Story:
Gon Freecss is a twelve year old boy. Gon's mother died at a young age, and his father, Ging left him when he was very young. When Gon finds out his father is a hunter, Gon decides he wants to become a hunter as well to search for his father. Passing the hunter exam is only the first stop on a long road that is full of detours for Gon in the search for his father, but he meets some very interesting friends along the way, and they help each other grow in their own ways.
Animation:
If you have yet to watch Hunter X Hunter at the time of this review there is one thing you must keep in mind. The show is over ten (10) years old. That being said, the animation itself is neither outstanding or is it horrible. Some character designs will definitely stick with you for the rest of your days though, even if you forget their names. Hisoka being one of the most stand out illustrations of this for me
Sound:
The soundtrack seemed to fit really nice within the show. It really hit on both ends of the spectrum when it needed too. Whether it was a relaxed feel, or a tense moment. I think the voice cast did a great job capturing the characters they were playing too, even some of the minor ones that do not appear much, like Zushi and Zeno.
Characters:
There are some great characters in Hunter X Hunter. Some of them might seem similar in some ways, but every one of them has an area of their personality that shines above everyone else. I don't even know if I can classify any of them as truly “bad” at heart. Some are messed up in the head sometimes sure, but even the spiders themselves show compassion when it comes to certain things. I think this is one of the strongest elements of the show.
Overall:
Some might look at Hunter X Hunter and write it off as “just another Shounen” but it really is a whole lot more then that. Sure it has the core elements of any Shounen. There is the superpower element along with the usual stuff like; the main character having the “never say die” attitude, and an ability to win people over as well as the emphasis on the importance of friends, but it is much more then that. There is actually a lot of depth in the “Nen” system, and Hunter X Hunter has a way of taking even in the most tense situation, and defusing it that is as unique as some of the characters them self.
Synopsis
Hunters are a particular few hired to travel the world and perform all varieties of dangerous tasks, from capturing wanted criminals to searching uncharted lands for long-forgotten treasures. However, in order to become a fully realized Hunter, one must first complete the Hunter Applicant Exam. Hunter X Hunter follows the adventures of Gon Freaks, a highly empathetic twelve-year-old boy. While residing with his aunt Mito and his grandmother on Whale Island, Gon learns of the continued existence of his father Ging, and decides to take the Hunter Exam himself in order to discover his whereabouts. There, he befriends the revenge obsessed Kurapica, the aspiring doctor Leorio and the rebellious former assassin Killua. Together, they break through the many trials and hardships involved with the exam, and Gon’s journey to becoming a Master Hunter, and finally reuniting with his father begins.
Story (8/10)
I began watching Hunter X Hunter after a 3 month break from anime, and in all honestly, I knew that I'd discovered a gem in the first five minutes of the first episode. Although not wholy original, the plot of Hunter X Hunter was interesting enough to draw me in immediatly, and that is not such an easy feat. As each new character was introduced, I found myself appreciating their believability with increasing enthusiasm. The overall story was extremely engaging too, as I have always been fascinated by those who devote their lives to collecting. I even went through a striking 10 year obsession with accumulating TY Beany Babies, and had amassed over 500 individual specimens before turning 13. My relevance there could be questioned, nevertheless, the story of Hunter X Hunter was overused, but wonderful. Of course, I do have several small complaints in regards to the series' numerous plot holes, which surface occasionally in the midst of battle. It is also one of the main reasons why I couldn't rate the story higher.
Animation (6/10)
Hunter X Hunter has next to terrible animation, a fault that will surely drag its overall mark down dramatically. The quality of the design's change constantly, and there were many, many instances when I forced myself to look away because a character's eyes were slightly askew. It has a fairly bad fluidity to cleaness ratio, and the backgrounds were nothing exceptional either. Also, as I recall, a certain scene of doves flying was reused rather frequently. Still, Hunter X Hunter's animation cannot even be compared the monstrosities that are Saiyuki or Pokemon.
Sound (7/10)
The background music of Hunter X Hunter was nothing exceptional; nor was it atrocious. It reminded me somewhat of Zelda game music or the soundtracks of very early Final Fantasy issues. As such, it wasn't incredible, but it didn't interfere either. Both the openings and closings were great however, as I still listen to them regularly. On a side note, I watched half of the series with English subtitles, and the remainder of it dubbed. The dub was fairly poorly done, but the Japanese voices were excellant. I couldn't help but adore Gon's Japanese seiyu, Junko Takeuchi, due to the fact that she also voices Naruto Uzumaki in the Naruto series.
