#give kurapika his 1999 creepiness back

[caramella-cella]

ITS THE CHAIN USER !!!!!

[antivanruffles]

I watched hunter x hunter waaaay back when and Ive been on the fence about trying it again now that they've done a shiny new one. I don't remember much about it tbh, except the creepy clown dude, but it does look very good in the gifs you reblog. What draws you to it, and what keeps you coming back?

HOKAY.... just remember you asked. :P

I haven't seen the 1999 anime, nor do I care to because I'm not a fan of the animation style, so this is all relating to the 2011 anime + some of the manga.

Unrelated but interesting note Togashi is married to Naoko Takeuchi, and I just find this infinitely amusing as a Sailor Moon fan.

Now I wasn't really expecting much from Hunter x Hunter when I started it, which was at the recommendation of @cursedwithgloriouspurpose and we watched it together after she moved up here last year.

It starts off as a pretty quintessential shonen anime, following Gon who is 12 and oddly powerful and going to become a professional "Hunter" in his world... who are basically super powerful (and marginally insane) people who have a "I can do what I want" license. He wants to do this to follow in his father's footsteps and possibly find him, since his dad left Gon with his aunt when he was a baby and never came back (fuck Gon's dad).

They have specialties and track dangerous/rare beasts, dangerous people, treasures... just like shit "normal" people can't or won't. There are villains. There's something called "nen" which gives you like super powers.

The test to become a Hunter is incredibly difficult for multiple reasons, and the first arc is Gon's progression through the Hunter Exams.

It's very shonen and fun. Gon makes friends with three other people taking the exam: Kurapika, Leorio, and Killua. Who all have their own reasons for becoming Hunters. Being: revenge. to make money to become a doctor. and just cuz lol.

The story progresses out of the hunter exams, to an arc about Killua and his family, to finding Gon's dad and following a test he left for Gon, to other things that are best experienced rather than explained.

WHAT I LOVE about HxH and what keeps drawing me back is how at face value early on it's your average shonen BUT once we start to get into the story you see how much Togashi set out to subvert usual shonen tropes.

Gon is reckless and brash, as most shonen protags are (think Goku from DBZ and Luffy from One Piece, he fits with them quite well in a lot of ways), he cares deeply for his friends, and I suppose if you took him at face value could be considered a "boy scout" type.

HOWEVER, the story shows time and time again the consequences for Gon's selfishness, how that affects himself and those around him (especially his best friend, Killua). The way Togashi delves into the tropes and explores them is very refreshing. He gets into a lot of very deep topics and deals with them in a nuanced way that you don't see in a lot of media.

Gon is shown in a negative light at times - not just in a "you fucked up" or "you failed" kind of way, but in legitimately detrimental and often hurtful way. He's shown at first to be careless when it comes to his own safety because of his stubborn pride, and then the safety of those closest to him. At his core Gon is selfish, and that can lead to some disastrous things.

The show gets REALLY heavy in the later arcs, and deals with a lot of heavy emotions and ideas and continues to do it so well. SO WELL. I cannot fully explain how much I love the nuance of this show.

I want to say more, but I don't want to spoil things if y'all do watch it.

Just know that this show surprised me, engaged me, and also totally ruined me in all the best ways possible.