Review of Hunter x Hunter

I don't usually write reviews, in fact this is my first one on this website. If I do write one, it's either because I consider a show absolutely worth it, really mediocre/bad, or simply overrated -- it could be good or bad, but gets more praise than it's worth. In this case it's the latter. I'll be blunt : Hunter x Hunter is the most overrated anime I've ever seen, and rarely ever criticized thoroughly ( because most haters just stop at "overrated" ). Thus, I believe I should give a more detailed review explaining why Hunter x Hunter is NOT a masterpiece. Please bearwith me as I do so.
Since I tend to be generous with my ratings I decided to be more honest here to really get my point across. The first three arcs of the show ( the Hunter Exam + Zoldyck Manor, Heaven's Arena and Yorknew City ) are actually quite solid, ny favorite being the Yorknew City arc, for obvious reasons. The Hunter Exam serves as a good way to start the series, introducing us to the concept of a Hunter ( though it's never exactly confirmed what a Hunter does ) , to our main characters and the world they live in. Their hopes, dreams and goals. Almost all of these characters are likeable and easy to root for, with the major exception of Hisoka who really is just a pedophile and the most overrated character in the entire show. The Hunter Exam, though not portrayed as deadly, is, in fact, very deadly. Dozens of people die after each stage which isn't made a big deal, strangely, apparently it's completely normal to send people to their deaths and forget them like that, but still an enjoyable arc.
Heaven's Arena is when we get introduced to the concept of Nen, the art of using one's aura, the energy of your soul, as a weapon. This becomes the main fighting system of the series, and is quite an interesting concept. Since everyone is different, everyone's aura manifests differently, leading to original fighting styles. Sadly, because of the sudden appearance of this magic system, the arc, holding lots of potential to dramatic fights against family or dangerous foe, was turned into a training arc. Lost potential.
Now here comes the best arc of the entire series. Kurapika, which up until now was really just the revenge guy of the group, very likeable but quite bland, suddenly shot up the ranks of my favorite characters in the show and took first place away from Killua. The coolest character, and the one that carried the entire arc. If it weren't for him, Yorknew City wouldn't have been half as good. This arc set the stage for great potential, great villains and side characters, Melody for example. Sadly, Hunter x Hunter did not take that opportunity and fell into the depths of the Abyss.
Now, the next arc, Greed Island, is not that bad in itself. We get introduced to Bisky, who is the only remotely important female in the cast. She's quite cool, but is also the only objectively good thing that happened in this arc. During these 17 episodes, we see the Phantom Troupe, the main villains of the story, looking for a Nen exorcist in the Greed Island game that might free their Boss from Kurapika's Judgment Chain curse. What happened to them ? Good question. There was indeed a Nen exorcist running around, but he just disappears and was never important anyway. We don't ever see the Phantom Troupe succeed or fail in their mission, we're just left to assume they didn't find him after the events of the next arc. We also discover that the game Greed Island was actually just an isolated island the players are transported to, they're not actually inside a game. The supposed NPCs are actually criminals chosen to act as NPCs. Isn't that super cool ? But we learn absolutely nothing about it. Gon, the main character, doesn't even try to figure it out, he just wants to enjoy the game. By the way, this arc was also about training, just wanted to make that clear. Also, the set plot form the first arc was for Gon to find his father. That's why he played this game, because he hoped to find clues about where he might be. But right off the bat we are told that there is absolutely no point in playing this game. No. Point. It was a pointless arc.
The worst arc in the show is by far the most popular and famous arc : Chimera Ants. Need I say more than it has terrible pacing ? Actually, yes. The pacing doesn't even begin to describe the boredom I felt during this arc. It had potential. Seeing the villain of the arc, Meruem grow human more and more after each episode was a pleasure. It was the only thing that I can truly give this arc credit for. The dammed narrator is also constantly babbling about the smallest detail, in the end we barely even hear the dialog anymore, it's just narration, narration and more narration. The same track is constantly used which in the end just makes everything feel pathetically unimportant. The raid, which if I remember correctly is only supposed to be less than an hour long, was stretched out into some 30 episodes ( more than that ) taking away all the weight it bore. I almost dropped the show during this arc simply because it was so stretched out.
