MovieChat Forums > Hunter x Hunter (2016) Discussion > This is the one... (very slight spoilers...

This is the one... (very slight spoilers)

posted 11 years ago by Fluffis
8 replies | jump to latest

This is the Shonen anime you should be watching.
Forget "Naruto", since that is for all intents and purposes a rip-off of the manga "Hunter x Hunter" (the author more or less admits to it). The biggest problem is that "Naruto" actually did everything a lot worse, and that is the one that has skyrocketed into fame.

"Hunter x Hunter" has had a lot of problems. Extended down-times, due (most likely) to illness and Togashi having children, has made the release schedule sketchy at best.

If you can get past this, though, you'll be rewarded with one of the best mangas/animes you will ever see. Everything, from the characters to the world and the different powers, feels tight; well thought-out. If you're coming from "Naruto", you will most likely recognize just about everything in "Hunter x Hunter". The difference is that almost everything in "Hunter x Hunter" just feels more plausible. Things are still way over the top, no doubt, but everything the characters can learn and do, is connected to who they are as a person.

Nen (and its specializations) is the tightest, most water-proof power system I have seen in a manga/anime. It actually feels like something that could be true - far more so than any other fantasy shonen.

As for the main characters, they are well-rounded and genuinely interesting. There are few important characters who feel generic in any way. The main bad guys (Hisoka and The Phantom Troupe) are doing things for one or more actual reasons, and they're doing other things while not being able to pursue their main goal. They feel alive in a way that Akatsuki and Orochimaru, for instance, never do in Naruto.
The four main heroes are fun and cool, as well as genuinely thought-provoking and "alive". There is darkness, there is light. In all of them.

The best examples are probably Kurapika and Killua. These two guys were mashed-up and became Sasuke in "Naruto". The thing is, though, that Kishimoto completely missed the point of the characters. They are two people who are teetering on the very tip of a knife edge, but they came to it from different sides - that makes them so much more interesting than Sasuke, who just plunges headlong into darkness at the first possible chance.

As for the protagonist...
Well, Gon is Naruto, only much more likable. And smarter. And less of a goof. And someone who you can actually believe, leads by example. He is a character who you don't sit and wonder "Why the hell do people in the show even like this guy?" And, of course, since his power base is Nen, his powers reflect his personality. No massively overpowered techniques which can only be described through magic - training your body and your spirit gives you your powers. Full stop. Yes, there is the "Aura", but that is just a manifest form of your own spirit - there is still a connection to your personality in everything a Conjurer manages to conjure, or how something is manipulated by a Manipulator and so on. And everything has a limit... everything.

Talking about training: How many other mangas/animes have managed to make training sequences interesting? I can't really think of any. They are usually just skipped over, or terminally boring. In "Hunter x Hunter" they are integrated in such a seamless way, and are accompanied by such interesting explanations, that they never become dull.

So... What makes "Hunter x Hunter" (2011) any better than "Hunter x Hunter" (1999) then? Well, it simply follows the Manga a lot more closely. Little-to-no real filler in each episode, and so far (as of November 2012) no filler-style episodes, apart from two recaps.

This is not to say that "Hunter x Hunter" (1999) is bad - not in any way, shape or form. It is a brilliant show, but the story is not as tight, and it tends to go off on tangents here and there - plus there is even some true filler episodes. If you can't wait to see what happens further down the line, then by all means check it out. Just know, that it actually ends quite some time before where the manga is at the moment - and it will, naturally, not be continued.

Anyways: sorry for the rant, but I just felt like the board deserved a truly massive post.

Quidquid Latinae dictum sit, altum viditur.

[–] contreraschz 11 years ago

Hunter x Hunter is the pinacle of shonen

[–] hafaball-1 11 years ago

Excellent review fluff, I couldn't have said it better. After the first episode I was unsure about watching HxH, with Gon in his cliched chipper happy self, I didn't know how in depth, dark, exciting it would become and then with the Hunter Exam, Killua's family, the Phantom Troupe, the training scenes, the amazing characters that when even on for a moment seem exciting and interesting and I want to know their story. (Where the hell is Hanzo??) I finished the 2011 series and am on to the manga because I just couldn't wait. The scenes with Biscuit, Gon and Killua training, I loved it. I like those scenes, and the only time I liked it in Naruto is when he learned how to use his wind power and learned how to use the frog, but now he never even does it, so what was the point? With Gon and HxH in general, they constantly bring up new ways to use Nen (moving the aura around their body for protection, or actually seeing them psychically strain to learn a new power and not innately know immediately what to do is so refreshing.) I love Yu Yu Hakusho and Togashi as done it again. They even make an "online" card game interesting! Very highly recommend it

Where are your nipples, man!
I'll never tell...

[–] poizon-4 11 years ago

the only time I liked it in Naruto is when he learned how to use his wind power and learned how to use the frog, but now he never even does it

He still does. Gamabunta does not like being summoned so is used sparingly and the wind shuriken takes so much out of him. That, and Naruto loves its filler and has so many more characters.

I just watched through all of the 1999 series. Should I wait a bit before starting on these?

[–] bkbirge 11 years ago

I haven't watched Naruto nor have I watched a lot of Anime, so I came to this with no expectations. I find the series to be quite fun and engaging, if a little slow at times. I like it enough that I've basically been watching nothing else but it, streaming on Crunchy Roll. Cool show. The juxtaposition of happy/cheery/bright eyed colors and kids with constant death and everyone not really giving a crap is really kind of unsettling.

[–] dxx_8 11 years ago

absolutely agree,

hxh story more interesting for me than any other manga

[–] !!!deleted!!! (22634583) 11 years ago

I for one prefer Naruto, but I love Hunter x Hunter too. Why can't you like both?

[–] Manmandiran 10 years ago

I agree with the OP that Togashi is a genius and that the 2011 animation studio has done an outstanding job, but saying that Naruto is a rip-off of HxH, or even inspired by it, is sheer nonsense. On the other hand, everyone pretty much agrees that HxH is inspired by JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and that Nen is very similar to Stands.
Naruto is a great series with very attaching characters like Maito Gai, Jiraya or Itachi, but it has lasted for too long and has been disappointing after Pain's death, with the overuse of narutization (aka talk no jutsu) and the lack of explanation for the different powers.

[–] Fluffis 9 years ago

but saying that Naruto is a rip-off of HxH, or even inspired by it, is sheer nonsense

Togashi and Kishimoto are friends, and HxH was started a year earlier.
There are way too many similarities between them for it to just be coincidence - mainly in the earlier stuff, but up until the Naruto timeskip, you can still see the influences. Kishimoto has also mentioned that he has been influenced by Togashi.

Quidquid Latinae dictum sit, altum viditur.