Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Publisher: Madhouse (JP), Crunchyroll (US)
Original Creator: Yoshihiro Togashi
Director: Hiroshi Koujina
Series Composition: Atsushi Maekawa, Tsutomu Kamishiro
Music Composer: Yoshihisa Hirano
Original Air Date: October 11, 2011
Hunter x Hunter is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Hunter x Hunter is, without any doubt, the most meaningful shounen anime to have run in the past two and a half years. I say two and a half because during the early episodes of the series it’s a slog, trapped by standard shounen elements while also attempting to be somewhat unconventional despite all that. But once the characters are set up and their motivations established, the show takes flight, and in that flight, the anime becomes exceptional. It then grows into a complete masterpiece. If you’ve been seeking a show that manages to showcase the darker side of humanity, to give you interesting and fresh battles, and not only the heroes but villains to care about, combined with fantastic worlds and music, Hunter x Hunter is just that, and you owe it to yourself to go watch this anime.
Based off Yoshihiro Togashi’s manga series serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (1998), the story revolves around Gon Freecss, a young boy who aims to not only see his father, Ging, and ask him why he decided to leave him and his family, but also to become a Hunter like him. After leaving Whale Island to go take the Hunter Exam, Gon ends up meeting aspiring Hunters who soon enough turn out to be his best friends — Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio — and the four tackle the challenges of the Hunter Exam. It involves seemingly running endlessly through a tunnel, playing and setting rules before actually facing each other, and then fighting a Hunter in a tournament fashion without actually killing him or her, among some of the elements during the test.
After the events of the Hunter Exam many arcs come and go, starting with us learning more about Killua and his family, who are powerful assassins, in the Zoldyck Family arc. This is followed by the Heavens Arena arc where Gon and Killua understand that a Hunter can go beyond what seems humanly possible by learning Nen. Next is the Yorknew arc, where a dangerous group appears and causes widespread destruction, all the more having to deal with Kurapika and his desire for revenge against them. Afterwards is The Greed Island arc, which is a game apparently created by Ging himself. The show reaches its peak with the Chimera Ant arc, an absolutely brutal, nearly world changing arc that not only would have affected the Hunter world but the entire world itself — instead, it drastically changes the life of many people, some for the better, and others for the worse. It then concludes with the 13th Hunter Chairman Arc, which involves deciding who will actually lead the Hunter organization while Killua attempts to save Gon by using his sister Alluka and her dangerous powers to do it, as his family, specifically his brother Illumi, tries to stop him.
Hunter x Hunter is a work that I had known about for a good while, but was never motivated enough to attempt to read or check out the anime. One reason was because of its outside claim to fame: hiatuses. For a series that started in WSJ before Naruto and One Piece, let’s just say it has half of the output of those two even currently, and it’s so infamous it’s even used as a joke in Gintama. In general though, a series that starts, then goes on so many hiatuses makes it a hard work to justify getting behind since there’s always the potential for it to go on hiatus again. Is it fair to say that? Probably not, but aside from it still being a long running shounen, there was little reason for me to jump in and check out the manga when it’s not going consistently.
Well, enter the anime. After hearing so many people blow up almost week after week on what was going on with the show online started to get me interested. Once I checked out the staff for this show, I knew I had to check it out. The director of one of my favorite anime (Rainbow) is directing HxH? The Death Note music creator is composing music for HxH? And, at least at the time, Madhouse was behind it? The only real question at this point was when was I going to watch it.
I ended up watching it at the start of last year, and promptly didn’t watch it again after three months.
Let’s just say this show can be…weird.
The start of the anime featured Gon fishing and soon enough getting ready to go on his journey to become a Hunter. He leaves the island, gets on a boat, and soon enough, he’s already taking the exam as the boat and direction it’s going in created a life or death situation. After teaming up with Leorio and Kurapika, they end up in a few more tests before actually making it to the Hunter Exam location. And once they get there, the test starts, and then, running. Running, running, running…
None of this was actually all that terrible, but after 6 episodes, this put me off for some reason. Maybe it was pacing, maybe it was because nothing got me invested in the journey, I dunno, but I just lost the motivation to keep watching for a while. It was again only when more people started getting excited (I think this was the start of Greed Island then, but I could be wrong) those months later, and I found time to get invested in the show again. The episodes started to get more up to speed when Hisoka, Gon’s eccentric rival, ends up confronting him and his friends during the exam. It then really started to get my attention when Gon, Leorio, Kurapika, and Killua ended up having to face against ex-criminals during the Hunter Exam…with rules in place.
