Hunter x Hunter

This anime is everything that makes a bad manga adaption, and a sub-par anime in general. Let me start by saying that I am a fan of the manga and the 2011 anime, so I will be judging it on its faithfulness to the source material as well as its merits as a stand-alone product. This review will be most useful for people in my position, but I'm still keeping it spoiler free. I only made it 52 episodes into this 62 episode series, but if it somehow had a massive jump in quality in the last 10 episodes, that doesn't change the fact I was bored or aggravated out of my mind for the majority of the first 52. The first 30 were absolutely abysmal.

Even when compared to other popular anime from the same decade (such as Yu Yu Hakusho from the same author), it not only aged poorly, it hardly stands to the competition for the vast majority of its run time. So let's start from the top.

Story: 4/10

Hunter x Hunter spends roughly the first 30 episodes dragging its feet through the Hunter Exam arc and being as melodramatic as possible in what is supposed to be the most light-hearted of the series' arcs that is only meant to touch on the darker themes that come later. The first entire half of the show is a painful slog of poor pacing, bad filler episodes (and characters), and even some bizarrely out of character interactions. Just about everything Nippon Animation added to the series took away from it as a whole and muddled its core themes, and they added a lot.

The second arc, Heaven's Arena, fairs better in that it's not wholly aggravating to watch, but there are some bizarre cuts made that rob the reviewer of vital information needed to understand Nen and Hisoka's personality--I can't possibly understand their reasoning here. It seems like they were just trying to cut corners to avoid animating another fight scene. The order of events is also swapped around, and for the worst too, since it directly contradicts the narrative Gon and Killua's motivations for this arc.

The third arc, Yorkshin, is just as much of a melodramatic slog as the rest of the series, but it at least has the benefit of some narm charm, and at least it keeps the filler to a minimum.

Art: 5/10

Like many adapted anime from this decade, it's fairly inconsistent. There's a few exceptional art directors among the bunch, so the art can vary from awful to great. Although it does tighten up as the series progresses, with most of the worst animation being in the beginning, it's rarely ever stunning in its execution.

Over all the color palette is very drab and desaturated, and all the character designs are realistically proportioned--which I don't think works to the series' benefit in the least. It loses the charm of the original manga's artwork, and it makes it look far older than it is. It completely loses its sense of bouncy pacing and energy which would contrast the darker themes that come later. It's mostly just boring to look at, and mediocre at best.

Sound: 1/10

Besides the soundtrack, which is unmemorable since I can't remember a single track (the only exception being a couple fun OP and EDs), the sound effects are...horrible! They either didn't have the budget and resigned themselves to using entirely stock sound effects, or they only made a dozen or so themselves and just never bothered to improve. Maybe it was a combination of the two, either way the result is a mess of constantly unfitting sound effects that ruin any tension by being downright laughable.

Everything sounds like stretching rubber. Everything.

Every animal sounds like a dinosaur roar. Every single one.

As I watched, it started to become a running joke. It was the only way to tolerate it. It wasn't until I saw how bad the sound design in this anime is that I could truly appreciate the importance of good sound design. If you took a shot every time they used rubber as a sound effect, you would die.

Character: 6/10

There's a bit of characterization here that feels out of character, and it's all things Nippon Animation added. Most of the problems seem to fall on Kurapika and Leorio in the early arc, but other characters suffer here and there as well.

Over all, Gon and Killua are still fun characters to watch when they're interacting on screen, and thankfully once the show gets into Heaven's Arena arc the characterization tightens up and begins to follow the manga more. Things get a little more light heartened, and we start to see what made the original manga captivate so many people.

Despite that, a lot of the side-characters feel less memorable than they should, and a lot of content is cut from them and reallocated to anime-exclusive content. I will say that the Heaven's Arena girls they added were earnestly enjoyable and funny though.

Enjoyment: 3/10

The first 30 episodes get a 2/10, it was absolutely unbearable. The rest that I've seen gets a 5/10 since it ranges from just tolerable to enjoyable. There's really no consistency.

Overall: 4/10

No matter how decent the second half becomes, I can't forgive it for wasting nearly 720 minutes of my time. Maybe one day I'll watch the last 10 episodes and the OVAs, but despite Hunter x Hunter's 2011 adaption and the manga being among my favourites, and coming into this anime with an open mind and hoping to enjoy it, I simple couldn't.

I don't recommend this series to anyone, really. If you're interested in Hunter x Hunter, the 2011 adaption or the manga is the way to go.