Hunter x Hunter (Season One)

Gon is determined to become a Hunter just like his father, even though he’s never met him. So, he sets off to take the Hunter Examination, a series of challenging tests that leave many injured and some dead. Only the very best can become Hunters!

Hunter x Hunter (Season One)

What did you watch?

Back in 2011, I was embarking on my own adventure as I moved from England to New Zealand. That took up a lot of my time and as such, watching anime had to be put on the back burner. Well, that was then and this is now. I had just finished watching Dorohedoro during my daily runs and needed a new show to keep me occupied. Hunter x Hunter had been on my radar for a long time, but with 148 episodes, it’s not something I was just going to dive into. However, since I want to keep running, this seems like the perfect series for me, especially as Netflix has it broken into six seasons. This should keep things interesting.

What happened?

Gon has never met his father. He left to become a Hunter rather than stay home and raise his son. Despite this, Gon is determined to become a Hunter himself and find out why his father would make that choice. After getting the blessing from the aunt who raised him, Gon sets off to take the Hunter Examination. On the trip there, he meets two other potential Hunters, and while they don’t initially see eye-to-eye, Gon convinces them to get along. Having proven themselves at sea, the Captain gives them a hand with the next stage. It would appear that every part of the process is a test. Fail at any point and you can forget becoming a Hunter.

Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika make it to the first stage of the examination where they are taken for a run. A long, long run full of danger. However, all they have to do is keep up with the examiner. The run takes them through a swamp notorious for its monsters who mimic their prey! Many don’t make it to the second stage. In fact, each stage whittles down the candidates until they reach the final stage. The tests are designed to expose all of the potential Hunters’ strengths and weaknesses, pushing them beyond what they believed they were capable of. Will Gon pass the examination and finally become a Hunter, just like his father before him?

What did you think?

At first, I thought that this was going to be another Shounen where nobody dies and everyone becomes friends, so I was pleasantly surprised when things got a little more serious as the Hunter Exam went on. Seeing people dying in the first stage was a bit of a shock, but nothing compared to the part where they had to escape from the prison tower. Of course, it is a Shounen so there’s lots of Shounen-style stuff that you can’t really avoid – lots of flashbacks, Gon’s unwavering dedication to whatever he’s doing, etc, etc. Anyhow, I enjoyed the first twenty-six episodes of Hunter x Hunter and am looking forward to working my way through the one-hundred and twenty-two remaining episodes.

I do have one question that I think I need an answer to. We’re told that Gon’s father took the Hunter Exam when he was twelve, leaving Gon with his aunt. Does that mean Gon’s father was a father at twelve years old? Don’t tell me if it’s a spoiler, but this seems a bit crazy even for anime! Regardless, I enjoyed the first season of Hunter x Hunter and am looking forward to more. I wouldn’t say that it’s blown me away yet, but there’s always the chance.

What was your favourite moment?

I really enjoyed the fourth part of the exam on Zevil Island where everyone had a target. They needed to steal their badge by any means necessary. Their target’s badge was worth three points and their badge was also worth three points. Anyone else’s badge was worth just one point. They needed six points to progress, which made for a fascinating battle royale-style event. I loved the fact that Gon managed to steal Hisoka’s badge and the way he did it was amazing too. However, had the Hunter who was tracking him not just taken Gon out in any of the seven thousand attempts prior to that, it would have been a very different story. Plot armour was clearly in full effect.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the first stage where everyone was running for two whole episodes. This was mainly because I was running on my treadmill as I watched this show so it was like we were all running together. It’s always nice to work out with friends!

What was your least favourite moment?

In the fifth stage of the Hunter Exam, the remaining applicants had to battle through a series of one-on-one fights, with the winner of each fight passing the exam and stepping out of the tournament. The losers progressed until there were only two left. Anyhow, Gon started the tournament by fighting Hanzo. Hanzo was far stronger than and did his best to get Gon to withdraw. However, no matter what he did, Gon refused to concede. And since killing someone in this stage meant immediate disqualification, he had to force him to submit. Anyhow, Gon would not budge. Hanzo broke his arm and threatened to cut off his legs, but he still wouldn’t back down. Eventually, Hanzo got fed up and gave up. He figured the next round would be much easier.

I appreciate that Gon is determined, but determination without self-preservation is a bizarre concept that seems to appear in Shounen stories. I personally don’t like it and can’t help but think that in a real situation, that person would be dead. Gon did it again when they went to the Zoldyck estate to get Killua back where he kept walking into the assistant butler’s attacks until she gave up. Gon would be dead several times over without plot armour.

Who was your favourite character?

That said, Gon was easily my favourite character at this point. I liked his determination and how he would often assess the situation and come up with a solution that was outside of the box, such as when they broke through the wall to get to the quick and easy route to the end of the third stage. I did notice that there was a significant absence of female characters in the exams. I noticed just two taking the test – a sniper and the girl with the bees. Other than that, there was Menchi, the examiner for the second phase. She seemed like a load of fun and I would have liked to see more of her or characters like her.

Who was your least favourite character?

I’m still at a loss as to how Leorio passed the exam (well, this part of it anyhow). Without the help of the others, he would have been eliminated at pretty much every stage. Hisoka carried him to the end of the first stage, Gon helped everyone pass for the second phase, and Leorio managed to stop the one prisoner from pretending to be unconscious in the third stage, but then lost most of their time. In the fourth stage, Leorio lost his badge but got it back again thanks to Kurapika. However, he also wouldn’t have passed had it not been for Gon once more. Then, in the final stage, Killua killed Leorio’s opponent helping him pass again. He wasn’t a bad character, but surely an exam like this shouldn’t allow people to get through like that.

Would you like some more?

I’ve got loads more to watch and I fully intend to continue. With the way the seasons are broken up on Netflix, I’m going to take a short break before diving back in, which is the approach I’m going to take going forward. In theory, I should be able to watch the rest in about two months at the current pace, but I also don’t want to experience Hunter x Hunter fatigue. So, I will continue but I’m also not going all in.

What have you learned?

Obviously, we want the main character to survive the bulk of the story, so that means that we can’t kill them before that. However, if we’re going to put them in dangerous situations where they could be killed, there needs to be a valid reason for them surviving and more often than not it can’t be down to dumb luck or inept enemies. It takes away all of the tension, especially when you can look back and realise that there’s no way Gon should have made it to the end of the fifth stage. A lot of it went well and he made some good choices, however, he also left himself open a lot because of how trusting he is. I just hope he learns from these experiences and becomes stronger, otherwise, the plot armour is going to be working overtime to get us to episode one-hundred and forty-eight!

Series Information

English Title	Hunter x Hunter
Japanese Title	Hunter x Hunter
Genres	Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Demographic	Shounen

Anime

Season	Season One
Released	Fall 2011
Animation Studios	Madhouse
Episodes	26

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