Hunter x Hunter (2011)

"Gon, you are light... sometimes, you shine so brightly I must look away. But even so, is it still okay if I stay by your side?"
--- Killua


This is my second review, so I'm still figuring out the ropes - if you haven't seen Hunter X Hunter 2011, I hope this helps push you toward watching it! And if you have seen it, I hope this helps fill in the void left by the series' ending. As many know, HxH 2011 ended two days ago, and even now, I still kinda tear up when thinking about it. I chose the above quote because I very much ... feel that way toward HxH 2011 - it's an utterly brilliant anime that is sometime too great for its own good, but in the end, I would have given anything to keep watching it - to stay by its side.

I came late to the HxH scene - when I first heard of HxH, I was in a depressive slump in the Fall of 2013, and the series was in the middle of its sixth arc (the Chimera Ant Arc). Hiding from my friends, I was kinda looking for something to just fill my time - what I found in HxH 2011 ended up blowing me away - it lifted me up, restored my faith in myself and in other things, and it helped carry me to where I am now. I can safely say that HxH 2011 has been the most influential anime I've ever seen, and it count myself extremely blessed that I discovered it when I did.

For the sake of this review, I'll be going through each of the categories, explaining my scores for each one, and then concluding with my final thoughts.


Story: 9
The HxH story is EPIC. While I normally hate that word, I can't think of a better adjective for what HxH achieves. The story spans seven completed arcs (the eighth is currently in the works and manga-only), and it covers every possible story type. From romance to drama to intrigue to espionage to politics to adventure to horror to suspense to simply relishing in the power of undeniable friendship, HxH 2011 has something for everyone. The first arc (Hunter Exam Arc) is more exploratory in nature, as it sets the stage for the HxH world and introduces us to the characters. The second arc (Zoldyck Family Arc) really starts to bring the characters to life, as you get to see more into their personalities and hearts, and the third arc (Heavens Arena Arc) ups the stakes and lets us fall even more in love with the characters. The fourth arc (Yorknew City Arc) takes a much darker turn and helps us see the HxH world from a drastically different perspective, and the fifth arc (Greed Island Arc) introduces new plot elements while expounding on the characters even more. The sixth arc gets even darker as it introduces a menace unlike any the HxH world has seen before, but admittedly, this is where some pacing issues come into play. The seventh arc also is a lot slower than the previous arcs, but it is where a lot of the intrigue and politics come into play (albeit, this is why the seventh arc is a lot more serious and seemingly “dull” than other arcs, although I found it fascinating as a political science major). The eighth arc has yet to be adapted to anime, and actually, HxH 2011 ended before they could explore it. Altogether, the story does a wonderful job of keeping you interested and engaged (I only gave it a “9” instead of a “10” because of pacing issues that appear in later arcs), and it leads directly into the next category…


Character: 10
If you noticed I kept saying the word “character” during my “Story” segment, that’s because arguably, HxH 2011 shines most when it comes to its diverse and incredibly-well fleshed-out characters. From the naïve and determined Gon, to the sinister yet sincere Killua, to the blunt yet considerate Leorio, to the vicious but kind Kurapika, each and every one of the main cast is amazingly well-developed and irritably loveable. And this is not to say that each of the main characters is perfect – if anything, it’s their imperfections that drive them to such great heights.

Gon isn’t your typical anime protagonist: while he IS headstrong and innocent, he has a fantastic strategic mind, and… he gets his butt kicked. A lot. While some have complained about this, I feel that it lends strength to Gon’s character as a whole. While he is phenomenally talented, he keeps finding himself pitted against similarly-talented opponents with vastly more experience than himself. And so, realistically, he wins some, and loses a bunch more. But that gives him an aura of realism. He’s not your typical hyper-powered Shonen character that always manages to win on pure willpower alone. Instead, he’s great (yes), a genius (definitely), amazingly skilled (indeed), but also realistic. And this makes you care about him. When he goes into a fight, you can’t be sure whether he’ll emerge unscathed, or even if he’ll emerge at all. You worry for him, and as you watch him try his best to do his best, you root for him earnestly and with complete genuineness. What’s even better about him, though, is his attitude. He’s always positive, even in the face of defeat, and he always tries to learn from his mistakes. I actually started watching HxH with my younger, 7-year-old brother, since he’s prone to fits of anger and resentment, so I figured it would be good to have Gon as a role model for my brother. And sure enough, my brother constantly felt uplifted by Gon – he was always saying things like “He’s so happy. He’s really happy. I wish I was like him. He’s so great.” You can’t help but fall in love with Gon, and as he adventures through the HxH world, you feel that you’re right alongside him.

Killua is amazing as well. He has a viciously dark past, and he tends to lapse into wrong/morally questionable tendencies, and that’s also what gives him a realistic edge. He earnestly seeks to be better, and partly, he wants to atone for the wrongdoings he’s done by serving alongside Gon. As such, we get to watch him traverse through the HxH as he discovers himself, discovers what it means to truly live, discovers what it means to have friends, and discovers how to care deeply for others. Plus, whenever he does one of his cat faces, your heart can’t help but melt (you have to watch the show to know what I mean, haha). So by the time you reach Episode 147, you truly feel the show has ended then and there. I won’t spoil anything, I promise, but even though the anime ended on Episode 148, Episode 147 was the true ending in my mind.

Leorio and Kurapika unfortunately receive less screen-time than Gon and Killua as HxH progress further on into its story. But the screen-time they do get in the first four arcs is magnificent, and it causes you to fall in love with them too. Leorio comes across as oafish and selfish, but he has a completely different side to him that makes the soft side of you cry every time you think about it. And Kurapika comes across as single-minded, but he’s one of the most grounded and well-intentioned characters in the series.

But HxH’s outstanding characters don’t just end with the four main characters. Indeed, it’s amazing how fleshed out almost all of the series’ characters are – you come to truly care for all of them. From Hanzo to Beans, from to Biscuit to Goreinu, from Kite to Knov and Knuckle and Morel and Palm and Shoot, from Wing to Netero, from Cheadle to Pariston, from Pokkle to Satoz, etc. – HxH very much distinguishes itself from other anime by having a tremendous cast of well-defined characters. And this isn’t even mentioning the Ants and the Phantom Troupe and Zoldycks and the Butlers and the Mafia and the Greed Island Players and the Heavens Arena Contestants and the Hunters… and you’d think that with all these characters, it would be easy to lose track of some. And admittedly, HxH does to some extent. It’s inevitable, really. But aside from the very few that fall between the cracks, HxH manages to paint realistic portraits for all of its characters – to the point where even if you don’t love them, you still are rooting for them and are vested in them and want to see them succeed and do well.

And this extends even to the villains. Never before in anime have I become attached (in some form or another) to almost EVERY SINGLE villain in the show. From the Phantom Troupe to Hisoka (who is possibly my favorite character in the show) to Meruem (another one of my favorite characters), you come to care about the villains so much that you laugh with them, feel shocked with them, and even cry with them. When Meruem’s story concluded in the sixth arc and the anime moved on, I was moved to tears at the thought of leaving behind such an incredible character, even though he was the “bad guy”. And oh goodness, Hisoka is amazing. Just watch the show. He’s fantastic. Trust me. A little weird, yes, but aren’t we all in some form or another? And his villainous side is so… unique… that I became instantly fascinated with him.

I could go on about the characters for forever, but at risk of a never-ending review, I’ll push on to the next category…


Art: 10
There is never a single lazy moment in HxH 2011 animation. All of the artwork pops with detail and care and love and diligence. All of the animations are fluid and minutely detailed, all of the characters are distinctive and eye-catching, and all of the vistas are breathtaking and invoke a sense of wonder. Even during episodes that are less action-packed, HxH routinely avoids flashback and pointless/useless filler animation, and it constantly takes the time to intricately lay out a vivid display of visual goodness. Indeed, the artwork is so smooth and amazing and engaging that I’ve come to set a new standard for anime art.


Sound: 10
The sound in is fantastic. Every visual effect is accompanied by an equally dazzling audio effect, the music is dynamic and invocative, and the ending songs are all great. Some may look at the fact that HxH 2011 uses a single opening song for all 148 episodes as a negative thing, but I like to see it as a huge positive – I came to fall in love with the song “Departure”, and now, “Departure” and “Hunter X Hunter” are indistinguishable my mind. If anything, I gave the sound an “8” because while it’s amazing, it doesn’t really stick out in my mind as much as “art” and “story” and “characters” do for HxH 2011. And admittedly, 148 episodes in, it would have been nice to hear a few new tracks added to the HxH 2011 OST. But again, this is a very minor nitpick with an otherwise fantastic score and audio effect reel.

Furthermore, all of the voice acting is terrific as well. All of the main characters are wonderfully voiced, and all of the supporting characters are just as well cast. Indeed, I can’t really think of any voices that were out of place or not well done. The voice acting is just that good.


Enjoyment: 10
As I’ve said in the beginning and throughout my review, HxH 2011 is a rollercoaster of feels and thrills. It introduces you to a magnificent world, lines up a host of enjoyable and realistic characters, and then lets you explore it from the pretty to the gritty. No expense is spared in this phenomenal anime, no corners are cut, no cop-outs are taken. And even better, the show does a great job of showing you instead of telling you, although this later lapses in the sixth arc (although it probably would have been impossible to do that arc justice without the telling it gives you, due to the intricate nature of that arc). You get to see and experience and discover the world through the eyes of characters you love and can relate to, and you get to have a blast while doing so. What more could you ask for from an anime? Or rather, what more could you ask for from such a wonderful adventure?


Overall: 10
Ultimately, you’ve probably heard a lot of hype about Hunter X Hunter 2011 – almost too much hype, probably. And often times, such hype can easily paint a picture of something that’s too good to be true. And if you’ve read this review to the end, then you’ve gotten another massive dose of hype. So instead of reading/hearing more hype, do yourself a favor by ignoring it all and instead finding out firsthand. Go watch the first few episodes Hunter X Hunter 2011. It starts a tad slow, but it quickly builds up, and soon, you probably won’t be able to stop watching. I made it through sixty-some episodes in a few days – once I started, I couldn’t stop. It was that good.

Why is it so good? Because HxH truly cares. It cares about its characters, it cares about its story, it cares about its world, and it cares about its viewers. It doesn’t string you along, or set you up for some cheap storytelling tricks, or waste your time. It stays to the point, it does its best to deliver a wonderful tale of courage and adventure, and stays true to itself throughout the whole experience. For that’s what HxH 2011 genuinely is – an experience. It’s not something that be truly summed up in words alone – it’s something that must be seen and heard and felt firsthand with Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika.

So go watch Hunter X Hunter 2011. I promise you, by the time you conclude your journey – your adventure – you’ll be glad you did so. And you’ll wish you could stay by its side for just a little while longer… :)

As for me, I’m gonna go grab some tissues and cry… it’ll probably be another decade before we get more HxH… :(

This review should help people who don’t know yet if they should watch this series or not. It shall give you a small insight to the series and shouldn’t spoil you in any way.

What is Hunter x Hunter(2011)?
So Hunter x Hunter is a series which is not really new. In fact the anime series had its debut already in 1999. The HunterxHunter(2011) anime series is simply a restart/remake of the 1999 series by MadHouse and is being extended by three arcs.
Since both series adapt the same manga they have somewhat the same content.
But let me tell you, HxH is not your average ... shounen series you might expect. I’ll tell more to this later on.

Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio; these are the names of the protagonists you’ll meet in the beginning. In the world of HxH people seek to become a hunter to get more rights, a higher reputation and power. The first arc features these four and shows the hardships of becoming a hunter. The first three episodes mark a slow start but steadily the series gains the pacing it follows for the rest of the series. In total HxH has 7 animated arcs.
With each arc we get to know a new set of protagonists and see many different actions taking place at the same time. So Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio are not the only characters you get to see, in fact you might not see some of them for several arcs. That’s typical for the HxH franchise and what makes it interesting.
I’ve heard from many people things like “it’s not about kids fighting or some bullshit like this, right?” Don’t be confused. On many promotion posters you see covers of Gon etc. and yes, they are kids but this will not bother you. The development of each character throughout the series is remarkable and you will hardly notice that there are actually kids. You will only be reminded of this fact by watching the fighting scenes where their inferiority to the adults is displayed. It’s often shown that Gon and Killua are skilled and strong but they are just kids and lack the power and experience adults have.

It says “shounen” series, so can I expect that friendship and effort are needed to achieve your goal? Do I get to see some kids fighting and half-hearted action fights? Nope. It’s true through friendship and a lot of effort the goal can be achieved but the fights in HxH are exceptional and well thought. Personally I think the series has a pretty slow start. The first 26-30 episodes should be seen as some kind of long intro. We get to see a lot of action taking place in these early episodes but this is hardly what HxH consists of.

If I were to describe the tone of the series in the beginning I’d say it’s somewhat bright. The tone changes later on extremely and the series gets darker. Especially after episode 36 we get to know the cruelty and darkness of the society. Don’t think you will not see heads, limbs or blood flying around. This is what HxH truly consists of.

