I thought I was because I honestly thought Ep. 91 is the first time I'd seen Gon cry, and it was to be honest kind of touching. I don't remember him crying or complaining about how weak he was at any other time. Maybe you can point out which episodes? Episode 18, when he cries in the airship with Kurapika. Besides that scene, I don't remember him crying any other time either. Huh. Technically I was wrong then, because I misremembered the scene. The "third or fourth time" was exaggeration and I could really only think of 2 times, but I remembered Gon curled up under that giant tree and crying after Hisoka gave him back the plates and socked him. But no, he just kinda seethed in anger. NOW. As far as THAT goes? I thought it was a good scene. I thought, "Okay, he's a young kid, stuff like that happens." But we're like...60 episodes later and we're still relying on that same excuse? Again, it's a matter of knowing when to let your main character win. Example: - The scene where Gon's Nen flares out of control after Neferpitou cuts Kite's arm off? Killua did EXACTLY the right thing in knocking him out. There was NOTHING Gon should've been able to do, other than die horribly trying to fight. Not even a decent "...You hurt me."-type punch. Togashi played that scene perfectly. - But this scene with Knuckle? We've been watching Gon fight this guy for over a month. It was an important scene for literally no one else but him. Him defeating Knuckle wasn't going to stop the Chimera Ants, and it didn't even promise that Killua would be able to defeat Shoot. It was a crucial turning point for him as a character, and the end result was him complaining about being too weak. merryyeah said: i think that was pretty much established since gon's fight with the ninja hunter applicant in the last hunter exam. he's nowhere near as strong as killua or kurapika, but his charm lies in his being a little insane and his refusal to give up no matter what. i've accepted then that if i want an op mc i have to look elsewhere. also what do you want to happen? you want to see him fight with a clean win. good luck waiting for that. i dont reallyvsee a point in complaining about this. Because its something to talk about besides the sometimes vapid discussion that happens in episode threads. "OMG the King is SOOOO AWESOME!!!!" |
| Jumping in Headfirst - I hear reading it causes immortality. Warning. Reading may not actually cause immortality. |
MsAnneONeamus said: I actually find Gon believably charismatic and incredibly charming. And I actually liked the fact that Gon isn't necessarily the most talented fighter in the series kind of a relief -- it's a nice change of pace from all the Gokus and Narutos populating anime at this point (please bear in mind that this is coming from a relative newcomer to the anime genre. The only other anime I'd completed was Full Metal Alchemist : Brotherhood, which I thought has very excellent writing, and am currently following Hunter x Hunter and Attack on Titan. I am pretty much an "outsider" and only started watching anime sometime in mid-July while recuperating from a broken kneecap. I only know about Goku and Naruto because I have nephews age 10 and below, seen a few episodes while on baby-sitting duty, but nothing about those two really grabbed me. I just understand that they are among the most popular and well-known anime of all time.). Because I know that Gon isn't the strongest character in the series, and he actually has the reckless habit of challenging fighters with ten times more power and experience than he has, I actually find myself a little more invested in the fights he take on -- precisely because I have no idea how the fight would turn out. I really don't know whether he'd win or lose this one. And it's actually kind of nice -- the "not-knowing" part. I think it's a touch of genius on its creator's part to design the anime that way, and I think I am not the only person in this forum who appreciates this not-so-conventional touch. It's really a lot like life. I also liked the fact that the show's main focus isn't always Gon. It makes for a richer story line if it plays itself out as more of an ensemble piece. Also, Gon's fights are not clean "wins" like you say precisely because his chief objective in taking on these fights is not so much to win them, but to become stronger in the process. And with that in mind he succeeds every time: he DOES become stronger and more adept in utilizing nen with each fight. And because his objective is to become stronger, and not to win, he keeps up the habit of challenging stronger fighters, which means that he'll never be guaranteed a clean, flawless win in the process. It really is a much healthier attitude if you think about it. Also, the fact that Gon won as many fights as he has is actually a kind of a surprise to me at this point. I didn't even expect him to win against the Bomber in the first place. I was really expecting Killua and/or Bisky to swoop in at the last minute to finish the fight together with him. Given that, his win is not even due solely to his fighting prowess, but more due to tactic. Still, the fact that he lost his hand gives a measure of believability to the fight scenes. I don't know about you, but this commitment to believability -- Gon is often