Review of Hunter x Hunter
‘There’s nothing new,’ George Lucas once said. Indeed, indeed. Despite the discourse surrounding it, Hunter x Hunter (in all of its incarnations) is a deeply shallow series with barely anything new in it for those who have basic understanding of art, anime, manga and culture. I have experienced loads of different art during childhood, boyhood and adulthood. As one grows up, you (hopefully) become more aware of the world and how, with regards to art, the sausage is made. Fist of the North Star, Dragon Ball, Ranma and other series during the 80s were inspired by wuxia and wuxia-inspired works. Even Togashi himself was inspired bythat with regards to Yū Yū Hakusho.
With all this in mind, what Togashi has done here with Hunter x Hunter is nothing short of a massive disappointment for people who have actually dared to have an interest in the world. For starters, the characters are for the most part bland and the ones that actually are interesting have usually been handled much better in other works for actual adults (yes, folks, Hunter x Hunter is a show for literal kids. Get over it, buster). There's just nothing new.
In fact, that "there's nothing new" works on multiple planes for this series.
Hunter x Hunter has been adapted multiple times before this series. There was the 1998 OVA, the 1999 adaptation and then several OVAs that followed up on the story from the adaptation from 1999. Those still suffered from having a bad premise to begin with (the manga is bad in and out of itself), but the adaptation from 1999 was at the very least interesting since that series actually had quite impressive animation for a TV anime. This adaptation is bland from beginning and the animation only picks up at episodes in the late 70s if I remember correctly. Other than that, the animation is very stale for huge parts and the series is overly bright for a vast majority of the time.
That "there's nothing new" can also be said of a key aspect of the series. Huge inspiration is taken from wuxia, but it is only ever used at a shallow level to the point that the show suffers for it. Loads of lore and "systems" doesn't necessarily make for an interesting series. There is supposed to be an incredibly breathtaking battle in the series between two incredibly strong fighters later in the series, but it only showcases that Fist of the North Star and Dragon Ball did it better way before this series even hit the pages of Weekly Shōnen Jump. As the saying goes: being newer doesn't always mean better. Abilities and worldbuilding deftly handled in those series are instead presented as "mind-blowing" in Hunter x Hunter and act as time-filler until the episodes inevitably ends.
On the whole, my main takeaway from this series (and general "anime/manga fandom") is that there is a bubble of sorts. Too many people staunchly refuse to experience beyond what they know and consume the same crappy modern Weekly Shōnen Jump titles that are doing nothing interesting or even well to begin with. Every time you watch a series like this you are (1) robbing yourself of experiencing more challenging/intriguing works for adults and (2) effectively contributing to the complete and utter annihilation of works for adults. Good Lord, put down your copy of Weekly Shōnen Jump/Star Wars/Lord of the Rings/The Hunger Games/Modern-day Dragon Ball/Naruto/Boruto/Seven Deadly Sins/Demon Slayer/My Hero Academia/Gintama/Bleach/Negima/Solo leveling/Tower of God/One Piece/Mandalorian/DCEU/Marvel or any other of that crap and try out actual works for adults because utilizing those works for the kind of escapism that anime/manga fandom is suffering from is in no way, shape or form even remotely healthy. You don't have to kneel before your corporate overlords and accept their garbage/lick their boot.
To summarize: there's nothing new and your time is better spent elsewhere. In fact, stop using anime and manga for escapism and actually acknowledge that you are a human being living with other people. Be critical. Participate in demonstrations, organize politically, develop new skills (learning a new language perhaps?), fight bigotry and help POC (people of color), attend university, find friends or deepen your bonds with existing friends. Good Lord, do something else. Anime and manga is a form of medium for art and just like any other medium, there can be good, bad or mediocre works. Just like how certain movies/books/games/television shows etc. don't cut the mustard, some anime and manga works also do not cut the mustard. Unfortunately, Hunter x Hunter is one of those works.