Story:8/10
Very creative and fresh but not too complex. Right from the start of the series it tells us that we're in for an adventure that involves a lot of exploring. Throughout this we are given wide range of twists and turns as well as getting dark as the plot progresses. Unlike most shonens, this story doesn't center around fighting and battles. HxH focuses on being more story driven that I highly appreciated but it does still have its fights. The stakes also increase as the story goes farther whether its our lead dealing with the wilderness or encountering dangerous people. The biggest strength here is the power system Nen. Most anime rely on power ups and brute force during their action but Nen is used to outsmart and strategize against the opponents and this was such an interesting take. There are a few flaws however for example the first half dragged a lot. I have to be honest the first arc felt like it was taking forever. There aren't a lot of filler here but some definitely did held back the story. Also the story was never finished so we never really got everything the series had in store for us. And this really hurt cuz the storyline had tremendous potential
Art:7/10
The show's overall look can be quite underwhelming. It isn't horrible by all means by it's what you would call visually appealing. Kinda like what I said in my YYH review, the animation does increase as it progresses. This was a 1999 series so it does look a lil old but the problem is is that it can look older than it actually is. The backgrounds were disappointing as they looked fake and never really came to life. Action scenes were also underwhelming as their wasn't a particular fight that wowed from a visual standpoint. Character designs are unique although Gon looks like a generic kid with spikey hair. The designs to the female characters weren't so great for example Mito and Menchi looked a lil too similar given the same hair color. The studio definitely could've done a better job with that. What I found cool was the show's look gives you a modern vibe, for example there are use of cellphones, computers, and video games that appear. Plus there's a city called Yorknew and it looks a lot like modern day New York. In conclusion the art and animation aren't bad but it's not gonna impress anyone.
Sound:8/10
Overall the music was solid but wasn't as great as I hoped. The first opening song was "Ohayou' sang by Keno which was a nice upbeat song. The first ending song was my favorite track of the series, it's called "Kaze no Uta" and it was performed beautifully by Honda Minako. It was more melodic and serious than the OP and Minako's singing was so great in it. As for the background tracks I was never crazy about them but most of them did a great job at supporting the scenes the action in particular. As for voice acting, the Japanese version is far superior. It had good voices and solid performances. Junko Takeuchi who's known for voicing Naruto voices Gon in the anime. The English dub however wasn't good. Most of the performances were flat with the exception of Cheryl McMaster's Kurapika. While some characters had good voices(Kurapika and Killua)there were some that didn't. For example Gon's English voice sounded too mature and it didn't match him at all.
Character:9/10
Definitely the biggest strength of the series is its cast. This is a lot different from your typical shonen leads, the main character Gon is a friendly lil boy who's amazingly perceptive. He isn't of the strongest characters of the series and his goal isn't to be the most powerful and this really sets him apart from most shonen protagonists. His allies Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio all have their own personalities and they play off each other real well. Kurapika being the best imo as his motives were fleshed out and was given great development in the second half of the series. What impressed me here was that there wasn't a character that I thought was annoying and this is rare cuz most anime have that one character that bother us. There were also some intriguing villains that were mad interesting but like most characters they weren't explored as much as I hoped. But then again the overall story here wasn't finished so it didn't help. For example I never really found out what Killua's main goal was. Was it just to follow Gon, idk to be honest. I feel like this cast would've been near flawless if they were explored more.
Final Verdict
Pros
+A fun adventurous story that's both fresh and exciting
+An original and well thought out cast that each have their own quirkiness
+Nen power system is arguably the best in all of anime
Cons
-Incompletion; storyline left a lot to be desired
-A lot of interesting characters that we didn't get to learn more about
-Production value could've been better
Personal Favorites
Characters: Kurapika, Killua, and Hisoka
Arc: Yorknew City
Fight: Gon vs Hisoka
Hunter X Hunter is a great series that suffered from incompletion. When the series stopped I was desperate for more cuz we we got was very good. It had a promising story with high potential, a likable cast with tons of interesting characters, and a power system that was so brilliantly thought out. However due to the manga going on hiatus it had no choice but to stop. I am aware that there's a 2011 reboot adaption and I'll get to that A$AP. If the reboot was able to fix most of the problems this version had then I'll have you know that I'm curious. For anime recommendations Yu Yu Hakusho as it was also made by Togashi and shonen phenomenon Naruto as it was influenced by this series and like show's action it required a lot of strategy and technique. Thanks everyone for reading and be aware of my next review of the 2011 adaptation.
Sub or Dub Recommendation: Sub
