But in 2011, Madhouse decided to remake the series, following the example set by FMA: Brotherhood. And Madhouse definitely delivered.
Story: There are 7 arcs in total, with the longest arc being about 60 episodes, and the shortest being about 10. The arcs link up almost seamlessly, with a clear beginning and ending of each arc.
The filler is almost nonexistent, with only 2 recap episodes early on. It's easy to see why; the source material was over a decade old by the time Madhouse got to it. But it's good to know that you're missing almost nothing by not reading the manga.
Yes, the show does have a bit of a slow start, and the later episodes can be almost DBZ levels of slow. But power through these flaws, and you won't regret it.
Art: Long running shounen anime have a bad rep of not having the best quality animation, and you can understand why. You're bound to let a few errors through when you have to animate more than 100 episodes on a weekly schedule.
But HxH does not fall into this trap. The art and animation quality never slip, and at several points I was amazed at the quality of animation, especially during the fight scenes.
Sound: Yes, the same opening song is used for all 148 episodes of the series (as two versions of the same song being alternated by arc), but it's such a good song that I never skipped past it during my watching of the series.
The endings do change, though, and they are worth sitting through. I'm the type of guy that goes to the next episode as soon as the ending credits hit, no matter the show. But HxH was an exception. I still listen to the ending songs regularly, even after I've finished watching the series.
As for the music in the actual episode, it's not as memorable as the opening and ending, but it does a good job of getting you hyped for what's gonna happen next.
And the voice acting is FANTASTIC. If I had to imagine what each character would sound like if I had not heard their voice, I would imagine it would sound like these voices.
Characters: All the characters are memorable. Whether it be the main characters or some person that showed up for a few episodes and was never mentioned again (such as Zepile), everyone gets plenty of development, which makes what happens in the later arcs matter that much more to you.
Gon starts out as the traditional physically gifted, but mentally not as gifted, shounen protagonist. As the series progresses, he makes some strides in his abilities, to the point where he can do some genuinely genius stuff during his fights with the villains.
Killua starts out as a cold assassin, but Gon and the gang warms him up, and later on he supplies some of the best comedic moments of the series, even when the series is at its darkest point. But even though he gains a comedic side, he doesn't sacrifice any of his fighting capabilities.
Kurapika has one goal and one goal only; to kill the thieves that murdered his clan. Kurapika gets his own arc to accomplish his goal, and its one of the best arcs in the entire series. Sadly, Kurapika mostly disappears after the arc is over.
Leorio is clearly the weak link of the group, being easily fooled into traps and being the weakest in terms of both physical strength and Nen capabilities. But he eventually becomes something of a father figure to Gon and Killua before disappearing, never to be seen again.
Enjoyment: After finishing the series, I began consuming everything HxH, but in the back of my mind, I realize nothing will equal this series unless they do a second remake that's somehow better than this.
You will laugh, you will cry (oh you WILL cry), and once you're done, you will want to watch it again as soon as the last episode ends.
Final thoughts:
Yes, it falls victim to some typical shounen tropes. Yes, it can get on the slow side, especially near the end. Yes, it ends on a psuedo-cliffhanger that will probably not be resolved in the manga until the year 3000. But the positives of the series are so good that you almost totally forget about the negatives.
