In the world of Shounen, Hunter X Hunter is an outlier. It is an outlier in the fact that nothing ends with a perfect, miraculous victory. It incorporates the greatness of the genre in terms of its strategic episodic battles, but diverges from the idea that every arc should end with its main character engaging in a hard fought battle and ultimately coming out victorious. As the viewer, this is something that never fails to excite. The payoff of seeing your favorite character giving it their all and winning their fight against evil is always gratifying.
Spoiler, click to view
And while we do see Gon's fair share of victories, I was surprised to find that none of them involve the three most popular antagonists of the show (that being Hisoka, Chrollo, and Meruem). In fact, Gon's only victory over these three involves him landing a singular punch on Hisoka. And even more so, he teams up with Hisoka at one point, only briefly meets Chrollo, and fails to even cross paths with Meruem.As I watched and moved from arc to arc, I remember feeling like something was missing from many of the conclusions. And the more that I thought about it, I realized how used to the typical conflict/resolve I was within this genre. I was so used to the final episode being a spectacular battle between the main protagonist and antagonist. So once I realized this, I really had to think about these decisions within the story and found that I needed to think about the messages being portrayed in each arc a little harder. As a result, I found the three incredible themes that I will be exploring within this review.
Hisoka
Our first main antagonist of the series is one that I believe to narratively be one of the best and most unique characters ever written. He is one of the most creepy, disturbingly vile and evil characters with an extreme obsession for Gon that sparks controversy. Yet I love him... Does he hate Gon? Yes. Does he like Gon? Yes. Does he want Gon dead? Yes. Does he want him alive? Also yes. Hisoka is an enigma of a character, and we will never truly know his next move. He is one of the only villains that you are meant to love despite all of his motives. With this comes a certain excitement every time he comes on screen, and his theme song certainly captures this feeling.
Aside from his impressive character design, his relationship with Gon leads to the first theme I discovered: achieving your goals. Hisoka is a character that the main protagonists don't interact with often. He is typically being watched out the corner of each characters' eye, as he is noticeably powerful.
Spoiler, click to view
Gon has an even stronger connection with him due to him being tasked with stealing his tag during the first arc. This is the moment that Hisoka becomes Gon's goal. Throughout the rest of the series, we see Gon realizing their difference in strength and his drive to learn stronger techniques so that he can even have a fighting chance against him. And instead of developing his strengths with the goal of defeating him in mind, he decides that all he wants to accomplish is landing a single punch on him. In comparison to other anime of this genre, I think that this decision speaks volumes to how we as humans should be setting goals. Like Gon, we should strive for the smallest achievement and be proud of the work we put in and the accomplishments that we achieve.Chrollo
Yorknew City and Chimera Ant is where I noticed the story start to really show its central theme and message: are the antagonists any less human than the protagonists? Is it not hypocritical to seek revenge and death upon your enemies?
Spoiler, click to view
Seeing a shift from Gon's perspective to Kurapika's is enthralling. His development from the Hunter Exam is amazing to witness, and seeing him become stronger than Gon shows how deep his resolve is. However, his character development does not end there. If anything, it had just started as he struggles with finding humanity in his sworn enemies and being forced to choose between his vengeance or his friends. Seeing this inner struggle within Kurapika is very powerful and moving, and he does not hesitate to realize how important his friends are to him.Spoiler, click to view
Even more so, taking a look inside the Phantom Troupe's hideout and finding the humanity within its members is eye opening. To see the resolve in each member when faced with the possibility of one of their own members dying shows the same drive that Kurapika finds through the arc. This is an amazing parallel that is displayed, and goes to show the hypocrisy of revenge.Meruem
War, poverty, murder, lying, cheating, and even killing livestock for our own enjoyment. Are we as humans any better than the ants? There is a specific episode within the series that asks this question, which I think really sets the tone for the theme this entire show is trying to portray. We simply are not any better than the ants, and deserve no less the same treatment than they gave the human race. As we eat cattle and pigs, they eat us humans. As a race, we would have every right to uprise and view them as the villains. However, we are just like them in every way. Does that not make us the villains as well?
Spoiler, click to view
This especially comes to light with the change made in Gon's motives. When faced with Pitou, all rules towards his humanity and kindness went out the window, and he became just as monstrous as the ants. He had no reservation towards ending Komugi's life if it meant not avenging Kite. While this drastic change was occurring in Gon's heart, the opposite change took effect in Meruem's when met with the first person he ever cared about. This change goes to show that everyone has love and hate stored within themselves somewhere. Is it truly right to cast someone as being evil without looking at yourself first?Final Thoughts
Hunter X Hunter explores so many different amazing themes and messages. And at the same time, this show has some of the most amazing characters and OST's. I could go on and on for hours about some of the other messages we see shown through characters such as Killua and Leorio. The fights are extremely engaging and fun to watch and a great test of wits. I loved everything about this anime, and I easily see why it is considered to be one of the greats. I think Gon is one of the most likable main characters ever, more so than some of his large competition within the industry. All in all, this is easily one of the greatest anime of all time and I would recommend this to anyone in a heartbeat.