Hunter x Hunter
a review by MangoTurtl
a review by MangoTurtl
The sheer variety of this manga is a wonder to behold, and I think therein lies its greatest strength. Throughout this fantastic adventure manga, the reader is taken through a standard shonen tournament, a heart-pumping noir thriller, a slow, methodical psychological story, a political drama, and more. Togashi is careful to fit each new saga into the world he’s created without it feeling jarring, even subtly changing art styles as he does so to match whichever genre he feels like tackling.
Personally, I think this makes Hunter x Hunter a stunningly good adventure saga. Togashi writes what he's interested in, and you can feel his passion in every line of dialogue and on every page. I really appreciate that, and I love it when you can feel the author's passion through the page.
But it also makes Hunter x Hunter surprisingly controversial. Essentially, almost every single complaint about Hunter x Hunter boils down to the fact that by definition, such a varied story cannot (and should not) cater to everybody in every arc.
Do you enjoy fast-paced thrillers? Of course you're going to say that the long, slow psychological arc has bad pacing. Do you enjoy a fun mix of slice-of-life and action? Of course you're not going to like a wordy political drama. Do you hate shonen tropes? Of course you won't be on the edge of your seat during the shonen tournament arc. Etc, etc.
And I think that at the end of the day, that's what you have to keep in mind when reading Hunter x Hunter. Not that "it gets better after 200 chapters" or something stupid like that. But just that there's a solid chance that there's an arc or two that you just won't vibe with, and that's okay. I really appreciate that Togashi doesn't really try to cater to any one audience. He just writes what he finds challenging and fun.
I think those four volume covers I've posted as part of this review speak for themselves. That's the kind of series that Hunter x Hunter is.
And with that out of the way, here're my thoughts on the rest of the manga!
The characters in Hunter x Hunter are probably my favorite thing about it, other than its unique variety mentioned above. Togashi has an uncanny ability to craft dialogue that makes you enjoy almost all of them in different ways. Each character, no matter how minor, is given their own goals, drive, emotions, etc, completely separate from any other character...even the protagonist. Just like the story itself, the characters are also very diverse. We've got characters for everyone: some that are developed very subtly over a long period of time, some with strange development that you might not even notice on the first pass, some with a nice, concise character arc that almost everybody would praise.
The sheer quality of the vast majority of the characters is just unmatched, is the point. Of my top 10 favorite characters of all time, six are from Hunter x Hunter alone. Togashi is a master of his craft when it comes to forming character relationships; he uses each line of dialogue - even exposition - to his advantage in showing off his characters' personalities to the reader.
For example, take the character Tsudonke. This is a character who has so far gotten page time in only a few chapters, and he's really more of a background character with only a few lines of dialogue. And yet during this dialogue, we learn that he's a big fan of this one group of antagonists, and he wants their autographs. But he feels they're too important to just sign a napkin or something, so he's running around trying to find a shop that sells special autograph paper. But he's also a member of a mafia family trying to get rid of this group of antagonists...so he has to be careful.
So just to recap, with this single, tiny, inconsequential character and his dialogue, Togashi has:
My response to that: How the hell?? If that's what Togashi does with what is essentially a background character, you can only imagine what he does with the main protagonists and antagonists, given hundreds of chapters of focus.
I feel like this section is also where I want to dive into the power system, which is absolutely incredible. I don't want to spoil anything, but the power system in Hunter x Hunter is carefully constructed to the point where not only do abilities reflect a character's personality...they can also deepen their nuance in a way that I've never really seen any other work of fiction do before.
As a whole, the world of Hunter x Hunter is very character driven. Togashi has even said in interviews that while he has an idea where the plot will go, he's very flexible in letting the characters do what they would naturally want to do. That mindset is prominent throughout the story, and I really love it. It makes everything feel smooth and natural, with very few "reset" points between arcs. It also, of course, just adds more to the characters as we learn more about what their decisions are like.
This is another area, however, where I can easily see people disliking things. Unlike other stories which attempt to deliver a more concise, tied together experience...Togashi really lets his characters move through the world of their own accord. This means that plot points can sometimes be entirely dropped if a character no longer has motivation to go through with them, and very often, large swaths of the story can take place with one or more main characters completely absent because they're just...doing something else. Again, I personally like this...but I could see it being frustrating to others.
To me, though, it makes the adventure feel more adventurous, and the story more unpredictable.
One thing I really want to make sure I talk about when it comes to Hunter x Hunter is the art. Anyone who has looked up the Hunter x Hunter manga has probably seen people disparaging the art.
Now, first of all, the vast majority of these claims stem from magazine releases. Togashi retouches almost all of his art for the volume releases...but because of his health conditions, there were many, many times when he released unfinished chapters into the magazine.
People pirate the manga online, find sketchy websites that only have scans of these unfinished chapters, and then proceed to complain. That's most of it.
But it's also true that like the story itself, the art is very diverse. You might find yourself disliking the art style in some sections of the story, and loving it in others. Let's look at some examples:
In other segments of the manga, you consistently have pages like these:
And this is just a selection of the various art styles present in this manga! Each stylistic decision - with hatching, pen/brush type, level of detail, character design, etc - perfectly and effortlessly fits the genre and tone at that point in the manga. Togashi does it so well.
I've basically just been praising Togashi almost the entire time, and I'd like to talk about some other things I dislike about this manga...but there honestly isn't much.
Other than the things I've already talked about, most of the things I dislike about Hunter x Hunter are specific scenes here and there, rather than structural flaws with any specific element of the story. There are a few fights I dislike, a few characters I can't stand, a few points that I feel are too slow, a couple arcs where I'm not a fan of the artstyle...etc.
But I think that's to be expected in a piece of media like this, and I don't disparage Togashi for most of these things. I said it before, but it really makes me feel like the characters - and me, by extension - are adventuring through a grand world, more than the first 140 chapters of One Piece I read ever did.
The one thing I will comment on besides that is the amount of exposition in this story. Togashi really loves his details, and his little random facts. Hunter x Hunter leans into those heavily, to the point where many points have much more text than a typical manga. The introduction to the power system, for example, essentially consists of a teacher just explaining things for a couple chapters straight...and that's only the basics, with the system getting far more complex later on. It's less noticeable in the manga than the anime...but it's still something that I hear a lot of complaints about, so I might as well mention it, even if it doesn't bother me.
It's also probably not right to go through a whole review without talking about the hiatuses. Togashi has some really terrible health conditions, and has had them since before he even started writing Hunter x Hunter. It means that we'll often go months if not years without a chapter, and that's definitely frustrating. The manga probably won't ever be finished, although I hold out hope that the current arc will.
That's totally a turn off for people, and I get that. But if you're willing to read what we have already...it's so, so good. If you want a good point to stop so that you get at least some closure, Togashi also makes it really nice for you: stop at chapter 339. That's where the anime ends, and honestly, everything past that point could well and truly be called "Hunter x Hunter Part 2." Obviously, it doesn't wrap up every plotline...but it gives a phenomenal ending for the main plotline that you follow for the majority of the story up to that point.
And that's my review! I hope you enjoyed reading it, and got something out of it. Hunter x Hunter is easily one of my favorite stories of all time, and it just pains me that it's difficult to convince people to watch or read it...especially in manga form. For whatever reason, the quality of this manga is slept on. I find it to be far better than the anime.
Despite multiple story arcs that just aren't really my thing, and despite it being unfinished, and despite the other minor gripes I have along the way...I truly believe that Togashi has created an unparalleled fantasy adventure. I love Hunter x Hunter so much, and I hope to continue loving it for years to come. It's one of those stories that I simply won't ever forget.
35 out of 37 users liked this review