In many other shounen series we see protagonists fighting and winning the fight through friendship values or who has the bigger muscles. But in HxH we actually witness the hard training Gon and Killua for example have to go through to achieve their goal. The fact that they are kids is indeed some kind of handicap for them. They can’t be stronger or have more experience than adults. But this doesn’t restrain them in any way. Bigger muscles or more power are not needed, fights in HxH are often won through technique and knowledge. There are a lot of characters who are actually stronger and more skilled than the protagonists. Gon for example knows that he has no chance against his opponent but he keeps going on and comes up with a plan to defeat his enemy. This is something that you sadly don’t often see nowadays in shounen series.
I would even go so far as to say that HxH defines the point of the shounen genre anew which as been forgotten in last years.

But let me tell you HxH doesn’t only consists of action, the comedy deserves its own section. With Gon we have the usually simple- but also broad-minded shounen protagonist. He has a somewhat childish character that is often displayed in the comedy scenes. Killua on the other hand is the one who acts more like a grown-up of the duo. Killua as a descendant of an assassin family is more skilled and acts more reasonable. He actually is the one who comes up with the plan and acts like the brain of the group. There are often some quarrels between both of them which helps to refresh the situation. The comedy scenes always have the right timing and leave you at least with a smirk.

So what can I say to the music? Without naming anyone I can say the music is another forte of HxH. Throughout the 148 episodes MadHouse used the same opening with different visuals though. The ending changed for each arc and there are some good songs among them. The sound composer has done a good job on conveying the situation by using some epic OSTs.

I should have mentioned this way earlier but I hope some of you are still reading this. So what’s up with the animation? MadHouse had in the last seasons a rise in well-known anime series. The animation is high quality as to be expected of the studio. The character concept got a full revamp: slightly new designs and new voice actors (compared to 1999 version). Personally I am someone who despises the use of the CGI technique. If it’s not needed it’s not needed. But you hardly get to see any CGI textures or movements in the series. As to be expected of nowadays series, HxH has well-animated effects, surrounding designs etc. The fighting scenes as I said before are what make HxH unique. You can almost see how much love the animators put in the fighting movements. In many series you get to see the, I’d would name it, “rubber-effect” where the movements start to melt and you just see some wobbly characters moving (as in Naruto). This is not the case in HxH though.

One last thing I’d like to mention would be the Nen system. Without spoiling anything, everything that is happening in HxH can be explained through Nen which is a power almost every human can gain through training. This complex system is another forte of HxH and shows how much thought the mangaka has put into his work.

Throughout the review I’ve mentioned some other series for comparing. I didn’t intend to criticize them in any way. Every series has its weaknesses and strong points.

Conclusion:

Well, that’s what I think of this series. Hunter x Hunter is a series worth of its rating and should be seen as something that could be on par with the top 5. To be honest I’ve seen many people not watching this series because of the length (148 episodes). Yes, it is long but worth the trip. You will soon get absorbed by the atmosphere it emits and will enter a totally new world you will surely fell in love with. Trust me you will not regret your decision.


My rating

Story (9/10)
Music (9/10)
Characters (9.5/10)
Action (9.5/10)
Comedy (8/10)
Animation (9.5/10)
Developlment (9.5/10)

Overall rating: 9.14 (on MAL: 10)

THIS WILL SURELY BE THE LONGEST AND MOST IN DEPTH REVIEW I HAVE EVER DONE.

Forgive me as I try to collect my thoughts and review this epic masterpiece of an anime. As tears rolled down my face during the final episode's conclusion, I realized HunterxHunter's true greatness. The way the series drew me in with its endearing cast, and brought me on a roller coaster thrill ride for 148 episodes was me experiencing something truly pure and un-replicated in the medium. That is not to say it's without its flaws, but the overall reward from HxH is something gratifying and magnificent. And ... of course, there are spoilers to be had here.

I will admit, when I first went into HxH I had a fair amount of hype because Yu Yu Hakusho was my favorite battle anime ever made. I just loved the constant growth Yusuke underwent during the franchise's 100 plus episodes. The similarities in writing from Togashi are clearly present, but they do nothing to detract from the uniqueness HxH possesses. Oddly enough, with such a staggering amount of episodes, HxH contains virtually zero filler. Instead, the series is delicately divided into 6 independent arcs, which all focus on completely different methods of storytelling ranging from the suspense thriller Yorknew City arc to the dark and defeating Chimera Ant arc. The series literally touches on everything: politics, humanity, tournaments, failure and video games. Perhaps even more impressive is that it manages to do all of this without ruining itself with unneeded romance or fanservice.

Sure, I will be the first to agree that HxH does not have a strong start. The Hunter Exam arc is actually my least favorite in the entire show, but that's not to say it wasn't necessary. Togashi uses this arc as a way to develop ties to the main characters and establish its roots. It also gives an introduction to one of the most unpredictable characters in anime history, Hisoka. I wouldn't say I was necessarily bored with the beginning of the series, but it wasn't something I was binge-watching straight through. I stuck it out in part due to my love for Yu Yu Hakusho and for the respect I had for my friend's recommendations. The positives of this arc are the necessary character developments and diversity in events within the exam itself. Also, the first time Hisoka went on a killing rampage, I knew this wasn't any ordinary kid's shounen. The negatives would be the pacing and how Killua didn't recognize Illumi's needles while he was posing as Gittarackur. Illumi's reveal shouldn't have come as such a surprise when it occurred. When Killua's composure snapped, it again reinforced the actual target audience for HxH. The way Togashi can border innocent and playful dialogue with such sinister and bloodthirsty themes is eloquent to say the least.

The Zoldyck and Heaven's Arena arcs are probably the closest thing HxH has to filler, but again, these arcs are an integral part to progressing the story and introducing both Killua's past and the life energy many of the skilled fighters have in the series... also known as Nen. I almost feel like Togashi used the tournament avenue to introduce Nen out of need to fill his Hakusho void. As many remember, the Dark Tournament arc from Yu Yu Hakusho was hands down the greatest tournament style arc in anime history. I understand that climbing the steep ladders of the heaven's arena wasn't necessarily the focus of the arc, but I would've liked to see a little more fighting that would've transpired later in the tower. It was also requisite to invite the viewers to peer into the secluded life of our assassin MC, Killua. This introduction intrigued me, and made me even curious as to how Killua would eventually face his brother again after the Hunter Exam. As the show went on, I was slightly disappointed that Gon and Killua's Nen instructor and apprenticed never reappeared, but other than Bisky mentioning him in the Greed Island arc, their paths just didn't cross.

Next came one of my favorite arcs of all time... The Phantom Rouge or Troupe arc. Finally, we were able to understand the seething rage Kurapika endured from having to recount the loss of his family and tribe due to those notorious, ravenous killers. This arc is also the point at which the show really begins to pick up. I was ecstatic to see massive character development in Kurapika's case, and also to see Gon and Killua take on more of a supportive role. I remember the scene when the Troupe heads into the auction hall and obliterates everything in sight, my jaw dropped to the floor. HxH's writing surpassed a level I didn't believe was even possible in a facade of a kiddy shounen. Not to sound morbid, but I was transfixed. Enthralled by just how much I was starting to enjoy the series' variety, and ho Togashi wasn't afraid to transport it away from a stereotypical shounen. I kept thinking, “how do more people not talk about this show?” What unfolded in the next 20-30 episodes kept my finger trigger happy on the skip button as I couldn't get to the next episode fast enough. The fight scenes in this arc, although fewer than I hoped, were entirely cerebral and constantly shocked me. In particular the battle between the ten dons and how effortlessly and grotesquely the paralyzed Uvogin dispatched them. I couldn't believe I was still watching the same show.

Despite my immediate attraction to the Phantom Troupe arc, I still had a few small issues with it. In a self-centered “perfect” world, I would've liked to see the arc taken further. Once Chrollo's Nen was stifled, the arc was basically over. I've never been a fan of plot conveniences, and it almost seemed as though Togashi got bored with one idea and meandered towards a new one. Needless to say, the fight between the Zoldycks and Chrollo was brief but intense. I would've also liked to have seen Nobunaga and Franklin in an actual one on one fight to fully explore their abilities. The majority of the Troupe just feel like abandoned characters. However, this might facilitate itself as a necessary evil in a series was such an enormous cast as HxH has. Also, Hisoka never gets his rocks off by being able to battle Chrollo, the entire reason he falsely represented himself as a member of the Troupe in the first place. This was another notch in Hiskoka's complexity however, since it's sometimes hard to pinpoint his alignment or rationale.

The Greed Island arc was more than likely my favorite behind the Chimera Ant and Troupe arcs. There was something about it I was fond of. Maybe it was the small break it had in the tense action of the preceding Troupe arc, or the sense of discovery or exploration it contained. As an avid gamer, appreciated the subtle nods it contained to the MMO world, and this added yet another notch on HxH's belt of variety. I quite enjoyed the introduction of Bisky, although her true ability and past is not fully explored. I believe she saw a part of herself in Gon and Killua, and took it upon herself to provide them with the highest quality training she could in the short time available. I did have an issue with the villain of the arc, The Bomber. Not only is he improperly developed, I found it very hard to believe he was as strong as Togashi alluded to. And if that was the case, couldn't Bisky have disposed of him with ease? At any rate, the Greed Island arc was a nice break from the intensity of the previous arc, and a qualified precursor to the series' longest arc.

The Chimera Ant arc's greatness is constantly debated among HxH fans. On one hand, it explores humanity, self-identification and features some of the most cerebral battles of any anime I've come across. On the other, there are some severe pacing issues and blatant disregard for some major role-playing characters. I personally enjoyed the arc, but I threw caution to the wind when it came to criticizing it. In retrospect, I can understand the issue many people have with it. After some research, I discovered that some of the odd pacing developed because Madhouse was waiting with bated breath for their best animators for a future episodes. This left a few episodes when the heroes invaded the Ant King's stronghold narration heavy and quite boring. It certainly had the DBZ effect for awhile, and I was left slightly confused. I also find it hard to believe that Hisoka didn't make his presence known upon the Ant King displaying his immense power. Since Hisoka was so fixed on fighting the strongest person he could lay his eyes on, I was sure he'd emerge in this arc.

Despite the few negatives I have with it, the Chimera Ant arc is nothing short of spectacular. The amount of themes explored is staggering. Sure, most animes probably would've taken the safe route and made Meruem some sort of bloodthirsty tyrant with zero regard to humanity. But the introduction of Komugi certainly turned the arc upside down and changed Meruem's view of humans entirely. The way the inner monologues were written during his Gungi battles was inspiring and refreshing. I was certain the King would end up vanquishing everything in sight, but he saw more than just brute strength as a display of power. Man, Togashi didn't dissapoint again. Killua's transformation after Kite perished was also uplifting. As my favorite character in the series, it was exciting to see Killua break away from his brother's burden and play such an integral role in saving the human race. Lastly, Gon's transformation, although some would be quick to criticize its “convenience effect”... I thought was well constructed. The effects his brief, immense power had on his body were believable and warranted. It also reinforced the type of person and Nen user Gon was in the first place.

The last arc, although slightly rushed added a nice bow to the magnificent anime. I thought it was unnecessary to introduce 12 new characters so close to the end, but I guess the new Chairman selection served as nothing more than plot support for the more pressing issue at hand, Gon's recovery. I actually thought (well, hoped) that Killua and Illumi were going to fight in this arc, but I guess we can't all be pleased. Leorio's reappearance was refreshing and reminded me how much I enjoyed him as a character. Most importantly, after Gon recovered, his father/son moment was everything I imagined it would be and more. Ging look flustered but quickly adapted to talking to his son, who was so much like him. When the closing sequence played after Gon and Ging laughed and shared stories atop the World Tree, I actually bawled. I'm not ashamed to admit it, I had the same reaction when Yu Yu Hakusho concluded. When you devote so much time to something, it's sad but satisfying to see its conclusion.

Given the staggering amount of characters that HxH contains, I'll try to focus on the ones I feel are main. Gon, as a main protagonist initially worried me due to his immature personality and blinding trust in others. However, as the series progressed these qualities became part of his strengths, and his development and growth was made possible through his unparalleled tenacity and heart. Many people seemed to have issues with his “found” power when he goes to fight Pitou, but this accurately illustrates an equivalent of “making a deal with the devil”. Gon had gone through so much in order to find out why his father left his home to become a hunter, and while he never received an explicit answer, the journey leading up to meeting Ging made the answer irrelevant. In contrast, the feelings I had for Gon at the anime's conclusion couldn't be farther from my initial observations.

Killua was my favorite character from the HxH franchise. His calm, somber demeanor is contrasted greatly by his murderous capabilities, the quintessential assassin. His rebellion from his family was strengthened by his unadulterated relationship with Gon. The two were essentially brothers, and Gon helped Killua unearth emotions he previously felt weren't present in his own body. His transformation was amazing to witness, and his quarreling relationship with his brother Illumi made the change that much more impressive. My favorite quote from Killua was “If I ignore a friend I have the ability to help, wouldn't I be betraying him?” It really shows his growth as a character throughout the series. His inner monologues always made the show more enjoyable and really offered a perspective often omitted from most series out there.

