Hunter x Hunter Vol. 13: Hunter x Hunter, Vol. 13
- ISBN
- 9781421510699
- Publisher
- VIZ Media
- English release
- Pages
- 200
Kurapika holds Chrollo captive as the hostage crisis continues in Hunter x Hunter. This standard paperback opens within that ongoing conflict and is not a convenient entry point for a new reader. Its contents are also part of the fifth three-volume omnibus, which collects standard Vols. 13–15. The discussion below examines the opening car scene and its competing accounts of a hostage's value, without reviewing the rest of the volume.
Spoilers — why this volume matters. Tap to reveal.
Chrollo's calm could be a performance intended to frustrate his captor. The opening scene tests that explanation through Melody, who hears no fear in his heartbeat and describes acceptance of death. His claim to be worthless as a hostage is therefore sincere, but sincerity cannot settle it. Melody also points out that he is the Troupe's leader. His own willingness to die and his companions' willingness to lose him are separate questions. Meanwhile, Kurapika knows that Gon and Killua remain captive, limiting what he can do with the man he has caught. The argument of this scene lies in that mismatch: holding a body does not establish how every participant values it. Chrollo can declare himself disposable; he cannot decide the others' attachments for them.
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Lines from this volume
Spoiler — from the ending. Tap to reveal.
“For me... ...this is no different from an afternoon coffee break.”
Spoiler — from the ending. Tap to reveal.
“First of all, your assumptions contain... ...a grave error. I'm worthless as a hostage.”
Leorio, trying to keep Kurapika from losing control in the car, says they do not have an edge yet. Chrollo takes the word personally. The captive's correction sounds like a gambler protecting his hand, and Melody's reading of his heartbeat says it is sincere. Then she adds the complication on p. 11: he believes he is worthless as a hostage, but it is also true that he is their leader. Both are facts, and the plan for the rest of the night lives in the gap between them. What the line commits Chrollo to is a disposability he has chosen for himself, and it describes the organization as much as the man. A leader who ranks himself below the group has built something that expects to outlive him. It does not follow that the others will accept the ranking, and he cannot make that decision for them from the back seat.
It looks like a pose. Chained in the back of a car beside the last Kurta, who will shortly demand to know whether he led the massacre, a captured leader has every reason to perform calm, and a villain's bravado is the cheapest effect in the genre. The chapter anticipates the objection and brings a witness. Melody, listening to his heartbeat on pp. 10 and 11, reports that it is normal, with no dissonance and no fear: the sound, she says, of full acceptance of death. So the line is an accurate self-report, which is worse for Kurapika than a bluff. A frightened hostage can be bargained with. A hostage who files his own execution under coffee breaks has removed the lever revenge depends on, which is making the guilty feel something. Chrollo's opening question, whether he needs to repeat himself, says he has made the point before and expects to be believed. The calm is not what keeps him alive, though. The Troupe still holds Gon and Killua, and on p. 14 Kurapika admits to himself that he cannot kill him.