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''Hunter × Hunter'' (stylized as ''HUNTER×HUNTER'' and pronounced "hunter hunter") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by
Yoshihiro Togashi is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age, before being recognized for his talent by publishing company Shueisha while attending college. Togashi has authored several manga series in different genres during the past th ...
. It has been serialized in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' since March 1998, although the manga has frequently gone on extended hiatuses since 2006. Its chapters have been collected in 37 ''
tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes as of November 2022. The story focuses on a young boy named
Gon Freecss is the protagonist from Yoshihiro Togashi's manga series ''Hunter × Hunter''. A young boy, Gon discovers that his father, who left him at a young age, is actually a world-renowned Hunter, a licensed professional who specializes in fantastical p ...
who discovers that his father, who left him at a young age, is actually a world-renowned Hunter, a licensed professional who specializes in fantastical pursuits such as locating rare or unidentified animal species, treasure hunting, surveying unexplored enclaves, or hunting down lawless individuals. Gon departs on a journey to become a Hunter and eventually find his father. Along the way, Gon meets various other Hunters and encounters the paranormal. ''Hunter × Hunter'' was adapted into a 62-episode
anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
television series produced by
Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginza district of Chūō and production facilities in Tama City. Nippon Animation is known for producing numerous anime series based on works of ...
and directed by
Kazuhiro Furuhashi is a Japanese anime director and supervisor. He is amongst anime's most foremost directors, having directed and helmed the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' series (including the original television series, and its subsequent much-lauded OVA iterations), '' Z ...
, which ran on
Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...
from October 1999 to March 2001. Three separate original video animations (OVAs) totaling 30 episodes were subsequently produced by Nippon Animation and released in Japan from 2002 to 2004. A second anime television series by Madhouse aired on Nippon Television from October 2011 to September 2014, totaling 148 episodes, with two animated theatrical films released in 2013. There are also numerous audio albums,
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s, musicals, and other media based on ''Hunter × Hunter''. The manga has been translated into English and released in North America by
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
since April 2005. Both television series have been also licensed by Viz Media, with the first series having aired on the
Funimation Channel Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specialize ...
in 2009 and the second series broadcast on
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
's
Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
programming block from April 2016 to June 2019. ''Hunter × Hunter'' has been a huge critical and financial success and has become one of Shueisha's
best-selling manga series The following is a list of the best-selling Japanese manga series to date in terms of the number of collected ''tankōbon'' volumes sold. All series in this list have at least 20 million copies in circulation. This list is limited to Japanese ...
, having over 84 million copies in circulation as of July 2022.


Synopsis


Setting

are licensed, elite members of humanity who are capable of tracking down secret treasures, rare beasts, or even other individuals. They can also access locations that regulars cannot access. To obtain a license one must pass the rigorous annual Hunter Examination run by the Hunter Association, which has a success rate of less than one in a hundred-thousand. A Hunter may be awarded up to three stars: a single star for making "remarkable achievements in a particular field"; they may then be upgraded to two stars for "holding an official position" and mentoring another Hunter up to single star level; and finally upgraded to three stars for "remarkable achievements in multiple fields". is the ability to control one's own life energy or aura, which is constantly emitted from them, knowingly or not. There are four basic Nen techniques: maintains the aura in the body, strengthening it for defense; shuts the aura flow off, useful for concealing one's presence and relieving fatigue; enables a user to produce more Nen; and is a person's specific use of Nen. Nen users are classified into six types based on their Hatsu abilities; strengthen and reinforce their natural physical abilities; project aura out of their bodies; control objects or living things; change the type or properties of their aura; create objects out of their aura; and have unique abilities that do not fall into the previous categories. A Nen user can enter into a where, by pledging to follow certain , their abilities are strengthened in relation to how strict they are. An example of this is Kurapika who, in order to have an unbreakable chain that will fully restrain members of the Phantom Troupe, offered his life, should he use it on anyone other than its members.


