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.