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| Why Hunter x Hunter is the best Shonen Series | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 5 2016, 02:56 PM (794 Views) | |
| Copy_Ninja | Apr 5 2016, 02:56 PM Post #1 |
Novacane for the pain
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Thinking about making this for a while and I'm currently procrastinating hard so why not now? Hunter x Hunter (2011) is the second Anime series based on Yoshihiro Togashi's manga series of the same name. It's animated by studio Madhouse and ran from 2011 until 2014 for 148 episodes. It tells the story of Gon, a young boy who has been raised by his Aunt after his father left him with her as a baby. Gon's father left him to continue on as a Hunter, an elite profession whose members embark on dangerous quests for money, fame and glory. After learning of this, Gon decides he wants to become a Hunter as well, firstly to help find his father but also because he believes that, if someone is willing to leave their child in order to be one, then being a Hunter must be pretty great. Along the way he meets various friends, enemies and people in between. The series is absolutely fantastic and I'm going to tell you why. 1. Animation The series is beautifully animated, especially for such a long running show. It is made by Madhouse so quality is to be expected. Some people early on dislike the bright colours but I see this as a strength of the show. The series varies in tone depending on the arc and so the more lighthearted arcs tend to be more vibrant, while the darker series reflect that in its choice of colour. Fight scenes are very fluid in the way they move and Madhouse is brilliant at animating facial expressions that really give you an insight in to what the character is feeling at that moment. While the art from the manga can be brilliant as well, and even surpass the Anime at times imo, the Anime is just so consistent with this aspect. 2. Creative fight scenes. It's a Shonen adventure series so this is crucial. This is generally a non-spoiler topic so I won't explain too heavily how it works but the 'inner energy' equivalent in HxH is called Nen. Nen is relatively complex in its usage, with the basic principle being similar to the idea of equivalent exchange: if you want something powerful, you need to give something back in return. This leads to some very creative powers being used in interesting ways. HxH fights rely far more heavily on tactics than they do on pure power and the result is more engaging fights. 3. Great cast of characters. Like many Shonen series, HxH has a large cast. However, unlike most of them, it does a good job of balancing the cast and making each character distinctive and well fleshed out. The series is usually marketed as having a main cast of four characters that are Gon's companions in the first arc: Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio. Again, not to spoil too much but this is a little misleading. Only Gon and Killua are really mainstays in the story, the others sort of flit in and out of the series. Which is a strength of the story. If a character is involved in an arc, that means they have a role in the story and receive sufficient screen time which allows for this development. Togashi is not afraid of having characters sit out entire arcs at a time and only includes those who matter. 4. Character development. Killua has the best character development of any character in this genre and I will fight you on that. His character arc is used as both a point of comparison and contrast to Gon, who at the beginning is presented as the stereotypical Shonen main character but evolves in to something very different. This also goes to the likes of Kurapika and Leorio, who make very believable and significant changes over the course of the series. This aspect is taken up to eleven in the penultimate arc (which takes up almost half of the shows entire run) where even minor antagonists receive significant development. One of the main problems with Shonen series is one or two dimensional characters, which HxH avoids. 5. Themes. HxH deals with such a large array of themes and does so with intelligence and nuance they deserve. Examples include human morality, genocide, eugenics, grief, love (particularly obsessive love) and friendship (it IS a Shonen after all) etc. A lot of shows attempt to do this but I think HxH executes it far better by presenting various perspectives and critiques of those perspectives. It's not very often where someone is shown to be an outright bad guy and the series really presents a good case of shades of grey. 6. Subversion of Shonen tropes. Togashi messes around with the Shonen formula to devestating effect, particularly in the Chimera Ant Arc. Gon is a running commentary on the Shonen Hero and the flaws of the way they are usually presented. Arc's don't necessarily end in the big climactic battle with the bad guy and if they do, they do not go as Shonen convention usually implies they will. Even the whole 'true friendship' message is deconstructed and we see the dangers of relying so heavily on one person like that. It's fascinating to watch, particularly if you're very aware of these standard tropes. Finally, the best reason to watch HxH is Hisoka, one of the series main antagonists. He's a pedophilic clown magician obsessed with fighting to the point that it literally turns him on who switches sides whenever the mood takes him and appears in arcs seemingly at random. And if you don't enjoy that, then I can't help you. |
 We'll never be those kids again
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| Billa | Apr 5 2016, 03:20 PM Post #2 |
Thala na Gethu!