Leorio was a fan favorite and was unfortunately missing from the show's biggest arc. His enthusiasm and vigor, although sometimes unnecessary was a joy to watch, and I wished he played a larger role in the overall story. From what I understand, he plays a much larger role in the manga and gets the “screen time” he deserves. Kurapika also initially rubbed me the wrong way, but steamrolled into the limelight during the Phantom Troupe arc and reversed my opinion entirely. Again, he was another character completely left out of the later arcs, and I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't be willing to help out Gon and Killua if the the fate of mankind was actually at stake. Instead, we were left with odd shots of him looking stressed out in front of multiple pairs of scarlet eyes. Hisoka was probably my second favorite character, as he was clearly an atypical villain. You didn't always root against him, as part of me really wanted to see him go all out in a 1 on 1 against Chrollo. Sure, he gave off a pedophilic vibe and often pissed off the wrong people, but it was refreshing to have an antagonist who had some depth and wasn't one-dimensional.

The music in HxH is uplifting, suspenseful and “mostly” well placed. There were a few instances of misplaced background music, but nothing major. It was irregular but refreshing to see the same OP though the entire anime. I can assuredly say that a year from now when I hear this OP, I'll probably choke back tears of nostalgia from how powerful it was to me. The ED's were mostly additive, with the exception of the one in the Greed Island arc. I mostly preferred the first ED as well as the Chimera Ant arc ED due to the contrast it had to the subject matter within each episode. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the sound was the voice acting in HxH. Every voice seemed to emulate the portrayed character pefectly, most importantly in Mariya Ise as Killua and Keiji Fujiwara as Leorio. Hisoka's VA also performed brilliantly and left an overall creepy aura over his persona. There was rarely an awkwardly casted role in HxH at all which led to the relatability of the characters.

In summation, I thoroughly enjoyed HxH for everything that it was. Whether it was for the endearing and complex characters, or for the intellectual battles the respective characters consistently found themselves in. Mix that with the engrossing environments, real-life themes and incredible voice acting and music, and you'll find yourself immersed in a shounen for the ages. Maybe I'm still drunk on the aftershocks of the series, but either way it was truly a masterpiece. It really baffles me as to how small the fan base is for HxH, as it is clearly superior to most (if not all) long running shounen out there, and it contains nearly every necessary element for success in the genre. Nor is there any filler. I mean, what more could an anime fan ask for? I only wish that if the franchise is rebooted in anime form that Togashi exercises the same level of finesse he did with this series, as it is one that will remain one of my favorites for years to come. I plan on eventually watching the 1999 version at some point, but I'd better let my Togashi high rest for a little while. While not a perfect 10 due to some minor issues I had, HxH is pretty damn close. As always, thank you for reading!

Hunter x Hunter is one of the best anime I've seen. It's my first time writing a review, so it probably will be super disjointed.

To be honest, the art style put me off from watching it, because it's not what I usually like. But, every other aspect of the anime made up for it. After watching a few episodes, I got used to the art and started to like it.

Story: 10
Even though it's a super long anime with 148 episodes, the storyline was always full of surprises. There is a mixture of action, emotion and romance. One moment I was crying, and then the next ... moment I was filled with tension. This anime contains aspects from all kinds of genres.

Art: 8
Like I said, the art isn't really what I prefer when I watch anime. But, I came to like it after watching a couple of episodes. There are times when the characters look cute; there are times when they look super duper scary. But, overall, the art is quite likeable and I quickly adjusted.

Sound: 10
The sound was absolutely amazing. I really liked the OP and even set it as my alarm- it has this really refreshing and powerful feeling. The sound effects throughout the anime was really varied, and I mean this in a good way. Every single scene in the anime was supported by the perfect background music, and this made the storyline even more powerful. But most of all, the sound when people were hurt or killed was really scary. I've lost track of the number of times I cringed from the sound. Basically, the sound really did an excellent job in supporting the anime.

Character: 9
Some of you might be thinking, WHAT? How can you not give a 10 for this section?! Certainly, each and every character deserves a 10+++++ rating. Whether the character was good or bad, I found myself becoming emotionally attached to every single one of them.

Oops this might be a spoiler.. Like Knuckle would say, "Each and every one of them had a good heart."

If someone asked me to pick my favourite character, I don't think I'd be able to. It's just that hard to make a decision.
The reason why I give character a 9, rather than a 10, is because of Gon. There's no doubt he is a super amazing protagonist. However, so many aspects of the anime made me overestimate him. Every time I thought he'd do something great and heroic, he didn't quite live up to what I expected. This probably sounds like a selfish judgement, but it's true.

Enjoyment: 10
No doubt about it. I watched 148 episodes in around a week. If that doesn't explain it, then what will? I enjoyed every single bit of the anime.

Overall: 10
Hunter x Hunter (2011) is the best~~

148 episodes is a lot of time to invest in a series..Only a good series can justify that much time..And HunterxHunter not only justified it,but it basically blew away any pre concieved notions i had about it...Before starting this anime,i was really skeptical mainly due to the lack of mainstream hype..Surely if it was THAT good,it should have recieved more attention,right?I couldn't have been more wrong..HxH is without a doubt one of the greatest animes I've seen and after finishing it i'm left with a deep sense of loss..Anway,here's the more detailed review:

Story:
10/10
The story is mainly about Gon and his journey to find his father..His ... friends Killua, Kurapika and Leorio and the three protagonists besides Gon.. There were hardly any filler episodes as far i remember..Once I started watching,I couldnt stop till the arc was complete..The story picks up pace at the correct intervals while slowing down whenever necessary to add character depth..There were no plot holes and all ends were nicely tied up at the end of each arc leaving me with a sense of satisfaction

Art:
8/10
For me the art was very good...It wasnt the best I've seen but it was nonetheless pleasing on the eye...The fight scenes in particular made a big impression on me..So 8/10 for the Art

Sound:9/10
The OST was superb with tracks like 'To Give a Marionette Life'' and ''Hyori Ittai'' really adding a lot of emotional depth to the scenes ..the music was one of the best I've heard in recent years(bettered only by Attack on Titan)..So it gets a 10/10 from me

The Voice acting for the four main actors was very good..But what really surpirsed me was that some of the best voice acting performances came from the side characters like Knov during his breakdown..There were no voices that seemed out of character and i found the voice acting in total to be very good..So it gets a 9/10 from me

Overall Sound gets a 9/10

Character:
10/10

The large number of episodes certainly helped in building character depth to the characters...And by that i mean not just the main characters...Plenty of side characters like Shoot,Razor,Knov,Pouf,Bisky etc got important minutes which made it easier to understand their motivations and their subsequent reactions to various situations..In fact I'd go so far as to say the characters and the build up given to them is probably the best I've seen in anime...A definite 10/10 from me

Enjoyed:From start to finish i enjoyed every second of it..A 10/10

Overall:HxH is quite simply one of the best animes I've seen..I decided to watch even though i had some doubts about its quality..But it completely blew me away and i look back on it as time well spent..A truly great anime and a must watch for every anime fan.

Hunter x Hunter 2011 is no ordinary Shounen by any stretch. It's one with very few Shounen tropes or cliches, one that is both refreshing, dark, as well as deep. It's essentially a Sienen disguised as a Shounen. Do not let the childish look or the fairly mediocre plot description turn you away from this anime, because it really does deceive you. You do not want to miss this masterpiece, it's something every veteran or newbie anime fan should watch at some point.

Story: 10/10
What really separates Hunter x Hunter from other Shounen is the fact that every arc is completely unique and different in almost ... every way. They also flow right into each other naturally despite being so different. The writing of Hunter x Hunter is consistently brilliant with very few flaws and tends to be very intelligent, making the viewer question things as if this were a physiological anime. Hunter x Hunter also has the two best anime arcs of all time as far as I am concerned. Those who have seen it know which arcs I mean.

Art: 9/10
The art style is fantastic but obviously gives off an initial childish look, the animation is excellent. You will notice some episodes are given much more attention in the art and animation department but even those that get less attention, they are still fantastic, and when you get to one of those episodes where more attention is given to the art and animation you will definitely be impressed.

Sound: 10/10
The soundtrack starts off well but gets much much better over the course of the series and has some absolutely superb OST's. Hunter x Hunter 2011's soundtrack is definitely my favorite soundtrack of any anime and I've seen hundreds of anime so that's quite a feat.

Characters: 10/10
Along with the story, the characters are the two best components of Hunter x Hunter. There is a HUGE cast of very rich and extremely well developed characters, none of whom are copies of each other and are very unique and have their own attributes, interests and traits about them. The main characters, Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika all develop a huge amount over the course of the series which was an absolute trill to see how each of them developed. The villains are also all very deep for the most part, apart from one who isn't bad by any means but just not on the level of the others. Let me just say that Hunter x Hunter has some of the best villains of any anime.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I never once felt bored or tired of watching and was able to go on some seriously long binge watching sessions before I caught up at the time episode 137 was airing. From that point on every Tuesday was like a birthday with Hunter x Hunter as my present. An absolute joy to watch from beginning to end. It does start off a little slow in the first two episodes, but from then on it picks up the pace and only gets better and better.

Overall: 10/10
Hunter x Hunter 2011 is the absolute king of Shounen anime, there is nothing better, and is my favorite anime of all time. This is one anime you can't miss. After reading this review you should be opening a new tab and watching it straight away because THIS is a masterpiece.

I'm not a big fan of anime that are 24 episodes or longer as I feel at some point, it will become repetitive, but HxH is one of many exceptions. Every episode left me more interested than before, which is pretty hard for an anime with over 100 episodes.

Plot: 10
The premise may not sound entirely enticing, but what you have to realize is that the quest to find his father is simply the basis of a magnificent adventure. This journey is filled with twists and turns with each being more surprising than the last.

Early on, the show already gets pretty dark, so do ... not let people tell you this show is for children. There is a sufficient amount of comedy though to level out the tone. We also have fights of epic proportions. Fights that will send shivers down your spine. I'd say a good portion of the fights are one-sided slaughters that will either make you say,"Get rekt!" or "Man, I liked that guy."

Believe it or not, but this show knows how to deliver feels. They know exactly what kind of situations will mess with your heart.

One of the greatest things about the plot is the lack of filler. For more than 100 episodes, you get development after development after development. Even the few episodes that totally felt like filler had a role in the plot too. Those pseudo-fillers were created to gradually fill up the suspense and tension then have the next episode go full throttle in development. If a show can utilize fillers to their maximum potential, then you know it's going to be one hell of a show.

In short, the show is a non-stop train of anger, joy, curiosity, pity, sadness, & thrill.

Art: 10

As stated before, one of the biggest reasons as to why people often refuse to watch this show is because they are told it is childish. This belief comes from none other than the art. One look at the main protagonist and they think they're going to be watching some show from 4kids.

Their loss because besides the MC's ridiculously big eyes and a few other things, everything else is superb. The protagonist may not be to your taste, but I'm sure you will find at least one character who will be. Every single character looks neat and different from one another. The expressions are also spot on.

The amazing art isn't only limited to the characters. The fight scenes are visually glorious. The animations of the people's powers are just so nice to look at.

Sound: 10
I don't even know where to start with the sound. From the 1st episode to the last, the OP had the same lyrics and beat yet I enjoyed listening to it every time. Not only was the OP that great, what was shown in the OP changed depending on the arc. With their amazing art, they were able to make it seem like they completely changed the op every single arc, but in reality, it was still the same lovable opening.The same goes for the ED. It may seem different, but it's still the same beautiful music we always hear at the end.

As for the rest of the show's sounds, the music during certain events are brilliant. The music blends in perfectly with what's going on. Something scary may be happening and bam super ominous music.

Character: 10
The cast of Hunter x Hunter is god-send. Out of all the characters, there is probably only one character, you're bound to hate. The show is filled with an abundance of villains, but I guarantee you, you will come to love most of them.

The first character we are introduced to is Gon Freecs, he's your typical head-strong, rash, but kind shounen protagonist who has the will power to do things most aren't capable of. He may come off as annoying sometimes, but he's a competent protagonist. You can't hate him considering what he goes through. Also he is fairly young, so his actions shouldn't warrant complete criticism.

Next, we have the deuteragonist, Killua Zoldyck. Personally, I like him more than Gon, but that's just me. For one thing, he has a really interesting background, and as you get to know more and more about it, you realize how well-written Killua is. Despite his dark past, he manages to live life to the fullest. On the outside, he appears to be cruel, but that's just how he was raised. Deep down, he's a caring boy, who just wants someone to pull him out of the abyss and guide him towards light. Not to mention, his cruel side mostly only surfaces when those he holds dear are in a predicament. Killua really is just a young boy with a dark past who wants nothing more than to live a happy life with those he cares for.