Plot

The story follows a young boy named
Gon Freecss is the protagonist from Yoshihiro Togashi's manga series ''Hunter × Hunter''. A young boy, Gon discovers that his father, who left him at a young age, is actually a world-renowned Hunter, a licensed professional who specializes in fantastical p ...
, who was told all his life that both his parents were dead. But when he learns from
Kite A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the fac ...
, an apprentice of his father Ging Freecss, that he is still alive and has since become an accomplished Hunter, Gon leaves his home on to take the in order to become a Hunter like him. During the exam, Gon meets and befriends three of the other applicants: Kurapika, the last remaining member of the Kurta clan who wishes to become a Hunter in order to avenge his clan and recover their scarlet-glowing eyes that were plucked from their corpses by a band of thieves known as the Phantom Troupe; Leorio, a prospective physician who, in order to pay for medical school, desires the financial benefits that Hunters receive; and
Killua Zoldyck Killua may refer to: Places Ireland * Killua Castle, Clonmellon, County Westmeath * Killua (civil parish), a civil parish in the barony of Delvin, County Westmeath * Killua, County Westmeath, a townland in the barony of Delvin Other * Killua ...
, another twelve-year-old boy who has left his former life as a member of the world's most notorious assassin family. Among many other examinees, Gon continuously encounters Hisoka, a mysterious and deadly transmuter who takes an interest in him. After many trials together, Gon and his friends end up passing the exam except for Killua, who fails after killing another applicant due to the influence of his brother, Illumi, and runs away to his family's estate in shame. After Gon and the others convince Killua to rejoin their side, Leorio and Kurapika depart temporarily for their own personal reasons, while Gon and Killua set for the , a skyscraper where thousands of martial artists compete daily in fighting tournaments, seeking to improve themselves and gain monetary rewards. There they meet Zushi, a fellow Heavens Arena applicant, who has a kung fu master named Wing who trains them in utilizing Nen, a Qi-like life energy used by its practicers to manifest parapsychological abilities, and is also considered to be the final requirement to pass the Hunter Exam. Sometime later, Gon and his friends reunite again in where they have a clash with the Phantom Troupe. During the occasion, two from the band of thieves are killed by Kurapika and he is forced to give up the chance of hunting down the rest in order to rescue Gon and Killua from captured, but not without succeeding in sealing the powers of their leader, Chrollo Lucilfer. A few days later, Gon and Killua achieve their objective and begin playing '' Greed Island'', an extremely rare and expensive video game with Nen-like properties following some clues about Ging's whereabouts. While exploring the game, it is revealed that its scenario is actually set somewhere in the real world, created with Nen by a team led by none other than Ging himself. Outclassed by the challenges in the game at first, they are soon joined and trained by Biscuit Krueger, an experienced teacher of Nen and kung fu master. With Biscuit's help, Gon and Killua train their Nen and learn to shape their abilities to their traits. Killua takes a short break from Greed Island to apply for the Hunter Examination again, this time passes with success. The trio then complete the game together against all odds and Gon obtains the right to choose the artifacts from the game necessary to reunite with his father. Gon decides to have Killua accompany him to meet his father using the artifacts, but the duo are sent to meet Kite instead. They decide to help with Kite's research of a man-sized Chimera Ant queen, an insect that devours other creatures and then gives birth to progeny that inherit the characteristics of the different species it has eaten. The queen washes up onto an island nation called the Neo-Green Life (N.G.L.) Autonomous Region, where she quickly develops a taste for humans and builds a colony powerful enough to overcome the population, especially after her offspring learn the power of Nen from consuming Hunters. Upon facing the Royal Guard of the Chimera Ants, Kite sacrifices himself to allow Gon and Killua to flee and alert the Hunter Association. After weeks of preparation, the Association sends a team of some of their most powerful Hunters, including Netero, the president of the Association himself to defeat the Ants and their king Meruem, whose subjects secretly overthrew the government of the nearby as part of their plan of subduing all of mankind. Despite losing to Meruem in combat, Netero ends up killing him with a bomb implanted in his body that poisons him to death soon after. Meanwhile, Gon has a showdown with Neferpitou, the Ant who killed Kite. After overusing Nen to exact his revenge, he is hospitalized and in critical condition. After the Chimera Ant incident is resolved, the Hunter Association's top echelons the Zodiacs, from which Ging is a member, begin the process of choosing Netero's replacement as Chairman, while Killua returns home to ask for his younger sister Alluka to save Gon's life. His family is unwilling to risk losing Alluka or having her dangerous powers used against them, but after evading his older brother Illumi's attempts to intercept him, Killua manages to bring Alluka to Gon's side and have him fully restored. He then attempts to seal away Alluka's alter ego which grants them their power (Nanika, likely a creature from the Dark Continent), but at the last moment decides to revert the process rather than seal away Nanika Alluka's only other friend. Killua then parts ways with Gon to travel the world with Alluka, while Gon himself finally meets his father and learns the true nature of his quest. Some time later, Netero's son
Beyond Beyond may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Beyond'' (1921 film), an American silent film * ''Beyond'' (2000 film), a Danish film directed by Åke Sandgren, OT: ''Dykkerne'' * ''Beyond'' (2010 film), a Swedish film directed b ...
assembles an expedition to the , the forbidden, vast area outside of the known world; he is sponsored by the Kingdom of Kakin. Fearing that the expedition may bring disaster, just like in all previous attempts, the world's five greatest powers accept that Kakin join their ranks in exchange for full authority over its findings. To accompany Beyond and ensure his compliance, the Zodiacs decide to watch over him and invite Kurapika and Leorio to join them, replacing Ging and former Vice-Chairman Pariston Hill, who assembled their own Dark Continent exploration teams by Beyond's request. Meanwhile, Chrollo regains his powers and fulfills Hisoka's wish to have a duel with him, which ends with Hisoka defeated and killed. After reviving through Nen, Hisoka starts killing off the Phantom Troupe members one by one, who have boarded Kakin's ship to the Dark Continent to rob it. Aboard the ship, Nasubi, the king of Kakin, starts a battle to the death between his heirs to decide his successor. Kurapika, who also infiltrated the ship with other Hunters, takes part in the succession war as the bodyguard of Fourteenth Prince Wobble, Kakin's youngest prince and a toddler. Kurapika's personal objective, however, is to retrieve the last batch of scarlet eyes from the Kurta Clan in custody of Tserriednich, Kakin's Fourth Prince.


