March 15th, 2018 
Charles Solomon 
Phantom Rouge, the second “Hunter x Hunter” movie, debuted at number one in Japan in 2013. It opened on 257 screens, earning ¥456,779,000: about US $5,143,930 then, an impressive sum for an opening weekend there.
The title is pronounced “Hunter Hunter” Yoshihiro Togashi, who created the original manga in 1998, said he came up with the name while watching Downtown, a popular TV variety show. The hosts got laughs from the audience by repeating their lines, so Togashi made the “X” in the title silent.
Regardless of its pronunciation, Hunter x Hunter scored an immediate hit and has retained a loyal following. Since its debut, the 33 collections of the manga have sold over 65 million books just in Japan. The property was first animated in 1999: A 62-episode broadcast series was followed by 30 episodes of OAVS, two animated features, two musicals and several video games.
Spikey-haired, 12-year-old Gon–pronounced “Gohn” with a long “o”–(voice by Erica Mendez), the series’ energetic, upbeat hero, wants to follow in the footsteps of his long-absent father and become a Hunter, an exciting but dangerous position that can lead to adventure, treasure, and an exalted social standing.
The animated series centered on the challenging and potentially fatal battery of tests required to obtain a Hunter’s license. During the grueling exams, Gon became friends with three other candidates: Older, hot-tempered medical student Leorio (Matthew Mercer); intelligent, analytical Kurapika (Erika Harlacher); and Kilua (Cristina Vee), whose innocent appearance belies his descent from a clan of elite assassins. They also encountered the silken Hisoka (Keith Silverstein), an arrogant and murderous magician.
The second feature focuses more on Kurapika and Kilua, reducing Gon and Leorio to supporting roles. Kilua is haunted by a phantom of his older brother Illumi (Chris Hackney), who tells him he has no real friends. The people he knows will betray him and he’ll kill them. Or he’ll betray them and kill them. He’s an assassin. Although Kilua tries to block these negative messages, he’s terrified Illumi may be right.
Kurapika is surprised to meet Pairo (Laura Stahl), a younger blind boy who was his best friend years ago, when they lived in the remote village of the Kuta Clan. But Pairo is dead: He was slain when the Phantom Troupe murdered the entire Clan. Kurapika actually meets a lifelike puppet who steals his eyes. While Leorio cares for their injured friend, Gon and Kilua go in search of the puppet-Pairo. They encounter street performer Retsu (Kayli Mills) and a squad of murderous puppets of Phantom Troupe members, manipulated by the evil Omokage (Joe Zieja).
Gon sacrifices his own eyes in the conflict, relying on his other senses and Kilua to track down Omokage. Aided by Leorio, Kurapika and the ever-sardonic Hisako, Gon and Kilua defeat the self-styled “Divine Puppet-Master.” During the struggle, Kilua realizes the message from the simulacrum of his brother is false: he does have friends, friends who will never betray him and whom he’ll never betray.
Phantom Rouge is darker in tone than the original Hunter X Hunter series; the eye-stealing scenes are particularly unsettling. The puppet-enemies in Shoji Yonemura’s script recall the various animated automatons Naruto battles, especially the zombie-warriors deployed by Pain in Seasons #6 and #7 of Naruto Shippuden. It also removes the irrepressible Gon from the center of his own story. But director Yuzo Sato keeps the action moving and provides plenty of the fights against scheming enemies and the squabbles among the heroes that Hunter X Hunter love and expect.
Hunter x Hunter: Phantom Rouge
Viz: $29.98 two discs, DVD and Blu-ray
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