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Religious Symbolism in Hunter x Hunter

Jun 06, 2021
yoshihiro tagashi is a genius, i know saying that is like saying water is wet, but sometimes you need to sit back and acknowledge greatness, so i'll say it again yoshihiro tagashi is a genius, the famous manga writer responsible for uu hakka show and series near and dear to my heart Hunter Hunter is a pretty interesting guy. A lot of it is based on some of Togashi's interests. His love for video games like Dragon Quest. His messy basement. His passion for board games and bowling and the fact that he is married to the creator. of sailor moon, however, I think that a facet of togashi is overlooked, his deep knowledge of the

religious

tradition

hunter

hunter

is a series that, although it is partly inspired by jojo's strange adventure and certain video games, is a largely original work At the same time, however, I'm sure Togashi was inspired by religions around the world when creating this story.
religious symbolism in hunter x hunter
Hunter Hunter is absolutely dense and rife with

religious

themes and

symbolism

from many cultures around the world, but this is an aspect of the show that many here seem to overlook. I'm going to talk about one of the most underrated aspects of Hunter Hunter: its foundation in religion, this video will have an emphasis on religion-centered symbology themes and visual cues that are present in both the anime and manga. Togashi goes out of his way to litter the entirety of Hunter Hunter with little bits of cultural and religious

symbolism

, both visual and narrative. I'll do my best here to reveal the vast majority of the religious references, so buckle up, let's start simple, there are several characters in Hunter Hunter, such as Netero.
religious symbolism in hunter x hunter

More Interesting Facts About,

religious symbolism in hunter x hunter...

