The anime follows the story of Gon Freecs, a twelve year old boy who decides to take the challenging and highly dangerous Hunter Exam in order to become a Hunter. Those who pass the exam receive a Hunter License which gives the owner special privileges and status. Gon’s personal goal for clearing the exam is not to get all of the superficial perks of being a Hunter but to be able to someday reunite with his father, who is a Hunter and left Gon at a young age. On his journey, Gon meets both friends and foes and faces various challenges. The story, admittedly, does not sound especially enticing. However, Gon’s journey is filled with twists and turns and often betrays expectations in the best of ways. I found that events often did not play out as I would have expected, but the way they unfolded felt very natural and well written.
The anime covers seven story arcs, with a trend of an alternation between serious arcs and lighter, more training oriented arcs. The story is one of the strongest points of the show; the writing at the show’s worst is better than that of other shows at their best. One of the later arcs in the show is noticeably darker than the rest and is one of my favorites with regard to story and writing, touching on a variety of themes and ideas that provide some good food for thought. As a side note, the heavy narration during this particular arc seems to be a point of contention among fans; I personally found it to be an interesting method of storytelling, but I could understand why some would not enjoy it. I found the fight scenes of Hunter x Hunter to be another exceptionally notable point regarding the quality of writing. Rarely are fights based around just brute force strength and visuals. Instead, the fights are incredibly enjoyable because of the complex strategies employed by those who are in combat.
The main characters of the show are Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio. Gon is upbeat and cheerful with a strong sense of determination, and Killua acts as sort of a foil to Gon, being generally positive while staying more grounded to reality than Gon. Kurapika is an intelligent youth who is out for revenge against those who committed atrocities against his clan, and Leorio is the silly yet charismatic guy, serving as comic relief at times. Of these characters, Gon and Killua, being those that receive the most screen time, get the most character development. Killua, through his friendship with and experiences with Gon, opens up and becomes a less cold individual. Gon has some interesting character development in the latter part of the show, as he begins to face situations that his boundless determination and optimism cannot fix.
The villains in this show are great, with personalities ranging from calm and collected to quite insane, and I would say that they are more interesting than the protagonists. They are hardly what I would call generic, for the most part, and have distinctive characteristics which make them intriguing characters to follow. The villains are also presented in a way that makes them feel like true threats to the protagonists rather than simple obstacles in the story.
The art and animation in Hunter x Hunter is nothing short of phenomenal. Madhouse did an excellent job with this show; the animation is fluid, especially during fights, and the art is crisp and beautiful. The fact that this high standard of quality is kept throughout the entire show is especially admirable. The actual character designs might not be appealing to some, but looking past that it is hard to deny the quality of this show on a visual level. If nothing else, this show is a treat for the eyes.
I have less praise for the music. The sound track is decent overall, with some excellent orchestral tracks in the mix. However, I felt that some tracks were used far too often to the point where I would occasionally get irritated by some of the music. I feel that an increase in the variety of music used would have benefited the show. Also, the opening theme, featuring two sets of lyrics, is the same throughout the entire show. Departure is a good song, but I think it would have been nice to have different songs for the different arcs. The upbeat nature of the opening doesn’t quite suit the tone of the darker arcs in the show.
I wouldn’t call this show perfect, but it does so many things so well throughout its 148 episode run with nary a drop in overall quality that I cannot help but be amazed. If you feel hesitant about starting this show because of the art, length, or other petty matter as I was, consider giving it a chance. Keep an open mind, and you might find yourself liking it much more than you expected, as I did.