Production

Author
Yoshihiro Togashi is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age, before being recognized for his talent by publishing company Shueisha while attending college. Togashi has authored several manga series in different genres during the past th ...
explained that one of his hobbies was
collecting The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining items that are of interest to an individual ''collector''. Collections differ in a wide variety of respects, most obvi ...
objects of all sorts, so he was inspired to create a manga involving collecting titled "(something) Hunter". He came up with the final name ''Hunter × Hunter'' while watching the television
variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...
'' Downtown'', in which the hosts often repeat what they say to make the audience laugh. The "×" in the title is silent. As with his previous series, ''
YuYu Hakusho is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The series tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent who is struck and killed by a car while attempting to save a child's life. After a number of ...
'', Togashi used drafting ink and ''Kabura'' pens for his illustrations but began using an
eMac The eMac (short for education Mac) is a discontinued all-in-one Macintosh desktop computer that was produced and designed by Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, Calif ...
to color them. Togashi uses few or no assistants in the manga's production; however, fellow manga artist and future wife Naoko Takeuchi assisted Togashi in adding
screentone Screentone is a technique for applying textures and shades to drawings, used as an alternative to hatching. In the conventional process, patterns are transferred to paper from preprinted sheets. It is also known by the common brand names Zip-A-T ...
to single-color pages for the first volume. With the birth of their first son early in its publication, Togashi felt that this personal aspect of his life would be a great influence on his work, particularly the manga's theme of a young boy searching for his father. There have been several instances in which Togashi has apologized to readers in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for low-quality artwork and promised to redraw portions of the chapters for their ''tankōbon'' (collected volume) releases. In addition, the publication history of the ''Hunter × Hunter'' manga has been plagued with hiatuses, in which serialized chapters would be separated by extended periods of time. After returning from a two-year-long hiatus in June 2014, and joining the English-language ''
Weekly Shonen Jump Weekly, The Weekly, or variations, may refer to: News media * ''Weekly'' (news magazine), an English-language national news magazine published in Mauritius *Weekly newspaper, any newspaper published on a weekly schedule *Alternative newspaper, als ...
'' lineup, the manga went on another just two months later. The series returned from this hiatus on April 18, 2016, however, just over two months later, ''Hunter × Hunter'' began another hiatus on June 4, 2016. It came back on June 26, 2017, and just over two months later, on August 31, the series went on hiatus again, planning to return by the end of that year. The series came back on January 29, 2018, before going on hiatus again on April 9 of the same year. After a five-month hiatus, the manga resumed publication from September 22 to November 26, 2018, before entering another hiatus, its longest one to date. In May 2022, Togashi created a
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account where he teased that the series would resume publication. In July 2022, Togashi revealed that he was unable to sit in a chair for two years due to his back and hip problems, but was able to resume drawing by doing so while laying down; in August of the same year, Togashi posted on Twitter that he decided to increase his staff, adding that chapter 399's background effects were done according to his request and that chapter 400 would move forward after Togashi hands in his specifications for it. The series resumed publication on October 24, 2022, after a three-year-and-eleven-month hiatus. On December 26, 2022, it was announced that the manga would enter on hiatus. The ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' editorial department published a letter which said that they had consulted with Togashi and decided that the manga should not follow a weekly serialized format going forward, and that once they know concrete details of its return and how it will be serialized, they will reveal the details in the magazine.