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Eh. Maybe a good show. Great. No where near worthy to be declared flat-out best. That too for a show which ended prematurely TWICE while its manga counterpart was on-going back then. STILL on-going & Hunter Hunter failed providing a conclusive ending deemed worthy With MadHouse (arguably, the best Animation Studio) at helm, you shouldnt even have spaces to criticize animation, music, pacing etc Togashi's childish artstyle is what irks me the most. And too much emphasize on plot, instead of visceral action (after a TON of buildup) is just betraying. If its only anime ur talking about, original Hunter Hunter is significantly darker, deeper & reflects Togashi's spirit. MadHouse's streamlined 2011 version feels like kiddie fare by comparison for a good 30 episode & picks up pace only with York New Arc. But even that was handled more seriously in the original incarnation. I'd definetly rank HXH & FMAB in good shows category. Not best. |
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| Copy_Ninja | Apr 5 2016, 03:38 PM Post #3 |
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Novacane for the pain
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I'm only saying I think it's best amongst this type of Shonen, there's some other series I think are better outside of that demographic.
Not really the fault of the Anime that it ran out of source material, personally I think it was better for them to end it where they did rather than make up a filler ending. Not going to post spoilers about how it ends but it wraps up what is essentially the main plot line while leaving open how things will go in the future.
I'm only talking about the Anime so Togashi's art doesn't really matter, though I completely disagree that his artstyle is childish. Also heavily disagree on the plot/action point, I thought it was great storytelling. Just because something doesn't end in a fight or what you thought it was building up to doesn't make it bad. The plot proceeds in a way that makes sense for the characters.
Darker =/= better, that opnion has become an annoying trend lately. Personally I think the original HxH adaption went too far with how dark it tried to be. If you're comparing it to the source material, HxH is pretty light in places, particularly most of the first arc. The 2011 Anime understood when it was appropriate to be lighter and when it was appropriate to be darker far better than the 99 Anime did.
Eh, kind of the same point I made above, completely disagree with this assessment of it. |
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| + Pelador | Apr 5 2016, 04:01 PM Post #4 |
Crazy Awesome Legend
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2011's was one of the only anime that really got my blood pumping. Even dbz never got me excited like this did. Not only did this series follow the source material more closely than the original, but it had superior animation and voice acting. Plus we got to see the Chimera arc unlike the original series, which finished right after Greed Island.
Edited by Pelador, Apr 5 2016, 04:01 PM.
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| Billa | Apr 6 2016, 02:03 AM Post #5 |
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Thala na Gethu!
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Well, since you refuse to involve Togashi's manga in this Anime-only discussion, I might as well go all-out in dissecting the anime. Thx Pelador for popping up Chimera Arc. HXH2011 was near perfect show, till it falls in the pitfall which came in the form of Chimera Ant Arc Its arguably, by FAR weakest/lowest/detestable Arc in HXH. Still better Bleach, Naruto's filler arcs though cuz you know. Madhouse is King! The Arc itself had tremendous hype. Coming off hot wheels from Greed Island essentially one BIG game, it builds-up into something far darker than even York New Arc. More than bandits/criminals vs Dons/mafias, this time it involves a much universal scale: Hunters/Mankind vs Chimera/Advanced beings Everything was good TILL Gon & Killua had to train b4 the fight. It was absymal. The strrain of stress (MadHouse probably knew Chimera Arc gotta be the wrap-up) was evident. 1. Pacing was horrible. Gon dates Palm episode. Ugh 2. Ugly character designs. Most "ants" arent even ants. I know its Chimera & the Queen devoured every goddamn thing, but at least give us a compelling design. Weird looking crocs, wolves, pork X chicken hybrid looked retarded 3. Pre-invasion sucked. Invasion was great. Post-invasion sucked again Gon was waiting for Pitou. Pacing sucked Knuckle & Shoot occupied Youpi with cliched "Nakama BS". Again, fight, choreography, pacing, all sucked Killua's role was significantly underplayed after utilizing him optimally in pre-invasion mission which sapped much energy & enthusiasm frm HXH. With Gon assuming a "non-active" role, Killua's non-relevant actions EXCEPT brief 2 min struggle protecting Komugi frm Pouf makes for a boring watch Netero vs Meruem fight wasnt a "fight" Now, dont blame me. With Netero regardes as greatest Hunter & HXH being Shonen, its logical to assume an all-out brawl would take place between these 2. Alas, was resolved in dissapointing fashion just as ending of York New Arc. Emphasizing plot over action HXH does have its resurgence of sorts with the Chairman Election Arc. Thx to Hisoka. Lol |
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| + Ssj3vegito96 | Apr 6 2016, 07:26 AM Post #6 |
 
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Its a good show but I don't think it's the best The things I didn't like was killua getting repetitive The fact that it took like 30 dam episodes to get to a real fight. This is a really fighting oriented series and they make us get through 30 episodes for a real fight. Makes no sense Gon was cool but something about him I just don't like. Maybe it's him being overpowered(not sure how true this is it's been a while since I've seen it). Or maybe his design idk The character designs were starting to get silly and weird. I'm not a fan of that stuff. Reminds me of One Piece Mereum looks pretty cool. I never got that far I've only seen pictures. I saw portion of his fight with netero which is pretty disappointing. I'm sure there's been a lot of other cool stuff with him though Edited by Ssj3vegito96, Apr 6 2016, 07:31 AM.
