Following his father’s footsteps

// Synopsis: Gon is a 12 year old boy from a small fishing village. One day while in a forest he is saved by a Hunter who reveals that Gon’s father is in fact alive and one of the greatest Hunters in the world. Gon decides to set out to become a professional Hunter with hopes of finding his father.

// Review: Hunter X Hunter is a coming of age anime about a boy and the friends he meets and the adventures they go in his quest to find his dad. Unsurprisingly Gon is a prodigy with massive potential and throughout the series he trains under different masters as he becomes more and more godly.

/ Central to the anime is a power called Nen, which is basically a spin off of chi that gives each person a unique ability (think mutant powers ala X-Men). This gives a lot of flavor to the different friends and foes Gon encounters and adds variety to the battles.

/ Gon wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s extemely innocent, empathetic and stubborn. Often he speaks and acts without thinking and tends to endanger others with his selfishness. It gets frustrating but thankfully there is a huge emphasis on the other characters that are much more likeable.

/ The tone of the story arcs seems to change back and forth between Pokemon-esque campiness to life and death seriousness. In this 62 episode anime (plus 22 OVAs) Gon starts off trying to pass the Hunters entrance exam, enters a huge fighting tournament, helps capture a murderous gang and tries to beat a real life collectable card game. The arc involving the deadly Genei Ryodan is where it really gets interesting.

/ Generally I found this title pretty entertaining. Even though it’s long the pacing is decent, but when it slows down it’s usually do to a protracted Dragon Ball Z type battle that sometimes spans several episodes.

// Wrap up: Hunter X Hunter is certainly in the vein of The One type anime. If you are into lots of fights where the characters evolve in power then you’ll have fun with this.

Entertainment rating: 4