Marowim and Franklin, both of whom have elongated, drooping earlobes, this is probably a direct reference to Buddhism, as Buddha statues and art portray Buddha with similarly drooping earlobes while he was writing The Chimera Ant. arc togashi also added a not-so-subtle reference to religion on the cover of Volume 28. Not much to add here. The zodiac hunters of the electoral arc are one of the most blatant references to religion in the series. They are probably a literal homage to astrology-based zodiac signs. One of the members, Saiyu, contains a specific symbol. His shoulders consist of a crescent moon and a five-edged star.
religious symbolism in hunter x hunter
This is a common Muslim symbol commonly used on the flags of Muslim countries and represents both the five pillars of Islam and the concept of striving towards a bright future. Crolo as a character is a walking advertisement for religious and anti-religious ideas with foundations in Christianity. Not only does he have a cross tattooed on his forehead, but on the back of his jacket is the cross of St. Peter, a symbol of religion. Saint Peter was going to be crucified, but he did not do it. He considered himself worthy to die the same way as Christ, so he was crucified on an upside-down cross.
religious symbolism in hunter x hunter
Instead, there is an erroneous notion that St. Peter's cross represents anti-Christianity, but the opposite is true. On the other hand, Crollow's last name, Lucifer, is a nod to Lucifer, who according to Christian teachings was an angel who He was struck down by God and subsequently became Satan or the devil, maintaining the theme of crolo and the ghost troupe, there is a parallel with Christianity that represents the band of thieves that in no way was an accident, the ghost troop is a gang. of thirteen which essentially contains a leader and twelve apostles in the story of Jesus he trusted twelve men to be his closest allies his own twelve apostles the similarities do not end there however in the story of Jesus he is betrayed and sold by one of his Jewish apostles. this is basically a direct parallel to how hisoka functions as a member of the troop.
I'm not sure what you can call what Hisoka has done in the past and is currently doing in the manga is anything but a betrayal for both Crollo and the troop, although ironically Crolo specifically mentions the Judas story during the series and he says that he does not see Judas as a traitor. Additionally, there is the fact that the troop comes from Meteor City, a city for the Orphaned and Abandoned whose city motto is We reject no one, so take nothing from us, which has quite a religious connotation during the arc. New York, we see Ilumi on her cell phone.
Here we can see that her cell phone has the star. of David on it, this shield is a prominent symbol commonly associated with Judaism Now that we've covered some of the literal symbols in the series, let's take a look at some of the more abstract symbolism with roots in religion and culture, the theme of sacrifice is a constant throughout the series seen through many characters, this sacrifice in the show is synonymous with ideas based on religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Now this is a pretty general comparison, I admit, and many other series focus on the theme of sacrifice.
The characters of Netaro Pakunoda and Neferpito in particular have character arcs that strongly parallel the idea of ​​religious martyrdom. Netero's impressive sacrifice to protect humanity. Pakunota sacrificed himself to give her true members the truth, as well as the sacrificial nature of Pito's final moments and the way she protected her. King takes the nature of sacrifice to an almost sacred level in Hunter Hunter. I won't talk too much about him since I'm planning a full character analysis video, but Meruem's character arc is full of religious parallels to her birth and the circumstances behind it. destiny of becoming the perfect king of the world, the savior, if you will, his eventual enlightenment and realization that not all power is physical and his realization that what really matters in life is love, I mean, the parallels They are so numerous that I don't even know where I would start.
Netro's character is heavily based on Buddhist ideas. His early life was essentially a display of asceticism, which is essentially severe self-discipline. His journey in the hermitage led him with constant prayer to his maximum nen power called guanine type 100. bodhisattva which itself is based on religion, both visually and conceptually, a bodhisattva is defined as a person who is capable of achieving nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion to save suffering beings, which can be applied to Netro's story and is an idea deeply rooted in Mahayana and Buddhism, one of the most overlooked characters in Hunter Hunter Ikalgo in reality has a strong basis in religious morality and Ikalgo's strong reluctance to harm anyone during his mission during the assault on the castle despite the difficulty of his tasks was a display of non-violence. -Violence is the personal practice of being harmless to others under all conditions.
It comes from the belief that hurting people, animals or the environment is unnecessary to achieve a result and refers to a general philosophy of refraining from violence due to moral, religious or spiritual principles. Wikipedia this idea of ​​nonviolence has its roots in religions and cultures around the world, although it is perhaps most popular in hinduism, primarily through the teachings of mahatma gandhi. There is a more subtle narrative tool in Nov and Richen's character arcs that can be considered very religious. Both men are permanently changed after being struck to the core by the terror and awe of a being truly superior and more powerful than any.
