DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ANIME ActionHUNTER×HUNTER
OVA ActionHUNTER×HUNTER OVA
OVA ActionHUNTER×HUNTER: Greed Island
OVA ActionHUNTER×HUNTER: Greed Island Final
ANIME ActionHUNTER×HUNTER (2011)
OVA ActionHUNTER×HUNTER Pilot-ban
MANGA AdventureHUNTER×HUNTER: Kurapika Tsuioku-hen
ONE SHOT ActionHisoka no Kako

REVIEWS

• 

  eshan327

  91/100
  A Review of Mid x Mid

  You clicked on this because you thought the title was serious, huh?

  ---

  Plot (9/10)

  The basic premise is simple - 12-year-old boy Gon Freecss leaves home to become a pro hunter and find the father who abandoned him, Ging Freecss. Funnily enough, the story shines brightest when his old man isn't relevant to an arc's plot. Standout arcs have been marked with asterisks, but they're all solid.

  • Hunter Exam - introduces us to our mast cast of Gon, Killua Zoldyck, Kurapika, and Leorio Paradiknight, as well as two major antagonists: Illumi Zoldyck and pedo Joker Hisoka Morrow. Pretty generic and shonen-y to start off with a tournament arc, but it's well-executed and establishes the motives & personalities of the characters I mentioned quite well.
  • Zoldyck Family - probably the weakest arc, largely because it's very short and there's not much conflict. Killua's dad Silva lets him leave without much protest. I have to give it props though, for doing a great job of establishing the Zoldyck family and their character dynamics.
  • Heavens Arena - tournament arc #2, and this one is better. It's extremely well-paced, introduces Nen to us (best power system btw), and the fights were quite entertaining. This is where the series truly begins to take off.
  • Yorknew City * - okay, now we're talking. A thrill from start to finish. The focus shifts to Kurapika and the Phantom Troupe, an infamous group of villains that murdered the Kurta clan to sell their famed eyes on the black market. There was a constant air of tension from the moment they showed up, and that did not go away. The climax moments of Kurapika v Uvogin and the final exchange did not disappoint.
  • Greed Island - a standard training arc. The best parts of this arc were the dodgeball game and the focus on fleshing out Nen. Other than that, it's pretty average, but I didn't mind. At this point, I was invested enough in the series to enjoy less interesting plotlines like this one.
  • Chimera Ant * - peak shonen, for two big reasons: 1) the themes regarding humanity and evolution were amazing and 2) the character writing (more on that later). CA arc brings a level of depth to this series that I did not see coming; a genuine masterpiece of perfectly constructed buildup followed by three of the best moments of the series: Netero vs Meruem, Gon's transformation, and that final shogi game between Meruem & Komugi.
  • 13th Hunter Chairman Election - Pariston and Ging kept this arc lively from start to finish, with world-class trolling from the former and witty dialogue from the latter. It was obviously a huge arc for Gon as well, as he recovered from his prior fight and later reunited with his dad.
  • Dark Continent Expedition * - functions as a great set-up arc, seamlessly transitioning between the aftermath of the election, Ging's introduction of the Dark Continent to the reader, and new revelations regarding Netero & the Kakin Empire. The Dark Continent has opened up a whole new plethora of possibilities for this story,
  • Succession Contest * - please finish. Please. It's already great, but the potential of this arc is ridiculous. Given that new characters and plotlines are STILL being set in motion, we haven't even scratched the surface after 40-ish chapters. Also, gotta hand it to the Chrollo v Hisoka fight for living up to the hype.

    ---

    Characters (9.5/10)

    The cast of HxH is phenomenal and there are so many great characters to go over. But for the sake of length, I'll narrow it down to the top 3, who are the best showcases of Togashi's character writing abilities.

