"Amazing subversion and deconstruction of the shounen formula" is a term everyone has probably heard of used applied to this anime, but that barely describes how well it is done. The story has so much passion put into it and the depth of the world is so easy to be immersed in, and the power system is the greatest I have ever seen.
The story uses its fantasy genre to explore sides of humanity kept hidden, especially in the chimera ant arc, known as one of the greatest arcs in anime. I'll try not to spoil too much, but it encapsulates the spirit of the view that humans are the winners of their domain, shows the competition between humans for staying on top of each other, and is a fantasy creature.
Furthermore, the characters represent the minds of children better than a lot of shounen series' as they do portray the dark sides of innocence, but not in the same way hxh does, it goes deeper, and the trauma of the characters in their awakening to the world outside their isolated upbringings is inspired from the author's own experience, giving it a real feel to all of the character development, sometimes being unexpected but totally justified and understanding.
The characters in hxh all feel unique and their power system is my favourite as the abilities and proficiencies of every character is going to be completely unique to them as a person making them always exciting to see, as they represent a person's: skillset, a big event they experienced, their mindset, and so much more. The power system also has so much to it that makes it feel studied, the basics of the power system are basic, just as they should be, but then there are some characters who take it a step forward with their understanding and beliefs and its amazing.
The realism a fantasy anime has is usually capped at a point where the people who do bad things end up paying for it, not hunter x hunter, and I think I love that, the world in hunter x hunter is covered in moral greys and it Isn't afraid to show that, and have no right to judge characters that are immoral.
This last section will be me referring to a scene in particular, I'll put it in the spoiler text so people who have seen it know what I'm referring to.
an amazing scene, with so much suspense, it is the most on edge I've felt watching an anime since the parasyte anime final fight. I couldn't shake the feeling while watching it and I could swear I felt everything the character felt, though to a lesser degree. It is amazing, even as the situation was defused, the feelings that scene instils you hopelessness and utter misery, Scenes like that are why I think viewing hunter x hunter blind is an unforgettable experience and I wish I could watch it again.
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