The beginning of Hunter x Hunter was amazing. However, around the end of the Chimera Ant arc, I encountered changes which really turned me off.
I don't like how every single of one the characters became like 800 IQ and forcing the reader to read their thoughts as they describe a whole quantum-physics theory or something during the 10 seconds where it was supposed to play out.
This continued and took a stronger turn after it. It just became... not fun to read.
All of a sudden, the manga was filled with unnecessary characters, unnecessary world-building, unnecessary events, unnecessary monologues and dialogues. They are unnecessary, since I didn't find most of them relevant to the story at all. Stuff just came and went without any impact or having consequences.
Since Hunter x Hunter is a shonen, it stuns me how instead of exciting scenes, we get hundreds of boring chunks of texts.
In my opinion, Togashi tried to make Hunter x Hunter much more than what it should be for its own good.
I get that since it started more than 20 years ago, the creator wanted to give the now mature audience more 'mature' content. I get the feeling it could appeal to some people, but this isn't Hunter x Hunter anymore which I enjoyed once.
I gave it a chance, as after watching the anime, I've caught up with the manga. I really tried to like it, and while I can't say that I didn't get some enjoyment out of it, it was overshadowed by the downs.
If I'd had to rate first half of it, it would definetely be a 9 or 10. Due to my problems with it, it became a weak 6 for me.