  • Meruem: possibly the best shonen antagonist out there. There are a variety of reasons for this, especially his character development as well as the dynamics he has with other characters like his guards or Netero. Rarely does a character elevate so many of the characters around him the way Meruem did.
  • Chrollo: the enigmatic leader of the Phantom Troupe. Excellent symbolism, in regards to religion, his nen ability, and the spider. Indeed, what makes Chrollo so great is how he views himself, and by extension, the Troupe. He thrives on limited screentime, and so little is known about his backstory and motives for killing.
  • Shaiapouf: the guard who protected the image of the king, and had arguably the best death of the series. His status as a static, unchanging character is hinted at by his butterfly form - a final form of sorts, so to speak. Unlike Meruem or Pitou, there is no room for him to change or evolve, and thus his worldview stays the same. He dies right after Meruem remembers Komugi, in despair as he realizes that his goal has been shattered for good.

  Clearly, Togashi has mastered writing antagonists unless their name rhymes with "Benthru." Other standout characters include Netero, Gon, Kurapika, Killua, and Pitou.

  ---

  Art (5/10)

  Due to Togashi's back issues, the art quality is very poor at times.

  

  But he's a damn good artist when he isn't in pain.

  

  To be honest, I don't pay much attention to manga art unless it looks insanely good. If I can understand what's going on, that's good enough for me.

  ---

  Enjoyment (9.5/10)

  The most important part, of course. Not much else to say here. Again, the big drawback of the art really doesn't affect my enjoyment at all. The story, characters, and world entertained me from the start, simple as that, and there aren't many dry spots. It's even more impressive given that this is a fairly long series and has shown no signs of quality decline. Additionally, my enthusiasm for HxH hasn't waned at all during this hiatus, which is now 15 months long.

  Here's hoping for a return.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  CamTheCritic

