Now, what is it about Hunter x Hunter that makes it so special? At face value, there really isn’t anything going on that makes it stand out. The initial conflict isn’t very innovative, and for a while, it seems like it’s on the same level as other shounen. It should be said that I am very familiar with long-running shounen. I have seen all of Naruto, all of Bleach, and even though it’s not on my list, I have seen 20-30 episodes of Fairy Tail, 40-50 episodes of One Piece, and at least 200 episodes of Naruto Shippuuden. I’ll say here that I will make lots of comparisons between Hunter x Hunter and “the big three.” The reasons why Hunter x Hunter is so special among shounen, as well as anime in general, are very simple. Hunter x Hunter does things that other anime don’t do. Hunter x Hunter gets things that other anime don’t get. Hunter x Hunter goes places that other anime don’t go. Hunter x Hunter gets what a good story is. Hunter x Hunter gets what good characters are. Hunter x Hunter gets anime, and Hunter x Hunter gets people.
While I would normally start off talking about the story, I think I’ll start off talking about the characters. Now, the big three have humungous supporting casts, and so does Hunter x Hunter. The thing about Hunter x Hunter is that it uses its supporting cast in a much more effective way. For example, in Bleach, there are lots of soul reaper characters that get screen time sprinkled all throughout the series. It seemed like tons of these characters got an episode or two (or three) that consisted of either filler to provide backstory, or a fight scene with a forgettable bad guy where they would monologue and/or have flashbacks while fighting. Also, One Piece dedicated entire arcs to introducing supporting cast members. I think Naruto did a much better job at integrating backstories in a way that seemed to benefit the plot, but giving backstories to every single minor character grows very tiresome. Not only do all of the minor characters of Hunter x Hunter feel meaningful, they all just kind of slip into the plot without much effort. For example, in the fourth arc of the series, a group of body guards is assigned to protect someone. At first, it just seemed like Togashi wasted his thinking juices on creative designs for characters that wouldn’t make any difference in the story. By the time the arc was over, all of the guards felt important and all you really learned about them was their names. They were only in that one arc too! And later down the line when one of the characters would pop on screen for a few seconds, a lightbulb would blink in your head and you would remember them! By the way, while Hunter x Hunter does suffer from characters having monologues during fights to discuss their abilities, the problem is much less prevalent compared to the big three.
Next, I’m going to talk a bit about the main cast, as well as some of the supporting cast members I felt stood out more.
First up is Gon! Gon has a lot of characteristics you would expect from a young protagonist. He’s tough and talented, but not tough enough. To protect his friends and find his father, he’ll need powers that will take both work and experience to achieve. His friends and father are in fact the main things that push him. While becoming a hunter because his father was a hunter isn’t the most original thing in the world, the story does a good job at keeping that plot point in play. In fact, the beginning of just about every arc has something to do with Gon taking the next step to find his daddy. The arc would then find its own shape and Gon’s daddy quest would take the back seat for a bit before the next arc. I’ll hit on this again later, by the way.
Next is Killua, who in my opinion is the best character in the cast. Killua has the most fleshed out backstory out of everyone. He also has very intriguing character traits. While Gon’s problems are pretty easy to deal with, Killua has a whole family of problems (ba-dum-ch). His tale is one of coming of age and learning the meaning of friendship. Also, Gon and Killua form a tag team that stays together for pretty much the entire series.
The other two main characters are Leorio and Kurapika, of whom I will discuss at the same time. Gon, Killua, Leorio and Kurapika form kind of a fab-four during the first arc, but after that, Leorio and Kurapika kinda part ways. They both show up in the fourth arc, where Kurapika does some badass fighting. After that, Kurapika doesn’t get much more screen time while Leorio doesn’t make much of a difference to the story until the last arc. Both of them are still good characters even though they don’t get as much screen time as Gon and Killua, but I have one big problem with each of them. My deal with Kurapika is that his defining characteristic is his quest to avenge his clan, of which he is the lone survivor. We’ve seen that before. With Leorio, it’s that he probably wouldn’t have gotten to be a hunter without his buddies helping him out during the exam. Still, even though we never really see him fight someone, he gets a little clip down the line that reveals he has some fighting strength.
My favorite supporting character would be Hisoka. He may be a “bad guy,” but he’s the kind of bad guy you root for. His motives for his “badness” are hidden for the duration of the series, but that only makes him more mysterious. Early on he takes interest in Gon because he sees his huge potential. Hisoka wants to see Gon grow up, get stronger, and then...??? Yeah, that’s for you to figure out for yourself. Anyway, he still isn’t the Madara Uchilla kind of villain whose goal is to enslave humanity for whatever reason. Hisoka shows up when he wants and does what he wants, only to slip back into the shadows…
The last character, or characters, I want to talk about is the Phantom Troupe. The Phantom Troupe have this Akatsuki thing going on with a club full of criminals. Their motives are somewhat explained. The gist is that they are an elite bunch who want to steal stuff. Why they steal what they steal is for you to discover. The troupe is a prime example of having creative characters without dedicating twenty minutes of backstory to each one. Also, they all have really cool powers that you learn about by watching them fight, rather than having them monologue about their powers to their foes. And the last reason I like them is a good bridge over to my favorite thing about the characters of Hunter x Hunter: the depth of the villains.
