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Hey guys, so this has been on my mind ever since starting HxH, so I wanted to make a thread about it. People often argue about whether or not Killua’s love for Gon can be interpreted as romantic or not, so I’m here to give my two cents. The short answer? Yes!
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Let me start off with the simplest statement: Killua is not “too young” to be gay. At the start of the series, he’s a preteen, and he’s grown up to be a teenager. That’s a prime age for most children to discover their sexuality and develop their more intense crushes.
I personally began discovering I was sapphic when I was ten or eleven, as a lot of queer kids do. There’s also nothing inherently sexual about being gay as a child. So, my entire point here is, Killua is not “too young” to like boys, just as Gon isn’t “too young” to date girls.
Killua reads as a little boy with his first crush, at least to me. It’s reminiscent of feelings I had towards girls when I was around that age, so I guess part of this thread will be me projecting. With that out of the way, let’s actually get started.
Let’s start off with small, more insubstantial evidence, which is how frequently Killua blushes around Gon. Of course this isn’t an inherently romantic thing, but I wanted to point this out before progressing farther. Killua has only ever done this around one or two other chars.
I want to mention some of the more romantically coded scenes as well, so I’m going to bring up what most KilluGons spend a lot of time thinking about, which is our favorite “You are light.” While it can be interpreted many ways, it speaks to Killua’s intense feelings for Gon.
Killua’s feelings towards Gon are undeniably powerful and unparalleled, even early on in their relationship (being referred to as “his dear Gon” by Illumi, even in the first arc.) It’s shown in many scenes, but here are a few more examples.
A scene that stuck out to me in particular, as did this entire episode, is Killua being shocked at Gon’s previous dating life, and then continuing to act somewhat jealous. He continues saying he’s never been on a date, only with Gon, and he doesn’t want that to change.
Killua also stalked his date with Palm (feeling pretty disgusted by it, as anyone should) and basically saved Gon’s life while he was none-the-wiser. Killua fighting for his “dear Gon” while he was on a romantic date reads romantically to me as well.
Those are some of the biggest KilluGon moments with genuine romantic undertones, so let me move onto a character who plays a large role in how to interpret their feelings for one another, good old Hisoka!
Hisoka has hinted towards KilluGon, which interests me because of his personal twisted feelings for Gon. The biggest example is the scene where Illumi explains the death of two lovers, and Hisoka assumes it applies to Killua’s feelings towards Gon.
I’m sure most of us are familiar, but as a refresher, when you refuse Nanika’s request, she will at minimum, k/ll two people. The one who refused it, and the one you love the most. This is explained using a couple as an example, which Hisoka compares to KilluGon.
Hisoka says he and Gon should become “intimate” because of how well their Nen types coincide, and it’s known Hisoka and Killua have the same Nen type. While not all Transmuters and Enhancers are destined lovers, keep in mind how Hisoka interprets their relationship (see above).
The scene that most heavily hints towards Killua loving Gon, though, is this one, which is sorefully mistranslated. In short, if you don’t want to read, Killua says he could possibly commit a “lover’s su/icde” with Gon. https://hunterxhell.tumblr.com/post/137521034677/killugon-meta-%E5%BF%83%E4%B8%AD%E3%81%A0%E3%81%AA-a-lovers-suicide-i-guess
The episode previews and Hunterpedias, while not canon dialogue, are assumed to be approved by Togashi. And as we know, these tease the KilluGon agenda to no end.
Here’s some extra information to rebuttal a few arguments towards this pairing, and how Killua could NEVER be interpreted as gay. First let’s address the “shounen characters can’t be lgbt argument!!” which makes me believe these people don’t watch HxH, but whatever.
Togashi has written openly gay and trans characters in the past, see Yu Yu Hakusho, Level E, and Alluka’s character, as well as characters implied to be gay like Pouf. He even wanted a shounen manga who’s mc was openly gay, but iirc was refused this !!
He even said he wouldn’t had no problem with making two of the main YYH protags gay, as quoted by TV Tropes: “When asked if Kurama and Hiei were an Official Couple, Togashi said that he hadn't intended them to be but in retrospect, he could have easily done it."
So we know Togashi has a certain sense of awareness to how he codes his characters, including how he codes Killua. Togashi is very open minded and loves to represent the LGBT community (showing in how he made a trans character in every work to perfect his rep of them!!)
Additionally, Killua doesn’t have to explicitly say he’s gay for it to be known. Komugi and Meruem are known to be in love, without a kiss or a single exchange of an “I love you.” I whole-heartedly believe if Killua was a girl, KilluGon would be accepted as canon.
To wrap this all up, do I think KilluGon will be canon, or Killua will have a huge coming out moment? Well...no. Romance is very much on the HxH back burner. That doesn’t mean the implications and subtext isn’t there, though.
Killua’s feelings for Gon are passionate and can only be described as “love” regardless of how that love reads to you. I just think in context of everything else, it’s coded romantically.