Media


Manga

Written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi, the ''Hunter × Hunter'' manga began its serialization in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' on March 16, 1998. Shueisha has compiled most of the chapters into individual ''
tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes. The first volume was released on June 4, 1998. As of November 4, 2022, thirty-seven volumes have been released. The series has also been published in a '' sōshūhen'' edition that aims to recreate the manga as it was originally serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in the same size and with the color pages. Eleven volumes were released between December 9, 2011, and April 18, 2014, covering up to the Election story arc. In April 2005,
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
began publishing the manga in English in North America. They market the series as part of their "Shonen Jump Advanced" line for older teens and young adults. Thirty-six volumes have been released in North America as of August 6, 2019. Viz included the ''Kurapika's Memories'' chapters in the December 17 and 24, 2012 issues of their digital English magazine ''
Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha ''Weekly Shonen Jump'' was a online magazine, digital ''shōnen manga, shōnen'' manga anthology published in North America by Viz Media, and the successor to their monthly print media, print anthology ''Shonen Jump (magazine), Shonen Jump''. ...
''. On April 22, 2014, it was announced that ''Hunter × Hunter'' would be joining the digital English magazine ''Weekly Shonen Jump''. The manga has also been licensed and translated into multiple languages throughout Europe and other parts of Asia. For instance, it was serialized between 2001 and 2005 in '' Banzai!'', a German version of ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''.


Spin-offs

, a two-part manga Togashi wrote to act as a prequel to the first animated film, was published in the December 3 and 10, 2012 issues of ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. ''
Tokyo Ghoul is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Young Jump'' between September 2011 and September 2014, and was collected in fou ...
'' author
Sui Ishida is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his dark fantasy manga series ''Tokyo Ghoul'' and '' Choujin X''. Career history Sui Ishida is best known for his dark fantasy series ''Tokyo Ghoul'', a story about a young man named Ken Kaneki w ...
created a 69-page storyboard of a manga chapter depicting the past of ''Hunter × Hunter''s Hisoka. The storyboard was released digitally via ''
Shōnen Jump+ is a Japanese online magazine for manga created by Shueisha, spin-off from its '' Jump'' line of magazines. Launched on September 22, 2014, the magazine operates as a free mobile app and website. The magazine serializes original titles and titl ...
'' on June 2, 2016.


Anime


1999 series

The first ''Hunter × Hunter''
anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
adaptation was produced by the company
Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginza district of Chūō and production facilities in Tama City. Nippon Animation is known for producing numerous anime series based on works of ...
and directed by
Kazuhiro Furuhashi is a Japanese anime director and supervisor. He is amongst anime's most foremost directors, having directed and helmed the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' series (including the original television series, and its subsequent much-lauded OVA iterations), '' Z ...
, who had previously directed the ''
Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins during the 11th year of the Meiji period in Japan (1878) and follows a former assassin from the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his wor ...
'' television series. A total of 62 episodes of ''Hunter × Hunter'' were broadcast on the Japanese
terrestrial television Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an ante ...
network
Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...
from October 16, 1999 to March 31, 2001 during the same Saturday evening timeslot as the anime version of Togashi's previous series ''
YuYu Hakusho is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The series tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent who is struck and killed by a car while attempting to save a child's life. After a number of ...
''. Additionally, ''Hunter × Hunter'' has aired on the
satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
station
Animax , stylized as ANIMAX, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. The channel also dubbed other cartoons in Japanese language. A subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, it is headq ...
. Although it closely follows the manga, the violence in the anime version is lessened for younger audiences.
Marvelous Entertainment (MMV) was a multinational corporation that produced animation, music, video games and television series. MMV is known for its involvement in the ''Story of Seasons'' series. They merged with AQ Interactive in 2011 and became Marvelous AQL; the ...
has released all episodes of the series in Japan on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in 13 separate volumes between September 20, 2000 and September 19, 2001. Viz Media licensed the ''Hunter × Hunter'' anime for distribution in the Region 1 market, with English voice-work handled by
the Ocean Group Ocean Productions, Inc., is a Canadian media production and voice acting company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that is part of the Ocean Group of businesses. Ocean Group is involved in intellectual property acquisition and development, ...
at
Blue Water Studios Ocean Productions, Inc., is a Canadian media production and voice acting company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that is part of the Ocean Group of businesses. Ocean Group is involved in intellectual property acquisition and development, ...
in Calgary,
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada. The series was released on four DVD boxed sets from December 9, 2008, to December 1, 2009. Starting with the second set, Viz partnered with
Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...
to distribute the DVDs. ''Hunter × Hunter'' began airing in the United States on the
Funimation Channel Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specialize ...
in the spring of 2009.