I think that Hunter x Hunter has the overall best villains of any anime I’ve seen. Now, I have already talked about some general things I like about Hisoka and the Phantom Troupe, but all of the villains have certain characteristics that other anime villains don’t have. These characteristics are value for life and duty to one’s friends. Minor spoilers coming up btw. So, there is a point in the story where a Troupe member gets killed by a main character. After that, the rest of the Troupe mourn over their lost friend. Yes, friend! One of the members actually brings up the length of their friendship with the deceased. These criminals that have killed countless people have a level of depth that I have never seen in anime villains. Another example would be in the sixth arc of the series. The main villain of that arc is as bad as they could possibly come, and even he learns to love a person that is as very weak and feeble. It should also be noted that all of the bad guys in the sixth arc have a diverse pallet of emotions that is not seen elsewhere.
After talking about the characters, it’s story time! I’m going to give some thoughts on each arc without spoiling anything.
Arc 1: Easily the worst in the series. Well, I guess it’s not bad. It's actually kinda good. Still, everybody will tell you it’s a poor representation of the show, and they are all right. I actually had to force myself through some episodes. Still, it did set up some very important characters, as well as plant a seed for the rest of the series to grow from.
Arc 2: While it is technically an arc, it’s more like a short story to develop Killua’s character. It still isn’t wasted time, as it gives Hunter x Hunter the push it needs to get going.
Arc 3: This is my third favorite arc of the series. It’s where we really see the world of Hunter x Hunter develop. My main reason for liking it is that it is short, sweet and it gets a lot done. Coupled with some good battle sequences, it sets the foundation for the combat abilities of the characters.
Arc 4: It is what I think to be the best arc of the series, and many will agree. It introduces the Phantom Troupe and reveals the dark tone of Hunter x Hunter. Also, much more is at stake in this arc compared to the first three.
Arc 5: It kind of lost me a bit. While it was certainly good, the shift in tone compared to the previous arc was a miss. It also seems to lack importance when compared to the other arcs.
Arc 6: It is actually my fourth favorite, but many fans see it as their first favorite. All things considered, it is fantastic. However, the 61 episodes that it was left me exhausted, and there were a lot of episodes heavy on the narration side that kind of disrupted the arc’s flow. Still, it’s a fantastic arc with a fantastic story.
Arc 7: This arc was my second favorite, which is good, seeing how it is the last one in the series. The tone shift from the previous arc was very refreshing, and it gave me all of the things that I needed before Hunter x Hunter ended.
Now, about the actual story, Hunter x Hunter has a very cool way of doing things. The main conflict is Gon trying to find his dad, not that that is much of a conflict. What Hunter x Hunter does is use that as a guide for taking the characters to different places, proceeded by inventing a completely new conflict for the current setting. It’s almost like watching what would be considered filler arcs in other shounen, except they’re not filler arcs. The story of Hunter x Hunter had a billion directions it could have gone in, and the possibilities are still open.
The really great thing about Hunter x Hunter’s story is that it is not afraid of taking things too far. After the first arc, it seemed like a nice and happy children’s show. A couple of arcs later, the stuff on the screen had me think things like, “Oh…crap…that really just…happened.” I’m not saying that death and darkness is what makes a story good, but a story without fear of where it’s going is nothing but exciting. Also, few to none of the conflicts are solved through the power of friendship. It became clear early in the series that characters weren't able to do magic tricks and make a happy ending come out of nowhere. Knowing that pumps out lots of suspense into the air.
Time to talk about the ending. Lots of people say the worst part of Hunter x Hunter is that it’s over. I kind of agree, but I also disagree. When I look at what we got, I think what we got was good. Has the story ended in the sense that an official ending has been announced? Well, no. It’s not called Hiatus x Hiatus for nothing. Still, I think if we got more, it could disrupt what is actually a pretty sound ending for a very good anime.
Time for the boring stuff. Does it look good? Visually it isn’t any different from the big three. Now, the soundtrack is very good. There are tons of tracks, and I love each one.
So, final verdict time. Hunter x Hunter is a huge journey. I certainly think it is worth the watch, but I would be lying if I said I’m sad that it’s over. I’m actually very happy to get to watching something else. Despite the score and praise I give it, it won’t get a very high place on my favorites because I don’t see myself re-watching it for a long time. I may re-watch the fourth arc at some point, but once again, it will be a while. Still, be sure to put this on your plan-to-watch list. Hunter x Hunter is something really special, and you won’t be able to understand that until you see it for yourself.