One of the things that makes HxH work is that in the end, battles are battles, but they’re not always physical battles — there are always outside influences. In this case, the four have another group member with them who’s not nearly as credible or reliable as they are, and in order for them to take on this part of the exam, they have to settle things by majority rule. This is done whenever there’s a decision to be made, and that ultimately affects their time, so battles, which aren’t even mere fights (there’s even a candle match somehow), take on greater importance. Needless to say, this added a bit of depth to a series that definitely needed it at the time.
But interestingly enough, what did finally get me on board with HxH is Killua’s assassination prowess as he killed his opponent (who I’ll mention later). The first thing this told me is, “Well, this is pretty shocking.” The second thing it told me was considering what was shown on screen, the lines between absolute brutality while attempting to maintain any of its shounen tendencies was going to be a battle for the rest of the anime. And of course, the third thing it told me is how vicious is Killua? And how can anyone top that?
That was the moment that committed me to keep watching Hunter x Hunter. And this was possibly the best decision I ever could make.
There’s no doubt that there are issues with this show. Again, the early episodes felt sluggish, but even during the next few arcs after that, some episodes had plot resolutions that felt too quick, one arc mostly was ok and failed to keep my interest up (looks at Greed Island), and it probably shifts from being what was a happy, jovial atmosphere into a needless, darker, and unnecessary tone shift, with character motivations being blurred and hard to stand anymore. That can absolutely be a problem for some, especially since the arcs change with different goals.
None of those issues managed to ultimately convince me that what I started watching last year was a waste of my time. It only convinced me that what was I watching is one of the best anime series in recent memory, and it may not be perfect, but it’s gets the job done despite some of its imperfections.
The reason why HxH succeeds while others in its genre fail involves the rules set in a world where there’s Hunters and then there’s everyone else. Hunters at the start are human-like in that they have specialized roles, like a treasure hunter, cooking hunter, etc., so while they may live in different worlds, they’re not all that different from normal humans/creatures with regular jobs on the surface. What does separate them however, is the usage of Nen, an ability that seems like just about every extra power up that you see in most shounen series, like going Super Saiyan or using a nine tailed fox as the source of your power, but Nen in HxH can be a crippling source of energy that puts your life on the line if not used wisely.
What does having Nen mean though? Well, now it provides an extra layer that actually enhances the setting and the characters. The setting, despite there being the Hunter world, is still set where there are normal humans, creatures and such in many areas. They have no stake in what’s going on in the Hunter world…which makes their involvement however accidently seem cruel, twisted, and shocking, and showcases Hunters who abuse Nen for dark purposes that much more potent than you’d actually believe they could be. This definitely comes into play during the Yorknew arc, where a powerful gang of thieves (The Phantom Troupe) terrorize a city and the Mafia, and instead of coming off as cheap and part of the show, fear, empathy, and sadness is actually felt, and instead of accepting what comes along, you root for someone to actually come and stop what’s going on, even if it looks completely bleak.
The characters, with many varying abilities, thanks to what Nen entails, stand out as memorable and relevant, even if for some their screen time is fairly small compared to everyone else. I mean, remember the guy I mentioned earlier that was along with the four during one of the Hunter Exams? That was definitely untrustworthy? Yeah, because Tonpa was just a dude that wanted to crush any rookies taking the Exam and his personality and look was of someone that seemed too good to be true, he still manages to stand out, mostly because of how powerless he actually is compared to everyone else. But at least he stood out in a manner that even if he never appeared again — he hasn’t since the early days — he’d be a nice character to look back on, but not be completely invested in. You will find many characters to get invested in. And that will be a mistake, since they will be crushed with cold efficiency, and the only thing you can do is act like they’ll come back somehow. This happened to me twice, where one character I liked I ended up spoiling myself on so I dreaded that eventual death, and another well, this character seemed extremely powerful, and definitely was destined to be a guide for Gon. Well, in a way, this character did serve as a guide for Gon — while dead and head cut off.