Then, there's Kurapika & Leorio. They tend to be treated as the 3rd and 4th protagonist of the show, but they aren't present in a few arcs. Anyways, Kurapika is the type of person who you shouldn't judge by their cover. I mean I thought Kurapika was a girl for a good amount of time. In the group, Kurapika is the voice of reason, he tells them about the consequences of relying too much on emotion. Thing is, that reasoning disappears within the snap of a finger when his past is involved. He tries to remain calm, but if pushed further and further into the corner, he will become someone absolutely hellbent on revenge. Luckily, we have someone to balance out the atmosphere of the group, Leorio. He's somewhat of the comic relief guy. Being relatively old compared to the rest of the group, it's not very surprising that he's used for comedy. From time to time, he has his moments of wisdom as well as total bad-assery.

Last but not least, we got the rest of the cast, all of them are unique and likable in their own way. Take Hisoka for example, a guy you see a lot throughout the series. Mysterious and sadistic, you just can't help, but love him. If you were to know him in real life, you'd probably avoid him at all costs, and that's what makes him so well received. His character is usually the one you hate in a show, but it's the opposite with Hisoka. You spend
quite the amount of time anxiously anticipating for Hisoka's next action because you just want to know what else he has left in store or up his sleeve.

Overall: 10

The reason I gave every section a 10 is because Hunter x Hunter truly is a masterpiece. It's dark, funny, sad, & action-packed all at the same time.
Throw in the fact that 99% of the characters are well-written and you got yourself an adventure beyond your wildest dreams.

Much like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the 2011 reboot of Hunter x Hunter is grossly overrated. This is a show that is definitely a cut above other battle shonen programmes like Naruto and Bleach, but it receives much more praise than it actually deserves. There's this backward-ass mentality here on MAL that causes people to hold shonen programmes to a much lower standard than what they'd hold anything else so when a shonen programme DOES come out that defies various conventions of the genre, it's automatically deemed a masterpiece and ends up in the Top 50 here on MAL. This was the case with Fullmetal Alchemist: ... Brotherhood, Gintama, and Attack on Titan and now the cycle continues with Hunter x Hunter.

This isn't to say that I don't like Hunter x Hunter, because I honestly do like the programme. It had this ebullient charm that was lost in the recent sea of grimdark shonen programmes that came out over the last couple of years like Attack on Titan and Akame ga Kill!. This show combined the light-hearted atmosphere of shows like Dragon Ball and One Piece, the wit and humour of Yu Yu Hakusho, and the maturity that came with shows like Fullmetal Alchemist and Rurouni Kenshin. Hunter x Hunter had virtually everything I could ever want from a battle shonen programme along with the kitchen sink. What's more is that when it did decide to drop the shenanigans and take itself seriously, it was able to do so without going overboard. The stakes were gradually getting higher and higher, but it still retained some of the ebullient charm that made me gravitate toward this show in the first place.

The very concept of "Hunters" was also something that I adored the shit out of. Much like the Grand Line from One Piece, the whole concept of Hunters allows for adventures of any scope to go down. We could have an arc that shows what it takes to actually become one of these fanciful Hunters, an arc dedicated to simple fighting tournaments, or we could have an arc where the the fate of the world and humanity as we know it rests upon the shoulders of an elite group of Hunters as they combat nightmarish creatures. The possibilities would've been endless were it not for the fact that Yoshihiro Togashi lack's the work ethic of mangakas like Eiichiro Oda. With that said, Togashi shows that he's more than capable of writing up complex characters, countless artifices, plot twists that actually make sense, and all that stuff. As the stakes gradually get higher and higher, you'll be demanding more because you're hooked and living in suspense is killing you.

Unfortunately, this is the thing that gets my goat with Hunter x Hunter: Yoshihiro Togashi spends all of this time building up your expectations and then instantly shatters them because it's like he gets bored with what he's doing and then moves onto the next arc to do the same exact thing. Take the Yorknew City arc: Kurapika spent so much time chasing down the Phantom Troupe, the villains were all fleshed out really nicely, but what does it amount to in the end? Nothing! Nothing of consequence actually happens by the time the arc is over! Instead of seeing the bombastic conclusion to a story about a person exacting revenge on the monsters who killed his family, we get an ending that reinforces the tired-out cliches of friendship and not becoming the monster that you set out to destroy.

This isn't even getting into what became of the Greed Island arc because that entire ordeal was something that left a sour taste in my mouth and made me want to give up on watching the show altogether. Gon and Killua go into a video game to look for a trace of Gon's father, but the problem is that Gon's father left a message for him saying that there's no clue to his current location. Right off the bat, Gon and Killua's impetus to play the game was shattered. However, all was not lost because Ging said he wanted Gon to have fun playing the game. You know what? That's a sentiment I could get behind and the entire concept of Greed Island being the ultimate game for any Hunter seemed like would bring about some rather entertaining adventures to watch. Unfortunately, the Greed Island arc was just some pathetic excuse for a survival story with one of the worst villains I've ever had the displeasure of seeing as the focus of the entire thing.

The Bomber's entire characterisation amounts to nothing more than "I'm a bad guy and I kill people for fun." That in and of itself isn't an entirely bad thing, I mean that's Hisoka in a nutshell too. However, all of the other villains in Hunter x Hunter had a personal connection to the main characters. For example, the Yorknew City arc had the Phantom Troupe and they were the guys that murdered Killua's entire clan. Hell, even the Chimaera Ant arc had Neferpitou who was responsible for doing unspeakable things to a close companion of Gon and Ging's. Bomber lacks any sort of connection like that whatsoever, and so I have no reason to care about what this guy's doing. Hell, he even gets killed off by a bit character once the entire arc is over so that just hammers in how pointless he was to the entire story. This arc could've been omitted completely and NOTHING of relevance would've been lost whatsoever.

Now we come to the Chimaera Ant arc, which is one of the most lauded arcs in all of shonen anime and manga. I can totally see why people would adore the shit out of this arc but it's not flawless. Hell... it has multiple problems, all of which come back to bite this show in the ass. The first (and quite possibly the biggest) problem is that the world-building in Hunter x Hunter up until this point was rather non-existent. The only locations we got to see before this point were Whale Island (Gon's home), the Hunter Exam testing facilities, the Zoldyck family estate, Greed Island, and Yorknew City. The Hunter Exam arc established that there's a vast world out there with countless adventures waiting to be told but we never got a good idea of the finer workings of the world that Hunter x Hunter takes place in.

The Chimaera Ant arc takes place in a place called the "Mitene Union," an island consisting of 5 nations with varying degrees of a turbulent history. This is a complete departure from the previous locations we've experienced before, but the problem here lies with the fact that Togashi brings up all of this political mumbo jumbo into the foray as he also goes along with the story of the Chimaera Ants. For example, we find out that the NGL region where the Chimaera Ant Queen is residing abides by an isolationist, Neo-Luddite culture where anything synthetic or remotely technological is expressly forbidden. That in and of itself would've been more than enough set-up for us but then we learn other irrelevant things like how the NGL was really a front for an international drug cartel and arms-dealing operation along with the founder of the NGL's history via protracted spiels of expository narration. Let's not forget the whole situation with the Republic of East Gorteau among other things as well.

This is all stuff that would've made GREAT material to work with for other arcs, but the problem is that all of this stuff is being shoehorned into an arc about carnivorous mutant insects. As the Chimaera Ant arc progresses, any sort of extraneous material introduced in this arc that could've made excellent subject matter for future arcs ends up eradicated due to various plot developments and that just further reinforces the biggest question that I have with this arc: why did Togashi even bring up these details in the first place if he wasn't going to use them at all? All of this extraneous stuff about Gyro, the NGL, and other such political nonsense could've easily been omitted from the story completely and nothing of consequence would've changed.

On that note, the pacing of the Chimaera Ant arc is absolutely appalling. It took Yoshihiro Togashi NINE YEARS to actually finish this arc because he was going in and out of hiatuses and those protracted breaks he took whilst writing up this arc really do make themselves quite obvious. The anime excerbates this problem by slowing down the pacing of the arc from Episodes 113 through 120. If I'm not mistaken, Togashi was on yet another hiatus when these episodes were being produced so Madhouse was close to running out of material to work with. Whilst I can understand why they intentionally slowed down the pacing of the arc at that point in time, they chose the absolute WORST place to slow everything down. Our team of Hunters were in the middle of invading the Chimaera Ant King's castle and right when the invasion starts, the pacing slows down to such a degree to the point where I'm wondering if I'm watching Gantz again.

Okay, that comparison was a bit too hyperbolic but the point still stands. Madhouse chose to adopt a psychological approach to the whole invasion but that's the problem: THEY WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FAST-PACED INVASION THAT WAS CRITICAL TO THE PLOT. The psychological approach to the invasion would lend itself better to manga than anime as a medium. For seven back-to-back episodes, the pacing of each episode was slower than the flow of sand in an hourglass. I don't care if we got to see what was going on in their heads during such a crucial moment of the story, I wanted to see Gon and everyone else haul some serious ass! To me, there's nothing quite like the lingering feeling of dissatisfaction that stems from being denied my fix of fast-paced and enthralling action and unfortunately, Hunter x Hunter denied me my greatest pleasure multiple times over the course of 148 episodes.

Going off on a bit of a tangent, another problem that the Chimaera Ant arc suffers from is the way Yoshihiro Togashi handles the darker and more complex themes he brings up. The Chimaera Ant arc brings up themes such as survival of the fittest, human nature, and all that stuff but its execution is rather heavy-handed to say the least. I think it's safe to say that Togashi lacks the sort of tact that mangakas like Inio Asano and Naoki Urasawa have when it comes down to tackling darker and deeper themes in a particular work. Instead of operating on two levels where you can either take the story at face value or choose to analyse it further and then draw parallels between it and other things like Monster and Oyasumi Punpun does, Hunter x Hunter opts to just outright tell you "this is happening, and I want you to know that I'm trying to draw parallels here." The whole thing just reeks of pretension, and it just gets really irritating after a while.

Also, what really made me dislike the Chimaera Ant arc as a whole is the fact that this is the arc that took that ebullient charm that Hunter x Hunter had from the very beginning and just eviscerates it completely. I have no problem with shonen anime/manga going into darker and deeper themes (that's one of the reasons why I love the Jinchuu arc from Rurouni Kenshin), but seeing Hunter x Hunter go down the grimdark path that so many other shows in recent years went down just never sat right with me. What really drew me toward this series in the first place was the fact that it was a light-hearted and fun shonen programme that still had the capacity to take itself seriously without losing what made it fun to watch in the first place. By the halfway point of the Chimaera Ant arc, the entire show just became tedious and boring to sit through to the point where I stopped caring about what would happen next. That's no exaggeration either. I honestly had no strong feelings one way or the other by the time that the Chimaera Ant arc ended and when the entire series ended as well. Sure, both the arc and the series had a fair enough conclusion but they still don't excuse the fact that this show has some really serious problems.

The world-building was mediocre and it really shows in the Chimaera Ant arc (given that there's so much expository narration), the storytelling repeatedly builds up your expectations only to fail completely at delivering something significant, and many promising characters end up being thrown to the sidelines. Nen as a battle system is intriguing as it's simple and practical, and yet the limitations of Nen are sometimes disregarded completely. For example, Kurapika's a conjurer but if his eyes turn red (and he's learned to change his eye colour on command), he's able to use the other types of Nen at full strength (can you say "asspull?").

Going back to the characters, I've found myself getting frustrated with them so many times. Gon was never really that good of a character to begin with, as he immediately struck me as an imitation of kid Goku but with the ability to differentiate between a man and a woman, but that was forgivable since I still found myself really liking him. Unfortunately, the Chimaera Ant arc had him turn into a complete and total psychopath as he threatened to kill an androgynous cat person/ant thing because it was in the middle of saving a critically injured blind girl. I know that Togashi was trying to show what happens when you let the pursuit of revenge get the better of you, but there's a fucking limit.

Killua on the other hand was quite a delightful character and when Gon was too busy being the bad kind of homicidal maniac, Killua was the one I'd turn to to get some entertainment value. His sarcastic demeanour and approach to virtually everything made the show that much more entertaining to watch, and what's more is that of all the characters in Hunter x Hunter, he's pretty much the only one who's changed in any significant manner from Episode 1 all the way to Episode 148. Whilst that's great for Killua, I can't help but feel like the rest of the time in Hunter x Hunter could've been better spent developing other characters.

Leorio was a character that I really wanted to see more of, especially given that his motivation for becoming a Hunter stemmed from the desire to save his (now deceased) childhood friend from a curable illness whose surgery cost an exorbitant amount of money. That's an amazing motivation to become a Hunter, and I get the feeling that he could've accompanied Gon and Killua on their adventures as a medic/mentor kind of character. Unfortunately, he just HAD to be relegated to comedic relief. Am I the only one who takes umbrage with the fact that comedic relief characters in most shows nowadays have awesome backstories and ultimately end up getting screwed over because they have to be the designated idiot? This is a trend in anime and manga that REALLY needs to stop because it's so fucking annoying.

