Hunter x Hunter: Phantom Rouge

This movie may not be "canon" but that doesn't change anything for me. The movie helps give you more background into the life of a very important character to the series, and also helps solidify all their friendships in the process. It especially made you feel for the characters as their pasts came back to haunt them. The writers also did a very good job of not messing up any of the timelines either. I bought the movie, and I do not regret it. It is beautifully done and definitely worth the watch!

I have joined the world of "Hunter x Hunter" not that long ago and for now have only 4 seasons of the 2011th edition watched and now also this. I became a huge fan of Gon and Killua friendship and pairing overall. I also absolutely love warmhearted and somewhat goofy but still loyal Leorio and Kurapika who is overcoming tragic past and finding new friends. In my ppinion this movie represents those characters greatly and does not betray them in any way. In fact it is the opposite. The inner struggle of Killua, Gon's undying loyalty, Kurapika's determination as well as the challenge of facing his tragic past! Seeing Leorio again made this movie so much better for me. I am also a huge fan of Hisoka and his story line, and was ecstatic to see him join the good fight and show off. Something we do not see at all till season 4. I honestly liked it and afterwards it felt very good. Like I haven't seen my friends in a long time, and now we all got a chance to catch up a bit, and they haven't chabged a bit (in a good way). We have to part our ways now, but we will see each other again. You know that feeling, right? So, in my case it was 10/10 because of all this positivity and emotions. I hope and wish that everyone who decides to watch it experiences same positive feelings. Enjoy it!

Horrible. Only watch if you're desperate for more hxh content. It's just like reading a fanfic. Everybody is acting out of character and irrational, nothing makes really any sense. Togashi's writing is impeccable and this can't ever compare. Sadly, I was excited, but there was almost no thought or any spirit behind this movie. It's just one big confusing mess. Somehow they tried to fit so many characters to this story for them to just... appear I guess? The only positive thing about this movie is they added a female character, which sadly the original show doesn't have enough of. But that's about it. The animation is mostly bad too, withing the first few seconds you get the derpiest looking Killua as a still image and that is in the very beginning. Just a big disappointment. The show is arguably one of the best anime ever made and this is just below mid :/ the story and idea behind it had potential but they ruined the way it was told.

The movie is really a split bag. It's made by a different studio to a mostly successful degree. The action is much tighter and fluid and most characters retain their looks with almost no clear failure. The one character they do fail to represent is wildcard Hisoka. Instead of the fun sexually creppy hisoka from the series. We now get a more serious and way too much tongue Hisoka.

While it has the characters and dynamics or earlier arcs in the series with the phantom troupe being involved and having the classic foursome with Leorio and Kurapika. The tone and pace are entirely derived from the latter arcs with less of a focus on action and fighting minutia and more of a focus on drama and characters dynamics. So expect to think about deep themes and cry is what i'm saying.

The new characters are great (except the villain). This movie resolves one of the show's biggest problems with it being mainly a huge sausage fest. This is also a very Kuripika focused plot with his childhood best friend being another fantastic addition. Everybody gets their due and again it will mostly hit on an emotional level which is really where hunter x hunter has excelled.

There are huge flaws however. Chronologically it seems to be before the series finale but that's only learned at the end so it makes the preceding events somewhat more confusing. The villain gets the shaft in the character development. He's mainly a background villain and his story and arcs are pretty bad. But that's mostly to leave more screen time for the other 2 main new characters.

Kiliua's brother Illumi also shows up in an extremely confusing fashion and he also brings the baggage of an issue that was resolved in the main series (killua's flee or fight problems). Also a long scene is spent on a previously though dead phantom troupe character that really dragged since we in no way wanted to see him back. The worse flaw is it's use of music. Though it's the same music from the series hearing the same tunes multiple times in weird moments and scenes that just didn't match the mood.

As my scores shows none of the flaws really took away from the pure emotion this film gave me. It easily rivals the chimera ants biggest moments mostly because it will happen multiple times in you're 1h30 watch. The ending is satisfying, all the old and new characters shine equally and in potent ways. As always Hunter X Hunter Delights and surprises you with wonder and feelings you wouldn't think you'd feel. So find it and watch it.

This was a green review

The movie was "eh" compared to the show. Before watching the movie, i highly recommend you finish watching the series. The animations were good and so was the storyline, but a few things didn't really connect with the series, but other than that, it's a good movie. 7.5/10.