more than ten years younger than his opponents, and with that comes less power, strength, speed, and experience and less chance of defeating his opponents, or at the very least, that he wouldn't come out of the fight unscathe -- actually makes this anime a cut above the rest. I wanted to say a few things: - Welcome to anime. Hope you survive the experience. XD - The fight with Bomber actually pisses me off more. He lost his hand because he decided to go against the plan they came up with. This is why I have a problem with him; it would be one thing if he were a lot weaker but smart and won his fights through out thinking his opponents. It's another thing if he's weaker but still isn't all that intelligent. - Also, in general Bomber annoyed the shit out of me. If your specialty is distance attacks like that, you really shouldn't be that good at hand-to-hand combat. I was honestly expecting Bomber to just be a better tactician than everyone else and that's why he was running shit on Greed Island, but nope. He was apparently "just a bad-ass". |
| Jumping in Headfirst - I hear reading it causes immortality. Warning. Reading may not actually cause immortality. |
SageShinigami said: If your specialty is distance attacks like that, you really shouldn't be that good at hand-to-hand combat. I believe you are confused about something, aren't you? Genthru's nen abilities are not distant attacks. All of Genthru's nen abilities/hatsu are close range attacks that requires him to touch his opponents. So naturally, Genthru would need to be very good at hand-to-hand at close range in order to be effective against opponents that are aware of his abilities. True enough, he can denote his bombs from a distance with the help of his two sidekicks. But he has to touch them before the bomb can be planted. (EDIT) Oh, and Genthru was a brilliant tatician. It's not like he accomplished the things he did with brute force. He used the cards tactically and manipulated people to accomplish the things he did. As for Gon being a weird protagonist. He is weird. That's part of his charm. The things that bother you about Gon seem personal in nature and part of your own bias. So it really wouldn't do any good to point out any of Gon's good qualities. I believe MsAnneONeamus did a good job doing that already anyway. |
n10sityAug 9, 2013 10:54 AM
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n10sity said: SageShinigami said: If your specialty is distance attacks like that, you really shouldn't be that good at hand-to-hand combat. I believe you are confused about something, aren't you? Genthru's nen abilities are not distant attacks. All of Genthru's nen abilities/hatsu are close range attacks that requires him to touch his opponents. So naturally, Genthru would need to be very good at hand-to-hand at close range in order to be effective against opponents that are aware of his abilities. True enough, he can denote his bombs from a distance with the help of his two sidekicks. But he has to touch them before the bomb can be planted. (EDIT) Oh, and Genthru was a brilliant tatician. It's not like he accomplished the things he did with brute force. He used the cards tactically and manipulated people to accomplish the things he did. They're attacks that you activate from a distance. All he really needs is a shit ton of speed or to keep his identity from being known. The idea that he needs to be good at fighting people hand to hand on top of that seems like making the bad guy stronger just for the sake of it. Also, lol bias. Sure guy. |
| Jumping in Headfirst - I hear reading it causes immortality. Warning. Reading may not actually cause immortality. |
SageShinigami said: Gon is a weird main character But I love Gon. When Gon cries, it makes me want to cry..  |
 |
| Then he would be absolutely worthless against any who found out how his attacks work. Speed alone isn't going to help in the world of nen where there is en and probably a ton of other abilities that will prevent him from running up to someone and touching them before they can react. And of course you're bias. I'm bias. What's so funny or dismissive about that? Me trying to convince you why you should like Gon is equivalent to me trying to convince you why you should like Pokemon. If you gave reasons besides stuff like "I don't like Gon because he didn't stick to the plan" that are more objective than subjective, then it might be worth a shot. |
|
SageShinigami said: Gon is a weird main character Pretty much. He's typical shonen lead in a deconstruction of the genre, of course he doesn't stand out as much as the other characters. SageShinigami said: But I had to accept, just now, that Gon isn't really the main character of this story--Togashi's crazy world is. And that's the reason HxH is the brilliant shonen it is. |
| "The more inexperienced you are, the more you want to show off." - Oreki, Hyouka |
