Review of Hunter x Hunter

A friend of mine once old me: watch Hunter x Hunter! It's THE shonen - the pinnacle of it. A while later, I was on holiday in Greece, where I typically go to visit my grandparents, and whilst browsing Netflix I discovered they had this very show. Curious and encouraged by my friend's love of the show, I decided to give it a go. I reached episode 50, and a year later, returned with two goals in mind. Firstly, I needed to have a great holiday and enjoy my break from work. Secondly, I had to finish Hunter x Hunter. I commited to the show,calculating how many episodes I would need to watch daily and excluding any days I was too busy. Now, on the final day of my Summer, the day before I return to my boring grind, I have finally watched all 148 episodes. Was it worth it, and was my friend right? Read on.

STORY: 8 (Very Good)/10
The story of Hunter x Hunter, being a 100+ episode show, is comprised of multiple arcs that are not of the same level of writing. Therefore, I would like to review them individually. Since this will obviously contain spoilers, skip to the bottom paragraph of this section if you wish to avoid them.

ARC 1 - Hunter Exam - 7 (Good)/10
This served as a solid introduction to the series, and introduced some of its best characters - as the first arc typically does. It had some very simplistic parts, as the exam also comprises of multiple phases, but it captured the ‘adventure’ part of the show well.
ARC 2 - Zoldyck Family - 7 (Good)/10
As much as I enjoyed the Zoldycks as characters, their arc wasn’t too exciting, but it had some decent parts. To me, it seemed filled with a lot of filler sections and unneeded parts, but it did manage to show the extremities of the family.
ARC 3 - Heaven’s Arena - 7 (Good)/10
This arc received an extra point for the introduction of possibly my favourite power system yet – Nen. This vastly varying power is similar to the quirks of My Hero Academia in the aspect that it allows for nearly any ability to exist. This makes the fights of this arc exciting and different, but it was overall a standard tournament arc with almost no stakes and only three previously introduced characters.
ARC 4 - Yorknew City - 7 (Good)/10
Yorknew City is the earliest arc that I have heard praise for in the story, and I was excited to see what would happen in it. The premise didn’t seem too interesting, but I loved Kurapika’s part in this arc – unfortunately the last time he is part of the remaning story covered by the anime. The Phantom Troupe were also a great villain group, and it is a shame they are not mainstay antagonists.
ARC 5 - Greed Island - 6 (Fine)/10
During Greed Island, Gon goes on a video game styled adventure that excited me as a premise, but in reality, added almost nothing to the story except the fact that it was a gateway into the next arc, and was definitely the worst in my opinion. It wasn’t by any means bad, and it was exciting to see Gon and Killua’s new signature techniques, but it featured by far the most forgettable and last-minute villain of the show. The best parts of this arc for me were Gon, Killua and Hisoka’s team up and the newly intoduced character Bisky.
ARC 6 - Chimera Ant - 8 (Very Good)/10
By far the longest arc in the show, the Chimera Ant arc also featured an almost entirely new cast of characters, many of which I enjoyed, and a darker tone that earned this arc a higher age rating than all the rest. It featured most of the show’s exciting fights and though-provoking antagonists. It only dissapoints me that all but one of the high-ranking villains were defeated by essentially being bombed, but they all had their own fights anyway. The remaing antagonist had the best demise in the show in my opinion, with the only transformation the show has. Kite’s death was also well-written: all of Gon’s struggles were for nothing and Kite had already been dead. Another excellent ending was that of the main antagonist Meruem. I only wonder if he won that last game of Gungi…
ARC 7 - 13th Chairman Election - 9 (Great)/10
Despite being one of the shortest arcs, this one was defnititely my favourite. From the carefully planned chairman elections where Leorio becomes a surprise top candiate to Killua’s stuggle for his sister’s (sisters’?) freedom against Illumi’s cruelty, and Gon finally finding his father, this arc never dissapointed. I loved seeing Alluka’s history and her frightening power. This arc spectacularly managed to give a great ending to a story that hasn’t even ended yet. In fact, the ending feels more like a beginning, and makes the entire series so far feel like a prologue, like Luffy’s now dwarfed journey to the Grand Line. Each of the final three episodes could have been the last and left me content.

Overall, Hunter x Hunter’s story, with the exception of the Greed Island arc, only gets better and better. Although the first five are a slow build up of the action yet to come, especially the first three, it is only in terms of episodes half the show. By continuing to beat itself and keep improving, it makes the story of Hunter x Hunter a very rewarding one.

ART: 7 (Good)/10
The animation of Hunter x Hunter was not bad at all - but not amazing either. However, it is a more action and story focused show and does not need incredible animation to make it a worthwhile watch. I am sure it would have been closer to the best in 2011, when it first aired.

SOUND: 7 (Good)/10
Hunter x Hunter only has one opening theme for all 148 epsiodes (though the animation and verses of the song at the beginning of each episode change from arc to arc), and this theme also is played as an instrumental throughout, especially during the first few arcs. I see a large majority deem the best song from it to be the ending theme of the Yorknew City arc, a statement I also agree with. The voice acting is also good - fitting for each character, and the emotional scenes were done well.

CHARACTER: 8 (Very Good)/10
Alongside the power system and the final arc, this was one of my favourite parts of the show. Hunter x Hunter features a wide variety of diverse allies and foes, with many new ones coming and going from arc to arc making for an exciting change and a large cast. The last two arcs add a great amount of new characters which became some people’s favourites, and many of them almost introduce an entirely new cast, bar the main characters Gon and Killua and a familiar face here and there. There is almost certainly a character for you in this show.

ENJOYMENT: 8 (Very Good)/10
As stated at the beginning, I watched Hunter x Hunter with a one year gap in between episode 50 and 51, so what I say does not apply to the first third of the show.

Hunter x Hunter offers almost everyone something – for me it was the excitement of the adventure and the large cast of characters to learn about. I definitely enjoyed this show more and more as I progressed through it.

Now, to answer the questions I opened at the beginning of my review. Was it worth it, and was my friend right?

I can instantly say that it was worth it. This was a great anime to spend my last two Summers watching, and the story only gets more rewarding as you progress. However, saying it was ‘THE shonen’ – not for me. Hunter x Hunter was certainly above average, and it could be the one for you, but it hasn’t topped my current favourites. If you’ve got 2960 minutes to spare, no matter how long you spread it out over, I definitely recommend you give this show a go - join the hunt!