Review of Hunter x Hunter

Tbh idk why I love this show so much, it wasn’t a part of my childhood it was just a show that I decided to watch out of the blue. In my opinion my review cannot do this anime justice and I cannot recommend this show enough. Story- 10/10: To start off, the anime, in my opinion, is very fun to watch. It consists of 7 arcs, which are all different in mood/atmosphere from the previous arc. This difference makes it very refreshing to watch and is what captivated me. While I’ve watched HxH twice, I was never bored in my second watch despite it onlybeing a couple of months since I finished the show the first time. This show, in my second watch, was almost the thing that made me cry (which means a lot cuz I do not remember the last time I cried due to emotions). Despite already knowing what was going to happen, my eyes were tearing up in the emotional scenes and I couldn’t stop shaking in tense scenes. The animation, the soundtrack, and the voice acting all blends in beautifully to make, in my mind, a masterpiece. I will admit I have seen/heard criticisms of either the show starting off slow or there are points in which it feels slow, but I believe that the payoffs are great that makes the show worthwhile.

As I stated previously that the mood of one arc is different than the one it succeeds, but the transitions are very natural. Although this is listed as a shounen I feel this is different from other shounens, not because it has aspects that are dark (a point I hear often), but because it feels realistic. While most of the other shounens I have watched is mainly a battle of brute strength and where the main protagonist receives a power boost with seemingly little to no consequence to beat the overpowered villain, HxH’s fights are mainly strategy based and there are consequences/limits to the power the protagonists get. This can be attributed to the power scale, nen, which I will not specify due to this review being very long. Also the fights last like 1 or 2 episodes unlike shows like Dragon Ball where the final battle, in my opinion, feels overdrawn by lasting over double digit episodes. The last point I want to bring up is that the fact that there is a fine line between good and evil. There were episodes where I went in feeling really excited for what was to happen but by the end of the episode was questioning whether what occurred felt right. While we are led to believe that we should root for the protagonist and whatever they do, this show often pushes the boundaries and leaves you questioning if it is right to root for the protagonist to continue on the road they are going.

Art- 10/10: The bright colors of this show makes it seem like it's a happy show, and this is a perfect illustration of don’t judge a book by its cover. The animation played an integral role in keeping me immersed in the show. The art portrayed the emotions of the scenes very well, for example in episode 130 the use of color (all blue or all red) gave a stronger impact for the scene. The occasional usage of black and white and then a sudden introduction of another color, like red, was very pleasing to look at.

I will talk about voice acting in art because I believe that voice acting is a form of art. The sub voice actors were perfect for their roles, and played probably the biggest part in pulling of my heartstrings in almost making me cry or feeling extremely tense. The episodes I want to specifically point out are 116, 130 and 131 for Gon’s voice actor, as she made me feel either fear to the point where I was holding my breath or tense to the point were I was constantly getting chills down my spine. The voice for Killua makes him extremely likable (in my opinion), and had some influence in him being my favorite character in all of anime.

Sound- 9.5/10: I really love the ost for this show as it further strengthened the emotional and tense scenes, especially in the Chimera Ant Arc. There are a few flaws, which I did not mind, for example there were one or two scenes where the music didn’t necessarily fit the mood of the scene, like the Kurapika vs Uvo fight scene. Also the opening never changed for the entire series, but the music was good so I did not mind at all.

Characters- 9/10: This show have some of my favorite characters from all of anime, the only reason why it doesn’t get a perfect score would be because there are a bit too many characters (like the introduction of the Zodiacs in the last arc was not long enough for me to feel anything for these characters). A simple explanation can be that the manga is not done (currently in hiatus) and the anime concluded with the story of Gon, at least from my perspective (Gon can potentially come back in the manga but I do not know). The main cast is excellent and in my opinion there are no definitive main protagonist. This is my assumption because while the story does follow Gon and Killua for most of the anime, the York New City Arc put Kurapika in the spotlight. The only main character that did not get a fair amount of screen time was Leorio, but he is very likable in the times he is present. The changes in the other three protagonists were excellent, I do not want to say development (and I want to limit the spoilers), but the changes that the characters go through makes you feel for the characters and get invested in their adventure. The initial impression of the main protagonists, including Leorio, is very different from how you feel about them as you go through the show.

The antagonists were probably my favorite in all of the anime I’ve watched, especially Meruem and the Chimera Ants. My initial thoughts of these ants were nowhere close to what I thought of them by the conclusion of the arc. Hisoka, while not my favorite, is very intriguing. While I often hear about how poor of an antagonist Genthru is, I believe it is because he is compared to the other antagonist in this story. I believe that he is the perfect antagonist for that arc, without saying any spoiler keep in mind he is the antagonist of the GREED Island arc. The Phantom Troupe is also very fascinating as I believe that the York New City Arc is only the tip of the iceberg in their development.

I haven’t even touched on the other side characters that played a vital role in the show. They are great and crucial in the way they help shape either the protagonists and the antagonists. Lastly, the narrator is a point of division in the fact that either you like his role or feel that is overused. While I felt that his role was necessary, a lot of people feel that he plays too large of a role.

Enjoyment- 10+/10: To me a 10/10 isn’t enough to show how much I enjoyed the anime. Despite the fact that it was my second watch, I had little issues in binging the show as I consistently watch 15 episodes in a day when I had the time. While after my first watch it wasn’t my favorite show, I kept coming back to it, often watching youtube videos about Hunter x Hunter. During my rewatching of the show I realized how much I loved this show and led to me believing that this is my favorite show.

Overall- 10/10

Conclusion: I do not know if my review (if it can even be called a review), can show how much I love this show. I believe this is a show that you should experience at least once. This is completely my own opinion and obviously there are others that will disagree, but I believe there will be at least one thing that you will enjoy from watching this show. I want to leave a quote from this show that I feel best illustrates what this show is about (so potential SPOILERS):

“You should enjoy the little detours to the fullest. Because that's where you'll find the things more important than what you want.”