| I think on premise Gon is a very classic shounen main character - pure heart, hardworking, headstrong, strong willed... it's what Togashi do with him as a writer that made our main character unconventional. For other writers, with these classic hero's attributes, it means a single-minded fighting idiot whose sole raison d'etre is to train, fight and win. And to satisfy readers' power fantasy fulfillment and worship. Instead, Togashi gave a darker undercurrent of what it means to be pure and strong-willed. Gon is someone who's very alpha (his way or no way) and also very selfish (frighteningly so), as his fights with the bomber indicates, and to a lesser degree Hanzo. Personally I think Togashi meant Gon to be a hero readers are to be ambivalent about: the surface of a classic hero but with a very questionable amorality (weird logic to some). What would Gon do and say when it comes to xx situation? It's unpredictable. Often it is Killua that say what's on the readers' mind like Killua is the sane, normal one. While Gon would then come around and say something different (and crazy). It really comes down to Togashi being an interesting storyteller. I'm sure when we get to the later part of the Chimera Ant arc, there'll be a lot more discussions on Gon (lots of hate I'm sure). |
kcacoAug 9, 2013 3:59 PM
| Usually it is generally accepted that the main character of a series is supposed to completely kick many of the bad guys' butts, but I don't really see the entire appeal of it all. Gon is like you said, an afterthought. He's not special. He's a normal person and with no special training like Killua or a rage-driving goal like Kurapika, he seems very underwhelming. But I don't think that that is a bad trait at all because why does a main character need to have so much attention or awesome moments? But of course, that's my opinion. Now, I'm not trying to criticize your opinion; I'm just curious to why you think that way because I'm a writer myself but I do not wish to have my main character take the spotlight for everything (nor even have a main character at all). However, like I said, it is generally accepted that the main character is supposed to be kickbutt, so I want to know why you or anyone else who does feel that the main character needs to be that way to explain your opinion. That way, I can get some more insight for my own writing and change things for the better once I see the reasoning for the other side. Since this is slightly off-topic, if you can reply in a comment or message on my profile that would be great, thanks. |
| We do give a shit more about him precisely because of this. He's not invincible, he's more relateable and vulnerable to death and has no Plot armor or MC favortism that more generic MCs like Harry Potter or Luffy get. We are constantly worried about him. Of course, in the shonen genre there are many people who day dream about being a badass (because of bullies or being Omegas) and an MC with a winning streak is their best bet for self-insertion. No one wants to imagine getting their ass handed to them, let alone have the other guy not be called the bad guy about it (Hanzo) |
| End Zionazism |
| Well, he's already this one in ten millions kind of talented, has a verrry special parent, is a blockhead stubborn idealist, and everyone young and old friends and enemies all loves him one way or another and thinks he has potential and such. He isn't very typical but he's not atypical enough for me to like him tbh. If he's going to win against everyone who's supposed to be stronger than him (has far more experiences and training and raw talent) with sudden power up in the middle of battle because of willpower and power of nakama and never-give-up bullshit, actually that's when I'm done with him. |
bossmamaNov 29, 2016 1:51 AM
| Gon was an okay character before the CA arc, but then he turned into this forced emo with him crying over kite, i mean he was cool, but we barely got to see him. Then he gets revived by the asspull alluka. Who had the most haxed nen ability in the whole series up to that point. |
| By Gon not being the center of attention, this just verifies the fact that this isn't your typical shounen. You usually have the main character taking on the spotlight but it is refreshing to have other characters enjoy the spotlight. I personally like Gon for his personality and rawness. He is one of my favorite characters alongside others. |
| You mean an autistic one? Yeah, he's a bit more autistic than the average shounen. |
| Be thankful for the wisdom granted to you. |
| What I notice from the stuff I've seen so far (up to Yorknew arc) is that Gon is far from being a reliable role model, which is indeed refreshing in its way. He is annoyingly hypocritical and biased in the way he judges events and people, and he does not necessarily have the moral high ground (Yorknew showed it pretty clearly). Which I personally find very interesting, in theory at least. The problem maybe is that it has to do so by making Gon a stereotypical shonen hero in his portrayal: caring about his friends, trying always to get better, sacrificing for others, etc., etc.; and not in a particularly charismatic or appealing way. So in the end it is a good idea, a twist on the usual "heroes are always right" thing, but the price to pay is making Gon an uninteresting character from the beginning. |
| Gon is a laughable main character. Just bland for the first arcs and then annoying & whiny as hell in the CA arc. There is nothing interesting about him and unlike other Shounen protagonists he isn't likable or badass either. So whats left is just a shit character |
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