Ponzu

Ponzu (ポンズ) was one of the 24 examinees that managed to enter the fourth stage of the 287th Hunter Examination. She was known as examinee #246 in the 287th exam, and #223 in the 288th Hunter Examination.

Background
Not much about her past is known. Not even about her parents or her early childhood. Or about her birthday for that matter whatsoever.

Personality
Ponzu is described as being a very serious, generally collected individual. Despite indirectly causing Bourbon's death, she showed no sign of feeling guilt or regret, due to her attack having been accidental. She is quite perceptive, as she discovered the transmitter installed in her tag. She also is very objective, characterized by her prioritizing getting word of the Chimera Ant infestation to a strong Hunter.

Appearance

 * 1999

Ponzu wears a big pink hat with white flaps which houses bees that transpire at her will, or when she falls or screams. She wears ordinary clothes, a pink blouse and baggy pants, and orange shoes without heels. Her eyes, and hair are blue.
 * 2011

Ponzu wears a big yellow hat with white flaps which houses bees that transpire at her will or when she falls or screams. She wears ordinary clothes, a salmon blouse and baggy pants and orange shoes without heels.

Abilities
Ponzu's primary weapons are traps using chemicals,[8] but she has shown to use also other means of combat. She carries a bee hive underneath her hat from which the bees emerge to attack her enemies when she is threatened. She seems to be fairly analytical, realizing the nature of Bourbon's ability and that the badges used in the fourth stage of the Hunter Exam have transmitters implanted in them. According to Tonpa, she is able to discern when she is being followed.[9]

Nen
Ponzu learned Nen sometime before sneaking into NGL, as she was able to see Pokkle's Hatsu. She has some skills with Manipulation, since she ordered her bees to deliver a message to the first Hunter with a powerful aura they found.[5]

Beehive Hat
Ponzu's hat is inhabited by a large quantity of bees (similar to wasps in the 2011 anime). According to her, it is a secret technique used in her family. If she starts shouting or falls due to a shock, the bees will come out and attack everyone around her without discrimination. Upon stinging, they inject a paralyzing poison that caused Bourbon a lethal anaphylactic shock, since he had already been stung by the same race of bees in the past. By lightly tapping her hat, she can make the bees come out without them attacking.[4]

Soporific Gas
In the fourth stage of the Hunter Exam, Ponzu used a vaporizer spraying potent sleeping gas to knock out her target.[4]

Hunter Exam Arc
Ponzu enters the 287th Hunter Exam and completes the first three stages of the Hunter Exam with relative ease. During the fourth stage where the remaining contestants have to take the badges from their specific opponent, Ponzu learns that Bourbon is her target. She follows him up until a hidden cave and tries to set him a trap while he was inside. She let sleeping gas into the cave and as she enters and tries to take the badge, she realizes that Bourbon released his snakes and the gas didn't reach them; trapping herself in the cave along with Bourbon.

Ponzu's bees accidentally end up killing Bourbon after falling into his trap, but she is later rescued as Leorio, who was targeting her, Kurapika and Gon entered the cave and planned their escape. As they release the sleeping gas again, Gon takes them all out of the cave but her badge is taken by him and given to Leorio while she is unconscious, causing her to fail the exam.

She is later seen in a car while Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio head to the airport to get to Kukuroo Mountain.

Greed Island arc
Ponzu is shown to participate in the 288th Hunter Exam, although she then ends up being knocked unconscious in the first phase by Killua.

Chimera Ant arc
Ponzu infiltrates NGL with Pokkle and two friends of theirs. They come upon a group of Chimera Ants capturing and killing humans, and she suffers a light injury to her shoulder, but the four manage to escape. Ponzu sends her bees to contact the five other Hunter groups they had established a network with, to no avail. They conclude that they cannot contain the Chimera Ants by themselves and resolve to contact the outside world. However, before they get the chance, Zazan's Squad detects them. Pokkle orders Ponzu to escape, and she is the only one who manages to do so.

Knowing that Pokkle will not be eaten immediately, she rushes to write SOS messages in blood and uses her bees to bring them to the strongest Hunter nearby—who happens to be Kite. She then decides to run back to the border, but she is shot moments later by an officer from Zazan's squad who then devours her.

Quotes

 * I been waiting for you guys
 * You really think so?
 * There's no way that's true

Knownable Relatives

 * Unnamed Mother
 * Unnamed Father

Trivia

 * Her name probably comes from ponzu, a citrus-based sauce commonly used in Japanese cuisine.
 * Ponzu and Pokkle are the only deceased examinees of the 287th Hunter Exam who did not die during the exam.
 * She came 9th in the first popularity poll.
 * Her hat looks similar to Koenma's from YuYu Hakusho.
 * Ponzu's death in the hands of the Gun-toting Ant looks strikingly similar to a scene in episode 535 of the Detective Conan series when a detective got shot. Curiously, the two scenes are both exclusive to the anime adaptation of their respective title while not being present or shown in the manga.
 * Ponzu greatly resembles the character Zeo Zagart from the anime series Beyblade.
 * Ponzu shares the same Japanese voice actress as Kortopi of the Phantom Troupe as well as Anita and Zushi, in the 1999 anime adaptation.

Voice Actresses

 * Japanese : Umi Tenjin (1999 series), Haruka Kudo (2011 series)
 * English : Leda Davies (1999 series), Reba Buhr (2011 series)