Can someone explain to me what's supposed to be so great about Hunter x Hunter?
Now, before you hatepile me, I by no means am saying HxH is bad.
I just really do not get the glaze I read everywhere around this show. I've seen titles like "Anime Mt. Rushmore" and "top3 all time" thrown around, and I just don't get where it's coming from and want to understand.
I watched the anime up until the middle of the arc, where Gon and Killua are in that tower, fighting upwards in a tournament arc. Then I gave up on it, cause I got bored.
For context: I was in my late 20s when I did that watch session. I only got into anime as an adult, and made my way through commonly requested shows, after only seeing some tv anime like Dragonball, Yu-Gi-Oh and Inuyasha as a kid/teen.
I'm 100% certain, that if I watched HxH as a teen, I would have absolutely loved it. But even then I'm not sure I would have kept it in my top3, or even like top 30 of all time, after growing up and watching more shows. From what I've seen of the show it's very much a show about kids, made FOR kids. And exclusively so. It's an action-adventure with basically no extra substance. As an adult there was very little special about the show from my eyes.
As a comparison: Avatar, the last Airbender is a show about kids, that are about the same age as the main cast in HxH. But it's a great show for adults as well, because it deals with very adult topics, just packaged in a kid friendly way.
HxH didn't really set any standards either from what I've seen. It basically just follows the shounen formula, without innovating on it basically at all. Sure, it follows it very well, and tells an entertaining story within that shell. But it doesn't really break out of the shell at all.
Dragonball for comparison SET the standards. So I get why it's remembered so fondly, even though by todays standards, the story is mostly nothing special. It was the first to do it.
So what am I missing here? Did I just watch the show too late to see the magic of it? Or is there an element to it, that I completely missed out on, that sets it apart from other shounen action-adventures?
I hope this doesn't come across as me hating on the show. I truely didn't. I just wanna see the magic that it did to other people as well.
Edit: While most people here are just dogpiling me, I got a few helpful responses, informing me that I just gave up on it too early, because the show is somewhat of a slow burn. I just didn't see that and quit before the introduction was fully over.
Thanks to the couple actually helpful people. And to the people thinking "X is goated" is an argument that will convince anyone of anything: what the fuck.
Case closed.
I just really do not get the glaze I read everywhere around this show. I've seen titles like "Anime Mt. Rushmore" and "top3 all time" thrown around, and I just don't get where it's coming from and want to understand.
I watched the anime up until the middle of the arc, where Gon and Killua are in that tower, fighting upwards in a tournament arc. Then I gave up on it, cause I got bored.
For context: I was in my late 20s when I did that watch session. I only got into anime as an adult, and made my way through commonly requested shows, after only seeing some tv anime like Dragonball, Yu-Gi-Oh and Inuyasha as a kid/teen.
I'm 100% certain, that if I watched HxH as a teen, I would have absolutely loved it. But even then I'm not sure I would have kept it in my top3, or even like top 30 of all time, after growing up and watching more shows. From what I've seen of the show it's very much a show about kids, made FOR kids. And exclusively so. It's an action-adventure with basically no extra substance. As an adult there was very little special about the show from my eyes.
As a comparison: Avatar, the last Airbender is a show about kids, that are about the same age as the main cast in HxH. But it's a great show for adults as well, because it deals with very adult topics, just packaged in a kid friendly way.
HxH didn't really set any standards either from what I've seen. It basically just follows the shounen formula, without innovating on it basically at all. Sure, it follows it very well, and tells an entertaining story within that shell. But it doesn't really break out of the shell at all.
Dragonball for comparison SET the standards. So I get why it's remembered so fondly, even though by todays standards, the story is mostly nothing special. It was the first to do it.
So what am I missing here? Did I just watch the show too late to see the magic of it? Or is there an element to it, that I completely missed out on, that sets it apart from other shounen action-adventures?
