Hunter X Hunter is one of the most masterfully crafted worlds in anime. I would say that of all the anime iv'e seen, its world building is second only to One Piece. The show features a wide cast of character that for the most part deviate from the typical main character tropes. Gon freeces, the protagonist, is an incredibly written character. over the course of the series we see him go from a happy-go-lucky kid to a complete monster by the second last arc. The side characters are also all well written, particularly Kurapika. I would say the strongest points of Hunter x Hunter are its villains and its power system. Hunter x Hunter has four major villains. Hisoka, Chollo Lucifer, Genthru and Meruem. I would say that Meruem is one of, if not, the greatest villains in any anime. He serves as a direct foil to the main character, as we watch Gon turn into a monster, we see Meruem, an actual monster, become human. As for the power system, Nen, there's nothing much to say except its brilliant. It is probably my second favorite power system, falling just behind Stands from Jojo's Bizzare Adventure. It makes fights interesting as usually pure strength will not win it, it depends on the power you choose and how you use it.
One of the lower points of Hunter x Hunter however, is the pacing. Arguably as bad as the One Piece anime at points, it really brings down parts of the show from they're otherwise perfection. This is especially prevellent in the Chimera Ant arc, where 20 episodes is only 3 Minutes in the show. This makes it drag a lot and at points really made me unmotivated to watch. However it is well worth it as the fight at the end of that arc is easily in my top 5 fights of all time.
As far as themes go, one of the big ones is that anyone can and will be a monster under the right circumstances. Over the course of the show we see many serial killers and unredemable creatures. However the moments that hit the hardest are the moments when where our main characters lose they're humanity and act out they're own justice. The foil to these moments however is the times when the villain gives in and moves on to a better life or realise the beauty of humanity. The show is trying to say that not everyone is an irredeamable monster or an angel. There is always a gray area.
Unfortunatlly the anime is currently on hiatus, so there is a good chance that we may never get to see the rest of the manga animated, which is a shame as though i have not read it, ive heard that the next arc is getting really good and interesting.
42 out of 47 users liked this review