Ranked #280

Hunter x Hunter (2011)

I think it's amazing!
For a starter, I'll just tell you that I have not read the manga, and I have not watched the first anime. So my opinion on this 'remake', - this type of 'Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood' series, which completely tries to live up to the manga - is not based on anything aside of the 26 episodes I have watched yet.

Story:
The story is typical and shonen-esque. There is really nothing else I can say about it, because action-battle shounen series will nearly always be that way. The arcs I have seen yet though, had some good background information, smart traps and tricks, and always required your full attention. The story needs little attention when all those things are going on, yet it makes you feel satisfied with all that happened. An innovative way for a manga to make progress, especially since I still recognize all the shounen factors which typical fans love so much.
This altogether deserves a 7, because it still lacks a real story.
Story: 7/10

Art:
This is something that stood out from the very first scene. Hunter x Hunter has this very unique style, which can make characters seem more like cartoon characters, yet they come out of a manga. Big noses and lips, a lot of aspects could be called 'old-school'. However, it is still performed in a way that makes it amazing to look at. Background rendering, lighting and shading, special effects to add atmosphere to scenes... The animation and art is simply top-notch. Now I have seen animes made by studio 'Bones', and I have seen the famous 'Hellsing Ultimate', so to deserve a 10 for art in my book, is pretty hard.
Art: 10/10

Sound:
I really had to get used to the background music. At first the style appeared to me as weird, but soon enough I loved it. The happy, energetic themes during the normal situations (especially) fit Gon. However, the music can change altogether to become more like traditional drumming, something that manages to create heavy tension every time I watch it. Situations where the anti-hero (because I can't call him an Antagonist) Hisoka goes insane are perfectly portrayed through the amazing soundtrack. Dangerous situations, which could burst into action at any given moment are perfectly portrayed because of the amazing soundtrack. Sound effects in the background can suddenly boom through your boxes or headphones, in an impressive fashion. Voice acting is great, and the mad, happy or insane sides of characters are correctly given life.
Sound: 9/10

Character:
Logically, a series focused on Hunters needs an adequate amount of character development. And this is easily noticed as nearly every character will have some special trait, something weird, or threatening. Some have a clear amount of intelligence, another acts on impulse, and yet another will be patient and observes the situation. However, there is one thing that bugs me, a pet peeve I developed because of 'Naruto'. Loads of characters will think or say that Gon has something special, etcetera, etcetera. This is something that can throw their character into disarray, because no person thinks the same way. I know it is a Shounen, so let Gon be special, but please let the characters be as they are and only have some observing characters make the statements about him being so unique. Luckily, characters such as Killua, Illumi, Hisoka and many other insane people make this show that much more interesting.
Character: 9/10

Enjoyment:
Enjoyment is an aspect that requires the combination of all the other aspects, but most importantly, requires them to be in-sync. I don't just think this is such a case. This case is performed brilliantly. The series is dark when it needs to be dark, because the characters are, the soundtrack is, the lighting is, and the dialogue is. In fact, the tension in this series is so strong that even when nothing is happening and only a simple conversation takes place I am often glued to the screen. There are not much anime that will make somebody come closer to the screen just because he is so focused. This series does that for me.
Enjoyment: 10/10

Overall: 10: Masterpiece.
An anime and manga labeled as battle. Not a single typical shounen battle took place. Yet this series is so amazing. So what will happen when the real battles start? I will go absolutely insane out of excitement! I hope this helped anybody! read more

ITS FREAKING GOOD!!

I'm pretty tired of these reviews saying "Oh it doesn't like up to the 1999 version" and crap. Before I begin let me note that I have seen SOME of the 1999 version and ALL of the manga. I won't really be doing a comparison cause its not only unfair as I haven't seen all of it(and don't really plan to) but because people before me have done so already.