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IT'S CHEESE Spoiler: click to toggle
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| + Steve | Apr 6 2016, 01:54 PM Post #7 |
Greetings. I will be your waifu this season.
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How was Meruem vs Netero disappointing? Its wasn't much of a standard fight but what was at stake fuelled the tension well. I much preferred it to the Gon moment. Not that you could call that a fight... I liked how evidently clears it was that it wasn't an even fight, there couldn't have been your typical punchy Shounen fight that would have destroyed the story and tension, it's not DBZ where the fights are the focus but the story and how the actions of the characters shape it. The Chimera Ant arc is easily my favourite though other arcs contain my favourite moments by far, Chimera Ant just felt so much grander in scale. The conclusion was a bit off though. I didn't like how... Spoiler: click to toggle Not that any of that totally ruins it. But yeah, Madhouse are freaking Gods. Hopefully they keep up this kind of quality for years to come they do some astounding animation work, even with a crappy budget their shows don't look lazy and terrible like Studio Pierrot's have gotten. |
 Definitely not a succubus, fear not | |
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| Billa | Apr 6 2016, 02:35 PM Post #8 |
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Thala na Gethu!
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I refuse to drift this thread into DBZ vs Hunter Hunter cuz its hardly worth the effort Toriyama's masterstroke for conveying story via fights is one of a kind. Ex: 21st, 22nd & 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukais, Red Red Army Arc, mini Uranai Baba Arc, entire 2nd half of Frieza & Boo Arc. Most shounen can only dream of acheiving DBZ's story via fights status Togashi's flair for character-driven plot is impressive for the most part. Be it Gon's quest to search Ging, Kurapika's vengeance, Hisoka's secret agendas, every character in Togashi's world have their roles intertwined to the plot at specific Arcs. Which honestly gives the show a solid backing. An aspect I've always appreciated ever since pre- 3 Demon Kings Martial Arts Tournament in YYH. But it doesnt mean the lack of visceral action is acceptable, at least for me Edited by Billa, Apr 6 2016, 02:36 PM.
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| Daniel | Apr 6 2016, 02:38 PM Post #9 |
I like Pokémon
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It's a fansastic anime, just started watching it about two weeks ago, I'm on episode 132 right now. The only issue I have with the Chimera Ant Arc, pacing was too slow even for me - 25 episodes between Gon finding Pitou and him fighting her....I actually got so frustrated and skipped to Episode 131 to see the fight. Other than that, no issues with the anime - one of my new found favourites. |
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| Mihawk | Apr 6 2016, 05:56 PM Post #10 |
 
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Yeah the training in the Chimera arc was frustrating, but the point behind it was Spoiler: click to toggle
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| Daniel | Apr 6 2016, 08:30 PM Post #11 |
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I like Pokémon
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I'm not talking about the first time Gon met Pitou and the Kite thing happened. Their was exactly 27 episodes between Gon finding where Pitou is and heading to fight her during the palace invasiomnand actually fighting her....
Edited by Daniel, Apr 6 2016, 09:25 PM.
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| + Steve | Apr 6 2016, 09:59 PM Post #12 |
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Greetings. I will be your waifu this season.
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Yeah it did feel kind of dragged out, I wonder if they were holding hope the manga would continue? A few scenes felt kind of long, like when Gon uses his Scissors technique for the first time. Such a shame that we'll probably never get a continuation of this anime, I can't see how another adaptation would top it. The voice actors, the animation and the soundtrack are just top notch. Fairy Tail pulled off getting a "season 2" even though it's clearly not a seasonal anime so it could potentially happen...the popularity is certainly there. But the likelihood of Togashi drawing enough manga to even have enough for an extra arc to be adapted is astoundingly low. Still, I felt like considering what they had the ending was excellent. There's so much left in that world but it felt like a natural end, like you could expect a continuation in a few years involving a time skip as is the typical Shounen way. |
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