Among all the things I consider to label an anime as amazing and a must watch, character development is definitely one of the most important. We see that in HxH.
1. Killua: my favorite character, and it´s all thank to his development throughout the series, his journey about friendship and personal growth is remarkable. He earned the spot of favorite in episode 94 Friends x and x Journey, when he is fighting Shoot, if you've seen the series you know what I'm talking about.
2. Gon: he is also an incredible character, so naive, so loyal, so brave, so smart, so honest. It was a breath of fresh air. I learned so much from him, his loyalty to his friends and his convictions make him a very likeable character. He has his flaws, he is impulsive, reckless and stubborn but he behaved that way because he loved and wanted to help his friends, so I let it slide most of the time. It is part of who he is.
Kurapika is another interesting character, but I will refrain from disscussing him because I haven't read the manga yet (so there may be more to the story) and I dont want people to have a biased opinion about him based on my review.
There are many amazing characters I wish to disscuss but then this would be too long.
About the story, I'll go arc by arc:
Hunter exam: 10/10
Some people say HxH starts slow, but I have to disagree a bit, it may have been a little slow the first couple of episodes, but I think it was actually a good thing, it set a nice pace for what was coming and makes sure you understand more about Gon and the world he lives in.
I thought this arc was brilliant, I learned so much from it, it was well written and well thought of. The use of strategy, intelligence, endurance and friendship was key here.
Zoldyck family: 10/10
brief but amazing, I would also love to see more of this family, their back stories and what they have accomplished as assassins.
Heaven's arena: 10/10
You see the progress and development the characters endure very clearly in this arc. I enjoyed the fighting. Something I like about this series is that it's not just mindless fighting, there are actually some great strategies and thinking behind every fight in this series.
Yorknew arc: 10/10 my favorite arc
HxH has many diffrent moods and settings to each arc, this arc was a little darker, it was amazing. I loved the Phantom Troupe, i wish there was a spinoff or more arcs about them. They were amazing fighters with interesting abilities. Also I found mesmerizing the way they behaved among themselves, the way they cared about one another. I wish I could have seen more, and gotten to know them better and their back stories. Feitan was my favorite member.
Greed Island arc 10/10
This arc is very adventurous and enjoyable, it's also a key arc regarding the main characters growth and strenghts. I'll say no more in order to not spoil anything.
Up till this point I couldn't stop watching, didn't want to ever stop, it was a solid 10 up to this next arc. The next arc is the reason it got an overall 9
Chimera ant arc: 7/10
This arc was a long one, it had an interesting story, but I felt it was paced all wrong. It started way to slow and the build ups were very brief. Don't get me wrong, there were incredible 10 rated episodes for me here, but they were surrounded by some not so good episodes and I felt the pacing made the arc drag a little and it lost it's light adventure, smart thing it had going on. I think the arcs was incredibly well thought, and the ending was unbelievable, it was really good. But it didn't portrayed in a way that I much liked, which makes it a 7 and not a 10.
13th hunter chairman election: 9/10
it started and ended so fast! In the last arc of the anime there are a couple of slw episodes but the last ones made everything worth it. That last episode was amazing, I even wrote down the last quote, so I can read it every day. It definetely touched my heart.
Overall 9/10
The chimera ant made it a 9 and not a 10, but it is more like a 9.4 than a 9.
Definitely watch this series, you will not regret it, if you are into adventure, action, shounen animes with a well thought, smart and analitical sense to it, watch HxH. Don't let the sinopsis fool you. Also the use of nen and auras, was incredible, and made it so much fun to watch, there is so much diversity, creativity and imagination, and we only discovered a small part of it all.