The other characters in Hunter x Hunter are more of the same. We have countless awesome and likeable characters like Knov, Morel, Knuckle, Shoot, Bisky, and Palm (did I forget to mention that Palm's da waifu?) but the fact that they're all introduced and developed in the Chimaera Ant arc doesn't really feel right to me. To me, it seems like all of these characters should've been introduced in earlier arcs so that we could've had more time with them and then develop a greater attachment to them. I could easily see Morel and Knov being instructors during the Hunter Exam arc, among other things but that's hindsight talking. I swear, retrospect is the worst enemy of everyone, isn't it?

Going away from the story and characters, let's talk about the production values. I don't think it's any stretch of the imagnination to say that the Hunter x Hunter manga has some downright terrible artwork. I mean, Yu Yu Hakusho isn't anything to write home about from a visual standpoint but the piss-poor quality of Togashi's artwork in Hunter x Hunter is just plain inexcusable when we KNOW he can do much better. Thankfully, Madhouse took the piss-poor artwork of the manga and made it look good. Character designs were cleaned up or partially redrawn so they don't look like complete and total garbage, the backgrounds look much better with colour and shading, and what's more is that the animation across the entire show is quite lovely and remarkably consistent. Then again, this IS Madhouse we're talking about: their stories might be hit and miss, but their production quality will always be some damn good stuff!

Their sound work however could use some work. I have no problem with the voice work or anything of the sort. What really makes Hunter x Hunter annoying for me (at least from an audio standpoint) is the opening theme. I never liked it, and the fact that they kept the same OP throughout all 148 episodes is something I take umbrage with on so many levels because it just grates on my ears. What's more is that the all of the EDs that Hunter x Hunter had would've been PERFECT openings: they're all fast-paced, energetic, and just get you pumped to see the next episode! Seriously Madhouse, WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?!?! On the other hand, the rest of the OST has some rather nice BGM to it. My favourite track though would have to be "On Whale Island" but that's just my shit taste talking. There is no dub to speak of at the time of writing, but I wouldn't put it past a company like Viz Media or Funimation to license this show and then give it a dub since it's one of [adult swim]'s most requested programmes.

Final thoughts? Well, Hunter x Hunter is a show that definitely does get a lot of stuff right and it certainly is a cut above the more typical shonen programmes but it certainly isn't perfect. How this show got into the Top 10 here on MAL is beyond anything I can comprehend. Then again, this website has baffled me more times than I can count. As it currently stands, Hunter x Hunter is one of the many shows on my list of shows that I started out adoring the shit out of that ultimately ended up disappointing me. On the flip side, it's nowhere near as disappointing as Nagi no Asukara was but let's not get into that. Anyway, that's all for now. Feedback is always welcome and with that, I'm gonna barricade my house so that the rabid HxH fans can't kill me. Peace :)

-Summary-

Story: 8
Art: 10
Sound: 9
Character: 10
Enjoyment/Overall: 10

This show is everything I want in an anime. Stunning visuals, awesome/catchy soundtrack, great story, and some of the most likable and interesting characters to ever appear in anime. Please, Japan, make more shows like this one.

... -Details-

Story: 8
Genres: Action, Adventure, Shonen, Superpower
Themes: Friendship, Aloof/Badass/Mysterious father, Coming-of-Age, Individualism (Natsume Soseki) vs serving the group first, Human nature, Good vs evil

The basic premise of this show is not too different than other shonen fighters. The main character, Gon Freecss, was abandoned by his father who wanted to pursue his own adventures as a hunter rather than raise a kid. Now Gon wants to become a hunter in order to understand why being a hunter is apparently so great (that one would even abandon their kid) and also so that he can become strong enough to find his dad.
Thus the story unfolds. Gon takes the hunter exam, gets stronger, and makes plenty of friends along the way. Standard shonen stuff. Now that I think about it, there isn't much more to the actual story than this. Every arc before the chimera ant arc is directly related to finding Gon's dad. The chimera ant arc is a bit of an aside, though it does take up about half the story at this point due to its length. So, as a story, it's pretty simple. I'd say the main reason why the story seems so good is because pretty much every other aspect of this anime is amazing, and so those aspects help turn a simple, somewhat unconventional, story into something truly worth remembering.
There is no filler. However, the aforementioned chimera ant arc is rather long and is probably stretched a bit too much. Other than that, the pacing is very good. After the chimera ant arc there is one more arc, and then the show basically stops without really ending. Many people would probably find this frustrating. It's possible that one day Madhouse will add another season or 2 of this show but that depends on the manga actually getting somewhere, which many people despairingly think will not happen for a while. Thus, don't come into this show expecting complete resolution. You get some of that since it stops between story arcs, but it's still clear the story isn't done.
The most prominent story telling technique is the action earlier on, and later it becomes a combination of action and drama. The story starts out rather light-hearted with fun fights and such, but starting with the Greed Island arc the story starts to show where it's going. Darker themes begin to emerge with eviler villains, and more graphic violence is shown on-screen. One of the best parts of the show later on is the drama pulled from character development, intense fights, and some episodes which actually feature pretty decent philosophical discussions. One of the more apparent themes the show discusses is whether individualism or a group oriented disposition is more conducive to individual growth and group growth. So, it takes a little while before this becomes apparent, but this is definitely a show that both entertains with action but also gives you something to think about.

Art: 10
Studio: Madhouse

Madhouse does not fail to impress. Earlier on the art features bright, fun colors and is very clean. The animation is generally good and only becomes great during action scenes. But later on, in the chimera ant arc, Madhouse shifted into another gear and made the visuals really amazing and stylized. The source of the superpowers in this show, "Nen," is the perfect excuse to start making scenes look really awesome. Nen is one's life force, which one can focus into a useful offensive or defensive force. Nen can manifest visually, thus when someone is angry their nen can look darker and more intimidating. Madhouse portrays this phenomenon by adding swirling black currents of whispy air/gas substances around a character, for example. This looks really cool during some of the more dramatic scenes and is the kind of stylization that can really only be done with anime. And personally, when I find an anime that makes use of the fact that it is an anime and does something only this medium can do, I love it.
Another thing I like is the CG is used sparingly, and when it is used, you hardly notice it. It is mostly used for things like cars or planes, which I find is probably the best way to use CG in anime. All of the action sequences are done with beautiful, stylized traditional animation, and I love Madhouse for that. I've re-watched episodes just for the visuals.
Various character designs are updated and improved from the 1999 version of the anime. Overall I'd say that the visuals are of this version are superior to the 1999 version in pretty much every way. The opening and ending themes all look great too, especially opening themes #5 and #6.

Sound: 9

I'm never very good at judging a soundtrack, but even I know this one is good. The opening and ending themes fit very, very well with this show. The biggest gripe I see with this though is that the opening theme is basically the same each season (only a few lines of lyrics are ever changed--basically, the opening theme doesn't ever change, though the visuals do). But this isn't much of a problem for me since I love the opening theme and it really does fit the show well. As far as I can tell, every track is great and fits with both the combat scenes and the down-time. Later on, there are some classical pieces added to the soundtrack, which are always awesome, and there are some darker tracks that really enhance the intense scenes you get later on in this show. I can't sit here and describe them because spoilers.
Sound effects and voice acting are also very good. One voice I especially love is Hisoka's. His creepy, perverted, blood-knight personality is captured perfectly by the voice actor. Gon's adorable childishness but also his anger at various points in the story are also done very well. Really, I have no complaints. This simply is high quality stuff all-around.

Character: 10

The characters are all amazing. Hands down. Gon may seem to be another Goku clone--young, innocent, with prodigious fighting talent, but he really is his own unique character. The development he gets later on, especially in the chimera ant arc, is amazing and actually quite surprising. At this point in the show, he practically seems like a different person when compared with his initial appearance. Killua and his family of assassins are all very interesting. One of the things I liked the most early on was the friendship between Gon and Killua. They are actually shown doing things that two 12-year-old boys would do, like messing around, having pillow fights, running around and exploring islands and their surroundings, etc. The compatibility of their personalities and the strength of their friendship is something that is very touching at points, and I would go as far as to say that it is an ideal friendship.
Another thing that is so great about this show is the sheer number of good, interesting characters with interesting character designs, as well as the complexity of their personalities. It is hard to say there are any straight-up good or evil characters--things aren't that simple in this universe. A character you start out hating, you might end up loving by the time their story is through, and vice-versa. The power system in this show is highly personalized and so it is always fun to see a new character's powers; there are still some that haven't been revealed, and guessing what they might be is also fun.
If you like shows with a large, fun, and diverse cast of interesting characters with an aesthetically pleasing set of character designs, then look no further.

Enjoyment/Overall: 10

This show is just plain fun. It's fun to see the characters grow; it's fun to see them develop their powers and guess in what ways they will grow; it's fun to accompany Gon and Killua on their big adventure, etc., etc. It is hard to find faults with this show. The art is beautiful, the soundtrack is awesome and catchy, the characters are highly memorable, the story is solid and interesting. Only one arc--the chimera ant arc--could be said to be longer than it needs to be, but it is also the most well-written, interesting, and visually stunning story arc so far. I have already watched all of the episodes twice so far, and I already want to watch it all again. This show is a classic.
The only reason I can think of why you might not like this show is simply if you don't like fun adventures for the sake of being fun. Note that this is not a criticism--everyone's tastes are different. I have a friend at school who tends to only like literature that is more academic in nature--stories by the likes of Dostoevsky and such. Sure, this show isn't a novel and it isn't going to appear in your literature class at university. But it doesn't need to. Chances are that if you watch anime, you don't care about a show's value as literature or a novel story in the first place. Very few do. I only bother to bring this up for the 0.01% of you who actually care about this, like my friend.
One last point: I do believe that relative newbies to anime could enjoy this too. There is almost no fan-service and a relatively low amount of anime weirdness. If I had my way, I'd make everyone watch this.

Dissapointment: the anime.

There are some anime with concepts or characters doomed to fail from the start, but that is not the case with Hunter x Hunter, however everything it could made wrong it was made wrong, it takes the award of how much screw up it made with its concepts.

Story 2/10:
Each arc consistently feels different and distinguishable from one another, which is good, but it also consistently has a lot of build up to a very dissapointing ending, every conflict is solved by the dumbest reasons, which can be unpredictable, but unpredictable bad in a sense of how will they ruin this arc this ... time? Problems are solves by luck, mercy in the part of the enemies, plot-conviniences, opponents giving up, random interruptions, random ways, ect...

Characters 0/10:
The worst part of the anime by far, going by the main ones:
Leorio - used mostly for the unfunny joke of being an useless adult-looking guy compared to the rest of the children, has no plot-relevance whatsoever and it feels it was created (and given a lot of screen time) just for this 1 moment later on that has no impact whatsoever. Was expecting them to make him a zero-to-hero kind of character, but nothing interesting was made out of him.
Kurapika - the best out of the bunch, he started out good, then was forgotten, then had an arc dedicated to make him shine where they gave him only 1 fight, after that he went back to being useless and forgotten again.
Hisoka - a pedophile clown loved by everyone in the anime community, doesn't have much of a personality outside of being 'horny for children', he does its job at being a creepy villain until later one he doesn't do that anymore.
Killua - He started as an awesome character, edgy and ruthless, demostrating the violence and harshness of the hunter world, so much so that in this 2011 version they had to censor some of his actions. When he started hanging out with the Main Character Gon, his character just went downhill, all his cool traits were left behind and he just became the annoying brat nº2, since the annoying brat nº1 was
Gon - the MC, a kid that behaves like a kid, for a harsh a violent world it is portrait on, this kid gets out with a lot scot-free, having a happy-go-lucky attitude when its no place for it. When having a kid as a MC, the show has to make ways to make them work, like having the intelligence to maneuver the others, but Gon is also as dumb as it gets, every problem he has to face he doesn't have to struggle for it, it is resolved by luck, avoiding it altogether, or mercy from the opponents. When he started he had a very interesting way of fighting style by using a fishing rod from a distance, but even his only interesting feature was removed later on, now he solves his problems by brute force alone, which for a kid, he shouldn't have.

Conclusion:
I gave it a 3/10 rating but that feels too generous, I'm struggling to find any positive points to justify it, the 1st ending was fire, the character Melody was very well done, and the Kurapika arc... had a good concept but was handled very poorly, at least started decent.

