From Eren Jaeger deciding to crush humans beyond the walls with his colossal titans to Tomura Shigaraki attempting to crumble hero society with his bare hands, forces looking to wipe humanity off the face of the earth is a recurring conflict in shounen manga.
It’s telling, though, that these anti-heroes and villains proceed with the wipeout for motivations that are innately (albeit selfishly) human. Many of them resort to violence to protect their freedom, retaliate, or avenge because they couldn’t agree with the people they deemed different from them. It simply shows that, at its root, humans erasing their own kind is a result of grave misunderstandings.
This chasm born from differences and, additionally, the potential bridge had humans been more open to dialogues and compromises, are what Yoshihiro Togashi explored in his manga series Hunter x Hunter, specifically in the Chimera Ant Arc (2011-2014).
The Impending Doom
The arc starts with a giant Ant Queen preparing to give birth to an all-powerful Ant King to rule the world. Her first step toward her goal? Eat humans.
Unlike in my other manga fixations, the threat in Togashi’s story isn’t human. The chimera ants are practically aliens, so distancing myself from them came easy. Empathizing was out of the question because they eat my kind. Needless to say, I rooted for their early demise.
Togashi, of course, involved the Hunters, giving them the mission to kill the Ant Queen before she gives birth. Unfortunately (and to keep the plot going), the Hunters failed, and the Queen “gave birth” to the Ant King, naming him Meruem.
When the brat came out, his first action was to kill some of his fellow ants, effectively cementing himself as the big bad evil.
With the stakes elevated from several humans dead for food to all of humanity, the violence and fear escalated.
But hope wasn’t all lost. Following the Ant King’s birth, one of the chimera ants turned coat and sought help from the Hunters. The humans and some of the chimeras teamed up to to defeat Meruem before he takes over the world.
Humans Are in Part the Ones To Blame
Early in the arc, I have assumed that the chimera ants are all evil, except those who sided with the humans. However, as the narrative went on, I had to wonder about that and revise my opinion.
After all, the manga implied that a chimera ant might be part human.
Furthermore, the narrative explicitly said that some ants acquired malice due to them getting part of their DNA from criminals. In a sense, the most violent chimera ants just took after the worst of the human race. If that’s the case, aren’t humans also at fault?
It didn’t help that Togashi peppered the arc with stories of humans as equally evil, if not more, than the invading ants. An example was the Republic of East Gorteau forcing communities to turn on each other to prevent rebellions, even separating families. Togashi also painted the country’s government as an insensitive one, blatantly disregarding the poorest of its citizens.
I’d discover later, unsurprisingly, that the country’s leader is a scum of the earth. The Ant King even described the leader as a “cretin.”
Not that Meruem is one to talk, though. For all his wisdom, he’s no better. He kills on a whim and has no empathetic bone in his body.
Well, until he found his match.
Some Humans Just Wanted to Play Gungi…
Meruem turned to board games to pass the time, and it was when he met the Gungi world champion Komugi. A blind, frail woman with a one-track mind and a perennial nasal congestion, the king described her as dumb and inelegant.
However, much to Meruem’s dismay, he couldn’t win against her.
After too many loses, zero wins, and an awakening, Meruem realized a crucial fact about the human race.
He looked at the woman he regarded as a sub specie and saw what he was missing. In front of him is a sight to behold — the beautiful, broad, and boundless human potential.
As the story came to a head, the Ant King learned that some humans were worth keeping and declared his new goal.
I do not deny that at first I will use power and fear. But, only as necessary for the maintenance of order. I have learned what power is for. To protect the weak who deserve to live. Never to oppress the defeated.
While violence and manslaughter are inevitable in Meruem’s hypothetical reign, his narrow-minded proposal to sift humans based on his newly discovered protective instinct appeared to be a lesser type of evil. Especially if you place it side-by-side with the festering inequality currently on full display in East Gorteau and the rest of the world.
Impressively, Meruem only needed some quality time with a better version of the human race to realize these things. He figured that not all of humanity deserved to die. He saw beyond status, figuring out the absurd evil in leaders and the heavenly potential in ordinary folks.
Through Komugi, he discovered things far more valuable than his original world domination goal. Still, he insisted on ruling over humans, but now with the mind to protect those who need it. I would go ahead and say he found love. After all, what is the urge to protect if not a byproduct of it, right?
That luxury of time was what the other leaders in the story lacked. Too busy to care, such leaders saw things from a pedestal and missed the fine details of the humans they lord over. They failed to see their constituents’ vivid lives and ever-expanding potential and categorized them as disposable pawns.
Meruem, on the other hand, gained valuable insight because he sat down and actually saw the person in front of him.
Mind you, his proposals aren’t completely human-friendly, but I know you get the sentiment.
…And Some Humans are Worse than Ants
Humans have been coexisting for so long that we somehow took our connections to each other for granted. Our bonds were supposed to enrich us, but now, our relations have become a means to an end, with the end often selfish and sometimes evil.
Meruem’s transformation from an insufferable royal brat to a caring king teaches us that when you include love in forging relationships, you can create something beautiful.
Upon meeting Komugi and forming a special bond with her, Meruem’s goals became more than just himself and his kingly ambitions. He began taking other people into account. Not in the way I prefer (he would still eat humans), but at least he tried to care in the best way possible for a man-eating ant.
If an ant over 40 days old can love and change his beliefs because of it, what is stopping humans from doing the same? What hinders us, humans who have lived in the world far longer and had more time to connect and love each other, to be better?
Why turn into pathetic degenerates who are unable to love anyone but ourselves when we can instead take a page from Meruem’s book and let love transform us?
Maybe it’s because we don’t know everything, or we forget too easily. Fortunately, we can always learn. Also, even if learning involves getting a nudge from some ants, it’s better than having no insight at all, right?
I can’t get enough of the fact that Komugi single-handedly turned Meruem’s life around. They’re not even the main cast (haha). I had to write about them. It’s a primal need.
If you haven’t yet, go ahead and read the entirety of the arc. It can stand alone (in case you’re wondering if you need to read the manga from Chapter 1).
Also, you’ll get so much more beyond the Meruem-Komugi storyline, from the consequences of revenge to the importance of a name to a mother’s enduring love. Togashi poured his all into this arc, and you’re in for an unforgettable ride.
