Hunter X Hunter came in my country in 2005, in a period in which Naruto and One Piece were at their peak. At that time, I used to ignore it, because I did not really like the art style and the protagonist. Fast forward to 2016, I decided to watch it after a friend called it his favourite anime.
My younger self was very very wrong: Hunter X Hunter is awesome.
Gon Freecs is a young boy who has grown up on an island with his aunt and the animals that live in a nearby forest. One day, a man tells him that a man named Ging Freecs is his master. Understanding that he's his father, Gon decide to take on a journey to meet him, and the first thing to do is to become a Hunter.
What is a Hunter, you may ask. In this world, Hunter are very skilled men and women who are specialized in one particular field. There are Hunters who are, basically, mercenary, others who care about cooking and precious ingredients, other that are archaeologists.
This thing alone already would create a gigantic World Building: since Hunter are so different, Gon and his friends could meet any kind of opponent or ally. Not only that, but the power system that Togashi created is incredibly detailed: the Ren system, some sort of spiritual energy not unlike Naruto's chakra (which is clearly based on Ren), is so well explained and it is so balanced that you could think is something that actually exists.
Aside from that, the world of Hunter X Hunter is a different version of ours, with the same islands, cities and continents, but in different places.
Other things that make Hunter X Hunter so beautiful to watch are its atmosphere, at start very light-hearted and cheerful, but that becomes incredibly bleak after the first 25-or so episodes, and the fact that, despite being clearly aimed at a younger audience (let's say, 12-15 years old), it covers very dark subjects, such as death, greed, delinquency and violence.
Characters grow very interestingly, along the series, being constantly separated and reunited by the events of their life and their jobs.
Artistically speaking, if you like 90s' aesthetic, you will without a doubt love Hunter X Hunter. Especially in the OAV episodes, the use of color is very intelligent, and the beautiful direction makes many moment feel very tense and/or full of horror.
There aren't real cons in Hunter X Hunter, because it is actually very well done. The only thing you could dislike is the ending, which, considering that the manga is still ongoing to this day, is not very satisfying, but, considering what the studio could do at the time, it's the best we can get.
So, if you like typical shonen anime, with a lot of action, charismatic characters and bizarre superpowers, Hunter X Hunter is what you are looking for.
