Summary
The world ofHunter x Hunteris filled to the brim with eclectic characters, each with their own unique history, motivations and experiences. We learn about these characters through the journeys of the main quartet: Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika.
One such character is Melody the Music Hunter, a gentle and softspoken member of the Nostrade family bodyguard detail alongside Kurapika. Melody’s look is an unusual one, and there is a dark reason behind it. So who exactly is Melody?
Melody the Music Hunter
Melody is already a certified Hunter when we first meet her; as a result, her physical strength and agility are more advanced than the normal person. She is a user of Nen, more specifically anEmitter with the skills to to Manipulate, as well. Her main mode of Nen usage is by playing the flute. Her music manipulates those around her who hear them. Her Nen can yield positivity such as when she calms Kurapika and the Nostrade bodyguards with her music by playing “Flowers in Spring”, a sweet composition that causes listeners to hallucinate a beautiful meadow filled with flowers and sunshine.
However, her Nen abilities can be destructive as well, such as enchanting a large group of people to listen, rendering them completely ignorant of their surroundings. What makes Melody so powerful is the fact that her Nen abilities reach thousands of people.
What Fuels Melody?
One unfortunate drunken day, Melody and a friend had their fates devastatingly affected by a very dangerousmusical piececalled the Sonata of Darkness. Lore has it that whoever listens to this music or plays it will be horribly cursed. This composition was supposedly put together by Satan, and has four different solo components: flute, violin, piano and harp. Melody’s friend played the piece and subsequently died a horrific death. Melody, on the other hand, listened to a small portion of the composition’s flute solo.
As a result, her physical appearance changed drastically changed. Her front teeth grew into buck teeth, her height shrank, eyebrows gone, she began to bald at the crown of her head and even her body became horribly disfigured. Additionally, she gained superhuman hearing; she can hear something as soft as a heartbeat or footsteps from miles away. Melody’s traumatic experience with the piece motivates her to find the sheet music for the Sonata of Darkness and destroy it, so that she can return to her original form and no other Hunter suffers the same fate she and her late friend did.
Melody and Kurapika
Melody’s hyper-sensitive hearing grants her an intuition that is backed up by anatomical proof that she can hear. She understands people a lot more than most due to her ability to literally hear their hearts, a very intimate thing. Heartbeats indicate many things to her on an emotional level, even lying. An example of this is during the Succession arc, when she can tell that prince Kacho is acting like a brat by throwing a tantrum over the food she was served, all to proect her twin sister Fugetsu.Kurapikais the main recipient of Melody’s abilities out of the main characters.
During the Underground Auction, Melody and Kurapika are on surveillance duty together. Out of curiosity, Melody asks Kurapika what do Scarlet Eyes mean to him. She can tell they mean a great deal, because his “melody was rather violent” on the subject, a melody of intense rage. Seeing that Melody is basically a human lie detector, he confides in her about his clan. It is pointless lying to her, so he tells her that truthfully, he wants to retrieve the precious Scarlet Eyes of his clan that thePhantom Troupestole from them. Melody is intuitive enough to see that if this information gets out, Kurapika will not hesitate to kill her; something she admits to him. Heartbeats never lie, acccording to Melody. She tells Kurapika that his voice was calm and cold simultaneously, so she believes that his emotions are very real and intense.
Kurapika returns her inquisitivity by asking her why she took this job as abodyguard. She bonds with Kurapika over her history with the Sonata of Darkness. At first, Kurapika believed that it was just a legend and nothing as awful as that could even exist. She vulnerably shows him her arm, which the anime did not even animate. However, Kurapika’s expression told us all we needed to know about what happened to her body. To answer Kurapika’s question, she took this job to obtain information in a more discreet way.
As the anime continues,Kurapikaand Melody become quite good friends. Kurapika, who is normally a very private person, opened up to her about his innermost desires. Yes, it is impossible to lie to her, but their adventures together prove that they are very close.
