Review of Hunter x Hunter

I am apprehensive in writing this review, for I am going against the crowd by not giving it an immediate 10/10 here, and HxH elitists might kill me for it, but please hear me out. Story: 7/10. Hunter x Hunter is definitely the superior shounen OF ITS TIME. It is hard to define "shounen," since it is not exactly a genre. Most people conjure action-packed series with clearly defined arcs that are loosely connected with each other upon hearing "shounen," so I will stick with this definition. There is no comparison between HxH and its contemporaries, such as Naruto and Bleach in terms of writing. It iscreative and unpredictable with complex character writing and profound philosophy woven in, and brings a breath of fresh air to the shounen genre.

However, Togashi's writing is not flawless, contrary to many HxH die-hard fans believe. The story, which is actually not very original if you think about it, doesn't go from good to great until Yorknew Arc, which I think most HxH fans can agree with. For shounen fans, it is fine, since they are in it for the action, but for someone who is more interested in the plot like me, HxH almost lost me at Heaven Arena arc. There are still a lot of plot conveniences which are typically found in shounens. The two protagonists, Killua and Gon, are way too lucky on their adventure. They always meet the right people at the right time who take interest in them out of nowhere. SPOILERS ALERT

There are seemingly asspulling resurrections, too. When Gon is critically injured, Killua suddenly remembers that he has a little sister named Alluka whom he completely forgets about up until now locked up in the basement at home and who possesses God-like power that can grant any wish, albeit with repercussions based on the law of equivalent exchange. However, Killua can make any wish without any consequences at all. Although the lack of consequences for Killua is nicely explained and becomes integral to Killua's character development, even if it is quite a convenience, the former is not. Alluka's existence was hinted at from the start, but her powers remained completely unknown. Her absurdly vast powers are revealed so late that a viewer cannot help but feel she is just a plot device to resurrect our beloved protagonist. It also becomes a plot hole of sorts, for why didn't Killua make a wish and wipe out all the villains to save the world in the preceding arc?

SPOILERS END

The Chimera Ant arc is hailed as the greatest arc of the series, and also the greatest shounen arc of all time, but I was utterly underwhelmed. The pacing was incredibly slow. I couldn't help skipping forward because I was tired of characters screaming "OUUU" and crying for episodes and episodes.

Art 8/10: There's nothing really special about the visuals, but the animation is great
Sound: 9/10 Awesome soundtrack
Character: 8/10. Definitely HxH's strongest point. All of the characters are fleshed out nicely and have good character development. Even the villains are complex and fascinating, notably fan-favorite Hisoka the psychopathic pedophilic clown and Mereum the powerful grotesque ant.
Enjoyment: 7/10. As I said before, I wasn't invested in the series until Yorknew Arc. This is purely subjective. I tried to be as objective as I could about other points, though.

Overall: 7/10. Solid anime.