Again, HxH is brutal. The reason it’s brutal is because of the way Nen is used within the established rules, creating an atmosphere where there’s interest, the characters stand out, and there’s an untenable air in pretty much every episode involving nearly every character in the show.
This includes the antagonists, who, in many aspects, enhance the greatness of HxH. It’s not just their powers and personalities, which range from esoteric to absolutely nuts, but it’s usually their background and how they use their Nen — or how they don’t use it, or if they even have any — that creates not only a sense of fear, but somehow tragedy when they are gone. An example of what I mean is when Johness is introduced during the Hunter Exam. He’s basically a cold blooded murderer who tore off the flesh of those he killed with his bare hands. His reputation is even known to a number of people. You’re not supposed to feel sad for him. And yet, he ends up having to face Killua, an assassin whose past was revealed to Gon, and to no one else. The result of these small plot points results in absolute surprise when Killua doesn’t merely kill Johness, he takes out his heart. As in, you actually see the heart in front of you. It takes little time for Killua to actually do that…and to see how Johness reacts is shocking. This type of scene where we got a killer built up for being so bad and bloodthirsty and all the superlatives is in a bunch of manga and anime series, and compared to everything else HxH has in store, this is practically nothing. But for me, it was a sign that there wasn’t just going to be throwaway deaths or stuff happens because there needs to be plot progression. There’s more to certain scenes than you initially believe, and that is due to being consistent with its rules and establishing its tendencies well.
As it turned out, that sign did turn out to be more, as villains that were the worst, that inspired fear and hatred turned out to be people I cared for, and for some I cared enough that I hoped they could get a chance at redemption, even if their crimes made that impossible. Hell, it even provides one of my favorite…good guy but mostly bad guy in Hisoka, a clown that has the hots for Gon and is also way powerful. There hasn’t been a lot of anime that has gotten me to feel this way towards foes, but this one has. That’s a testament to what Togashi has worked on, and the Madhouse staff working on this.
Make no mistake, in the wrong hands, HxH could have flopped and not worked out, even with the strong material. That’s why I’m glad that Madhouse provided such care with this work. From the visual direction in certain episodes to the timely music, the atmosphere the studio created made HxH stand out and enhance scenes that might not have worked out otherwise. One good example (out of many) is Gon and Killua managing to get themselves caught by members of The Phantom Troupe. Thanks to the buildup, the music, the atmosphere, and the established notion that the Phantom Troupe should not be messed with, even knowing that Gon and Killua survive somehow, I still feared for their life. The only way that works is if A) the material is strong B) the staff can make such a scene stand out, and in this case, the show had both.
Of course, I did mention that not every arc was the best. For Greed Island, I think it following up the Yorknew arc was a bit of a steep hill for it to overcome for me. The 13th Chairman/Alluka arc is actually neat, but it pales in comparison to one of the greatest shounen arcs, or practically all of its episodes since it started last year, the Chimera Ant arc. I easily admit this was the arc that pushed the show to the top of the mountain of great anime. Yes, just this one arc that reduced me into a bumbling, crying mess, complete with heart attacks every time an ant appeared and killed anything in its way, is the reason it entered masterwork territory. This arc was brutal…and I could not turn away. It was about as close to perfect as perfect could get, and from Ep 77 to Ep 135, it achieved it. There’s only been a very few anime to get me invested in what’s happening, and it’s rare for a long series to get to that level. Well, the Chimera Ant Arc did just that.
In thinking about how the last episode of Hunter x Hunter went, my first thought was this might be the last time we see this work animated again. Togashi is again on hiatus and Madhouse will now be moving on to other projects. Will there be enough motivation to start a new HxH in 2022? Well, it might not take that long, but the future of this series worries me a lot, as there’s still a ton of unresolved plot points that may never actually get solved. That only means one thing: praise this edition of HxH, and convince everyone else to watch it. You never know what’ll happen down the road, as time changes everything. But as currently today, 2014, nothing can change the fact that this HxH is one really excellent work, and should be one of the greats. Deal with the tough start, then get yourself immersed since you have a ways to go. You shouldn’t regret it.
Until next time guys…
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Justin
Justin is the founder of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses. Anime & manga fan that likes to blog about anime and manga, is addicted to sports, and weak to crossovers. You can follow Justin on Twitter @Kami_nomi.Latest posts by Justin (see all)
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