It can be strongly argued that the rich and the nobles through the power of Merum and the aura of Pouf respectively were hit here. Fear of God or at least a strong parallel, the meaning of fear of the Lord has been debated, but most agree that it is the idea of ​​living in awe, respect, or submission to a being more powerful than oneself. Submission is a key word from now on. being struck by terror from both the nov and wealth and submitting and admitting defeat there are some pretty strong parallels here human life is too long to be dedicated to reproduction but too short to be dedicated to learning in the time helix perhaps it is that is why humans succumb to desire and seek liberation despite that fact life is completed with the sun the earth and poetry diego's last words in the series are poetic and inspiring in nature and show a vision of the world based on true enlightenment, a deeply religious topic rooted in the philosophy of radical enlightenment that advocates freedom. of expression individual freedom and tranquility many times throughout the series animals are shown to be attracted to truly great hunters such as nezero kite knuckle jing and squala several eastern schools of thought, such as hinduism, contained religious figures such as vishnu or shiva that they had an affinity with animals also has a basis in religion and this system of power is very dynamic, but ultimately revolves around auras, although they are not mentioned in the Bible and are therefore rejected for Christianity.
Auras themselves find foundations in religious and philosophical schools of thought. mainly eastern religions and more specialized schools of thought, such as modern spiritualism. jing's journey through hunter hunter draws so many parallels with buddhism that i find it hard to believe there was any other inspiration for togashi when writing his character jing, he basically takes a leaf from almost everyone the father of the pokemon protagonist ever decides to leave Gong leaves him with his family to go seek adventures as a hunter. A situation like this would probably be frowned upon by Western audiences, but Togashi had more Eastern ideas in mind when writing Gin.
Gong's attitude that he does not hate or resent his father for leaving him but strives to understand him and follow in his footsteps Jing's story is the model of the Buddha He ignores the family responsibility that is part of Buddhist traditions The Buddha left both his wife and son sought enlightenment, he finally achieved this and found complete liberation from nirvana; However, to do this, one must minimize and eliminate any external attachments and distractions including family attachments in Hunter Hunter Jing is on his quest to find nirvana. It is essential to see. go through an Eastern mentality to understand his search, his philosophy and God's positive admiration for his father.
The religious symbols used throughout Hunter Hunter's history are abundant and many are not without purpose, while some symbols such as the illimis star of David are likely. throwaway references some other ideas tell the audience a lot about the characters if they understand the meaning behind the symbolism, for example the number of Buddhist ideas associated with Netaro tell the audience a lot about his characterization and integrate perfectly with prominent themes in the arch of the chimera ant, certain symbols. It may just be there for fun and others may shed some light on some of the deeper aspects of the series.
I've definitely missed some symbolism here, so you'll have to forgive me, but the sheer amount of religious references in Hunter Hunter is absolutely astonishing. So here I'll end my examination of the series' simplest religious references and get into some more salient general thematic ideas. The idea of ​​spiritual awakening or rebirth is a common theme in many religions around the world and Togashi placed great emphasis on it. emphasis on this theme in Hunter Hunter, particularly in Chimera Antarct, the entire essence of humans being reborn into chimera ants literally revolves around the entire idea of ​​rebirth in the series, we have notable characters that we have come to know and understand reborn into Chimera ants, adding some emotional impact to their stories.
Characters like Kite Palm and Colt are excellent examples of this. Marowim is reborn after the miniature rose incident and undergoes a literal holy communion to aid in his rebirth, eating and drinking with the body and blood of his royal guards. starting over gone also experiences a kind of dark rebirth or an anti-rebirth as he recklessly channels all his rage and lust for revenge to fight with whistle rebirth is a big part of the antarctic chimera and hunter hunter and if we expand this idea a little further we can find even more parallels between this series and religious ideas this idea of ​​clean slate and hunter hunter expands a bit on the cases of rebirth in the series the idea I am referring to here is a specific type of rebirth , let me explain that this idea of ​​a clean slate is similar to the themes of rebirth and continues under the umbrella of rebirth, but is more specific in its thematic meaning and its consequences in instances throughout the series, Togashi has many characters who decide for one reason or another that they want to change or reset their lives or situations, maybe they want to alter their path, maybe they want to correct their mistakes but for one reason or another many characters look for the opportunity to change to start over and start over again. write down your mistakes to change your lives and atone This is almost identical tothe Catholic traditions of reconciliation and confession in which a person confesses their sins and is cleansed of them, allowing for, as you may have guessed, a metaphorical clean slate in their life to begin with.
This series is full of instances of characters trying to start over. As such, I will provide some examples on the electoral arc through the power of Alica. Kilo is able to give Gon a clean slate in his climax in the Chimera Ant arc. She was gone so far that it seemed like there was no turning back. and that would change permanently, however, here Alaka is able to save Gon and, from what we know at this point in the manga, prevents him from any consequences that his fight with Pito may have caused, he is given a new opportunity to start over. new. meet jing and go to whale island to learn nan from a different perspective, having learned from his past mistakes, now whether alaka's power is overpowered or not and some sloppy writing from togashi is up for debate, but here Without a doubt, given a clean slate essentially clean of any consequences of his dark anti-rebirth, the Koala Man from the Antarctic Chimera is an enigma, he is definitely one of the most distinct characters through his design and metaphysical debates. , although it has little impact on the overall plot it may seem.
