Story: Truly the easiest way to break down the story, is to just talk about the arc system. The show consists of a half dozen arcs that all work up to the penultimate arc, the Chimera Ant arc. Character motivation, plot lines, power levels, etc. mostly come to a head in this arc. This seems to be the reason the show was remade, as I think the original stopped just before the Chimera Ant arc. You can also tell that this was the story the creators wanted to tell, as the story uncharacteristically slows WAAAAY down and takes its time with the arc and makes sure it gets every detail and domino in place. But to get there, we have to go through a few arcs, or this shit won’t make any sense.
*This will contain minor spoilers*
First, we have the Hunter Exam arc. This is where we learn about the two main characters Gon and Killua; as well as a good handful of other reoccurring characters. I guess the best way I can summarize this arc, is that it is a less good chunin exam.
The next arc, is what I refer to as, “that battle tower arc.” The arc, as a whole, is boring but mercifully short and has 2 things going for it. There’s the Gon and Hisuka fight, which is A+. There is also the introduction of the shows power gimmick, Nen. I will not get into it here as it super complicated, but it pretty much means that if a character has a weird ability, it is from this aura based power.
Next up, is Yorknew City and this is where the show finally grabbed me. The two main characters need to get a rare video game, so they go to the auction house in Yorknew city. The only problem is, that other people want this game as well. What ensues, is probably the best heist arc I have seen in a shonen. Now there are better shows whose focus is a heist. However, if we are talking about a battle shonen that must change gears and become a heist anime, this is likely the best. One Piece just finished the Whole Cake Island arc, which was at its core, is a heist arc. However, One Piece could not resist turning back into a battle shonen. HXH 2011 sticks to its guns and subverts a lot of expectations. There are not many fights and I do not think Gon and Killua have a fight. The arc is masterfully planned out and very enjoyable. This is why it pains me to say that this arc is the only truly skippable arc. There is not much that happens in this arc to affect the over arcing story. Hell, even the video game quest is solved in the beginning of the next arc. I would not recommend skipping the Yorknew City arc, but if you really want to cut corners, this is the arc to cut.
Next, we have the Greed island arc and the less said about this the better. It is the worst arc in the series by far and its only redeeming qualities is a dodgeball game at the end, and that it shows Gon and Killua training. It is a training arc essentially.
Next up, is the slow burn that is the Chimera Ant arc. Going in, I saw a bit of a divided opinion on this arc and judging by a lot of reviews I am not sure if this is actually the mac daddy arc I thought it was going in. But forgetting all that noise, I really liked this arc. Maybe it is because I’m a One Piece, Naruto and DBZ fan but the length and pace did not bother me at all. The only pacing issues I had were the sub-arc that the show takes after the beginning. Things were moving along at a nice pace. Then some shit happens and our MCs, and the camera, go off for like a dozen eps to train more. My other problem is with the palace invasion sub-arc. This is where the show really slows down and takes a whole episode to cover a ten second span of time. This is where the narrator got paid for overtime as he explains everything that is happening. It is actually fascinating to watch the amount of detail and callbacks that this part of the arc does. However, it can also get annoying after a while. I do not think this arc is as good as the Yorknew arc. But it is still up there with some of the better pure shonen arcs that I can think of.
Finally, we have probably the second worse arc in the series to wrap things up….yaaaay. this is the election/Killua family drama arc. Due to the aftermath of the Chimera Ant arc, an election for leader of the hunter association is needed. While that stuff is going on, Gon is in critical condition in the hospital and Killua is trying to heal him. Overall, this last arc is kind of deflating after the previous arc.
Art: The show is by Madhouse, so you know it is going to look good and have some well animated fight scenes. I will say that outside of a handful of fights the animation gets a little choppy and blurry. There are also some points when characters are just still and thinking, but that happens in every shonen. The character designs outside of Gon, Killua and their 2 friends is solid. Gon’s design is absolute shit, and Killua’s is so bland. From the clips I have seen of the original version, I would have like that art style better. But it is tough to ignore the polish that Madhouse puts on the show.
Sound: The sound is average. The op and ed are nails on a chalkboard annoying. However, the remixes of those songs throughout the show are a little better. Probably because it takes the singer out. Aside from those, the music can be hit or miss. SFX are also kind of generic.
Characters: I personally do not like the characters in this show. I was going to give characters a 3, because I only liked maybe 5 characters. Hisoka, the ant king, the blind girl, the smoke guy, and Pitou. Everyone else, I was either indifferent to or out right hated like Gon and Killua. I hated how unshakably stupid and reckless Gon was in the show and every time he got in over his head the show bailed him out, so he did not learn his lesson. Killua was super arrogant and that does not change much throughout the show. However, I can see and understand other people enjoying Gon and Killua as well as some of the side characters so with a good conscience it is a 6.
Overall, I liked HXH 2011 way more than I thought I would. While my opinion did not change on the characters, there was a well-built world and story to distract me. I can definitely see why people rewatch this show. I can also see why it could be some people’s favorites. Is it the best shonen ever? Probably not. It is not that HXH 2011 is the best shonen ever. It isolates the best arc from that point in the manga and the moments that are necessary for the good arc to make sense. It also does not take very long to do so relative to other ip in the genre. However, I am sure that the same treatment could be done with Naruto, One Piece, DBZ, etc. But if you do not have time for those giant series’ then HXH 2011 has all the same troupes and does most of them competently to amazingly. Sorry for this being such a along review. I had to cut it down from like 4 1/2 pages of note.
