Review of Hunter x Hunter
Why you should watch HxH? What things made me love this anime? Why is so great?... Hunter x Hunter 2011 is not flawless, it has boring moments, "meh" episodes and arcs. The animation is not surprisingly outstanding all the way trough, and (in more than one occasion) you just want some of the characters to die due to how annoying they are. So... why? Why is so good even after all this things? Well, lets view some aspects of the series... STORY: Gon wants to find he's dad, that's the story. Boring, no? Well that's because that is not the story. Hunter x Hunteris about a world, a world full of different scenarios, dramas, inner problems & people, and those people are alive in HxH (keep that in mind till we start talking about the characters).
Gon is just a tiny tiny grain of sand in a gigantic desert. Defining the "story" of Hunter Hunter in a few words is nearly impossible, so long story short, Hunter x Hunter 2011 is a huge world ready to be discovered.
ART & SOUND:
The art in HxH is great, colourful & picturesque scenarios, diverse and complex character designs, well achieved immersive effects, ej: the "nen auras" of some blood lust characters, the sensation of fear, panic and sadness.
But the thing that i like the most in the art of this series, are the elements of the real world that the author bring into his work. There are tons and tons of references, events and things of our world in the anime, for example the references towards Kim Jong-Un, Christianity, Buddhism, the atomic bombs of Hiroshima & Nagasaki, and more...
Sadness, overwhelming fear, happiness & joy, rage and epicness... You will not want the themes to end. The soundtracks of this series are not just complements, but emotions in its pure state and irreplaceable elements of the experience that is HxH. Pieces like "Theme of Kage & Rasetsu", "Netero's Theme/ Restriction and Pledge" and Shaiapouf playing the f*cking violin man! Those are things that make Hunter Hunter so characteristic.
CAST:
You see, the problem with other series is that, sometimes, the characters don't make synergy, sometimes they don't work out because they're not feel alive, the goals that they fought for doesn't convince us and when they form part of a group it feels like they're joined by convenience of the plot rather than by realistic true bound.
Togashi makes an outstanding work with his main cast and supporting characters, all of 'em are real personas, even the worst villains are full of hopes, aspirations and mindsets...
The Phantom Troupe or Gen'ei Ryodan are probably one of the best organisations in the entire anime, manga, and literary history at bound/ relationship level. They're a group of merciless dreadful bandits, but before all, they are a family. Each and all of the members truly cares about the rest (or at least the former ones) like they were a real bloodline family. You can feel the camaraderie between them and how the fight, tease, respect and love each other. Their bonds are so close that even if they are cold blooded assassins they will cry rivers and won't forgive anyone that hurts the other members of the Ryodan.
Besides their goal is not the cliche "We are *** and we will rule over the world" nah, their aspiration is to live free and do whatever they want, like a big family. And that's what makes them feel like proper people, they could be breaking in a art gallery and robbing all the art pieces, and just then go to their base to play card games and joke each other. The Phantom Troupe is not just a plot device, they are actual feeling people full of drives and emotions.
The Royal Guard, formed by Neferpitou/ Shaiapouf and Menthuthuyoupi are also a fascinating example of deep realistic characters.