Characters (9/10)
This is the area where Hunter X Hunter really glimmers, and the part of the review I was most looking forward to printing. The overall character development in this series was astounding. Of course, the villains were sometimes lacking in sensible motivations, but I found myself easily distracted by the fascinating relationship that forms between Gon and Killua, the two main protagonists. Killua is Gon's opposite in many ways, as well as the key counter to his immature and selfless nature. I admit that when I was first introduced to Killua, I was positive that he would simply be Hunter X Hunter's version of Yu Yu Hakusho's, Hei. I was initially predicting an overly distant, power hungry character that Gon would be required to repair at some point in the story. I couldn't have been more mistaken. As it turned out, Killua was neither distant nor selfish. Instead, he became Gon's link to the more difficult and meaningful lessons of life, and in turn grew to learn the true significance of friendship from Gon.
Overall (7.5/10)
With everything said, Hunter X Hunter is an amazing Shounen series that deserves deffinate honour and appreciation. I honestly wish that I could have given it a higher rating, but with the poor animation and music, this prospect is impossible. As such, I conclude my review of mangaka Yoshiro Togashi's, Hunter X Hunter.
This is one that will probably split the fans. On one side, we have the real fans, on the other everyone who considers it mediocre. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Altough it has a lot of memorable moments its still one of the weaker specimens of its kind.
Story: the story is pretty good, pretty basic. We have some kids with special talents, they meet each other, become friends and get stronger and stronger. Basic stuff. What makes the story better than usual are some pretty good ideas. For example: the hunter exam. In this anime, the characters actually use their brains even if they are real young. So thats a big positive: even though the basic plot is simple, the way it unfolds is actually pretty original.
Some negagtives about the story: its usually really slow. Even with a pretty short number of episodes, we get our fair share of fillers and they are boring like always. Another problem: even if they have some really good ideas(for example from the last few episodes when they trick the guy from the main antagoninsts and escape instead of fighting him), but sometimes they just rub it in too much. OK. You cant get through the door, so break out the wall. Doesnt need a scientinst to figure that our and still, they waste like 3 minutes with this plan like it was something really original and smart.
Good story. 8/10
Characters: the charcaters actually have some dept. They arent just one sided(Gon mostly is), but even the protagonists have their moments of darkness. Kurapika is incredibly vengeful for a positive character, Killua can rip your heart out with his bare hands. End off discussion.
So even is art first they all look like cliches, they are actually built up pretty well. Some of them are annoying, but nothing serious. Characaters: 8/10
Animation: probably the biggest problem. It looks horribly outdated. Its not something new, but still, even compared to the animation of the era, it cant be considered good, just mediocre. 5/10
Overall. Even if the story has some nice moments and the charcaters are good(even the animation is acceptable), it feels like somethings missing. The whole thing seems kind of weak. The amount of fillers is one thing, but usually the animation help to live through fillers(Naruto, Fairy Tail, etc..), here, it doesnt help at all. Another problem is that some of the fillers are actually intersected in the main story arc which means that we get episodes with nothing, but mostly talk even when we are interested in the outcome. This is not necesarily a problem(Naruto Shipudden), but the main story isnt interesting enough on its own. Hunter x Hunter had a lot of potential, but couldnt really evolve into something really good. Ill probably look into the new series, maybe they corrected some mistakes.
I suggest you watch some of it at least(the hunter exam in full), if you are searching for something special. But if you are looking for something action packed that look great, this is not for you.
6.5/10
This is the original Hunter X Hunter that I attempted to watch before the modern version of the anime.
The older animation makes it harder to watch, but that doesn’t kill an anime for me. I find that sometimes the original is better than the revamped remake- just not in this case. It kind of reminded me of the original Dragonball anime (not the Dragonball Z version).
The adventure seemed pretty generic and slow. The characters weren't terrible, but, for some reason, I didn’t really connect to them. The fantasy was also a little too out-there for my tastes.
Anyway, it became too boring to watch. I dropped it for the newer version after a series of disappointing episodes (spoiler alert: the new one was just slightly better).
I would give it a 3/10 overall.