If you ask me, there is and will never be an anime as good as Hunter X Hunter. No anime has ever accomplished what Hunter X Hunter has. And in my honest belief, there will be no anime that will ever do so. This anime knew what the viewers wanted, like as if the audience had decided what the anime should do next, except with a better twist, a thicker more fluid plot, a humorous laugh, epic fights, and an ultimate finish. This anime knew when to stop and when to keep going, when to be all about friendship and trust but at the same ... time keep it toned down so that people could feel the true effects of comradery and being friends. They knew when to add epic fight scenes, and when to get serious upon being jokeful and laughing. This anime had kept things within limits, not too little so that you won't enjoy it, but not too much so that you feel as if you had had enough of it. It made you feel the ultimate impact of things, it didn't rely on simple tactics or surface reasonings to decide the outcome of this anime. All throughout the anime, it had not disappointed once. Every moment had been fun and enjoyable, with great quality and not a single drop of disappointment was spilled. It had a fluid story, one that didn't feel random and contrived, but one that flowed smoothly and made you feel as if you were watching one consecutive story. Not a jumbled mess of random occurrences, based on coincidences and, "when I felt like it." I'm not going to play koi, I'm talking about Fairy Tail. The difference between these animes, at least the major ones that I had clearly noticed, are three things. One, Fairy Tail almost never stayed within reasonable boundaries, logic was thrown out, and this made fights become contrived and boring. Relying on the "doing it for my friends," tactic, gaining their comrades immense amounts of power for almost no logical reason. Secondly, the comradery was too much, it simply became corny and annoying after a while. This made the audience rather bored with no effect intact, hunter x hunter knew when to stop, which helped the audience feel the full message, but at the same time, not getting so overwhelmed by it. And lastly, the random jumbled story that Fairy Tail has, the events and story archs simply came one after another. There was no logical flow to it. It had more felt like a multitude of plays rather than one consecutive show. Hunter X Hunter had a fluid story, it made you feel like everything that happened made sense. *Small Spoilers* The hunter x hunter exam begins, killua meets his brother, killua gets practically hypnotized and gon and his friends search for him, they save him, they need to get stronger so gon can punch hisoka in the face, they go to the tower of heavens. Even only going this far, there feels to be a continuous story, although I won't explain why Gon must punch Hisoka in the face... as I have probably already spilled too much, everything has a reason, nothing is coincidence. There are two last things I would love to point out before ending this review, it is that Hunter X Hunter, had made me feel more emotion than clannad, more hyped up adrenaline than Fairy Tail, more joyous and laughing moments than Beelzebub, and honestly, is the best anime to such date. Hunter X Hunter always stayed within reasonable boundaries, as said before, so jokes, action scenes, even the sad scenes, all seemed natural and flowed well. They didn't put the scenes there so it could make you cry, there was a reason these people were crying, it didn't go too far either so you could feel the affect of every moment. Even the jokes themselves, they managed to make me laugh to the point of not being able to breathe because I got the jokes, they played humor on what you might see in actual life. Its reasonable and logical, making you feel everything but without going too far. The second thing I would like to add, as said probably numerous amounts of times in here, is that Hunter X Hunter, is logical and reasonable. It doesn't rely on simple tactics to base the anime off of. No matter how many times you promise you're going to win, whether your friends die or not, you will not be able to beat an opponent whos stronger than you. This is something nearly ever shounen anime breaks logic of, cough cough FAIRY TAIL... If you're weaker than them, you train, you get stronger, and you fight them. If you won, it isn't because you gained tremendous power losing a friend, its because you worked hard at it. Hunter X Hunter understands this, and follows this, it feels like as if everything was staying in logical boundaries, and it made the anime more enjoyable overall. It made the action more enjoyable, it made the experiences more realistic, it made the moments stupendous. Even scenes that were sad, it was nothing like Clannad, that don't get me wrong, it was sad indeed, but it also went overboard. I could not feel the affect of the moment, only the tears because the scene knew how to be sad, but it felt almost forced, acted, somehow. In Hunter X Hunter, even though I had not cried I felt the affect of the moment. And that is what made me feel even more sad than Clannad itself. This anime had stayed great until the very end, not a single moment had I regretted it, and at the end it only got better. Everything was wrapped up, no misconceptions were left behind, and it left with an epic finish. There is no other thing to call this anime, a once in a literal life time anime, but a masterpiece.

This guide will contain NO spoilers, and I would say this is one of the safer reads for someone still asking themselves "Should I watch this?"

Pior to watching Hunter x Hunter, Shonen genre held a stigma for me. Anything that took 100+ episodes to tell a story was either not telling a story very well, or not telling a very good story. This assumption still holds true for many of the genre, in my opinion. Fairy Tail, Naruto, and Bleach, all series that hold a large fanbase, with many, many dedicated fans that love the genre. Not HXH.

Hunter x Hunter has the unique quality ... of running a full 148 episodes, telling a very good story, and never pulling punches.

CHARACTERS: As said before, I'll keep the spoilers brief.
Gon is a 12 year old boy who wants to be a Hunter. Someone who goes around the world 'Hunting' for something. Gon hunts for his father, someone whom left him at an early age to become a Hunter himself. Wondering how any man could abandon his child, Gon searches to find his Dad, and to experience the wonders of the world that must have driven him away from his child.

As such, he partakes in the Hunter Exams, a brutal and deadly test that culls the weak and rains hell on anyone unprepared. The survivors are granted a Hunter License, which allows them funding, and access to restricted areas for their adventures.

There, he meets Leorio, a man whom only wants to get money from the Hunter Exams
Kirapika, a mysterious young boy whom refuses to speak of his reasons,
Killua, a boy raised from a family of assassins whom befriends Gon,
And Hisoka, an extremely unnerving clown looking fellow who is as mysterious as he is powerful.

STORY:
Characters aside, the most interesting thing about the story aside from those that partake in it, is the tropes. Or the lack of, more accurately.

Characters are weak. Power-ups aren't easy. Sacrifices are made. Not everyone comes out in one piece when facing someone that is clearly stronger.

I wont talk about the story as much as other reviews, as I want this to be an entirely spoiler free review that doesn't reveal anything from beyond the first arc.

Gon's quests to find his Dad isn't as simple as it seems, and it becomes clear that his father expected him to take the Hunter exam. As such, various barriers are put before him before he can even get on the right track for finding his Dad.

Even more troublesome, Gons friends are often in need of help themselves. Despite this sounding like a round-a-bout plot, the story never loses focus. You will always feel that things are happening for a reason. Moving from point A to point B, with the story moving forward as the characters do. There are no filler arcs, there are no episodes where you feel that nothing important or moving has happened.

This makes Hunter x Hunter much more exciting a watch than other Shonen anime, where many of the arcs seem to be insignificant to the overall plot.

SOUND:
Okay, let me be honest. Two OPs for a 148 series gets boring after a while. Other than a OP that gets old after a while, the ending pieces are godly, and the tracks for scenes always brings a fitting atmosphere to the table. There may have been some scenes where the music choice was off? I don't personally remember any.

Sound effects wise, there's nothing spectacular. They serve their purpose, and do so well enough that they don't detract from the enjoyment of the visuals.

ART:
I don't have much to commentate about here. There are rarely any points where the art specifically struck me as something to be held in high regard. The art is solid, no doubt, but it doesn't shine with high budget and fluid action too often.

When it does shine, though, it does so nigh-perfectly. Action packed moments that are animated well show great, and its madhouse animators doing their job right.

ENJOYMENT:
Hunter x Hunter made me cry. It made me yell in both anger and confusion, as well as in climatic victory. I'm usually dull faced when I watch anime. I'm easily excited sometimes, but I've cried only 5 or so times at anime. Being able to pull my heart strings like that is, in my opinion, an amazing feat for a writer.

Not only that, but the series had me consistently saying "What's next" only to stare at the episode count in sadness. Since its conclusion, I've taken up the manga, and anxiously await the next chapter.

Please. Watch Hunter x Hunter for 12 episodes or so. If you are not captivated by then, drop it.

I have heard many times about the anime Hunter X Hunter and every time, wherever the title of this title appears, only praise and praise for this work sounded. After a while, I myself had the pleasure of evaluating this "masterpiece" after which one single question “Was it a joke?” Stuck in my head, if so, then I did not understand the humor.
I've seen a lot of anime like this, some were really interesting and some are better forgotten. I would love to forget this piece of animation. I honestly tried to see at least a bit of what I was promised by numerous reviews, ... tops and reviews. Several times I dropped and resumed watching this episode, cherishing a faint hope “It will be better further! A couple more episodes and I will see those exciting battles that I have heard so much about, another episode and the main characters will begin to really open up, change and move on. A couple of minutes more and an interesting monologue, a thought, at least a word, will sound from the mouth of another ripped-eyed character! ". Yes, powerfully I was so wrong, it’s just a shame.
The first thing I want to do is go through the characters:
Main characters:
1) Gon - When watching the first thirty episodes, I got a clear feeling that the author periodically forgot about this character. This little boy (super creature, mega talent, one in a billion, but that's not the point) from the point of view of the banal logic of behavior, jumps back and forth like a table tennis ball. At one moment, he does not tolerate murder, at another, with a perky smile, he asks to teach him how to pull out the heart at lightning speed. Either he can calmly watch the death of other people during the qualifying tournament, then he is turned back from it so that he cannot watch. At certain points, he is ready to forgive even a maniac killer that a minute ago he wanted to cut a little girl into pieces with scissors (even if she was not defenseless and in fact was much older than the villain, which he did not know), then he smears the killer of his acquaintance into mush (the fact that he spared the maniac demolition that during the whole story arc he blew up people in batches, some of whom were also Ghosn's acquaintances, purely for fun, a separate article altogether). I would also like to note as a separate point that his initial motivation (to find his father) cannot justify the risk to which Gon exposes himself and his friends, since he and his dad are essentially not connected with anything. At the beginning of events, Gon has no idea what his father is like, other than the fact that he abandoned him as an infant for the life of a hunter.
2) Killua - Gon's faithful friend and partner, who shared a similar ailment, his character throws from side to side like a boat in the middle of a storm. Unlike his partner, this ailment is justified by the plot. For the most part, the character is not bad, there is an interesting internal conflict, development and, in general, a memorable appearance. This character is also remembered for me by the fact that at one point he himself draws attention to the truly incredible number of pianos in the bushes, which the main characters stumbled upon.
This creation has a rich caste of minor characters of varying degrees of quality, from so-so to "damn it, why the story is not about them?" Most notable:
• Kurapika - “Hey! I have motivation, character, development, rich backstory and incredible potential for disclosure, and my storyline can be safely turned into a separate series, but I’ll probably stand on the sidelines, or rather drop out of the narrative altogether! ".
• Leorio - “When I was a child from the slums, my best friend died of an incurable disease, which prompted me to become a hunter because for people like me this is the only doctor with an education! Hmm! To grab a prisoner who is clearly deceiving me and risk the dream of my life or act smart and achieve the intended goal, which I have been striving for from young nails? Madam, my name is Leorio! "
And there are similar characters here in a wagon and a small cart from the pretentious head of a dynasty of the world's best assassins to a huge ant-man-alligator in wrestling tights (This guy didn't surprise anyone? When I saw him, I whinnied for thirty minutes and didn't care about giant cannibal beetles. By the way, do they take clothes?)
Logical holes at the level “Even if the devil himself appears for the exam, he has to pass all the tests, and he will receive a hunter's license” a few episodes later “The hunter exam is designed to weed out weak participants and prevent the hunter's license from falling into bad hands (Three professional killers in the room is probably good people, the one with pink hair is probably just a magician at children's matinees) ”occur so often that it is more difficult to remember the place where the plot begins to follow at least a ghostly logic.
Remember the episode where the queen of chimeras died? There, the Hunters were almost crying looking at her dying body, SERIOUS? LOOK AROUND THERE ARE NOISETTES OF PEOPLE WHICH SHE EATED LIKE SEEDS AND MOUNTAINS OF HUMAN SKULLS ARE YOU SAD ABOUT HER DEATH? And the king's guard does not matter at all, only Neferpita was shown from several sides, and the other two can only indulge in orgasms looking at how good their King is.
Well-staged fights? There were a couple, but I’m not lying, even about six, but for one hundred and fifty episodes this is not enough.
Now the fight of the King of Ant, having forgiven the head of the hunter's association, what abilities have we shown? YES, NOTHING BUT A MANY-HANDED STATUE NETERO and the fact that the king of ants can tolerate well and that's it! 0 hariography 0 tactics. And in the end, SUDDENLY we are faced with the fact that Killua has a sister (brother) who knows how to fulfill wishes! WHAT A TWIST! Do you realize what it is? IS ABLE TO FULFILL DESIRES! DESIRES! That is, you can wish anything!
The result is a dull under-anime with a lot of potential for horrific performance. There are so many jambs and missed opportunities in it that there are so many pages for ten handwritten text, from which high marks from viewers and critics seem incomprehensible to me.

"I can see people calling it a fun guilty pleasure, but one of the highest ranked anime of all time is a catastrophic crime"

Hunter X Hunter 2011 is one I have heard of for years. In fact I caught up to the manga many years ago during one of the many hiatuses. I remember thinking the manga was pretty good. Anyway my brother told me it was his favorite anime. He is not usually into anime so I thought it would be a great thing for us to bond over if I watched it again. And so I started.

