Reviews

Hunter X Hunter is one of the greatest anime of all time, and I'm not kidding. It was amazing, and did so many new things while not doing that many things. It was genius. Hunter X Hunter may seem to not have a new premise: boy goes looking for his dad, he's pretty strong, he makes friends along the way. Except the show uses this premise to do it's own stuff. The boy is strong, sure. But he's really nothing in the grand scheme of things. In fact, compared to other people he meets in just the first 10 episodes, he's a complete weakling. Gon(the boy) does make friends, but it's not like he's always with them. In fact, most of the time it's just him and his best bud Killua adventuring, while his friends are off doing their own crap. I think in some aspects, HxH is a deconstructionist. It deconstructs the shonen hero, the transformation that shonen heroes make, shonen villains, and more. The power system is completely different from anything I've seen before. It's called nen, and it brings out the strategic side of battles a lot. Fights are never a contest of strength. The story is split into different arcs: The Hunter Exam Arc, The Zoldyck Family Mansion Arc, The Heavens Arena Arc, The Yorknew City Arc, The Greed Island Arc, The Chimera Ant Arc and the 13th Chairman Election Arc. Each arc has its own unique premise, and always develops the characters. The Hunter exam is about Gon tryna take an exam to become a Hunter. The Zoldyck Family Arc follows Gon and his friends tryna save one of their friends. The heavens arena arc follows Gon and his bestie, Killua, as they participate in a tournament. Yorknew City follows Kurapika, one of Gon's friends, as Gon is put in the backseat. The greed island arc follows Gon and Killua playing a video game(don't worry its way more interesting then that). The chimera ant arc once again follows Gon and Killua, but this time to play a smaller role, and its about revenge and other deep stuff(lol) as Gon and co. take on a force way stronger than them. And the election arc is bassicly a epilouge. Each arc is good in it's own way, but I truly think the show is at its best during the chimera ant arc. It's a dark shift in tone, and it's amazing. Of course the show has problems. There is slow pacing at the start, and I'm always gonna reccomend that you get through the first 3 episodes because those are the slowest and most boring. The music is beautiful, and its all just great. The music is amazing in the later arcs of the show, mainly Yorknew and the chimera ant arc. The character is amazing. Gon has amazing devolopment, Killua too. All of the side characters get time to shine, and they aren't thrown to the side like some other shonen(Naruto, DBZ I'm looking at you.) Character deaths carry weight, and it hurts when deaths happen. I enjoyed it, but almost every arc except the heavens arena arc and the chimera ant arc as well as the election arc have slow starts. Esspecially Greed Island. SO overall. it's an amazing show that deserves way more attention and love than it gets. Please check it out. You won't be dissapointed.