I hope this doesn't come across as me hating on the show. I truely didn't. I just wanna see the magic that it did to other people as well.
Edit: While most people here are just dogpiling me, I got a few helpful responses, informing me that I just gave up on it too early, because the show is somewhat of a slow burn. I just didn't see that and quit before the introduction was fully over.
Thanks to the couple actually helpful people. And to the people thinking "X is goated" is an argument that will convince anyone of anything: what the fuck.
Case closed.
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Either you like something or don't...
Also, HxH is goated!
I'm not a shounen-hater in general. I just try to find the special little something in the shows i decide to watch. I didn't find that in HxH, hence why i made this post. Wanna get another pespective on it. "It is goated" is not a perspective.
"From what I've seen", you say. That's the operative point. You haven't seen it, so you wouldn't know. It absolutely doesn't "basically follow the shounen formula". You'd have to watch the rest to understand. If you don't want to, that's fine, but your opinion on what the series is as a whole or isn't is pointless if you didn't watch most of it.
Excuse me if I try to get another perspective here. Yes I don't know, that's exactly why I'm asking.
I haven't watched the entirety of Inuyasha either for example. I just caught an episode on TV here and there. And while I remember it being decent, I certainly wouldn't put it as an alltime great either.
That doesn't help your argument, it only hurts it. Catching a random episode here and there of a super long series isn't an appropriate way to judge if it is or isn't an all-time great. It's fine if it doesn't seem like it isn't for you and you don't want to watch more, but you just don't have a valid/accurate view of how good the series is without actually watching it.
If you actually want to know what the hype is about and why people love it, watch the rest. If you don't care, then don't watch it and move on.
My point here being: for my goat shows i can clearly formulate what makes them special compared to most shows of their respective genre. Not just good... Special.
With hxh i wasnt seeing the special. I just see good. And good isnt enough for a goated show. And from previous opinions i've seen on the show its mostly just "a shounen, but well executed". Which again, reinforces that its just good, but not special.
Now a couple commentors have pointed out that there are indeed some special themes about the show in later arcs that set it apart from its shounen brethren. That's a good enough answer for me.
Still dont get why people dogpile me so much and act like i called the show trash, just because i asked that question...
The Chimera Ant arc is probably the part that everyone remembers when they think of the show and it is fantastic but you can’t take the success of that one arc and paint the entire show with that brush.
That would be like saying Bluelock season 2 was peak sports anime because of the last 2 episodes that were actually good.
A truly “peak” anime would be able to keep people hooked from start to finish.
OP, do give the rest of the show a chance because the last couple of arcs are great. You just have to get through the (if people were being honest) much more generic first season to understand what’s going on in the later arcs that everyone loves.
No matter how good a series is, there's someone who won't like it. Also, I never said it was peak or that it was the best ever. I just said it was a better show for adults than Avatar and I indicated OP is kind of silly saying "from what I've seen", making value judgments on the series and comparing it to another show they've presumably completed when they've watched only about 20% of it.
Whether OP or anyone else likes it or not, the earlier parts of any story usually focus on world building and establishing moments for characters. Some people don't mesh well with longer stories that do that and would rather watch something that's guns blazing from episode one, which isn't necessarily worse but it also isn't better. It's just different.
If they don't have the patience to jive with that, that's fine, but if we're going to make comparisons like you did with Bluelock, I think it's silly and short sighted to pause a movie 20% of the way in and stop watching it and then go online and say "this movie is decent, I'm not saying it's bad, but I don't get why people say it's amazing. Oh well, I'm not going to finish and find out, I'll just say I think it must be too childish for me to enjoy and leave it at that", which is basically what they did.
Frankly, OP nailed it. The beginning season absolutely is one of the most generic shonen ever to exist. I can understand why people would drop it.
I’m also not saying everyone needs to like something for it to be “peak”.
I’m just saying it’s kind of important (I’d even argue the most important part) for the very beginning of any show, whether it’s the first few episodes or the first 20% of a movie to be *really* good to keep people watching in the first place.