=Original video animations

= When the ''Hunter × Hunter'' anime covered most of its source material by 2001, Nippon Animation made the decision to end the adaptation rather than continue it with filler. Due to fans' unsatisfied reactions to the conclusion of the television series, three subsequent OVAs were produced by Nippon Animation. These carried the plot from where the broadcast left off during the Yorknew City arc and covered the Greed Island arc. The first OVA series was directed by Satoshi Saga and ran for eight episodes in four released volumes from January 17 to April 17, 2002. The second OVA series, ''Hunter × Hunter: Greed Island'', was directed by Yukihiro Matsushita and ran for eight episodes in four released volumes from February 19 to May 21, 2003. The third OVA series, ''Hunter × Hunter: G.I. Final'', was directed by Makoto Sato and ran for 14 episodes in seven released volumes from March 3 to August 18, 2004. After the original anime's initial run on Animax, the OVAs were aired successively. Viz has shown no intention of releasing English versions of the OVAs.


2011 series

A new ''Hunter × Hunter'' anime adaptation was announced in July 2011. Instead of continuing the story from the OVA series, it restarts the story from the beginning of the manga in an attempt to adapt it more accurately. The series is directed by
Hiroshi Kōjina is a Japanese animator, character designer, and anime director. His directorial works include ''Grenadier'', '' Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro'', '' Kiba'', '' Rainbow - Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin'' and the 2011 anime adaptation of ''Hunter × Hunt ...
, produced by Madhouse, scripted by
Atsushi Maekawa Atsushi Maekawa (Japanese: 前川 淳, Hepburn: ''Maekawa Atsushi'', born July 7, 1964) is a Japanese anime and tokusatsu scriptwriter, best known for his work in '' Dragon Ball Z'' and ''Dragon Ball GT'' and for being the father of anime voice ac ...
, and character designs were created by Takahiro Yoshimatsu. The series began airing Sunday mornings on Nippon Television starting October 2, 2011. It switched to airing at 1:29 am on Tuesday nights from October 8, 2013 onwards. The series ended on September 23, 2014 after 148 episodes. An hour after each episode aired in Japan, American website Crunchyroll provided English subtitled
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...
s in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The series started airing on
Animax Asia Animax is the pay television channel in Asia owned by KC Global Media Asia which broadcasts Japanese language anime and Simulcast anime, anime programming through English-language feeds in Southeast Asia (formerly including Brunei), South Asia (e ...
on April 24, 2012. On October 9, 2015,
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
announced their license to the reboot anime at their panel at
New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a ...
. They will release the anime on DVD/Blu-ray with an English dub. On April 1, 2016, it was announced that the series would premiere on
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
's
Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
programming block, which began airing on April 17, 2016.
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
acquired the series for distribution in Australia and New Zealand, and made the series available on
AnimeLab Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd., trading as Madman Anime, is an Australian distribution company focused on anime and Japanese media. The company handles licensing and distribution of anime in Australia and New Zealand. Originally part of independent film ...
.
Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
began streaming the series in the United Kingdom and Ireland on July 17, 2020.


Films

Before the first anime television series was created, a short film adaptation of ''Hunter × Hunter'' was shown as part of the 1998 "Jump Super Anime Tour" alongside similar adaptations of '' Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi!'' and ''
One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual cha ...
''. Produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by
Noriyuki Abe Noriyuki (written: 紀之, 紀行, 敬之, 記之, 徳行, 憲幸, 範之 or 範幸) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese anime director *, Japanese musician *, Japanese motorcycle racer *, Japanese ...
, it depicts the early events of the manga up to Gon's ocean voyage from Whale Island. A film adaptation by the second television anime's staff called '' Hunter × Hunter: Phantom Rouge'', featuring an original story, was announced in March 2012. It was released on January 12, 2013 by
Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...
. It centers around Gon and his friends efforts to retrieve Kurapika's eyes which were stolen by Omokage, Hisoka’s predecessor in the Phantom Troupe. The film is based on an unpublished story manga creator Yoshihiro Togashi wrote around 10 years before. A second film, titled '' Hunter × Hunter: The Last Mission'', was announced following the first one's debut. The film has some focus on Netero, the chairman of the Hunter Association as Gon and his friends discover the dark secrets behind his past. The movie was released on December 27, 2013, and the DVD and Blu-ray was released on July 23, 2014. At the Japanese box office, ''Phantom Rouge'' grossed $12,595,288, and ''The Last Mission'' grossed (), bringing both films' total Japanese box office gross to .


