Hunter x Hunter (2011)

I am embarrassed to say that for some reason, it took me a few times of being unable to get past the first episode to actually finish this anime, but once I did, it EASILY made its way into my top 5 favorite anime of all time. This anime doesn't really leave anything to be desired and you're thoroughly entertained the entire time while watching it, there isn't really a boring arch at all.

Hunter x Hunter is one of those rare anime that seems almost allergic to staying in one genre. It can spend an entire arc feeling like ... a colorful adventure and then suddenly become something deeply psychological and disturbing. What makes that work is that the series never feels like it is changing identities, it's simply revealing another side of what its world has always been. It can be a fun adventure story, a tournament anime, a crime story, a political thriller, a psychological horror story, or something almost existential and somehow it never stops feeling like itself, which is something I think is EXTREMELY easy to do if you're not careful.
Another thing I love is that the world building is really good and it feels genuinely dangerous. A lot of adventure anime have worlds that are technically dangerous but still feel strangely safe because you know the protagonists will survive, this anime doesn't always give you that comfort tho. Characters can die. Plans can fail. Strength doesn't automatically save someone. Being clever doesn't guarantee victory. More importantly, the protagonists aren't always the most important people in the room. the world continues existing outside of them.
Now on to the best part of hxh, the characters. To start with, Gon, our MC, isn't your run-of-the-mill main character despite what it seems like on the outside. He's chipper, kind, and very optimistic, but also has this fascinatingly grey sense of morality. Gon can be incredibly compassionate, but he can also be selfish, obsessive, frighteningly stubborn, and disturbingly indifferent when someone stands between him and what he wants. If he loves you, he loves you. If he doesn't, he kind of doesn't care if you live or die LMAO. I think that is SO interesting in a character, especially an anime because anime tend to be very one dimensional when it comes to their protagonists personality (which is fine btw).
Next is Killua. Killua's story is arguably one of the emotional pillars of the series. He's introduced as someone who has been trained to kill, but his real struggle isn't simply learning how to be a better person, it's learning that he is allowed to want things for himself. His family has conditioned him to believe that his purpose is predetermined. Friendship, especially his relationship with Gon, gives him a reason to question that. Watching his personality and relationship with Gon unfold is so beautiful to witness and doubles down on a recurring theme in the anime which is the "bad" character becoming more human while the "good" character becoming more inhuman.
I think one of the best things that hxh does is humanizing characters. No one is just evil or good, they're deliberately ambiguous and makes you decide for yourself whether you like them or not and why. Our villains have goals, personalities, interests, etc. They aren't just there to be a powerful obstacle for the MC to overcome. The anime forces you to understand them.
Hunter x Hunter is an anime that gives you dark twists in what are supposed to be safe and happy environments while trusting you, the viewer, to read between the lines and not spoon feed you nuance or critical thinking. If you understand it and its themes? Great! If not? The show doesn't care hahaha and I think that's what a lot of people love about it.

I watched this when I was like 14 or around that age. Way to many episodes for a human being to watch and can be a slog but there are some redeeming factors. The characters are kind of cookie cutter but its not that bad so. If you are young and have a lot of time on your hands I would recommend this one for you. If you are over the age of 15 and gainfully employed you probably have more important things to do. The art was ok, the animation is good at times mediocre at others. The story is typical shonen slop which ... is fine for what this anime is.

Honestly, this is garbage.
Watched it twice with a few years gap in between just to make sure.

I used to watch and like Dragon Ball/DBZ when I was a teenager, so I totally understand people who watched this when they were children/teenagers will feel an emotional connection to HxH. That, however, does not make this series good.

Bad/unappealing character design, extremely drawn-out action and plot, childish and one-dimensional characters whose actions make little to no sense, abilities that are supposed to be cool but end up looking silly (maybe with the exception of Netero's); all of it made this series really hard to enjoy.

If you like mindless ... shonens, and/or your prefrontal cortex hasn't fully developed yet, this might be the anime for you. Otherwise, don't bother.