If you have to say “hang in there, it gets way better” to keep someone watching it then I think that inherently disqualifies it from being a top tier show.
And it would not be unfair to say that it’s “just decent but I don’t get the hype.”
Edit: To put it another way.
HxH is a show with 6 season, of which only 2 seasons are exceptional (phantom troupe and Chimera Ants) and the rest is “just ok”. Not only does having 2/6 good seasons not make for a “peak” show, you have to sit through 2 full season of generic shonen to get to the bit that is good.
I don’t think giving up after 20-30 whole ass episodes because it didn’t get better is “silly” at all.
A little bit power of friendship
an improvement of all MC and VILLAIN power impovement as well
killing intents
and a cool villain group
Im watcing it 'again' but this time with the kiddos.
(I mean...kinda name my fourth one Killua 😅)
And they really love it... but ill stop before the ant act... im not gonna pass that barrier yet
It’s cool if you don’t like it but you simply haven’t experienced the material that makes people call it one of the GOATs
There's a number of scenes in the last anime arc that are just some of the best Shonen ever produced in that medium.
The difference between HxH and every other Shonen is how dark/grounded it is. Characters can just die to someone more powerful. That rarely if never happens in other shows.
It's a legitimately intense and dangerous world setting with memorable characters, flawlessly executed last arc, and quotes I still remember today akin to LotR quotes.
The greed island is kinda nice.
After that you have the ant arc. That one turn the anime really dark. Until now its moatly joyfull and funny to watch. At the ant part, no more fun game, its pure kill or get kill vibe
That part is really not for kids...
I mean... i legit cry when one on the villain die, because the anime dont focus on gon and killua only, but thats me. I love anime thay focus on multiple person at the same time. Record of ragnarok and Ishura (that i found on disney+ when they added anime for adult) are my 2 Fav of last year (major anime taken excluded)
“I’m not saying it’s bad”, then proceeds to call it bad over multiple paragraphs.
“It didn’t set any standards”. Mate, do you know how many series have been inspired by HxH? Naruto, JJK, and some of the most popular shounen series were inspired by it.
There’s a reason why people have been saying “Togashi (HxH author) is your favourite author’s favourite author” for almost 2 decades.
The tower arc is when they first really introduce the Nen power system. You’re literally still in the intro.
Trying to find what sets it apart. And I'm not judging the whole series either. This post isn't a judgement at all. It's a question.
I was treating it like a fun shonen romp, then Yorknew happened with the phantom troupe, a deeper dive into how creative nen can be, and Kurapika stealing the entire show. Entirely blew me away. Subsequent arcs were just as entertaining.
The way I see it, Hunter exam and Heavens arena are just setup for introducing our main characters and the power system. The following arcs expand the system and the world, really pushing the creative and storytelling limits of battle shonen.
Thank you, that's a helpful answer
When people talk about how good HxH is, I think they're generally talking about York New City Arc and Chimera Ant Arc. The rest of the show is ranges from boring to okay. It also has one of the best power systems in anime in general.
Onto the negatives:
The tone of the show varies per arc. Gon barely undergoes character development from the beginning till the end. He is either normal or angry, no in-between. Killua on the other hand, feels like the true protag of the series sometimes despite being the deuteragonist.
Our next set of protags, Kurapika and Leorio are pretty similar. Kurapika has really good stories and is just as strong as Killua character-wise. And Leorio is the forgotten child, barely anybody cares about him.
The writing itself, while detailed, sometimes seems like it wants to be a novel instead of an anime/manga. You can tell how bad it got during the Chimera Ant Arc because a lot of it was "*Tell. Not Show*". IIRC Togashi's health got worse as time went on, so he spent less time on drawing and more time on writing text walls in the panels instead. Even now the manga source is still in hiatus.