And finally, the election. Gon is severely injured. He used up all his Nen, and his body is completely utterly shriveled. The only way to heal him that Killua could think of was to find his cursed sister, Alluka, who bears a second soul called Nanika ( "something" in Japanese ) that grants wishes after three requests were realized. All the while, Leorio, one of the other forgotten main characters, gets tangled up in an election to replace Chairman Netero who died during the Chimera Ant raid. And guess who attends the election ? Freaking Gon's dad.
So you're telling me that all this time, all this effort, everything the characters sacrificed, was for nothing ? Ging just needed to casually show up at an election, there was NO need for Gon to lose his Nen, for him to play Greed Island or get tangled up with the mafia in Yorknew City and if he became a Hunter just to find his dad, than that was useless too ! The entire series, everything we've been told, was made useless, and this extinguished the last tiny spark Hunter x Hunter had. So in conclusion, the plot of this show ? Not worth it. Heck, it's on hiatus , so there's still more to this atrocity called storytelling.
But let me talk about the characters for a second. Despite what I just said, the enjoyment you get from the show is genuine. It's far from a masterpiece, but it's a fun show to watch at 3 in the morning when you're going for one night without sleep. How so ? The characters, are for me, a 7 out of 10.
First we have our protagonist, Gon. He's a twelve year old Hunter who just wants to see his dad, the father he so admires. He's portrayed a sa sweet boy with lots of fighting potential, though he's quite dimwitted. He just wants to spend time with his friends, and is the most optimistic character I know in anime. But all throughout the show, we get hints that he's all messed up inside, that there's this lingering darkness that makes him... a psychopath. And by psychopath, I mean the actual mental disease, not the serial killer that everyone likes, like Juuzou Suzuya or Junko. He probably is the character with the least empathy in the show. He doesn't care about who he doesn't know, and doesn't try to know them. He doesn't try to put himself in other people's shoes. That's Gon.
Killua, a former twelve year old assassin from a reputed assassin family, is the one you'd think is most likely to be the psychopath. But in fact, he's probably, with Leorio, the sanest person in the show. He's a down-to-earth guy who doesn't take the same enjoyment Gon does when his life is at stake ( because that's something Gon enjoys for some reason ), and actually cares about the people around him. He feels for them, even those he always quarrels with. Take Palm or the octopus guy for example. He keeps fighting with Palm, but it's precisely because of that that he'd trust her with his life. The octopus guy (forgot his name, sorry ), a Chimera Ant that he BEFRIENDED, because he admired his courage and loyalty to his comrades. People who never watched Hunter x Hunter probably think he's popular because he's a badass. Those who've actually watched to show would disagree, because he's much more than that. That's Killua.
Leorio is, in my opinion, very boring and annoying. During the election, he recklessly dragged himself into problems he couldn't care less about and neither did we. He kept talking about Gon and how Gon sacrificed himself and how he cares about nothing else but Gon and how his father should just go die because he's not visiting Gon. I'll admit that Ging is a jerk, but Leorio is just acting childish here. However his ambitions are understandable, and his dreams are honest. Like Melody said, he's still a kind and gentle person, and would make an excellent doctor.
Now, my favorite character, Kurapika. Wasted potential, if you ask me. Right when he gets super cool he completely disappears from the show and never reappears again. He doesn't answer the damn phone calls but he should, and that is just lazy writing in my opinion. Thus, just when Kurapika became the coolest dude ever, he vanished forever.

So that's my overall thoughts on Hunter x Hunter. I used a lot of strong words for this, but really did enjoy watching the show. It has many flaws that I wanted to make light on, but other than that, if you're even just a little interested in Hunter x Hunter, you would get at least some enjoyment from it. 7/10