CDs

The
background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...
for the first ''Hunter × Hunter'' anime and three OVA series was composed by
Toshihiko Sahashi is a Japanese composer. He graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1986. Sahashi has composed music for various anime series (including OVAs, movies, and drama CDs), video games, movies, dramas, and musicals. His ...
. A large number of audio CDs for the franchise have been released by Marvelous Entertainment. The three-volume
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
for the anime television series contains 129 instrumental and vocal songs. The ''Original Video Animation Hunter × Hunter Sound Trax'' for the first OVA series contains 18 songs and the ''Original Video Animation Hunter × Hunter: Greed Island Original Sound Tracks'' for the second OVA series contains 30 songs. In addition, character-specific and story arc drama CDs and a 17-volume
radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
titled ''Hunter × Hunter R'' have been published throughout the anime adaptations' release period.


Musicals and theatrical play

There have been two musicals based on ''Hunter × Hunter''. The first, , was originally performed during December 2000. It is an original story that appears to take place between the end of the Yorknew City story arc and the beginning of the Greed Island arc. The second, , was originally performed during August 2002. It is a retelling of when Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon go to fetch Killua back from his family estate after the end of the Hunter Exam arc. Both musicals have received separate DVD and audio CD releases, as well as a dual DVD release from Marvelous Entertainment. There is also a live-action
play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...
titled , which was performed 16 times at the Theater Sun-mall in
Shinjuku, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...
during August 2004. The play is a retelling of the Phantom Troupe finale in the Yorknew City arc. It received a DVD release in Japan on December 10, 2004.


Video games

There are ten Japan-exclusive video games based on ''Hunter × Hunter'', many of which are either developed or published by
Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...
or
Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...
. They range from
role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...
and
strategy games A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisio ...
to
action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
and adventure games. These include titles for the
WonderSwan The (ワンダースワン) is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai. It was developed by Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto Laboratory and Bandai, and was the last piece of hardware Yokoi developed before his death in 1997. Released i ...
,
WonderSwan Color The (ワンダースワン) is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai. It was developed by Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto Laboratory and Bandai, and was the last piece of hardware Yokoi developed before his death in 1997. Released ...
, Game Boy Color,
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
, PlayStation, and PlayStation 2. A game based on the second anime adaptation was released on the PlayStation Portable on September 20, 2012. Characters from the franchise have appeared along with other ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' properties in the fighting games ''
Jump Super Stars ''Jump Super Stars'' is a 2D crossover fighting game for the Nintendo DS, based on ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' characters. It was developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo. The game was released on August 8, 2005, in Japan and accompanied th ...
'' and ''
Jump Ultimate Stars Jumping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jump or Jumping also may refer to: Places * Jump, Kentucky or Jump S ...
'' for the Nintendo DS, ''
J-Stars Victory VS is a crossover fighting video game that combines the universes of several ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' manga series, including former series and some that have been transferred to other magazines. It was released in Japan by Bandai Namco Entertain ...
'' for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...
and PlayStation Vita, and ''
Jump Force ''Jump Force'' is a Japanese crossover fighting game developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment featuring characters from various manga series featured in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' anthology in celebration o ...
'' for
Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
, PlayStation 4 and
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
.


Other merchandise

A series of three film books based on the first anime series and authored by Nobuaki Kishikan has been released by Shueisha from December 3, 1999, to August 24, 2001. A guidebook to the anime titled was published by Shueisha in January 2001. A guidebook to the manga titled was published by the company on June 4, 2004. There is also an extensive
trading card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...
by Bandai,
action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
and trading figures, and various other
collectable A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms ...
s.


Reception


Manga

The series ranked #4 on
Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...
's ''
Kono Manga ga Sugoi! is an annual reference mook series published by Takarajimasha since 2005 featuring yearly rankings and reviews of manga. The rankings are compiled by surveying people in the manga and publishing industry. The series is part of Takarajimasha's ...
'' list of best manga of 2012. In November 2014, readers of
Media Factory , formerly is a Japanese publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing. History It was founded on December 1, 1986, and its headquarters are situated in Shibuya, Tokyo. It is a subsidiary of Recruit Co., Ltd. Media Factory was possi ...
's ''
Da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on h ...
'' magazine voted ''Hunter × Hunter'' number 11 on a list of ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''s greatest manga series of all time. In 2019, the series ranked seventh on ''Da Vinci''s 19th annual "Book of the Year" list. On
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...
's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150.000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, ''Hunter × Hunter'' ranked #11.