I'll put One Piece, Gintama and Hunter x Hunter (shounen anime many consider as "great") as examples. Here's the point many in their audiences say those anime become good (remember, these are subjective):
- One Piece: 40-ish episodes (Arlong Park Arc)
- Gintama: 60-ish episodes (Benizakura Arc)
- Hunter x Hunter: 50-ish episodes (Yorknew City Arc)
One Piece I'm still actively watching, but contrary to the popular opinion, it actually gripped me from the very first episode, mostly because Luffy is such a charismatic protagonist. He's confident, but even in the very first fight he has, he shows that he can actually back up his confidence. He's also optimistic almost to a fault, and that's captivating, at least to me.
Gon in comparison seemed very much like a blank slate to me in the beginning. Killua at least has some stuff going on, but it's not his show, and a good side character doesn't keep me hooked like a good protagonist.
That probably sums up how HxH stands out in the battle shounen genre.
I still remember the fun from the Genthru and Volleyball battle climaxes.
I love HxH, but my new battle shounen darling is "World Trigger". WT is super unique.
Personally it took me a while to get into it (compared to other long anime like Naruto, One Piece) but when I did, I was completely hooked and fell in love with every aspect of it. I rewatched (and read) the first 2 arcs, and they were much better than they did in my first watch. They are so important for world building and characterization and foreshadow a lot of the later developments.
HxH is peak.
If you like shonen battle anime, this one is well-executed. If you don't like shonen battle anime, well this is one of those.
The worldbuilding, magic/power system, whatever you want to call it, is generally lauded as being extremely well-crafted. The author doesn't explain how it works until relatively late but when it is explained it makes a lot of seemingly disjointed power sets all make sense as part of a larger system. People who are into power systems are always hyping it up.
So yeah, it's the goat because it's the greatest of all time, and it's the greatest of all time because it's goat. But if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you.
While I definitely wouldn't give it the goat of goats, king of kings status some people do I enjoyed my time with it.
Solid 8 overall with some pretty high peaks, mainly the end of Chimera Ant honestly.
I can understand for people who love Shonens it being among their favorites. While I enjoy the genre it's more like an appetizer to me compared to others so probably never going to me absolute favorite.
I would argue that based on the fact you say that you got to the Heaven’s Arena arc and you aren’t already invested then it might simply not be for you. At that point in the story the main characters have been established and the vast majority of them are extremely likable. I would also say that you likely just don’t enjoy the characters as much as the fanbase does, which is fine.
The Yorknew City arc and the Chimera Ant Arc are two of the best in all of shonen anime in my personal opinion. That being said, the chimera ant arc specifically is one of the most thematically dense arcs in all of anime, let alone Shonen anime. The themes of what it means to be a human and what does it mean to embrace one’s own mortality are extremely present in the Chimera Ant Arc.
OP is allowed to have their opinion on a series (all be it an uninformed opinion) and they are allowed to voice that opinion. Their opinion of Hunter x Hunter should in no way invalidate your own enjoyment of the series as a whole. Simply state what you feel makes the series great and move on if you can’t be civil.
For me, the hardest thing to swallow was the excessive use of training arcs within the main arcs. Between Heaven's Arena, Yorknew City, Greed Island, and Chimera Ant, there are 16 episodes devoted solely to watching as Gon and Killua trained up for the upcoming challenges. And the length of the Chimera Ant training arc just took me out of it completely.
And to be fair I think coming into the Heavens Arena Arc there are already some complex things going on. Killua's relationship with his family for one, the Hunter exam itself with the badge capture and Gon trying to learn how to stalk or the introduction of the Nen system. Sure, it's not the heaviest emotional stuff like your comparison to avatar, but it's already there, I think.
I get it, so many people are raving about it, so it's hard not to go in with high expectations. And maybe it really is just not for you. You'll find joy in other things. =D
Funny enough I first got interested due to a great animation highlight of a certain big fight in the Yorknew City arc. :D