Hunter x Hunter (2011)

[Part 1: Introduction]

As the dwindling wine swashes to and fro in my glass, I struggle to find a uniting thread atop which Hunter X Hunter's myriad arcs can be described. The series is a jovial but deeply confused hodgepodge of conflicting themes and narratives, some so starkly different from the last that they'd be better suited for an entirely different series rather than a single continuity.

This may be less noticeable when watching week-to-week as originally intended, but when binged, Hunter x Hunter is not unlike a train wreck - except instead of being over in a flash, the viewer must watch in horror as each train-car crashes into the next in agonizing slow motion, eventually coalescing into an infernal scrapheap from which the original shape of the story can no longer be divined. Just when you think the blaze is past its zenith, another train-car comes careening into the fray, exploding the shattered remains of the story all over again.

To accurately summarize Hunter x Hunter as a complete work, we'll need to backtrack all the way to the beginning and appreciate the series for what it was before it meteorically spun off the rails and hurled itself towards an excruciating demise. It won't take long since Hunter x Hunter was only good for a short time.

[Part 2: When Hunter x Hunter Was Good]

Hunter x Hunter, as any narratively-educated person would tell you, was best before it introduced the bullshit anything-goes superpower known as neen. Simple in form but satisfying in execution, the series originally focused on boy-genius Gone Freecss striving to follow in his mysterious dad's footsteps by acquiring a hunting license; a privilege also coveted by the initially strong supporting characters, Kurapika and Killua. Using only their natural aptitudes and signature tools (fishing rod, glowing eyes, and skateboard, respectively), Gone and co. set out on a varied adventure full of interesting challenges and encounters.

What any seasoned anime viewer will immediately appreciate is the relatively grounded action and progression. Without getting overly specific, Hunter x Hunter diligently ensures that each enemy and obstacle is overcome diegetically, utilizing the environment, the tools available, and the characters' inherent wits. From Gone outplaying Hisoka with his trusty fishing rod, to Killua utilizing his past as a skateboarding mercenary, everything in the first arcs of Hunter x Hunter feels earned. Abilities and talents remain strictly within the universe's realm of probability, and the power-scale develops organically as our characters progress through the Hunter Exam by the skin of their teeth. THIS is how you write Shōnen.

Watching the tension developing between Hisoka and our main cast was an absolute joy, and experiencing the theatrics between the Hunter Exam and the Heaven Tournament arcs left me consistently surprised and delighted. All of this eventually culminates in a beautifully animated fight between Gone and Hisoka, which I wholeheartedly recommend as the 'true' conclusion to the series, because it all falls apart shortly after.

[Part 3: When Hunter x Hunter Went Off the Rails and Exploded]

Everything you just read gets thrown out the window when neen is haphazardly conceived and shoved into the story out of nowhere. With no previous indication of its nature or existence, this half-baked power infects the characters at every turn and transitions the story from a sensibly-scaled adventure into an unholy whirlpool of tropes 'borrowed' from other series (especially Alien). Over the show's infuriatingly prolonged run-time, our characters will slog through battle after battle with other neen-users, most of which utilize wholly silly and unsatisfying abilities.

(Kurapika is the biggest offender here, utilizing immensely powerful magic to summon, wait for it... chains. CHAINS. Tell me with a straight face that somebody who uses reality-bending magic to summon run-of-the-mill chains is cool. You can't, because they aren't.)

What follows is simultaneously everything and nothing, because each subsequent arc is little more than a contrived set-piece without any real purpose or thoughtfulness. One arc will feature our characters entering a video game (not a joke), the next will have them fighting a xenomorph/Cell knockoff in a fictionalized rendition of Australia, and so on. Each previous arc is immediately forgotten upon the introduction of the next, and with that forgetfulness often comes abandoned characters and unresolved plot threads. One of the worst examples of wasted potential in serialized history.

I would elaborate on the voice acting or soundtrack, but there's really nothing of note in that department except for Hisoka's performance.

I can strongly recommend the first three or so arcs to anyone. I can only recommend the others to someone who is hospitalized and has nothing else to do (but only if you're not in critical condition because this trash could kill you.)