User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 470: The Hybrid Theory, Review./@comment-4829046-20160126110759/@comment-25111584-20160126113312

Well, aiming for the side allows a badass pic of the attacker standing behind the victim while the latter simply stands with a dumbstruck look on their face before collapsing. Can't do that by punching a hole in the middle unless you plan to rip away most of the torso (like Igneel), which would be too much for Mashima.

Unless you're Killua, of course. /o/