It's set in what was known at the time as the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It was mostly because the Belgians couldn't be asked to bother to run their colony, so they gave it directly to King Leopold II to run as a personal fief. All the racism and exploitation of other European colonies, along with zero accountability. The results were predictable, until everyone freaked out and made the Belgians take the colony back from the crown.
HANDS FOR THE HAND GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! RUBBER FOR THE RUBBER CONSUMERS!
But yeah, it was pretty awful.
◊
There is a Filler mini arc during the Hunter Exam arc that happens after the 3rd Exam.
Basically, all the Hunter applicants are sent to a Hotel that happens to be lodged on a ship half sunk on the rock of an island which is almost completely surrounded by Ship Wrecks. At first, they are told they will have 3 days of rest in that Hotel up until the next part of the exams, the first episode is basically them resting, having fun, trying to pay the ridiculously high fees of the hotel, and character building (In the original anime this is where Kurapaika revealed to Leorio why his village was destroyed. There is also a pretty funny scene where Gon tries to teach Killua how to fish and Killua shows a weak stomach towards seafood complete with Gon showing disbelief that he is really part of a family of Hired Killers.)
Obviously, the whole thing turns out to be a lie, and the Ship is actually an "Extra Test" of the exam. Basically, the Old Couple who were taking care of the hotel leaves in the middle of the night leaving behind all the Gold they collected from the Guests, and a few select clues on where would be the next part of the exams.
Thing is... the area of the Island is home to a Climatic Phenomenom where every 10 years a Typhoon was formed near the island, and that Typhoon threatened to break the ship everyone was in.
After some period of confusion, everyone quickly agrees that they need to find a way to remove the ship from the island and escape from it. They discuss a bit and eventually name Hanzou as their leader, with Kurapaika as their sub-leader in that Exam. They then hatch a plan where everyone plays a part in it to use the ship they are in to escape the island.
I remember that amongst other things, Gon and Killua removed the seaweed in those wheel... things in the low parts of the ship, Supar used the Ship's cannons to break the rock they were in, Ponzu and Pokuru started the engines, Leorio removed weight from the submerged parts of the ship, Kurapaika headmastered the entire operation, and one complicated sequence where Leorio, Tompa, Gereta and even Hisoka all played parts in saving Gon's life after he tried helping Leorio.
There was one scene around the time Hanzo gets declared the leader where he mentions that there is a belief that people working in harmony can acomplish great things.
"In my country... we call this Wa" he says.
"Please crush me with your heels Esdeath-sama!My image of Waluigi is forever impressed with his appearance in There Will Be Brawl.
It left a strong impression.
So "wa" in Chinese means "dwarf" or "submissive people" and is a
graphic pejorative
, which I find hilarious. It's really interesting to see that the RC and PRC went through their own PC movements. Did Japan?
edited 29th Aug '14 3:51:11 PM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.Compare Japanese Politeness to Minnesota Nice and the Law of Jante
.
I think he's referring to the centuries of intermittent feudal warfare between lords.
Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.Hell, you should try blending Voudon with Shinto. It's... surprisingly easy.
(And, I want one of those yukata or kimono. I waaaaaaant: particularly one with more Ndebele-esque house designs
in the weave. Waaaaaaant. Oh: and, combine with traditional bead- and colour-work used correctly to indicate age, status and public message alongside some of the traditional kimono cues and... and... OMG: that'd be a fashion statement and a half!)
edited 31st Aug '14 6:36:09 AM by Euodiachloris

Depends. You can do the Empire in history and you can do Conrad in English - I did a critical evaluation of Achebe's critique of Conrad - but you can also do something completely different. Schools can pick and choose what they study, so it would be open to make political choices.
Not sure what the English system is like, but I suspect it is similar.
Schild und Schwert der Partei