The hunter exam is basically about getting familiar with all the main characters and some side characters that appear in the show again later on. It's a great introduction to the anime itself. You discover some stuff about Killua who appears the last from the main characters in the show, you discover stuff about Leorio, even Kurapika! Well, Gon is pretty predictable, but I still didn't know some things about him. I think Tonpa-san was a real pain in the ass and I'm glad that I don't see him in the show later on. And well, Hisoka is a really interesting character, but I don't know if that's good or bad...
Here, getting Killua out of his house was a pretty funny yet saddening scene. Not that I don't like it, it's just that Gon, for an example, was so stubborn about getting to Killua that he didn't care about getting hit by Canary so many times. But about the Heavens Arena, it was surely pretty interesting. I mean, Gon and Killua found out about Nen, which is basically a magic used over the entire show later on. And they learned to fight as well WHILE, also making money from it! And you find out about the Phantom Troupe too, which is a huge deal in the other arc.
This is an arc especially made for Kurapika and the Phantom Troupe, while also including the other main characters and many other side characters at the same time. Kurapika unites with a special agency to fight against the Phantom Troupe, while Gon and Killua find out about the game called "Greed Island" through Ging's tape they got access to thanks to learning about Nen. And Kurapika wasn't just supposed to fight the Phantom Troupe for nothing, he was supposed to protect Neon, Neon Nostrade, a character that can predict the future of the others in a form of a poem. This arc overall, was real fun and it made me love the show more than before.
The Greed Island arc was really interesting in one way or two, and that is, having your own superpowers and cards you can use. This made the arc even more interesting since you had to collect all the cards in order to pass the game. Do you think that Gon and Killua did this alone? Nope, a childlike woman called Bisky came and helped them get through it with really harsh training! I know that she only meant good, but still. So all three pass the game together and Gon finds out about a way to use some cards of your choice in real life. Of course he chooses the one that lets you teleport to a particular person. But could he just say "Ging"? Nope, he had to say "Nigg", because that was his special nickname made for Greed Island! However, he does all of this just to get to an entirely different man called Kite...
The Chimera Ant arc was really really really long, but fun. I think it's the most suiting arc for the name "Hunter x Hunter" as well. This arc is special in one way - Gon and Killua find about Kite, a man who only is connected to Ging, while also finding out about men called "Knuckle and Shoot" that are going to help them fight the Ants, while also finding out about their other friends! So he introduces them to the Chimera Ants and the organization called NGL, so they can fight against them and stop them from concurring the world. I liked it in a few ways, but I was sad at the end because of Meruem's death... He was a really good character for a villain. Also, Netero's death was pretty unnecessary, but oh well... That's something to talk about in the next arc.
This arc is very special for me at least. During the Chimera Ant arc, Gon fights Neferpitou and it leads to Gon's victory, with the fact that Gon comes back seriously injured. Killua remembers about something. His little sister "Alluka Zoldyck" that's possessed by "Something", also known as "Nanika". Nanika's power is following - If you fulfill its three requests, it grants you a wish of your choice, no matter how unrealistic it is. However, if you fail to decline four of its requests in a row, you and your most loved ones die. That's why she was locked up in a special room where she can't make requests to anybody. But! Killua decides to do everything to get to her anyway and Rescue her, despite the hard effort... Hard effort means...? Like that Illumi (Killua's older brother that he hates) wants to kill her along with Hisoka, that Killua's entire family was basically against it... And some minor stuff... The Chairman Election was really funny, because there were so many failed votes over and over again... You know, at least 95% of Hunters had to vote in order for it to be valid, but that never happened. What really caught my eye, though? The fact that Ging was there. And Gon was close to the place, just injured... So when Killua managed to get Nanika to reach Gon and he asked it to heal him, it did so. However, Killua decided not to tell him immediately. Then, Gon meets Ging at the election. Ging sends him to apologize to Kite after Gon said that he's guilty. So he did. And after that, Ging left Gon a note saying "I'll be waiting on the World Tree", so Gon made his way there along with Alluka and Killua. That's when Killua tells Gon that Alluka's the one that healed him. He thanks them both for everything and says goodbye to both before making his way on the World Tree. It's about to be a tough one, which Gon has expected. But he made it. And met Ging there... They had a really good time talking, it was a seriously beautiful scene. They were talking and laughing all day, on the world tree... I told myself NOT to and NOT TO CRY, but I failed anyway. It was too beautiful.
># Overall Thoughts
This is more than just some action/adventure anime, it's a show full of unexpected and unfogettable things. Like some few quotes or implemented advices it gives you. Remember Killua and Alluka? That's advice to care about your loved ones and about family. But remember how Killua hates Illumi? That's advice to be able to recognize family from monsters. Remember how Killua yelled at Nanika after hearing what Illumi had to say, but Alluka didn't like it so she told him to apologize? That's advice to acknowledge a mistake, learn from it and promise to never do it again. You know how Gon tried really hard to reunite with Ging and succeeded in the end? That's advice to never give up on your goals no matter how unrealistic they might seem. Remember Kite's quote "People are friends no matter where they go"? Ging's quote "When you make a promise to a friend about changing, you can't break it no matter what"? Or his quote "I wanna see things that I can't see", also describable as "Look forward to what's ahead of you, not what happened"? Those really hit hard and let me make this anime memorable for myself, in my heart. Of course, the really lit fighting scenes were great, the arcs were all really good, the chimera ants were really interesting, but I personally, really love the advices and quotes, because that's mostly what made me cry at the end. Despite some minor mistakes that I don't really mind, huge applaud. I might as well read the manga or watch the 1999 version eventually. This is my new favorite anime. Love it. ♥43.5 out of 47 users liked this review