Hunter X Hunter

A boy hunts down a hunting license to become a Hunter so that he can track down his Hunter father.

Get it? Hunter hunting Hunter, Hunter x Hunter… actually the title came from a japanese tv comedy show “Downtown on TV”. This series is manga artist Togashi Yoshihiro(creator of YuYu Hakusho and Level E, also the guy who hooked up with Sailor Moon creator, Naoko Takeuchi) current project. HunterXHunter started in Shonen jump’s march issue in1998 and due to a multitude of hiatuses is still currently unfinished.

Hunters are a part of an international organization comprised of elite individuals. Hunters are divided in to a multitude of categorizes ranging from treasure hunters, black list criminal hunters, Nature and animal activist hunters, to even epicurean hunters. To become a hunter one must pass a test that thousand upon thousands take every year however the success rate is one person every three years passes.

The series focuses on Gon Freecss, a small orphan boy being raised by his aunty on the remote Whale Island. Gon’s first encounter with Hunters come when he accidentally wanders the teritory of a Kitsune-Guma(FoxBear) and her cub. He is saved by a Hunter named Kaito and informs Gon that he is one of his father’s disciples. Gon, who was told by his aunt that both his parents were dead, finally learns that not only is his father is alive but he is also a famous three star Hunter and that Kaito is on a final test to find him and prove that he is truly worth of being a Hunter. As soon as Gon is of age he sets off to get his own Hunter license and find his father.

This is basically another story about gaining strength, however with lovable characters and interesting story arcs. Some of the real interest comes after the Hunter exam arch where the aspect of Nen is introduced. Nen is another take of Ki usage. Each person has a natural tendency towards one of the six categories of nen, Reinforcement, Emission, Transformation, Manipulation, Materialization, and Special.

The anime follows the manga pretty closely. The art style is reminicent of 80′s cartoons where the background colors are kind of bland and washed out but the detail to the characters is great and the animation quality is excelent. While the anime is no where near as long as the manga it ends off in a good spot giving the viewer closure instead of the fate of many anime that just abruptly ends.

Overall this series is a good read and hopefully Yoshihiro-san will come out of hiatus again and finish the series. 09/10

Comments are closed.