Review of Hunter x Hunter
Hunter x Hunter 2011 (HxH) has its flaws, but it is overall the most enjoyable shounen out there. The music is very good and fitting for the scenes in the show. It has strong story arcs and moments, although 2 of the arcs are tedious. The characters are a bit shallow, but their actions and interactions are entertaining. The flaws of the show are a lot of the time buried in its strengths so they are inconsequential. Sometimes, however, you do notice them rear their ugly heads. Most of the popular shounen have one thing that sets them apart from every other one. For example,for Naruto it was the final villains and their backstories. For HxH, its biggest strength is its flexibility when it comes to morality. A protagonist might have an evil or a good background. A good person can do evil and an evil person can do good. Everything happens within its context and every case is taken separately. One good example is an antagonist trying to develop a protagonist so he can savor killing him brutally when he's stronger.
HxH is not interested in moral grandstanding. It's not about Gon talking down to every villain and doing self-righteous monologues. Everyone has their goals and they work towards them. Gon is a very useful plot device in that regard. A kid raised in the countryside whose end goal is to become a Hunter and in the process, learn what motivated his father to become a Hunter. Gon is curious to see and experience everything in his journey. Consequently, he tends to view things with interest rather than being judgemental. If Gon sees a technique for killing, his first reaction would be amazement rather than give a lecture on why killing is bad.
Most of the show follows Gon and Kilwa. Gon is the curious, whimsical but dauntless child who wears his heart on his sleeve. In contrast, his friend Kilwa is careful and calculated. Leorio is comedic relief. Kurapika is my least favorite character because he is self-righteous and edgy. However, the show handles him really well especially after the first arc. At some point you don't really see Leorio and Kurapika that much because it doesn't make sense for them to always be together, plot-wise.
It is best to view the plot as episodical rather than a continuous journey towards a certain goal. The structure of the show is multiple subplots that usually relate to some bigger overarching plot for a character. For example, an arc might be centered around achieving a certain objective which progresses Gon's end goal of finding his father.
The biggest weakness of HxH is two very tedious arcs. The Greed Island arc felt like a filler arc, except for the very end of it where they just randomly throw you a conclusion that progresses the story. I personally view it as the author wanting to do a fantasy anime on a whim. Similarly, the Chimera Ant arc felt like it lasted an eternity. To add insult to injury, the climax had some really long scenes where time is frozen and they just narrate what everyone is thinking. It had a few strong moments, but I wish it wasn't so stretched out.