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Reviewed by Park Cooper I’m giving this series an A. Please keep in mind that this isn’t because it’s A-level animation—it’s the plot. It’s not exactly the dialogue itself, either, it’s the writing as a whole. It’s certainly not the English voicework... it’s the story in general. But oh, what a story. Or, to be way more precise, what creativity. And I don’t mean creativity the way you often see it singled out and overdefined in reference to things-that-are-meant-to-be-of-reference-to-the-young so often, like where they mean “so creative” as a synonym for “quirky!” No, I mean creative as in ORIGINAL. And I don’t mean “original” like it is usually meant these days, as a synonym for “like a wild drug trip.” I mean GOOD. But it certainly isn’t the animation or the English voicework. Let’s dig a little deeper, shall we? Hunter x Hunter is about a boy, Gon. Gon lives... on an island. I don’t know what the freakin’ heck kind of world Gon lives in... my best guess is that it’s like a million years in the future, but it’s really, really hard to pin it down, because it matters about as much as it matters in Saiyuki—just go with it, go with it. (My wife Barbara thinks they live about three dimensional islands down from One Piece, if that helps.) IN this world, there are super-duper people called HUNTERS who can do anything, fight anything, go anywhere, find anything. There are cuisine Hunters who find rare ingredients and recipes. There are naturalist Hunters who find and preserve rare species. There are archeological Hunters who find rare historical sites and buried treasures. There are badass Blacklist Hunters who are just the worst kind of bounty hunters. One day, Gon, a child of nature, at home rasslin’ with wild animals, a kid who’s never without his fishin’ pole, meets a man who tells him that Gon’s dad is a long-lost Hunter. Gon decides to become a Hunter, and search for his dad, whom he’s never met (he was raised by his young aunt). And THAT’s the start of the wildest adventure you’ve seen in a decade’s-worth of Sundays, as Gon sets out to take the insanely complicated Hunter exam, where finding the exam and getting there is as hard as some of the exam itself. Along the way, he meets: Leorio: wants to be a doctor so he’s taking the exam because Hunters get special bank loan consideration (for med school) Kurapika: wants to be a Hunter to track down and kill the Phantom Troupe, a mysterious collection of badasses who killed his tribe Killua: The coolest of all, Killua is the 12-year-old scion of the world’s most famous family of assassins, who recently ran away from home ‘cause he got sick and tired of training for the family business and don’t wanna be no natural-born killer no more. Hisoka: A crazy magician clown. Who, on his best days, knocks The Joker into a tipped hat. Unlike the three members of Dear Old Gang above, Hisoka is NOT a member of Dear Old Gang, but a delightful bad guy who just likes to go wherever the killin’-folks action is. And in the Hunter Exam, almost anything goes. This isn’t a series for little infinks! It’s for older teens and up. But it’s really, really good. It’s from the guy who brought you Yu Yu Haakusho, okay? Watch it in Japanese with subtitles, and commit to it, and you might even like it even if you haven’t read the manga. If you HAVE read the manga, that’ll help way more. This box set of three DVDs brings you up to the middle of the Tower part of the Hunter exam. You see, the creator is not the most organized guy in the world. Plot elements last as long or as quick as he wants. But since that doesn’t translate into TV very well, the TV people have added material so that there’s a beginning-feeling, a middle, and a feeling of closure (usually with a bit of a cliffhanger) in every episode, which actually usually really helps with the pacing. It’s no, say, Cowboy Bebop, I’ll give you that. But if you like adventures that progress roughly on the level of a Yu Yu Haakusho, then I think you will really enjoy this series. It’s got rather more depth than DragonBall Z did, I’ll tell you that for free... For what it is—the best adaptation of Hunter X Hunter you’re likely to get (in Japanese) for the TV—I say they’ve done an A-level job. Enjoy. Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
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