Story: Its a remake, I.E. the same thing. Gon sets out to become a Hunter in order to find his dad and to find out whats so great about the job that he'd abandon his only son. I saw the first 5 episodes of the first sereis *and other random eps* so when Episoe 1 was coming I thought "Oh I'm gonna get a flash back ep first." To my surprise there was none and we got the entire boat bit. I will admit they made mito a character you could give less for and they should have given a flashback on Kaito since he's important later on, But I did enjoy that we could see Leorio and Kurapika meeting gon sooner than I thought. The story in this version is moved pretty quickly, Which I had mixed feelings on. It did admittingly feel rushed at some parts and in episode 6 they axed out my favorite part of the second exam, the sushi making contest and didn't even spare Kurapika's 'I'M LIKE LEORIO?!' face, and that pissed me off. so props to the old version there. However thanks to this we can get to the good parts of the hunter exam and on towards the parts that made hunter x hunter as a series great*Looking forward to seeing all the arcs* Plus the pace has slowed down as of late as its taking a while to get through the Prison trial, but its doing a much better job of keeping consistant to the monga *THE ACCTUAL CORE VERSION* than some of its previous episode and the old version.

Art: It dosn't matter what you thought of this version compared to the 1999 one, this version art is SUPRB. I understand it was 1999 when they made the last one so of course now it'd be a big improvement but damn, madhouse knows how to do its job. At first it's brightness concerned me as the series gets darker and darker later on, but now I don't mind it, as Hisoka STILL comes off as creepy ecpecially in episode 10 where he shatters the hopes for revenge by that x examiner. The character designs are pretty well done as well, only the small gripe being thay made kurapika's look too much like a girl, however in the old version Gon's hair was too short, so its a eye for eye.now for movement, the animation, Its freakin amazing, seeing the shows first real fight, I was left amazed at how well done it was and I look forward to ALOT of the series future fights. Also its nice to see this when the manga's sketchy style dosn't do it for you but what'cha gonna do when your SO MANY ARCS AWAY!?

Sound: Alright, I gotta say its good, but just not for this series. I really didn't like the other versions either but oh well. The sound did kinda do it for me in episode 10 when Hisoka was fighting, but I don't really like the idea of cheerful orchestra music for the seires main themes. The fact that there IS a orchestra does say something about the future but for now it doesn't work. as for the openings and endings I like them, it took a while for the ending to get to me but it did and I'm ok with the current OP As I like the energy put into it where as the other version made me want to do the opposite of the title and go to bed.

Character: are perfectly kept intact. As its keeping with the manga, of course the characters would be kept the same. While gon is easily the simplest character of the show if not in anime history, He's likabe. most characters would show angst or give off a fake "I don't care" front, but he shows the absence of his father with complete curiosity. His cheerful and full of life personality shows and if you don't have a problem with simple characters, you'll more than likely like gon. Leorio is my personal favorite because I love comic relief characters and boy does he do his job here! Some may find his tendency to get pissed off at everything annoying but I find it pretty funny especially in the majority rule where he is perfectly within his rights to get pissed off. Of course Leorio's gotta look a little cool too, its nothing compared to his recent actions in the manga but His bet to determine wheter the blue guy*which was kinda weird* was alive or not was pretty cool, for his standards anyway. Kurapika is as dark as usual so thats cool. Killua is the same mischivious little assasin we all know and love and will soon later become one of the two darker characters compared to Gon and Leorio. They also do a good job of making him friends with Gon this early on seeing as the two will be working together alot later. Hisoka is pretty much the same, just look at the ending animation.

Enjoyment: I may already know whats gonna happen but I look forward to seeing every adaption each week. I each episode *except for episode 6* feels worth seeing as they follow the manga and the pacing while fast is acctually pretty ok once you get used to it.

Overall: Hunter x Hunter is pretty much the same here and it shows the only real issue to have with it is wether you put time in to make comparisons to the old version. I'm sure it was good, but Its Over, I'm already up to speed with its plot and since I have a choice to revisit what I read in the manga I'm gonna go with this. As for if you aren't up to date with the manga and haven't seen the old anime, You'll probably be prefectlyfine watching. If you have seen the old version then you'll either be fine with this and hope for the unanimated arcs to come, or just be like some of the other reviewers and gripe about "How it dosn't live up to-blah" So all in all Its a good series it just depends on how you look at it. read more