(SPOILERS)
I gave this a shot when I checked the MAL top rankings and saw it was on the website's top 5. I decided why not try the series and binged the show in a month. This is one of the animes I initially stayed away from because I thought it was just a generic shonen anime about a kid and having a simple adventure with his friends; boy was I completely wrong. Don't let the childish appearances discourage you from watching this legendary anime.
Story:
The story is pretty standard in the beginning but it slowly changes into something phenomenal. Here it revolves around Gon and his group of friends: Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio. Gon seeks out his father at a young age and embarks on a wild journey from there on. Gon meets various friends and enemies along his journey to seek out his father but many challenges await him in the meantime.
Hunter x Hunter is comprised of various well written and critically acclaimed arcs in shonen history. Two of the most notable are by far the Chimera Ant arc and the Yorknew City arc. These two arcs define the series as a whole in my opinion because its where the characters are the most fleshed out and developed. Meruem, Chrollo, and Hisoka alone are contenders of the best antagonists of all of anime.
Art:
The art is spectacular as expected from Madhouse. It is really well done for an anime made in the early 2010's. It seems like it was made in like 2018 or something along those lines. The studio also went all out on the fights too. Kurapika vs. Uvogin, Gon vs. Hisoka, and especially Netero vs. Meruem were some of the best fights i've seen in anime. They all flow so smoothly and are paced really well. My favorite visual is probably Neferpitou's abilities and powers.
Sound:
The sound is superb in my opinion. The OSTs, Openings (even though they're all the same lol), and Endings are absolutely fire. The Chimera Ant arc utilized the soundtrack to the maximum to intensify the scenes. The palace invasion was a prime example of this, and even knov's brave attempt to invade the palace also had a eerily scary theme.
Character:
Characters in Hunter x Hunter are nothing short of extraordinary. The cast is absolutely lovable and their writing just amplifies your love for them even more. When it comes to battle shonen, most of them have very poor characters or don't utilize their characters to their fullest extent, safe to say, Hunter x Hunter does not follow this theme. The characters go through pain, anguish, sacrifice, and sorrow to achieve their goals. For example, Gon had to sacrifice his usage of nen during the Chimera Ant arc to defeat Neferpitou and get revenge for Kite, this sole objective was enough to push Gon over the edge and literally "use everything." Or even Kurapika's desire to destroy all of the Phantom Troupe for slaying his clan. He carries the weight of his fallen friends and family on his back. He is willingly risking his life to search out and seek these Troupe members. His ability is solely for fighting the Troupe members, and that shows dedication to his true goals. Also as I mentioned previously in my story section of this review, Hunter x Hunter boasts some of the best antagonists in anime. Hisoka and Chrollo are amazing but in my opinion, Meruem is a different beast. His parallels to Gon are absolutely stunning. It showcased how Meruem was gaining his humanity while being with Komugi and how Gon was slowly becoming a monster due to him sacrificing everything to defeat Pitou. Meruem showed compassion, fear, happiness, pain, and everything else you can think of. He was someone you couldn't help but feel bad for and feel compassion for in the end.
Enjoyment:
I thoroughly enjoyed Hunter x Hunter. It kept me wishing for more episode after episode and always had me on the edge of my seat on some episodes. The fight scenes were intense and hype, the music made the atmosphere crazy, and the characters were cool as hell. I forgot to mention this but Hunter x Hunter has the best power system in anime in my opinion. The way Nen is used in this series is truly unique since it applies differently to every person. Nen to put it simply, is life energy that is controlled by the person. We've seen super distinctive uses of Nen in this show, like Chrollo's, Kurapika's,Kite's, Hisoka's, Neferpitou's, etc. I love this power system in general because it can be infinitely used in different ways, so that it can be left up to the watcher to decide what Nen can be imagined.
Overall:
Overall I loved Hunter x Hunter from start to finish. I don't think any show will top this for me in a long time. It is just pure perfection in my eyes. It's crazy to think that this show started off as a young child just searching for his father but later spiraled out of control into a series of amazing events. Nonetheless, I am glad I watched this show to witness Togashi's masterpiece writing.
Story - 10
Art - 10
Sound - 10
Character - 10
Enjoyment - 10
Overall - 10