Hunter x Hunter

If you are looking for the kind of Anime that will leave you sitting at the edge of your seat Hunter x Hunter (2011) is the right one for you.

The story might seem a little childish at first but as soon as the plot develops the (very) dark nature of the story becomes obvious. The characters are unique and incredibly well developed, with the show not being afraid of testing them psychologically in a way that not many animes are willing to. The fights are intense both physically and psychologically and as the Anime progresses they tend to become more violent and over the edge.

The soundtrack is beautiful. From the intense/epic classic orchestras to the guitar riffs, everything seems to fall into place. Even the show's "intros" and "outros" are very consistent and worth listening to.

All in all, this is the kind of Anime that a true fan of this Japanese art will not want to miss.

FYI, I'm a lawyer in my 40s, not some kid, and basically ran out of anything on TV that I could stand, as it was all so formulaic and tired and low-brain. Well, I noticed some anime seemed focused on adults (not the sex stuff, but violence and intelligent plots and stuff), so I tried own -- Sword Art Online. It really opened my eyes to these hidden treasures -- the stories blend fantasy elements with action and interesting characters. Really the main thing I noticed was being surprised by plot twists. Whereas an American TV series or movie you can pretty much guess where it's going to go, this took turns and twists that really impressed me with the intelligence of the show. I mean, Lost took a lot of twists, but they were sort of random/contrived, and my final analysis was the writers were just making it up as they went along to avoid answering any hard questions, very stupid and contrived. Sword Art avoided that.

Anyway, after finishing that anime, I tried several more, and while some were good and still better than traditional American shows, none had the intelligent plotting of Sword Art Online -- till I found Hunter X Hunter, which just totally kicked it up a notch in both fantasy elements, interesting characters, intelligent plot twists you won't see coming, and the like. With some bad guys being sort of serial murderer/pedophiles, it's not for kids, but well done...even those pervy bad guys sometimes redeem themselves, at least for a short time.

How the main characters got more powerful as the series progressed, to be able to best stronger and stronger foes (usually) was well thought out, too, and not overly simplistic. The only downside was that by the fifth (?) story arc involving mutant ant people, I felt it had gotten a bit formulaic and I was not buying into how the world was responding to this threat, and felt the series might have jumped the shark, so to speak. However, I stuck it out and halfway through the arc I really started to enjoy it and the plot kept taking interesting twists. I'm not ashamed to say that I cried at least once because there were such bittersweet moments created.

I don't think I ever enjoyed a movie or TV series more than Hunter X Hunter, and with over 150 episodes, that's a LOT of great TV.

Hunter Exam arc (Episodes 1-26)

Heavens Arena arc (Episodes 27-38)

Phantom Troupe arc (Episodes 39-58)

Hunter X Hunter: Phantom Rouge (Movie 1)

Greed Island arc (Episodes 58-75)

Hunter X Hunter: The Last Mission (Movie 2)

Chimera Ant arc (Episodes 76-136)

The Election arc (Episodes 136-148)

The movies are standalone and can be watched after the end of the ANIME.

I would highly recommend that everyone watch this show. I don't want to say anything to spoil it, and I'm sure that countless others have already provided more in-depth reasons why you should watch it, but still, watch it.

I will warn you though, while the beginning of the show makes it seem like its going to be somewhat kid-friendly, trust me when I say that this is not the case.

Hunter X Hunter 2011 is an amazing work.

I have read the Manga and watched the anime (1999), and it is certified to the origin.

The animation is at the highest quality there is, giving the opportunity to truly enjoy this series. In HD-widescreen, you can really feel the action and connect to the story and the characters.

I am following the new release weekly, and every new episode I am astonished by the high quality of the sound, picture and story which are exactly how they should be.

Hunter X Hunter story is rich, interesting and authentic, and the writers of this new series did a great job transferring and transmitting it.

Another great feature in the new series is the background adjustment to our time - Phones, computers and more electronic devices that were rare and undeveloped in the Manga can now be found and used anywhere, without damaging the story. I believe it even adds to the experience.

This is a must-see show, to any fan of this genre (Especially to whom had seen and/or read Hunter X Hunter), though I would really recommend this series to anyone.