  70/100
  Far From Perfect -- A Series of Highs & Lows

  *Hunter x Hunter* (HxH) is widely regarded as one of the *greatest battle shounen manga series of all time*. But, I find this title to be a misnomer. Rather, the more accurate statement would be HxH is among the *most influential battle shounen manga series of all time*. Truthfully, HxH is vastly outclassed by many of its genre contemporaries for a variety of reasons. **Story & Setting** HxH’s greatest strength is its story by far. The story evolves extremely organically, taking advantage of a myriad of unique settings. As an illustration, our introduction to the story is a lighthearted adventure on a small isolated island. Later on, the story becomes essentially a crime thriller in a major metropolitan area. Following that, our cast are quite literally “isekai’d” into a jrpg video game world. As a whole, the story is *dyanmic* & *different* from arc to arc, which keeps you engaged in the narrative. **Tone** Another strength of HxH is its tone. It is quite dark at times. People *actually* die, commit heinous atrocities, and engage in gratuitous acts of violence often throughout the series. In fact, our innocent protagonist Gon doesn’t even bat an eye as his best friend Killua rips a man’s heart out. Beyond that, there is an overwhelming presence of moral relativity throughout the story too. Essentially, the antagonistic forces are not necessarily pure evil by nature. For example, Hisoka takes a peculiar interest in the main cast and often helps them in a variety of arcs. Likewise, Illumi is shown to care deeply for his brother Killua when Hisoka threatens his brother’s life. Furthermore, Mereum’s relationship with Komugi reveals his underlying gentle nature. Similarly, each member of the Phantom Troupe has their own motivations for joining the group, and they seemingly care a great deal for one another. As a whole, HxH’s tone is a bit more mature & serious than its contemporaries in the shounen demographic. **The Protagonist Problem** Dynamic and complex characters compliment a dynamic and complex story. While HxH succeeds on the story front, it fails, *miserably* on the character front. I’ll focus on Gon, especially since he is the protagonist. Basically, he is an extremely simple and static character. In spite of all the hardship he encounters throughout the series, Gon’s values, opinions, personality, and the way he acts towards and interacts with other characters in the world remains consistent. Gon is stubborn to a fault, oftentimes reckless, always selfish, hypocritical, narrow-minded, full of misplaced ideologies, over-confident in his abilities, and borderline sociopathic. These are all inherently character *faults*. His childish naïve nature, his perverted way of viewing the world, and his unwavering righteous ideals to protect others actively lead to conflict in the series time and time again. Yet, in spite of all this conflict, he never changes in the aftermath! Therein lies the problem. Gon never learns from his mistakes, and he is never punished for his character flaws. In fact, he is often actively rewarded. As an illustration, his refusal to admit defeat in the Hunter Exams arc actually leads him to pass the exam and acquire a Hunter’s license. Also, Gon’s careless decision to purposefully let Bomber use his ability on him in order to counter at close range concludes in him losing an arm. Yet, his arm gets miraculously healed a few chapters later. And his extremely risky strategy results in him beating a much stronger opponent. Moreover, his egocentric insistence of enacting revenge on Neferpitou results in Gon being near death and unable to use his Nen abilities after the fight. In order for Gon to recover, Togashi pulls a character named Alluka out of his ass to magically heal our protagonist back to full strength with the most broken ability in the entire verse. Likewise, Gon is captured by the Phantom Troupe *twice*, yet no harm comes to him. Similarly, Gon lamented his weakness that led to Kite’s death. Ultimately, it is later revealed that Kite inexplicably has some Nen power that led to his rebirth, rejuvenating Gon’s broken pysche. I could go on & on, but you get the gist. To put it simply, Gon doesn’t grow as a character because he doesn’t have to – he is merely rewarded for existing. There is no *consequence* to his actions. Togashi perverts all of his flaws into strengths. His plot armor is an impenetrable force. He is a child prodigy, a Nen genius, and beloved by everyone, including his enemies. There are no stakes. Gon has no character arc because the plot doesn’t demand him to change. Gon’s main goal principally throughout the series is to reunite with his estranged father. In the grand scheme of things, he manages to accomplish this goal rather handily. This is a perfect opportunity for Gon to get some actual development – Gon could succumb to the realization that he doesn’t need his father’s affirmation to be a strong Hunter, paralleling Killua’s relationship with his father in many aspects. Perhaps, Gon could confront his father for being a POS absentee. Perhaps, Gon could inquire about his mother’s origins. Perhaps, Gon could throw away his desire to be a Hunter entirely or reveal what type of Hunter he wants to be. There are a near infinite amount of solid options that could help develop Gon as a character or the plot as a whole during this fated encounter. Instead, Togashi completely blows this golden opportunity by having *nothing* happen at all. What else is there for Gon to do? He accomplished his goals. What now? I contend that Togashi found himself asking the same questions. Consequently, Gon has been completely forced out of the mainline plot beyond this moment, notably being absent throughout the entirety of the Succession War arc. And the story still works just fine, albeit without its star. I contend that Killua or Kurapika would have been a better choice for protagonist to begin with. Gon is just fundamentally an uninteresting character. **Manga As A Visual Medium** Let’s be real – the manga art sucks. In fact, it is amateurish at best. I understand that Togashi has health issues, but some of this shit is genuinely unacceptable. Most panels have very little background detail, if any. Aside from that, some chapters will literally just be storyboards rather than refined panels. Sure, there are some good panels on occasion. But, we are talking well-drawn panels. Not entire chapters. Likewise, consider the following: Togashi literally has months or even years to draw particular standout panels given his history of hiatuses, whereas other authors in the same shounen demographic have better or the same level of artwork on a strict weekly schedule. **Show Don’t Tell** Even worse than the panels that look like they were drawn by a grade schooler, are panels like these: Togashi uses dialogue as a crutch. Togashi seems to think that laying out every meticulous detail for every little thing that happens to every little character will somehow make up for his lackluster drawing skills. Fundamentally, you are blurring the lines of what is a manga versus what is a light novel when you publish entire walls of text for pages. The fundamental tenet for any story is show don’t tell. A manga like *Innocent* or *Blood on the Tracks* will have entire chapters with zero dialogue, yet these chapters still have a lot to *say*. Conversely, Togashi’s patented unyielding walls of text for chapters have nothing of substance to say at all. At a certain point, it *literally* becomes a chore to read. **Debunking The Deconstruction Myth** There is a small minority of smooth-brained aschtually types of HxH stans that will try to convince you that HxH is a deconstruction of the battle shounen genre. But, this is just a fundamental misunderstanding on what deconstruction means. While it a notoriously vague term, a true deconstruction provides commentary about various genre norms before breaking down the tropes & rebuilding them. As an illustration, *Madoka Magica* takes the happy-go-lucky nature of magical girl stories & flips it on its head, perverting it into a tragic death battle. *Neon Genesis Evangelion* will take the mecha genre tropes of having teenage boys piloting massive war machines to its logical conclusion. Indeed, HxH does often betray the reader’s expectations, but it never subverts the expectations of the genre. We still have an over-powered “chosen one”-esque protagonist with daddy issues – pretty much a staple in battle shounen. It’s not that I don’t get HxH, it’s just that there is nothing *to* get. A certain group of readers just read far too deeply into things. **Concluding Remarks** *Hunter x Hunter* is a series of highs and lows. I genuinely think everything up to the end of Yorknew arc is fantastic, but cracks in the foundation start to show after that turning point. Greed Island could be removed from the story entirely and the fundamental plot of the series would remain the same. Chimera Ant arc, while very solid, over stays its welcome by about 20-30 chapters. The fat should have been trimmed to make it truly great. Beyond the conclusion of the Chimera Ant arc, the quality of the series becomes wildly inconsistent. Altogether, HxH is pretty solid. The story is great, the characters are mid, and the art is ... well, you know. It's a mixed bag. Modern battle shounen authors have learned from Togashi's mistakes and adopted his more-favorable qualities. Ultimately, HxH's legacy lives on in weekly shounen jump magazines to this day. But, just not in the way most HxH fans would want.
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• 

