Ranked #73

Hunter x Hunter

Hunter X Hunter is a Shonen adventure series, yes, but there´s actually a lot that differs from your typical shonen-show. In a good way. I´ll explain why gradually through the review, let´s begin.

Story
The story is good, but not really anything mind breaking. It´s about Gon, a 12 year old boy, trying to become a hunter so he can find his father who left him as a child. A hunter is basically a person with a hunters license, and the concept of hunting can be almost anything. As long as you complete the difficult and deadly Hunters exam and get your license you can do whatever you want with it, so naturally there´s all kinds hunters, everything from hunters who hunt criminals, hunters who ARE criminals and hunters who tries to master the art of cooking, for example.

So in the first part of the series it´s about the exam and you follow Gon and his 3 companions as they try to survive the exam. What you´re going to notice is that the story involves very little fighting, and yet it´s really intense. In the third exam for example they have to fight against dangerous criminals, but instead of beating up all of them with super-lightning attacks they introduce different kinds of simple methods, like janken, and make it really interesting. This is executed very nicely and feels refreshing if you´ve watched other Shonen-series.

The show does not end after the exam though, it continues with the celestial tower arc and the yorkshin auction arc, and especially the latter is extremely entertaining.

Art
Yes, it is quite old and some people might not like it. Personally I didn´t mind though, both art and animation were smooth, and even if you don´t like older art you´ll probably find it acceptable.

Sound
The openings and endings were nothing special, but I personally loved the BGM! The songs really fit well in the athmosphere and I actually came back to some parts just because the music was so good and fit the whole show so perfectly. The voice acting was also really good, and I didn´t really notice anything to complain about. Voices fit characters really well (I watched the subs).

Character
Here is when the series really start to shine! The characters are great, and unlike too many other shonen shows they are actually both memorable and they don´t feel forced in any way, this without 12 episodes from their pasts. They also get developed a lot in the show and you find youself just enjoying to watch the characters together.

Enjoyment
Even if the first 7 or so episodes are a bit slow, once you get into this show it´s never boring. It´s not slow paced and there´s always something new and interesting happening in every episode (there might be some exceptions, but I can´t think of any just like that). It´s actually one of the most enjoyable series I have ever seen.

Overall
On of the best shows out there, watch it now! Even if you normally dont like shonen shows, this might still entertain you! It´s not slow paced, there´s more focus on plot than fighting and it actually ends (even if the ending is very open). I recommend this to everyone and especially if you like other shonen shows, then you will love this one, it is the best typical shonen adventure anime out there. read more

I was pretty sad when I finished the last OVA because now I can't watch more of this anime.

Hunter x Hunter is clearly one of the best anime series I have seen so far and it is very addictive once you get involved with the story line and the characters. It follows the main character Gon and his friends Leorio,Kurapika and Killua.

Story: The story is intriguing and exciting and it will leave you begging for more. The first arc was not so great in the beginning in my opinion, it could have been because the characters was not familiar and you had to get more involved. Then after a couple episodes it got more interesting and you wanted to see what happens next.

Art: The art was a bit poor in the beginning what I recall. The production started in 98 or something so maybe that have to do with the quality. I don't remember exactly, but sometime during the series the picture quality suddenly got better, but it never bothered me really. After the TV series, they changed the animation too, but not a big deal in my opinion. It''s not great, hence why no 10, but it did no matter to me.

Sound: The voice casts were great and the music was outstanding. I liked most of the music in both the TV series and the OVA:s. I can't remember anything that bothered me with the sound, but in the Greed Island arc, the character Hisoka's voice changed a bit. Otherwise not much more to say here.

Character: I think the character roles was of most importance in this series and everything revolved around the character development and their relations with each other. I liked the relation between Gon and Killua, and Hisoka's obsession with them. Hisoka in my opinion, is one of the most entertaining villains in the anime series I have watched and his erraticly behavior and personality made him special and a bit mysterious.

Enjoyment: With everything stated above, this show gives everything you'd want of an anime and I can say when I talk with friends about anime, Hunter x Hunter is often mentioned as one of the best anime series. Of course, this is my view of the anime and you have to get your own when you start watching. But I can assure that you will at least find one thing good about it and might make you interested.

Overall: I got much of my opinions above here but I'll try to finish this review. Hunter x Hunter is an great anime and if you have seen series like Naruto or One Piece it won't make you disappointed. Some similarities I found for example, was between Kurapika from Hunter x Hunter and Sasuke from Naruto. They have a couple similar characteristics and is after this group that reminds me of Akatsuki. Another thing I noticed between the main character Gon and Luffy, the main character from One Piece, is their way of seeing things, they are simple-minded and true to everyone.

Now I think Iam done writing here and most of you reading might already watched the anime since it's quite old by today. But if you haven't watched any of the OVA:s yet and liked the TV series I strongly suggest you to do that.

And to all who still haven't watched this show, I urge you to do so if you are interested. I wish everybody to live happily and continue to watch good quality anime. ^^ read more