Sales

The ''Hunter × Hunter'' manga has been largely commercially successful; having sold over 60.6 million collected volumes in Japan as of February 2012, making it Shueisha's eighth best-selling manga series. This number had grown to 66.3 million copies by 2014. The manga had over 72 million copies in circulation as of December 2018; over 79 million copies in circulation as of November 2021; and over 84 million copies in circulation as of July 2022. Several individual volumes have topped
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...
's list of the best-selling manga in Japan during their release week; such as volumes 30 through 36. Volumes 24, 27, and 30 through 34 were some of the top-selling volumes for their respective years. ''Hunter × Hunter'' was the eighth best-selling manga series of both 2012 and 2013, with 3.4 and 4.6 million copies sold those years respectively. In North America, volumes 23 through 27 have ranked within the top 300 best-selling graphics novels list of sales estimates by Diamond Comic Distributors.


Critical reception

The ''Hunter × Hunter'' manga has received much praise for its plot and characters. In his 2007 book '' Manga: The Complete Guide'', Jason Thompson described its storyline as "an almost random collection of psych-outs, battles, puzzles, and trickery" that works on both a chapter-by-chapter basis and a larger scale. Thompson elaborated that with all the goals and subplots of each of the main characters, the story could seemingly go on forever and is unpredictable enough to hold reader interest. In a different review for '' Anime News Network'' in 2012, Thompson wrote that it was hard to summarize the story because "it is every '' shōnen'' manga in one, with training sequences, tournament battles, a crime-mystery story arc, and a virtual-reality, RPG-style story arc". But unlike most ''shōnen'' manga, he called ''Hunter × Hunter'' "incredibly dense." Examples being its fictional nen ability, which is explained "so thoroughly that you almost think it could exist," and the little challenges and games the characters face; "Over and over Togashi invents some little closed system or rules just so the heroes can break them; if he ever wants to change careers, I'd suggest game designer." Thompson praised the character art as great, pointing out how instead of alternating between realistic and chibi like other artists, Togashi has cartoony and realistic characters interacting in the same panels. Thompson did note how the artwork during its magazine run is often "sketchy" and missing backgrounds, but that Togashi goes back and fixes it for its collected ''tankōbon'' release. Mentioning Togashi's love of gore he stated "the whole manga is about the mixture of childish adventure and creepy, adult themes" and noted how some panels later in the manga are apparently censored for gore by being covered with
screentone Screentone is a technique for applying textures and shades to drawings, used as an alternative to hatching. In the conventional process, patterns are transferred to paper from preprinted sheets. It is also known by the common brand names Zip-A-T ...
. Reviewing the first story arc, Chris Sims of
ComicsAlliance ComicsAlliance was an American website dedicated to covering the comic book industry as well as comic-related media, and is owned by Townsquare Media. The site has been nominated for multiple awards including a 2015 Eisner Award win in the catego ...
called ''Hunter × Hunter'' one of the most "fun, ridiculous, and ludicrously violent comics I've ever read." He stated that while it has every stereotypical idea about ''shōnen'' manga in force, what sticks out the most is the violence. Sims summed it up as "full of clever setups and characters that, while simple to the point of almost seeming one-dimensional at times, still manage to be solid and entertaining based on their reaction to the increasingly strange, increasingly deadly events around them". Charles Solomon, a writer for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' and ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', praised the moral seriousness of Gon, a quality that gives the protagonist "an appeal his relentlessly upbeat counterparts lack". ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' gave a positive review to the first volume of the manga, stating that Togashi "shows a deft touch" with its standard story, calling his artwork "clear and graceful", and mentioning that his characters are "endearing and complex". While Rika Takahashi of EX.org and
Claude J. Pelletier Claude J. Pelletier is the editor and publisher of magazine ''Protoculture Addicts'', and has also worked as a game designer primarily on role-playing games. Early life and education Claude J. Pelletier was born on 23 May, 1962, in Laval, Quebe ...
of ''
Protoculture Addicts ''Protoculture Addicts'' was a Canadian-based anime and manga themed magazine published by Protoculture Inc., an Anime News Network company. The term "Protoculture Addicts" was also used by the Zentradi (an alien race that appeared in the ''Macro ...
'' found the art style in ''Hunter × Hunter'' to be much simpler than Togashi's two previous serializations, ''
Level E is a Japanese comic science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The plot follows the misadventures of alien Prince Baka Ki El Dogra, who crash-lands on Earth and forcibly begins living with high school student ...
'' and ''
YuYu Hakusho is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The series tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent who is struck and killed by a car while attempting to save a child's life. After a number of ...
'', both reviewers appreciated the intricate narrative and characters.


