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.
