Panwolf
10-17-2006, 04:57 PM
Title: Hunter x Hunter
Genre: Action / Adventure / Fantasy
Company: Nippon Animation
Format: 92 episodes, including the two OVAS, Gen'eiryodan and Greed Island.
Dates: October 16, 1999 – March 31, 2001
Grade: 97%
The world is mysterious, filled with wonders and untold stories. There are people that seek the riches of the earth and aim to discover everything there is to discover. These people are called Hunters.
Summery
Enter Gon, a charismatic boy with high aspirations. After coming in contact with an old friend of his father's, Gon, with a little bit on pursuasion, manages to secure a trip on a boat to the mainland, so that he may obtain a Hunter license. However, in order to get a license, he must pass a difficult qualification exam, something that, for most people, is the last thing there ever attempt. During the exam, he meets three other Hunter hopefuls, Leorio, Kurapika and Killua, and together they set off on a difficult journey that leads them into confrontations with sadistic jesters, a twelve-legged organization, and a "Game world" that's a lot more dangerous than it seems..
Ups:
HxH combines elements of epic battles with the use of wit, strength and strategy. It brings on a sense of fantastic realism in the way that the characters use their brains to win fights more often than they use violence. The animation is also excellent, combined with beautiful music and a great selection of opening and ending themes. The personalities of the characters are distinctive, and while there are few backstories, the ones that exist are described in detail.
The energy system (Nen) and how it works is a huge plus as well, being branched out and complex.
The voice actors are very good as well, each portraying the character very nicely.
Downs:
The end of the second arc was left a little loose-ended, and the lack of an animated third arc brought the series to a screeching halt. The fights are very few and far in between. Aside from the Heaven’s Arena story, there are hardly any real fights. The Hunter Exam story was a little dragged out as well.
----
I find this series to be a combination of DBZ and Chess. While all of the characters must train themselves to become stronger, they are not the strongest characters in the series. There are plenty of people more powerful than they are. There’s a lot of strategy involved in this series and a lot of pure endurance.
Another interesting thing about this series is the spiritual energy it uses. Known as “Nen,” there are different branches that are used for different things. The Nen branch Zetsu, for instance, is used to suppress one’s aura, making them hard to protect, while Ren, the will of the user, inflates the aura to use as a weapon.
Branching off even further still are the types of nen users. Like the Chakra of Naruto, there are different elements of nen that determine what kind of powers the users can learn. The nen type Reinforcement strengthens one’s hand-to-hand combat abilities, while manipulation can allow one to change the atomic structure of a solid item. Specialization users can do both of those to the max.
I find the complexity of the energies to be a very huge plus, considering it is very different from the usual monoenergies that EVERYONE has, that allows everyone to learn the same skills as everyone else.
The story in the beginning starts off very nicely, and gets to the point of the series fairly quickly. The first part of the story takes a little while to complete, but after that, pretty much everything is fast paced, and you get to see some sides of the characters that you didn’t see before. The only downfall I could find in the story was the abrupt cut off at the end of Greed Island.
The character personalities are distinct, and everyone has a reason for doing what they do, be it a need for revenge, adventure or simply because they want to. There are many characters. But everyone has a backstory that is revealed at some point in the show and manga. The characters have different powers from each other, getting rid of character cloning as far as strength or power. There are weaknesses and there are strong points.
The animation is fluid and detailed, and runs smoothly through the anime. The smooth animation and elaborate coloration create beautiful backgrounds and cutting-edge fight scenes. Each location in the story is unlike anywhere else. A forest is a forest, but the woods of another place would be distinctively different. (It takes a while to notice, but they do put detail in what plants go where. xD)
Ok.. it might just be an opinion of mine, but I personally think this is a great series that many people would enjoy. It’s interesting, funny, and it can be very dark at times. It has great music, a good plot, great characters and solid animation.
I give it a star rating of 9.7/10.
Genre: Action / Adventure / Fantasy
Company: Nippon Animation
Format: 92 episodes, including the two OVAS, Gen'eiryodan and Greed Island.
Dates: October 16, 1999 – March 31, 2001
Grade: 97%
The world is mysterious, filled with wonders and untold stories. There are people that seek the riches of the earth and aim to discover everything there is to discover. These people are called Hunters.
Summery
Enter Gon, a charismatic boy with high aspirations. After coming in contact with an old friend of his father's, Gon, with a little bit on pursuasion, manages to secure a trip on a boat to the mainland, so that he may obtain a Hunter license. However, in order to get a license, he must pass a difficult qualification exam, something that, for most people, is the last thing there ever attempt. During the exam, he meets three other Hunter hopefuls, Leorio, Kurapika and Killua, and together they set off on a difficult journey that leads them into confrontations with sadistic jesters, a twelve-legged organization, and a "Game world" that's a lot more dangerous than it seems..
Ups:
HxH combines elements of epic battles with the use of wit, strength and strategy. It brings on a sense of fantastic realism in the way that the characters use their brains to win fights more often than they use violence. The animation is also excellent, combined with beautiful music and a great selection of opening and ending themes. The personalities of the characters are distinctive, and while there are few backstories, the ones that exist are described in detail.
The energy system (Nen) and how it works is a huge plus as well, being branched out and complex.
The voice actors are very good as well, each portraying the character very nicely.
Downs:
The end of the second arc was left a little loose-ended, and the lack of an animated third arc brought the series to a screeching halt. The fights are very few and far in between. Aside from the Heaven’s Arena story, there are hardly any real fights. The Hunter Exam story was a little dragged out as well.
----
I find this series to be a combination of DBZ and Chess. While all of the characters must train themselves to become stronger, they are not the strongest characters in the series. There are plenty of people more powerful than they are. There’s a lot of strategy involved in this series and a lot of pure endurance.
Another interesting thing about this series is the spiritual energy it uses. Known as “Nen,” there are different branches that are used for different things. The Nen branch Zetsu, for instance, is used to suppress one’s aura, making them hard to protect, while Ren, the will of the user, inflates the aura to use as a weapon.
Branching off even further still are the types of nen users. Like the Chakra of Naruto, there are different elements of nen that determine what kind of powers the users can learn. The nen type Reinforcement strengthens one’s hand-to-hand combat abilities, while manipulation can allow one to change the atomic structure of a solid item. Specialization users can do both of those to the max.
I find the complexity of the energies to be a very huge plus, considering it is very different from the usual monoenergies that EVERYONE has, that allows everyone to learn the same skills as everyone else.
The story in the beginning starts off very nicely, and gets to the point of the series fairly quickly. The first part of the story takes a little while to complete, but after that, pretty much everything is fast paced, and you get to see some sides of the characters that you didn’t see before. The only downfall I could find in the story was the abrupt cut off at the end of Greed Island.
The character personalities are distinct, and everyone has a reason for doing what they do, be it a need for revenge, adventure or simply because they want to. There are many characters. But everyone has a backstory that is revealed at some point in the show and manga. The characters have different powers from each other, getting rid of character cloning as far as strength or power. There are weaknesses and there are strong points.
The animation is fluid and detailed, and runs smoothly through the anime. The smooth animation and elaborate coloration create beautiful backgrounds and cutting-edge fight scenes. Each location in the story is unlike anywhere else. A forest is a forest, but the woods of another place would be distinctively different. (It takes a while to notice, but they do put detail in what plants go where. xD)
Ok.. it might just be an opinion of mine, but I personally think this is a great series that many people would enjoy. It’s interesting, funny, and it can be very dark at times. It has great music, a good plot, great characters and solid animation.
I give it a star rating of 9.7/10.