I finished the Chairman Selection Arc. It was great, on the level of the Hunter Exam and close to York Shin. On the whole, I'd rate each arc -
Hunter Exam: 7/10
Kukuru Mountain: 7/10
York Shin: 8/10
Greed Island: 6/10
Chimera Ant: 5/10
Chairman Selection: 7/10
OP's Arabasta Arc would be 10/10 (superior), Naruto's Chuunin Exam 9/10 (outstanding). An "average" arc = 6/10.
I still think HxH is over-rated, but it makes up for it by being spontaneous and un-predictable. It's quite fun to read. The flip side to Togashi writing whatever he wants and not sticking to a formula is he's more likely to hit Writer's Block, which I don't think has happened with him yet. By that, I think Ant Arc's convoluted nature was a deliberate strategical decision on Togashi's part, rather than a time stall. He obviously wanted to go in the thematic route with the ants but did a pretty poor job of 1) explaining it logically and 2) pacing it.
@GEPPETTOSMONSTER:
First and foremost yupi wasn't there to simply slaughter them his prime objective is to protect Meruem the entire time he was fighting shoot and knuckle he thought he was doing exactly that until he learned later that Meruem was safe thanks to pouf.
Have you heard of killer bees chasing intruders for miles, only stopping when they simply can't locate their target anymore?
It's ridiculous to think Yupi is so stupid as to think Knuckle and the other Nen users who he knows came to kill the King are not a threat so long as they're not within a certain range of the King when humans and relatives of ants don't even think that way. Instinct and common sense both tell him to kill the intruders at all costs, not to simply return to his post because they fell out of the palace!
@GEPPETTOSMONSTER:
2nd Knuckle IS a capable fighter just because he lost his cool doesn't make him capable hell he had Yupi on the ropes a couple of times even though Yupi was obviously the stronger character. Knuckles fall is incredibly understandable since he didn't want to see his master get killed it was either let morau get killed but still defeat yupi and have that feeling of personal regret knowing that, that persons fate was in your hands or release the ability and live.
Let me put it this way. Of the hundreds of Hunters in the association, Netero picked Moureau and Knov for such an important mission and both Hunters brought along their best students. This implies that Knuckle, Shoot and Palm were fighting in place of other more powerful Hunters, meaning their combination of abilities and maturity made them most suitable for this job. If they were going to crack under pressure, they wouldn't have been brought along, as they would compromise the success of the whole mission.
Knov was completely overwhelmed by Neferpitou's aura, he was so scared his hair changed colour. But he still did his job in spite of the crippling terror he was feeling. Knov was able to do this by prioritizing the mission success over his own personal feelings.
Knuckle wasn't able to do this. In spite of already seeing Shoot's shriveled, tattered body after Shoot practically suicided so Knuckle's Potclean could continue to build interest. In spite of he and Moreau fighting for hours so they could defeat an unbelievably strong opponent. The reality was Knuckle's choices were between Moreau dying or everyone dying, and he chose the latter.
I don't think Knuckle breaking down was the problem itself, but that Moreau was the breaking point. As I said earlier, Knuckle was characterized as being emotional about everything, but never was he implied to be struggling/treading water between being emotional and capable. He was both, and that was never in question. Moreau was never shown to be the most important person in his life or on a pedestal so high it would cause Knuckle to question his resolve, especially after seeing Shoot and thinking Palm was KIA.
Knuckle's actions were pure OOC DXM BS to perpetuate the ongoing theme of reader empathy with the ants. The whole fight Knuckle was acknowledging Yupi's (non-existent, remember Ant x MB) humanity then succumbing to his own. It completely baffles me that a human Beast Hunter with tons of experience against both humans and beasts like Knuckle could falter at such a critical moment without good justification. It likewise baffles me that Yupi, who isn't human, would suddenly discover humanity in the fight and both conflicts culminate in the combatants walking away from one another.
It's especially obnoxious considering if Yupi dies, Meyrim doesn't fully recover from the Rose Bomb and we don't get any of the thematic closure with Meyrim and Komugi Togashi wanted so badly. Togashi was willing to compromise Knuckle's established character to further the confused ant humanity theme.
I say confused because, in the end, there's a bunch of observations but no clear message on what Togashi is trying to say. I love thematic writing but Togashi's attempt at a theme was really weak.