A throwaway character, but at the heart of this character is a sad story about repentance, remorse, and redemption. His art contains many parallels to Catholic reconciliation and we learned this in the scene of him with the kite reborn before the koala's death. He was a murderer with a complete disregard for human life; he retained memories of him as a chimera aunt and became fascinated with the idea of ​​reincarnation, a concept rooted in Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism. He now believes in the eternal and ever-living soul, an idea that is strongly supported by Abrahamic religions. He finally came to the conclusion. that all life is precious, then he began to strongly regret his actions as a cold killer, he remained a killer like a chimera ant, efficiently killing any human that crossed his path, however, he did not do this because he wanted to, he did so. did to save humans.
From any torture they would otherwise receive at the hands of the other chimera ants, the koala had killed the girl in whose body the kite had been born to spare her pain, but regrets this fact and says that he should have killed his companions. chimera aunts. that they were trying to hurt the girl, he wanted to stop this cycle of bloodshed, but it had become a part of him and his efforts were in vain. He had come kiting to express this regret and to see if the same girl had eventually been reborn again. He decides that he wants to commit suicide to end this cycle of suffering, however, Kite stops the koala and forbids him from doing so.
Kite then tells him to start serving him. I don't know, the point is for the koala man to truly repent of his bad actions he must serve the kite and apologize every day to cleanse his soul here, the koala is given a new beginning, his sins are not erased, but gives him the chance to start over and begin his journey towards redemption, taking the koala man's pain, remorse and longing. Note that this is the cleanest slave he could have asked for, not only are the parallels clear religious in terms of the nature of the soul about confession and atonement, but it is also a sentimental story about redemption after her adventures with Gon in which she experienced joy, sadness, pain and friendship.
Kilauea has developed a lot. Kilauea added an element of nihilism and existentialism to Hunter Hunter early on throughout the series. He never really knew his purpose in life and he often reflected that he never knew what he wanted to do. All he knows about himself is that he doesn't want to stay with his family and become a murderer and that he wants to be friends with Gong. However, by the end of the election arc, Killua has certainly changed. He now has the purpose of taking care of Alaka. And Nanika, finds joy in this purpose, is ready to leave behind all his past pains and sins and is eager to begin this new journey with his beloved brother.
This development may not be a reset or a clean slate in the strictest sense of the word. the word, but Killua is certainly turning a new leaf and starting a new one here, leaving his dark past behind. Colt is a very interesting guy and essentially some of Togashi's messages about humanity and the soul are shown in him in character form. Colt has an extremely strong sense of loyalty and duty inherited from his past life as a boy named Kurt, he follows the queen's orders and commits some pretty evil acts at the beginning of this arc, however afterward he starts to become more complex. and begins to unconsciously show signs of his previous life.
He faces moral dilemmas when he senses that the chimera ants are beginning to plot on their own, but Colt really develops when he realizes that his queen is in danger. Here his sense of loyalty and his duty as a chimera ant are in conflict. The cult is an ingrained ant. In it, like an ant's honor, a sense of belonging to the colony, this is where Colt changes his life, he goes to the hunters for help to save his queen, I cannot overstate how important this is, the Cold has emphasized throughout his arc that the colony goes first, but here he turns against his brothers after his queen dies, he vows to completely side with the humans and the hunters and dedicate his life to breeding, loving and protect the newborn kite.
Here he is turning a new leaf and changing. His ways of promising to live a virtuous life from now on are consistent with ideas of reconciliation. These cases of rebirth and clean slaves have many individual differences between them, but in essence they all involve a change in the lives of some of the characters. For a new beginning Confession and reconciliation are one of the seven sacred sacraments in Catholic worship, although not all of these hunter characters are completely clean before they are given a clean slate, the issue of having the opportunity to atone past sins and starting over is a constant here, when you really stop to think about it, the amount of real-world religion shown in Hunter Hunter is surprising.
What's even more surprising is how underrated this aspect of the series is. I'm sure tons of viewers have watched the show and read the manga without realizing how much of Hunter Hunter is firmly rooted in religious ideas and themes. I know for a fact that most of it went over my head during my first watch. I mean, I guess there's a chance this whole thing is wild. It's a coincidence, but somehow I doubt it. The sheer depth that this Siri has is truly spectacular and never fails to impress me. What do all these religious symbols and themes mean?
It's hard to say that the themes of rebirth and sacrifice are deeply emotional and personal and can contribute to basically any story if integrated well as well as being ideas that the audience can really relate to the purpose of the symbolism in the show itself is, as I said, a way to add depth and more gravitas to certain characters and arcs, however, is there more to it? this symbolism maybe togashi was trying to communicate a message of harmony or acceptance of all cultures and beliefs through hunter hunter maybe it's just extra world building maybe he adds it all just for fun either way it's all very interesting , I'm sure I have We didn't cover every religious reference and theme there is in Hunter Hunter and if you notice any that I've missed, feel free to leave a comment, as always, let me know if you have any anime or video game themes that you would like to know. do you think Make a decent video as always.
Thanks for seeing you.

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