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silverthunder) wrote2005-07-02 10:23 pm
silverthunder) wrote2005-07-02 10:23 pm
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Hunter X Hunter: Opinions
I watched the last episode of the Hunter X Hunter TV Series earlier today. As usual, I have some thoughts, and since I was at work and had a little time, I decided to organize them. So, here are my thoughts on the series.
Hunter X Hunter: My Comments
The concept:
Decent. The concept of Hunters is interesting, the exams kept me entertained, and I found Nen to be a little confusing at first but overall pretty neat. The world is similar enough to ours to be familiar but different enough to be entertaining. All in all, the concept was good.
The plot:
Actually, this series started fairly slow for me. The first episode wasn't terribly impressive, to be honest, but I felt that the anime got better as I went along, drawing me in further as I continued to watch. By about the fifth episode, I was hooked, and it only got better.
Having the four friends with personal quests was very nice - it works well if you have good characters, and this series did. The quests themselves were fairly generic - a boy trying to find his father, an assassin trying to escape his profession, the lone survivor of an annihilated tribe seeking revenge, and a young man trying to become a doctor for people leaving in poverty - but they are carried along within the story well. Pacing was a little off in places, but overall, the story moved along at a good rate, without going off on *too* many tangents. I liked the fact that although it obviously focuses on the main character, the other three were fleshed out and their individual stories were explored. I could have done with more focus on Leorio, who doesn't get nearly enough screen time or back story, but you can't have everything, I guess.
The ending of this series, quite frankly, was disappointing. A large part of that was its lack of an actual *ending*, since the end of the TV series is not the end of the story. There are three OAVs to get through, and of course the manga goes on beyond that. I also would've liked to see more of the reunion between the four main characters at the end - it seemed far too short.
If the OAVs weren't already out, I'd feel very cheated. However, since the story extends on, it's not that bad.
The characters:
Characterization was very decent. Not as good as some series I've seen recently, but I didn't feel that it lacked much. I came to care very deeply about the people in the story and felt as if I knew them well - not only the main characters, but also some of the side characters. All in all, I'd judge this a success.
The villains:
To be perfectly honest, I don't find the main villian (Hisoka) to be particularly impressive. He's a little too generic for my tastes: very powerful, very freaky, very eeeeeevil. I found the Genei Ryodan to be a lot more interesting as a whole; they seem to have more diverse and entertaining personalities, attitudes, and abilities. There were a range of other villainous types, but it tended to be 'hit and miss' in terms of decent ones. Nothing seriously awful, though.
The animation:
The beginning of the series was fairly... meh. Nothing special, very similar to Yu Yu Hakusho - which makes sense, of course. There were some episodes that were better than others. As you get closer to the end of the series, the animation improves. It's a nice style, in my opinion. I liked it.
(Fangirl lapse here)The slash potential:
Very high. I'd rate Gon/Killua as one of the most hinted at pre-slash pairs I've seen in anime (and seeing as how I'm a Digimon fan, that's pretty high). I give Leorio/Kurapika bonus points for capturing my heart with the dynamics despite being a couple I'd generally avoid based on the apparent age/height difference. The subtext is laid on pretty thick; I might even equate this series with Gundam Wing and Weiss Kreuz in terms of fangirl bait. Not as many bishounen, though.
All else:
I enjoyed this series. It's no thought-provoking masterpiece or work of art, but it is entertaining, and for me that's most important. I'm sure I'll enjoy the OAVs and the rest of the manga as well. At this point, I'm nowhere near ready to give up on these characters; I want to see them all through to the end.
On a completely unrelated note, does anyone know of any good songs that express a love/hate kind of thing?
Hunter X Hunter: My Comments
The concept:
Decent. The concept of Hunters is interesting, the exams kept me entertained, and I found Nen to be a little confusing at first but overall pretty neat. The world is similar enough to ours to be familiar but different enough to be entertaining. All in all, the concept was good.
The plot:
Actually, this series started fairly slow for me. The first episode wasn't terribly impressive, to be honest, but I felt that the anime got better as I went along, drawing me in further as I continued to watch. By about the fifth episode, I was hooked, and it only got better.
Having the four friends with personal quests was very nice - it works well if you have good characters, and this series did. The quests themselves were fairly generic - a boy trying to find his father, an assassin trying to escape his profession, the lone survivor of an annihilated tribe seeking revenge, and a young man trying to become a doctor for people leaving in poverty - but they are carried along within the story well. Pacing was a little off in places, but overall, the story moved along at a good rate, without going off on *too* many tangents. I liked the fact that although it obviously focuses on the main character, the other three were fleshed out and their individual stories were explored. I could have done with more focus on Leorio, who doesn't get nearly enough screen time or back story, but you can't have everything, I guess.
The ending of this series, quite frankly, was disappointing. A large part of that was its lack of an actual *ending*, since the end of the TV series is not the end of the story. There are three OAVs to get through, and of course the manga goes on beyond that. I also would've liked to see more of the reunion between the four main characters at the end - it seemed far too short.
If the OAVs weren't already out, I'd feel very cheated. However, since the story extends on, it's not that bad.
The characters:
Characterization was very decent. Not as good as some series I've seen recently, but I didn't feel that it lacked much. I came to care very deeply about the people in the story and felt as if I knew them well - not only the main characters, but also some of the side characters. All in all, I'd judge this a success.
The villains:
To be perfectly honest, I don't find the main villian (Hisoka) to be particularly impressive. He's a little too generic for my tastes: very powerful, very freaky, very eeeeeevil. I found the Genei Ryodan to be a lot more interesting as a whole; they seem to have more diverse and entertaining personalities, attitudes, and abilities. There were a range of other villainous types, but it tended to be 'hit and miss' in terms of decent ones. Nothing seriously awful, though.
The animation:
The beginning of the series was fairly... meh. Nothing special, very similar to Yu Yu Hakusho - which makes sense, of course. There were some episodes that were better than others. As you get closer to the end of the series, the animation improves. It's a nice style, in my opinion. I liked it.
(Fangirl lapse here)The slash potential:
Very high. I'd rate Gon/Killua as one of the most hinted at pre-slash pairs I've seen in anime (and seeing as how I'm a Digimon fan, that's pretty high). I give Leorio/Kurapika bonus points for capturing my heart with the dynamics despite being a couple I'd generally avoid based on the apparent age/height difference. The subtext is laid on pretty thick; I might even equate this series with Gundam Wing and Weiss Kreuz in terms of fangirl bait. Not as many bishounen, though.
All else:
I enjoyed this series. It's no thought-provoking masterpiece or work of art, but it is entertaining, and for me that's most important. I'm sure I'll enjoy the OAVs and the rest of the manga as well. At this point, I'm nowhere near ready to give up on these characters; I want to see them all through to the end.
On a completely unrelated note, does anyone know of any good songs that express a love/hate kind of thing?