This anime is everything that makes a bad manga adaption and a subpar anime in general. Let me start by saying that I am a fan of the manga and the 2011 anime so I will be judging it on its faithfulness to the source material as well as its merits as a standalone product. This review will be most useful for people in my position but Im still keeping it spoiler free. I only made it 52 episodes into this 62 episode series but if it somehow had a massive jump in quality in the last 10 episodes that doesnt change the fact I was bored or aggravated out of my mind for the majority of the first 52. The first 30 were absolutely abysmal. Even when compared to other popular anime from the same decade such as Yu Yu Hakusho from the same author it not only aged poorly it hardly stands to the competition for the vast majority of its run time. So lets start from the top. Story: 4/10 Hunter x Hunter spends roughly the first 30 episodes dragging its feet through the Hunter Exam arc and being as melodramatic as possible in what is supposed to be the most lighthearted of the series arcs that is only meant to touch on the darker themes that come later. The first entire half of the show is a painful slog of poor pacing bad filler episodes and characters and even some bizarrely out of character interactions. Just about everything Nippon Animation added to the series took away from it as a whole and muddled its core themes and they added a lot. The second arc Heavens Arena fairs better in that its not wholly aggravating to watch but there are some bizarre cuts made that rob the reviewer of vital information needed to understand Nen and Hisokas personalityI cant possibly understand their reasoning here. It seems like they were just trying to cut corners to avoid animating another fight scene. The order of events is also swapped around and for the worst too since it directly contradicts the narrative Gon and Killuas motivations for this arc. The third arc Yorkshin is just as much of a melodramatic slog as the rest of the series but it at least has the benefit of some narm charm and at least it keeps the filler to a minimum. Art: 5/10 Like many adapted anime from this decade its fairly inconsistent. Theres a few exceptional art directors among the bunch so the art can vary from awful to great. Although it does tighten up as the series progresses with most of the worst animation being in the beginning its rarely ever stunning in its execution. Over all the color palette is very drab and desaturated and all the character designs are realistically proportionedwhich I dont think works to the series benefit in the least. It loses the charm of the original mangas artwork and it makes it look far older than it is. It completely loses its sense of bouncy pacing and energy which would contrast the darker themes that come later. Its mostly just boring to look at and mediocre at best. Sound: 1/10 Besides the soundtrack which is unmemorable since I cant remember a single track the only exception being a couple fun OP and EDs the sound effects are...horrible They either didnt have the budget and resigned themselves to using entirely stock sound effects or they only made a dozen or so themselves and just never bothered to improve. Maybe it was a combination of the two either way the result is a mess of constantly unfitting sound effects that ruin any tension by being downright laughable. Everything sounds like stretching rubber. Everything. Every animal sounds like a dinosaur roar. Every single one. As I watched it started to become a running joke. It was the only way to tolerate it. It wasnt until I saw how bad the sound design in this anime is that I could truly appreciate the importance of good sound design. If you took a shot every time they used rubber as a sound effect you would die. Character: 6/10 Theres a bit of characterization here that feels out of character and its all things Nippon Animation added. Most of the problems seem to fall on Kurapika and Leorio in the early arc but other characters suffer here and there as well. Over all Gon and Killua are still fun characters to watch when theyre interacting on screen and thankfully once the show gets into Heavens Arena arc the characterization tightens up and begins to follow the manga more. Things get a little more light heartened and we start to see what made the original manga captivate so many people. Despite that a lot of the sidecharacters feel less memorable than they should and a lot of content is cut from them and reallocated to animeexclusive content. I will say that the Heavens Arena girls they added were earnestly enjoyable and funny though. Enjoyment: 3/10 The first 30 episodes get a 2/10 it was absolutely unbearable. The rest that Ive seen gets a 5/10 since it ranges from just tolerable to enjoyable. Theres really no consistency. Overall: 4/10 No matter how decent the second half becomes I cant forgive it for wasting nearly 720 minutes of my time. Maybe one day Ill watch the last 10 episodes and the OVAs but despite Hunter x Hunters 2011 adaption and the manga being among my favourites and coming into this anime with an open mind and hoping to enjoy it I simple couldnt. I dont recommend this series to anyone really. If youre interested in Hunter x Hunter the 2011 adaption or the manga is the way to go.
40 /100
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