At first things seemed good, ... Gon and Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio and the rest of the cast seemed interesting. The world intrigued me. The Hunter Exam was fun. The Zoldycks were cool and even the arena was kind of entertaining. Yorknew was fine. Greed island was fun though a little elementary. But more and more flaws started standing out to me. In the storytelling, the ability to utilize multiple characters at a time, to give a compelling story without insulting your audience or pulling bs. I stopped caring for any of the characters pretty early as they just didn't feel worthy of investment or all that compelling. I mean Leorio is maybe in 10 episodes and yet you can tell he's considered a main character. It felt like an anime for 10 year olds the way characters speak and act at times.

Every arc drags just a little more than the last one until the chimera ant just puts you to sleep with an asmr narrarator who needs to recap for 5 minutes what you just saw 2 minutes of in real time. I am sure people hear a lot of negatives about the chimera ant arc and think, "It's just one arc it can't sink the whole series". Unfortunately, Chimera ant is nearly 50% of the entire anime runtime. It is horrendously long and dragged out. It dragged more than the 4th great shinobi war, which had dozens of more characters to balance to flush out and was about 4 times longer.

Ultimately Id give the first few arcs a generous 6.5-7 but the Chimera ant arc should have been a 7 if it was 1/3 its length. Unfortunately for that I have to take off 3 points for 40 episodes that felt like someone put me in time-out. When nearly half of the anime is a 4/10 I can't really justify more than a 5.

All in all, Hunter x Hunter is the single most overhyped anime I've ever seen.

I fell asleep to it many times, which is very unusual and I had to force myself to start the next episode on multiple occasions just because I wanted to talk to my brother. It felt awful. It has it's moments but they are very far between and don't justify themselves when there is so much better out there.

Okay, so Hunter x Hunter is praised a lot so I gave it a chance. After watching it I think it's the most overrated anime ever, even more than SAO and SnK which are often called overrated. This review is probably more a salty rant intended towards people who have already watched Hunter x Hunter rather than people wondering to watch it, but I'll try too many spoilers.

To clarify, the only real start bias I had was that I didn't watch it until now because I'm not a fan of the art style.

I will mostly talk about the story since that's what I see ... praised the most but I'll go over the different points that MAL uses.

Story: To summerize what I thought about the story; It started good at gradually became worse, reaching the bottom at the later stages of the Chimera Ant arc. There will be a lot of indirect spoilers, so if you want to be spoiler free don't read further than the first part.

The first arc, Hunter exam arc, was actually very interesting especially since I have read/watched many long mainstream battle shounen such as Naruto and One Piece. It's very clear how they influenced each other and share a lot of traits which I found very interesting to examine, in fact Hunter x Hunter might be the basis for the Naruto Chuunin exam arc, however I'm not sure which was published as manga first. We realise there's a lot of different types of hunters and we see some cool creatures in this fantasy world, I'm a big fan of the big turtle/dinosaurs. This is the only arc I would classify as a fantasy adventure. I had trouble understanding why people would call HxH a masterpiece but at least at this point I liked it.

Then there's the Heaven's Arena arc, where the shit begins. The story stops being anything about adventure, now it's just fantasy battle. The battles are more or less pointless, the only purpose is to train the main characters power like going to the gym or pressing the "Train" button in an sim dating game.
We are introduced to "Nen", which is actually very confusing at this point because we've seen nothing at all to it until this point. They're introducing a very abstract and foreign concept where only one of the 4 concepts Nen consists of has any exposure before this and only very little in Gon's usage of zetsu.
Then Nen is divided into 6 categories and then there's a persons unique Nen ability... Then there's the advanced Nen techniques etc etc etc... It feels like an endless addition to a battle system which is made up on the spot.
From this point everything besides Nen basically becomes irrelevant which is honestly a shame.

Yorknew city arc starts very interesting, but towards the end it gets really silly and bad. The Phantom Troupe which is supposed to a group of the worst criminals in the world actually fights for the power of friendship and ends up sacrificing more than the main cast to save the lives of their friends... I don't have an issue with the power of friendship, but it's not very cool and intimidating when they care more about their friends than the main characters. This was probably to show that the bad guys aren't flat 100% evil people but in this case I just found it lame. Besides that we are also introduced to more useless characters.

Lastly I'm going to talk about the Chimera Ant arc. Honestly, I think this is the worst of any anime I've ever watched. It starts quite interesting by being dark and almost apocalyptic. However it quickly just feels out of place in this bright anime where friendship prevails and leads to 0 consequences. However it switches rapidly between overly serious and extremely silly which I at least found very disturbing. One moment we got chimera ants trying to take over the world where the cast considers if they should be treated humanely or as monsters (which was done poorly imo) and then we got some of the monsters with abilities called sexy stinger and the last bosses having an orgasm while they feed their liquid (Nen) to their leader for 10 minutes.
The pacing was monsterous slow, even worse than the worst parts of mainstream anime. The narrator made it a living hell, explaining everything pointless and the arc included so much useless information. It clearly felt like this arc was drawn out to be as long as possible.

Art: Honestly I'm not a fan of the art. The art style/character design is older and very simple, which is something I don't like. Gon has a nose sharp enough to cut fruit, the characters pretty much wear the same clothing 24/7 and their style is imo too simple, plain and boring. There was never a point where I thought "Hey this design is pretty cool" or something similar. The colouring in the anime in general is pretty nice though.
The animation is good in general and better during important fights, but especially towards the end there's tonnes of loops and still images which only serve to keep the budget low and extend the episodes to be as long as possible.

Sound: I think the soundtracks are good, very good in fact. However I think they're used very poorly and there's not very many. Maybe this is due to not paying attention but I can only remember around 6 soundtracks, which were played over and over. Something which especially annoyed me was the soundtrack they played every time Nen was involved.
The voice actors did good though and sfx was also good.

Characters: I like some of the characters but aside from this, I think the characters are quite poorly done, especially Gon. (For reference I liked Hisoka, Illumi & Killua)

Gon is very straight forward like most shounen MCs however he's slightly different because he's far more childish (and stupid). His stupidity is on a different level which made me hope that the other characters would somehow break him so he could learn. But no. Every stupidity he performs is rewarded and comes without any real consequences. During the hunter exam he refuses to give up despite being totally outclassed and threatened with getting every limb broken? Break all his limbs and spit him in the face please. Not giving up can also trying again even if you fail rather than just being stupid. Also during the Greed Island arc. There's a plan to defeat the Bomber (who is equally silly) but let's not follow it and lose an arm first before following the plan. And then the arm regrows because magic!.. And then when he becomes angry and big, the consequences of doing that are alsog one because of... MAGIC! Or well basically because of magic. Everything he experiences and mistakes he makes are without consequences, even what happens to Kite is reversed in the end...
Gon doesn't grow, he's equally stupid and irresponsible during the entire anime. Also his early defining traits are totally gone later in the anime. First of all, his fishing rod is magically gone after the Heaven's Arena arc which was one of the things that made him unique. Secondly his ability to hide due to his upbringing in the nature is non existant after Yorknew City. You could at least make him enhance his fishing rod.

Then there's Killua. I actually like Killua, he's actually thinking. He actually grows a bit, learns about friendship and how to take risks (or at least they say). However like Gon he begins to lose his individuality, just not as much. During the Greed Island arc for instance he pulls out his yo yos which we've never seen before. Then after he learns to use his lightning properly then RIP yo yo's. His past as assassin doesn't influence how he fights during the later parts of the series which I think is a shame. He was exposed to electricity torture as a kid so his power is electricity! Feels a bit silly imo. Also why not like use the lightning with the yo yos?

And then we got the rest of the cast where most are irrelevant to anything besides the single arcs they got any real screen time.

I think a lot of potential was wasted overall with the characters.

Enjoyment: Some parts were more enjoyable than others. During the especially bad parts I had to look actively for bad stuff to be able to find any kind of entertainment or enjoyment in the anime.

Extra stuff: I read a lot of people say they enjoy the strategy in the fights, but having the characters/narrator explaining what happened after the action doesn't make it into strategy/tactics.

This anime was the most extreme case of people explaining their abilties, strategies and etc. to the enemy. There was even a character with an ability which required to know the name of another's ability. Why would you even need to name your abilities?

Also the anime even encourages to defy logical solutions and plans. The characters might say their plans are super important to follow and should be priority but pretty much all characters don't follow the plan and act on emotion.

Overall: Well since the worst arc (Chimera Ant arc) imo filled around 40% of the anime I would say overall Hunter x Hunter is bad 3 or 4/10. If we talked about actual content and not in terms of amount of episodes it would be a lot higher. Aside from that arc I would say HxH is alright, but definitely not a masterpiece. It is everything I see people complain about when it comes to other anime. If you think it's a masterpiece, you're not wrong, I'm just unable to understand why.

To sound like a review I would recommend this to people who like Index. It shares a lot of the same problems imo but a lot of people also like index so maybe what I consider a problem is a virtue to others.

For those who troll saying the original is better, I haven't seen the original, but not having watched the original has no effect on how much I enjoyed the anime for what it was, and it's awesome so far. I don't like writing reviews, especially lengthy ones, because seriously who reads all?

Story: Finishing the Phantom Troupe arc (ep58), I feel as I have watched enough to criticize the anime. For a shonen, this anime's story gets pretty deep, it's actually enjoyable and it isn't riddled with nonsense super powers or melodrama that every shonen has. EVERYTHING is explained and it makes sense 9/10

Art: Art ... is great, nothing super-extraordinary but the action sequences are to die for, and animation quality is super consistent. 9/10

Sound: The opening and endings are awesome, the ost's good too. 10/10

Characters: This is where the anime really shines. Every character is 3 dimensional, you could never anticipate completely what a character would do because you're not always given that characters subjective viewpoint all the times. There are instances where every character decides on different actions, and this is due to their conflicting characters, but friendship usually overcomes this.

tl:dr FULL OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

For those itching for a shonen anime, watch this one. You will NOT regret it. on a side note, those complaining it's too light hearted in comparison to the original need to reconsider their lives, seriously. Those giving this bad ratings troll saying the 99' is better haven't seen past the first 4 fucking episodes. Their opinions are INVALID.

Overall 9.5/10

This is the best anime I've ever seen and it's not even close, this is in a whole other galaxy of greatness compared to it's peers.

Hunter x Hunter is 148 episodes long (so far) and I devoured it in well under a month, a stunning feat personally for someone who can take months to finish a mere 12 episode series.

Each part of this show was so enjoyable that it felt as if only a few minutes had passed before the next installment was ready to be wolfed down.

What makes it so good? "Takes a huge breath"

The art is modern yet attractive, there ... is absolutely ZERO filler of any kind, each arc has a clear beginning and end with no two saga's feeling quite the same.

The music is wonderful and fits every moment perfectly. The opening and closing credits also contain excellent songs and imagery that change to match the tone of each arc.

The intro's and outro's, rather than being a jumble of random scenes like most shows, give subtle hints as to how the story will unfold. Only as you progress will you be able to appreciate how much thought and intelligence went into making them.

What makes the show truly great though are it's three core tenants; smarts, surprise and variety.

It is cunning and cleverness that often define the victor in this world and right up to the final episode the show was still subverting my expectations with how much wit it had to display.

None of the above would mean anything of course unless you have a great cast of characters to take advantage of, and boy oh boy, Hunter x Hunter has enough of those to fill a dozen epic sized anime's to bursting.

There's so much more detailed praise I'd like to give but I wont because you need to savour all the surprises and excitement for yourself first-hand if you decide to watch it, which I really, really recommend you do.

If you like anime, great stories, or superbly crafted entertainment you simply must watch Hunter x Hunter. It may end up becoming one of your favorite things ever.

It certainly did for me.

Many people take a look at the childish exterior of this show and without second thought don't even give HxH a chance, but a show that managed to climb in the top lists of many sites and become the favorite anime of many users, certainly does something right that it deserves your minimum attention if nothing more.Every review more or less is a subjective experience of a series, so give me the chance to tell you why I loved this show as much as I did, and what I consider as pros, and what may be seem as cons.

First of all I love ... battle shounen as a genre, Dragon Ball was my first cartoon (at least that's what I thought it was) at the age of 13. I've seen a lot of battle shounen and I loved almost all of them back then, but as I grew older and more experienced in anime I inevitably outgrew this genre as the writing seemed "childish", repetitive and too predictable so the result was that my enjoyment collapsed. What I was craving for was an anime that would entertain my intellect but at the same time would retain the charm a battle shounen can have, something that would resonate with my "adult child"(if that makes sense). That's when HxH 1999 was discovered and consequently HxH 2011.

