//SPOILERS// Hunter X Hunter is my favourite anime for many different reasons it is a truly fantastic anime crafted with dedication and passion by Mangaka - Yoshihiro Togashi. Many people unnecessarily hate on this anime due to its long hiatus however I feel that we should just be grateful with what we have gotten to experience with this marvellous piece of fiction. In this review I will break down the themes and aspects of the show that makes it a great anime.

What is it about? – Hunter X Hunter takes place in a world similar to our own but with some fantastical aspects, we follow our protagonist a 12-year-old boy named Gon Freeces and watch him overcome challenges and defeat enemies becoming the greatest profession in the world a ‘Hunter’ in order to ultimately find his dad who is also a professional hunter and who left Gon to peruse his career. Along the way he makes many friends and experiences great triumphs and unbearable losses.

What makes it different? – Similarly, Hunter X Hunter shares many characteristics and ideas like other works in Shonen Jump for instance it is adventure and action-based nature, however Hunter X Hunter stands out because of its different approach to these themes, for example although it is a battle-based show their is not many fights however, the ones that do take place are carefully choreographed with lots of explanatory mid fight talks and analysis. These factors combined with the many dark and real-world themes embedded deeply in the show, themes like depression, revenge, horror, humanities redemption and the parallels in the shows (chimera and arc) between the protagonist Gon and primary antagonist of the chimera ant arc Meruem when we see our “hero” slowly turn into a monster and our villainous monster slowly turn more into more of a human. And the fact that all this is hidden behind the shows seemly bright and cheerful childish nature, just further boldly distinguishes this show from others in in the same genre. Simple things like the way both characters sit, once pointed out clearly hint at their opposing developments even though these two characters never actually meet.

What was the inspiration behind it? – The shows author/mangaka Yoshihiro Togashi main motivation was to create a “hit” but it ended up as a piece of work that he became closely connected and deeply focused on. The inspiration from the name came from Togashi’s childhood, he liked to collect various things and would hunt around towns and cities for them and from this he knew he wanted to have the title include the word Hunter and for the series to be based around the connotations of this profession. Furthermore, he enjoyed watching shows that have the classic good and evil plot but with suspenseful fights and horrific deaths and emotional motivations, and he wanted to include all of these things in Hunter X Hunter.

What emotions does the show create? – Togashi is brilliant at getting his audience to root and get connected emotionally to is characters by giving them likable and unlikable characteristics this gave him the freedom to play with the viewers emotion and create ones like happiness, estimated but also sadness, anger and fear of what some of the characters become.

Overall, Hunter X Hunter is a truly epic journey and adventure each arc brings something new to the table and the is a perfect balance between light and dark moments in the series. All the charters develop in interesting and diverse ways with heavy feelings and tones being utilized to help emphasise scenes and messages that Togashi is Trying to convey that reflect our real world which he draws inspiration from and while I don't deny that come parts of the series can be slow, there is plenty of breath-taking and magnificent moments that make this anime trly worth watching and that is why I have rated it a 10/10