Review of Hunter x Hunter

Wow, just wow. When I first saw Hunter x Hunter getting all the praise it was getting and how my friends are constantly recommending the show to me, I can't help but wonder why and how one could get such excellent ratings. Of course, this is only natural for an outsider to wonder and since it has an overwhelming yet not so many numbers of episodes, I did hesitate to watch it. It was then a year after first knowing Hunter x Hunter later after watching a few long-running shounen such as Black Clover and Naruto that I have decided to finally watch it andboy did I not regret it.

I'll start this off by talking about the story, one of Hunter x Hunter's best strengths. I'll be honest and say that this is probably the most down-to-earth shounen that you could find out there. Everything that happens is most likely what would've happened in reality if Hunter x Hunter were to be real-life and most of the new elements that were introduced in the show are thoroughly explained, even the minor details. The logic was also on point in the show, there was almost little to no element that did not make any sense in here and it is not riddled with plot armor, something we don't usually see in shounens. The transition from arc to arc is amazing as well, this is minor but makes the experience too much better in my opinion. Saying all that, the story itself is really good in its own rights. Hunter x Hunter holds some of the most well-written arcs, if not, the best in the shounen genre. The fluidity, pacing, and overall how eye-catching each arc is, is just amazing. The writing in here just wipes the floor if you compare it with other shounen. Though after all that I just gave it a 9, why? This is peak level nitpicking here but it's because although it's one of the finest in the shounen genre, it still lacks some elements such as lore and foreshadowing. It's a very clean and linear storyline that is pretty easy to understand and while I am not saying that is a bad thing and I do know that some people do prefer less complex stories as opposed to complex ones, I just feel like it just lacks in that area and that is what puts it below shows like Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood in terms of writing. But in terms of pure, shounen-styled stories, it's a straight 10.

In terms of animation or art, this is a big win for me. It has a simple yet elegant approach to the art and it worked wonders, I have learned to not judge an anime by its art style after watching BNHA and that statement stays true until now. Of course, at this time(2011), there are already high-quality animations running around such as Fate/Zero and 5 Centimeters Per Second but the thing that has impressed me so much is that the level of consistency Madhouse has brought to the anime in the whole of 148 episodes. From episode 1 to 148, the animation has been nothing short of sublime, and whilst some episodes might not be as colorful as the other, the animation stays true and there are no random spikes and drops in quality. But yes, this time I am not going to nitpick just because it doesn't have Fate level animation, I acknowledge the difference between a 24 episode show that has the best of the best animation quality vs a 148 episode show that has consistent and great animation quality and I can only give praise for that.

The sounds are overall good, having good voice acting with consistency but well that's the standard for any anime today and 10 years ago, good voice acting so I won't say too much on that. My main criticism is the points where some OSTs are played where it just doesn't sound right and maybe on slightly tweaked circumstances might sound a lot better, it just didn't work at said times and there are a few times where that happened. My other criticism is that there was practically only a single opening song that was showcased and whilst that doesn't bother most people, as an opening guy myself it just feels a little repetitive hearing the same openings over and over again and while I am aware that there are 3 versions, 2 of them sounds almost the same and the second version has the same tune so the feeling of 'repetitiveness' will stay but other than that, everything's good in this department, especially the endings.

The characters are where Hunter x Hunter is honestly unrivaled at, at least for shounens. The show has such a large cast of characters and what amazes me is how they can cater to all the characters, giving each one of them some importance to the show. Every character has their ideals and most of the time isn't the usual cliched character that people would call 'generic'. Character development is amazing too, you can clearly tell the difference between some characters when they were introduced until a few tens or hundred episodes later, how they changed whether it'd be physically, mentally, or relationship-based. Some characters have some bizarre ideals but after thinking about it, might be agreeable. They even give the backstories to minor characters. Overall the depth they give to each character is just amazing.

Overall, I just enjoyed Hunter x Hunter very much. Out of the 148 episodes, I don't think I got bored at any of the episodes that were displayed. It is a very good show and perhaps the best in the shounen genre. Shame it ended on a somewhat incomplete ending if you'd like to say it that way and it will probably not continue for a while or perhaps ever looking at the pace of where a single chapter releases. It was a great, fun rollercoaster ride filled with thrills and emotion but I guess all good things do come to an end.