Story/Characters

Not only this show is the charming coming of age story of Gon who embarks on an adventure to find his dad, which retains all those elements that you loved as a child, it is also a well written, structured and thought out, intelligent story that will satisfy your adult mind and feed your intellect exactly what you may be looking for. Wonderful world building, charming and unique characters with depth and development throughout the series that have their own motivations and as the show progresses prove to you that they are more than just some generic archetypes, good characterization which brings interesting and realistic interactions and dynamics between them, unpredictable storyline with jaw dropping moments, superb dialog that reflects realism and maturity, proper build up for any major event that makes you care about what happens, profound and powerful emotional moments, great comedy that isn't silly or too "childish" which blends well with tension,drama and action; a creative well thought out battle system which allows for strategic fights that will keep you glued to your seat, and last but not least lots and lots of fun. All that right here combined with perfect pacing makes for an entertaining and engaging story that will make marathoning HxH the easiest thing in the world, and soon enough you will be wishing it was more than just 148 episodes,even episodes with no action are engaging and have some sort of plot or character development. Of course this doesn't mean that as a battle shounen HxH is void of cliches and tropes but even if there are, how they are used in the story and executed is what makes it differ, everything makes sense and every little detail is explained explicitly or not, paying attention is required as the show is dialog heavy and many things are implied,as a result many conclusions can be drawn by association.

The writer seems to have general knowledge of the world; like human psyche, political and social structures, religion, world economy, history and etc... Combined with his imagination and the nature of the show the result was seven (one is a mini arc) different arcs in their genre, tone, atmosphere, length, themes and at points pacing as well. I know I said “perfect pacing” but that depends on the viewer if he likes the slow down pacing in some arcs. The transition between them feels smooth and logical except maybe for the Chimera Ants arc, but for the rest of them there is subtle at points and at others not so subtle foreshadowing. You will encounter some cheerful and lighthearted arcs, and some that are really dark and grim. Some may view the fact that there is no thematic continuity between arcs, or that some arcs end in an anti climatic manner as a negative aspect or as a "flaw", but ultimately it boils down to personal preference and nothing more, personally I like those aspects of the show because an adventure of this type and life itself isn't predictable, and you never know where the next turn might throw you and what challenges you might encounter, I prefer those realistic aspects because it reminds me a simple valuable truth, that today we are alive and tomorrow we are not, so it's all about living life at its fullest no matter where you are at.

Obviously nothing is flawless and even if for me this is the nearest thing to perfection, I'll try to point some things that might be perceived as flaws. I already mentioned the transition between arcs, so I won’t expand on that. Although this adaptation is very faithful to the manga, the first chapter and the introduction of an important character to Gon and plot was cut out from the first episodes and introduced in episode 75, which made some motivations and actions "clouded". First episodes seem a little childish and it might take a while for the show to reel you in. The 6th arc (Chimera Ants arc) is the longest in the series and has questionably a few pacing issues and some viewers might lose interest, combined with heavy narration in the second half of the arc and different expectations from the viewers, frustration might arise and enjoyment may collapse, but for an arc that was the most ambitious arc in any shounen I've seen, a story that was far from ordinary, full of reflective ideals that were penetrating and influential, controversial opinions is the least that you should expect. So although the arc might be powerful it doesn't mean everyone will enjoy it, this again depends on your preferences. The last thing that comes to mind as a "negative" is the ending, it leaves some sub plots unresolved and a few questions unanswered, although it does have a satisfying ending for a manga that is on hiatus, and ultimately it works really well with the overall theme of the anime.

Animation

For a long running show the animation is very consistent, this doesn't mean that every episode is greatly animated, it just means that the budget is distributed intelligently and the episodes that needed the boost got it. The fights are really well animated and detailed, with great choreography, and the action scenes are impressive. One of the most astonishing features are the distinct facial expressions, rarely an anime captures so many raw emotions just by the expressions of the face. The colors are vibrant and generally adjust to the tone of the scene and the atmosphere of the arc really well. Character designs are unique, interesting and at some cases really weird, which makes almost all of the chars distinct and memorable.

Sound

This part here gets progressively better as the arcs get progressively more interesting and shift in themes, genre and tone. At the beginning arcs you might notice a misuse of sound that doesn't fit its respective scene in tone but generally the soundtrack is impressive. There are some really remarkable and memorable moments mostly in the Chimera Ant arc. OP song is the same from start to finish and the only songs that change are the ED songs. Voice actors are incredible and fit very well almost to every character except maybe for Kurapika. Jaw dropping performances can be expected from Megumi Han(Gon), Ise Mariya(Killua), Daisuke Namikawa (Hisoka), Ginga Banjou and Nagai Ichiro (as Netero).

Enjoyment

Rarely I rewatch an anime and I've seen this 4 times already. This show has easily the most impactful moments that I'll remember forever from any anime and any media in general. Marathoning this show was as easy as breathing and when it ended I felt sick and wanted more, it was like an addiction but a very fun addiction.

Overall

"The world is like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it, you think it's real, cause that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round; it has thrills and chills and it's very brightly colored and it's very loud and it's fun... for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: "Is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, and they say, "Hey - don't worry, don't be afraid - EVER - because... this is just a ride." Bill Hicks

This anime is just a ride, a fun and powerful ride that will lead to many roads and detours, a battle shounen that will satisfy a casual viewer and a more experienced one, so give this show a chance and you might discover a detour of your life that will take you to new entertainment heights.

Hunter x Hunter, shortly after completing this masterpiece I finally figured out why it's even called that, despite knowing almost nothing about this show going into it, with my only key words being "shounen" "action" and "very very long". But now, 148 episodes of pure epicness later, I can say with extreme confidence that this is one of the best anime made to date, and why it should take up a spot on your favourite's list.

Story: 10
Wow, what an absolute adventure, the story may not grasp you in the first few episodes, but once your hooked, you can't stop. HxH follows the story of ... Gon Freecss, a young boy who plans to embark on a journey to find his father, who abandoned his son to become a hunter, an occupation in their world which constitutes doing whatever you want, as long as you do it well. Gon takes on the hunter exam to become a hunter himself, to firstly see what it's all about. During the exam he meets fellow exam takers Kurapika, Leorio and Killua, who all have brilliant back stories and motives. (with the exception of Leorio, no dark stuff for him) Gon quickly makes friends with all of them, and the story proceeds with their adventures together. The story consists of about 6 arcs, varying in length, and all feature different characters with fantastic roles. All these arcs can sometimes feel slow to get into after finishing the previous arc, but as aforementioned, once it grabs you, you can't stop. One of my friends who had been watching this as it aired described watching it only once a week as "hell"

Art: 9
The art of HxH is fantastic, far better than the original (although that is expected) The character designs are fantastic, and keep the best aspects of the original artwork, while maintaining a good design. The fight scenes of this show are absolutely stunning, all the colours and vibrant punches thrown never get old, and with the surplus of surprises in the story, the artwork simply compliments the already perfect flow of the anime.

Sound: 10
I think only one thing needs to be said here: *ahem* YOU CAN SMIIIIIIIIIILE AGAIIIIIN!!!!!!!!

Ah, but in all seriousness that opening will never feel boring, and will never be skipped. Both versions of "Departure" are fantastic, and suit the show so well. Now the endings though, these blew me away, especially "Hunting for your dream" played through the Yorknew City Arc, was just too good, I listened to that song everyday, and still do, the ed for most of the Chimera Ant Arc, "Nagareboshi Kirari" was also fantastic. Amazing choice of music, and the ambient, suspenseful, happy, sad, and every other kind of music used in this show could not have been better, created one of the best atmosphere's every episode.

Characters: 10
Loved almost every character that was introduces throughout this series, even the bad ones like Hisoka, Chrollo, the Chimera Ant King, Etc. The way that all the character's interact with each other is just amazing, they all have their ups and downs, but sometimes you get those badass moments where you can't help but just get this feel-good feeling in your stomach as they obliterate their enemies and save their friends. The relationships between some of the characters, the most obvious being Gon and Killua, is incredible, the friendship between them is questioned throughout the whole series, and there are so many obstacles they must overcome in order to stay friends. The struggles only make the beautiful resolutions feel that much better.

Enjoyment: 10
It took me a little while to get into the chimera ant thing at first, every other arc was just amazing, can't complain about anything else. Enjoyed every minute to the fullest.

Overall: 10
If you haven't watched this series, do it, you will 100% not regret it, if you are daunted by the high episode count, watch it arc at a time, and savor the moments that feel best, because when you've finished this anime, the amount of satisfaction you feel inside is only matched by the emptiness of realising it's over, so take action now, and embark on your very own journey of Hunter x Hunter!

~Xeno156

I've been meaning to write a review for this show, but in truth it's hard to word how I feel about HXH. It's very special, I think, and is one of those anime that is worthy of a 10/10 rating for me even while not being perfect. People say this show is under-rated, but this simply isn't the case anymore. If you go look at the first page of reviews, they're practically all 10/10's. Now that the show's over, I expect there to be a tidal wave of nay-sayers who pick up on the small flaws this show does have ... and begin the "this show is OVERRATED" train. Before we get that sea of 8's, 7's and below, I want to make it clear why this show is worthy of such a high rating. My greatest fear for this show is that the hype for this show that exists now will cause a lot of people to start tearing it apart in these reviews, trying to prove it's not as good as people think it is. Whether or it is, the fact remains that it will always be a 10/10 to me and a lot of other people and there ARE reasons. Put simply, this show IS worth your time.

Story: 9
This is an interesting aspect of the show to rate. If this makes sense, HXH is not very original, but it is extremely unique. It has a way of taking very common storylines/themes (fighting tournaments, super-human battles, aura-based abilities/leveling up aspects) and while sticking to the typical guns with them in a lot of ways the show provides a unique spin on them. A big way it does this is with the characters, which definitely fit certain archetypes but have a depth and emotional connection strong enough to make any used plot line feel fresh and new. A lot of the "fighting aspects" are different from other shounen, in that they don't end up stretched out over several episodes and quite often evolve into more of a "strategic stand-off" than an all out physical fight to see who can kick more ass. At it's core, the show is simply about Gon trying to find his father. The story itself is nothing new (even if well executed), but the twist, turns, character development and eventual scale make this story a solid 9 for me.

Art: 8
I see a lot of praise for the art here, and while it is certainly not undeserved the art has never been my favorite part of this show. The character designs all work (with maybe some Chimera Ant exceptions) and it definitely doesn't have the feeling that they were cheap with the animation. However, although there are some really beautiful scenes that have some amazing imagery to accompany them, the animation didn't typically go above and beyond enough to put it on such a high pedestal. Definitely not a show where you'll typically hate the art though, so rest easy there.

Sound: 8
Again, I feel similarly on the sound as I do with the art. Really nothing bad here, either; in fact, the music accompanies the show extremely well and at times it adds a whole lot to a scene. The intro has grown on me quite a bit, although I feel like you either like it or you don't and it won't take you too long to decide. Honestly, I might have gone with a 9 here if the in-show music didn't get a LITTLE repetitive at times (particularly in earlier arcs). As with the art though,the sound is solid and will typically only add to your enjoyment of the show.

Character: 10
This is one of the major elements of the show that I feel bring it to a 10. If you are bothered by the trope of an over-powered character, you may find this show either really annoying or a huge breath of fresh air. The characters are constantly growing more and more powerful, and as the time goes by some ridiculously strong characters are introduced. However, at least with the main characters, they do not just start off awesome as in some shows. There is a huge learning curve for the main characters, and you are really able to see them grow in terms of ability and character. And especially as it progresses, the show is pretty good about keeping morality pretty gray, not forgetting that even the most interesting of protagonists must have flaws and vices to make them real. Even when it brings in a bunch of new characters with a lot of focus late in the game, by the end of their arc you will be able to see them in a whole new light. What can I say, the character development in HXH is TIGHT. If you're looking for a journey where you will really care about the characters and the changes they go through, this is definitely a show for you.

Enjoyment: 10
This. This is what makes the show a 10 for me. You can nit-pick over details and tiny flaws all day. At the end of the day, I seriously enjoyed all 148 episodes of this show, and I typically am more fond of shorter ones (usually don't go above 25). I'm not sure I've ever seen a show I could binge in such a hardcore way. Everything from laughs, to thrills, to the eventual change in tone. You know, where you have to stop and try to figure out when this stopped being a light-hearted (if violent) show about powerful 12 year-olds and when it became a dark thriller that has you on the edge of your seat. There are definitely some strong feels here too, particularly later on. All I can say in this category is that it's hard to think of may shows I've genuinely enjoyed this much, anime or otherwise.

Overall: 10
My opinion is obviously very high for this show, and I'm definitely not the only one. I'm writing this review for one reason alone: to recommend this show as fairly as I can. Though my vote is a 10/10, it is certainly not the only valid rating for this show. I think it all depends on what makes or breaks a show for you. My main goal is to break it down in a way that will give you an idea of it's the show for you or not.
PROS: Excellent character depth, thrilling plot, long journey with great payoff, a whole lot of heart, light-hearted enough to keep you invested in the characters and not weighed down by the intensity (sometimes) but dark enough at times to fully contrast this and remind you that this is NOT a show for children, and a LOT of interesting people, places, creatures, and powers.
CONS: There are so many characters that sometimes you may go a long time without seeing one of your favorites, the show is very long- while some people are addicted enough not to notice, it's still over100 (which isn't too bad for shounen like this but still), and in some of the longer arcs (looking at you, Chimera Ant) seem to stretch a bit at the middle.
End of the day, this is something special and it deserves the time to give it a shot.