When I was younger, I was taught that it isn’t the quantity of friends you have that matters, but the quality of those friendships that ultimately make a difference – to give connections with others time to take root in my heart and tend to them every day so that they could grow. Of course, being a stubborn kid, that message never truly began to resonate with me until I got much older, and, being someone who grew up in a small town in the mid-south, once I got old enough I packed my things and began moving from place to place, desperately searching for where I belonged.
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Living a nomadic lifestyle as a young adult certainly had its benefits, but it was soul-crushingly lonely, too – so much so that I had nearly completely closed myself off from making meaningful connections with other people. I put up walls and became content, being encased in them all on my own. That is, of course, until I discovered Hunter x Hunter, and had my jaded worldview completely flipped upside down thanks to just how powerfully written the friendship between Gon and Killua is and, by extension, how much their unwavering trust and adoration for each other shapes the world around them.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Hunter x Hunter!
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Gon & Killua’s Friendship Changed My Perspective On What It Means To Be a Friend
Without a doubt, Gon and Killua are one of the most iconic duos in anime. Their bond has resonated with anime fans around the world, and I was no different. Gon truly adores Killua, and the depth of their friendship is solidified in the narrative when Gon resolves to travel to Kukuroo Mountain to save Killua from his family. It’s a powerful moment following the first major climax on the Hunter Exam arc – Gon has seen what Killua is capable of; he witnessed firsthand just how terrifying the Zoldyck family can be in the sway that Illumi holds over his younger brother. But either in spite of or perhaps because of that danger, Gon knows that he has to do the right thing. He has to be Killua’s friend and show him that there’s a whole world out there that he’s worthy of seeing.
To truly be a friend is a concept that sounds easy to grasp, but in a modern world where every social interaction feels commodified, it’s much harder to truly empathize with another person without truly knowing where they come from. There isn’t a scene in the anime that delivers on this idea better than the moment Gon is finally able to open the massive, impossibly convoluted door that both physically and metaphorically gated the Zoldyck family off from the rest of the world. The mountain, their home, is treated as a spectacle, with no one ever really trying to connect out of fear. Gon is different, though. Gon is willing to break down every wall that Killua and the rest of the Zoldycks have to prove that life can and will be better if they just let themselves have good things.
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Killua later returns this favor to Gon during the Chimera Ant Arc. Being the most infamous – and iconic – arc in the entire series, the Chimera Ant Arc is loaded with character-defining moments that completely alters the course of Hunter x Hunter‘s world. In it, we see Gon at his worst. While his rage toward the Ants is justified because of Kite’s gruesome fate at the hands of Neferpitou, this is the first time Killua ever sees Gon hit rock bottom. It’s uncomfortable, and despite Killua being brought up in an environment where violence is normal, and even praised, he knows that what Gon is going through isn’t like him. Even through the moment when Gon finally gets to avenge Kite by killing Neferpitou in “Anger x and x Light”, because we see these events unfold through Killua’s perspective, none of it feels good.
It’s a death that doesn’t feel rewarding because Killua can see behind Gon’s rage and recognize how much he’s hurting. The consequences of Gon’s breakdown follow the duo into the final arc of the series, but Killua’s need to be there for his friend goes far beyond just standing by and waiting for him to get better with time. Killua jumps into action and returns home once more – but this time, instead of using the Zoldyck home as a means to run and hide away because he feels like he has to, he instead returns to face his past head-on and finally embrace who he truly is so that he can be that true friend that Gon needs by simultaneously confronting a major part of his family life that, up until this point in the show had been shrouded in mystery.
Gon and Killua’s Friendship Taught Me That To Be Vulnerable Is To Be Strong
Something I found profoundly unique in Hunter x Hunter‘s storytelling near the end of Madhouse’s adaptation was how it used Alluka’s reveal to show its audience how much Killua has grown over the course of the series, and how he’s developed a visible soft spot in his heart that he’s learned to proudly wear on his sleeve for Gon and his beloved sister, Alluka. When Killua talks with Alluka and Nanika, his declaration as her older brother to always love, accept, and protect her comes from a place of true vulnerability – and through that, I was able to reflect on myself, every friendship I’d ever made and reevaluate the energy that I put into those connections, and how I should be able to accept the people I care about for everything they are.
While it is heartbreaking that, in the finale of the anime, Gon and Killua choose to go their separate ways so that they can continue to grow and pursue their individual goals, their bond is unbreakable. If anything, their ability to be able to say goodbye shows just how important they are to one another. Hunter x Hunter was, and continues to be, a truly standout franchise because of the honesty and care that’s been put into the relationships throughout, especially the iconic friendship between Gon and Killua. They taught me a difficult, albeit important, lesson that I intend to carry with me each time I have to say, “It’s not a goodbye, it’s a see you later.”
