Review of Hunter x Hunter
Spoilers Alert Spoilers Alert Spoilers Alert ★ Story: 6 . Inconsistency. Gon's mindless Ging-hunting. Both his parents abandoned him. As a proof of disinterest in his biological mother he said, "Mito is my mom." But for some strange reason he is curious about the man who fathered him and followed his dangerous footsteps as a hunter to track him down.... yeah makes sense! But I'll let that slip. Two words: DAMN ANTS. What's more to say? The show started out slowly and then it got REAL good as the characters and plot progressed... before finally taking a steep turn downhill washing off all the glory and fun in the early episodes.The *building of Ant Chimera arc was abysmally paced, boring, illogical, an almost pointless torture to watch that I had to speed them up by x2. As if all the training in the heavens arena with Wings and green world with Biscuit never happened, the boys were cripplingly powerless against some baby ant chimeras that were just born days ago.
However that said, the ending of this arc was pretty neat with King and Komugi together. Some clear moral lessons slipped here and there. Just wished neko-Pitou didn't have to die as a villain. Such a shame. Unlike Pouf, she still had a bit of humanity in her. Nonetheless her regrettable death leaves a lesson; that with trickery and deceit even good potential allies can turn bad. I swear Pouf is the true villain there. On the flip side, he shows perspective on how even villains have someone they genuinely care about and want to protect. Pretty rich. We label others as evil when we don't share their morals and line of thought. We tend to forget that despite his crimes, Pouf harboured well intentions for the king just like the other royal guards - except in his own approach. Or so the anime tried to portray.. The fact remains, his actions are still selfish and clearly against his King's will. Deciding what is best for others is not a good thing. Giving them understanding and reasoning - through honesty and communication.. nothing beats that. Meruem, the chimera king who was supposed to take over the world seemed to understand this better than any other character in the anime. We could all apply this in parenting and relationships: to communicate with words and not one-sidedly decide what's best for the person you love.
★ Art: 9 .
Expressive art, great details, very fluid animation, great directing, effective closeup captures and film techniques.
★ Sound: 7 .
catchy OP/ED, impressive bg music placement- does the job but nothing remarkable, whole cast replaceable except for hisoka's unique voice actor.
★ Characters: 10 .
The main villains, the zoldycks and hisoka saved the show for me. They're the true appeal in this anime.
Gon. Everything conveniently revolved around him, he repeatedly received help from others despite his selfishness. In normal situation, this would've been very irritating; had he never admitted his mistakes and apologised. It's scarce to see a protagonist consecutively making gravely wrong decisions and admitting it. I find that very realistic and educational. On another note, I disagree with how in the first episodes the author chose to praise/reward Gon's neutrality in morality. Not having and acting on conscience is not exactly a good trait. As a wise quote says; silence in the face of injustice is siding with the oppressor. Gon not ever judging the bad in people is far from a commendable act. Lack of justice, passively and indiscriminately being nice (not making a testimony against the bullying on the ship for example).. is a poor message to pass to children. He never got in trouble befriending liars, cheaters, scammers, but in the real world, more often than not - you will. Yet the author decided to encourage passiveness and stupidity for the sake of being "different" from stereotypical shounen protagonists. In reality most people are already passive... nobody stands up for bullies, nobody cares for justice.. and nothing good comes from ignorance and blind positivity.
Killua. You just can't go wrong with this one. Smart, strong, cool, reasonable character with great character development and deep background story. I don't believe there's a single audience that hates this kid.
The other two "main characters" disappeared for more than half the show.
★ Enjoyment: 7 .
Some parts are legendary and then there's shit stain chore to watch. You'll be disappointed if you're hoping to see intellectual plot and logic in this anime as some have mis-advertised. But if you're on for a wild unexpected turn of events, by all means, you should watch this anime.
★ Impression: 10 .
Really leaves a mark. I decided to watch the 2011 after growing up with 1999 version aired on tv from my childhood. Really glad I came back and watch the series properly this time. With all my love and hate for the contents, I can proudly say for certain, this is not just another title I will forget - not for more decades to come!
★ Overall: 8 .
Loveable main villains. I already miss the lots.
My advice:
Skip/speed most of the ant arc if you're not into boredom, irritation and... nen-ducations all over again. Could've been a solid 10 if ant arc and flat-ending were executed much better.