  Hytroter

  98/100
  A true adventure series and an amazing experience

  As it was the first anime I watched (other than pokemon), I may be a little biased Hunter x Hunter is the true definition of how to write a good story. The characters all progress through the story at a pace you can actually notice, it may as well have the best power system, the villains are perfect (in chimera ant arc specifically), the art is amazing and the story is engaging.

  If I explained what I liked about every single character this answer would get to long so I’ll just talk about who I feel stood out the most to me, the main character himself, Gon.

  From the start, he gets introduced as a character that wants to find his dad, though not as much is revealed at the start. Compared to other anime, all the main characters are introduced in the first few episodes so you don’t have to wait much. If we get into Gon’a personality itself you would see that he never really gets mad at all especially in the beginning and the plot favors him specifically for that, preventing his personality from changing at all. Though this pattern stayed for majority of the series, Chimera Ant Arc is where things take a change.

  Gon basically learnt most of his Hunter knowledge from Kite. Though the anime didn’t show it, Gon valued him deeply. At the beginning of the Chimera Ant Arc, it’s revealed that Kite had been killed by Pitou. I don’t remember much so I’ll skip ahead to the point in the middle of the arc. Multiple times in the arc, Gon was shown to have a completely different personality than normal. He seems to have went insane and acts way differently.

  His happy go lucky self had been emerged with something in the middle of madness, anger, sadness and regret while also showing that he was losing the terms that made him a protagonist and was starting to turn him into a hypocrite or something similar. This arc is way darker than the previous arcs and the writing for the characters is better than expected.

  Even though many other characters in the series have amazing writing and majority of this review was me praising Gon’s writing and The Chimera Ant arc specifically, you still have to give it to the rest of the series arcs even though I found this one as the best.

  I'll take some time to also review the plot and other characters.

  The plot's original premise was something you wouldn't normally find anywhere else and the power system is amazing. The show manages to get multiple completely different arcs while staying on track of the original premise and all the characters are unique and show a kind of spectrum that differentiates every one of them. Some flaws are visible but I was able to look past them.

  All in all this series is an amazing experience and I definitely recommend it as a fun manga that everyone should read at one point.

  Continue on AniList

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