Anime


1999 series

The first ''Hunter × Hunter'' anime series has enjoyed much more modest popularity than its manga source. ''
Newtype is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime (and to a lesser extent, tokusatsu, manga, Japanese science fiction, seiyuu, and video games). It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985, with i ...
'' listed it as having a Japanese television rating of 10.5 for the fourth quarter of 2000. The show's viewership was ranked number six among the top ten anime television series in Japan for February 2001. The series was voted as the 16th best anime of 2000 in the ''Animage'' Anime Grand Prix, but rose to fourth place the following year. In 2001, the staff of the magazine listed ''Hunter × Hunter'' as the 94th most important anime of all time. In a 2006 web poll conducted in Japan by the network
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...
, the ''Hunter × Hunter'' television series was voted 28th best anime of all time. In 2010, Mania.com's Briana Lawrence listed ''Hunter × Hunter'' at number nine of the website's "10 Anime Series That Need a Reboot". Critical reception for the first ''Hunter × Hunter'' television adaptation has been generally favorable. Miyako Matsuda of ''Protoculture Addicts'', Carl Kimlinger of the '' Anime News Network'' (ANN), and Derrick L. Tucker of ''
THEM Anime Reviews THEM Anime Reviews, otherwise known as THEM or T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews, is an anime review website that writes about current and past anime in any form, including OVAs and ONAs. The website offers reviews, editorial content and hosts forums. ...
'' all expressed positive views of the series' narrative and characters. Matsuda admired the adventure-filled world of ''Hunter × Hunter'' and the practical character qualities of friendship, effort, and victory inserted by Togashi. Beginning with the second Viz DVD volume, Kimlinger summarized, "Togashi's plotting is canny and occasionally insightful and Furuhashi's visuals inventive yet attuned to the measured pacing of the series. Together they create a ''shonen'' action series that is both fun to watch and curiously respectful of its audience's intelligence. A strange combination indeed." Tucker admitted to being "bewitched" by the series mainly due to the remarkable and original characters, especially the interplay between the vastly different personalities of the Phantom Troupe members. Kimlinger gave particular praise to the characteristics of the complex villain Hisoka and the deep, emotional transformation of Kurapika in the latter half of the series. Theron Martin, also of ANN, contrastingly found the plot of the earliest episodes to be cliché, called the protagonist Gon "an obvious Son Goku derivative", and stated that many of the story's aspects have already been covered by other ''shōnen'' series such as '' Dragon Ball Z'' a decade earlier. Martin was also displeased by an alleged lack of character development on the main protagonists' parts in the initial episodes. The art and animation of the ''Hunter × Hunter'' anime have also been commended by the press. Kimlinger and Tucker were impressed by the art direction of ''Hunter × Hunter'', the former of whom critiquing the adaptation of Togashi's work by Furuhashi as having "understated energy and flair, making the most of the era's (1999) mix of traditional and CG animation to bring Gon and friends' physical feats to fluid, exhilarating life." Martin faulted both the artwork and the subtle differences in character design. "The artistry not only shows its age but, in fact, looks older than it actually is," the reviewer commented, "hearkening back to a day when digital coloring and CG enhancements were not ubiquitous and allowances for a rougher look were greater." Opinions of the series' sound and music have been somewhat mixed. Martin positively noted the soundtrack as the strongest production point of ''Hunter × Hunter'', and was satisfied with both the English translation of the script and Ocean's voice overs. Tucker found the music satisfactory and improved as the series progressed, but did not think it lived up to its potential. Kimlinger agreeably felt the musical score to be appropriate in most instances, but criticized the English dub as "a letdown since day one".


2011 series

Madhouse's 2011 adaptation was met with near-universal critical acclaim. Adrian Marcano from Inverse considered ''Hunter x Hunter 2011'' to be one of the greatest anime series ever. He said that the anime set itself apart with one of the greatest story arcs in anime history in which the villain, not the hero, takes the anime to instant classic status. He also said that, "It is in the 2011 version where we see probably one of the best story arcs in anime history: the Chimera Ant Arc." According to ''Movie News Guide'' and ''Latin Post'', the Madhouse's 2011 version received more viewers not only in Japan but also around the world, particularly in North America. Digital Fox Media's Michael Basile of
Fox Sports Digital Media Fox Sports Digital Media, formerly known as News Corp. Digital Media and Fox Interactive Media, is a subsidiary of Fox Sports Media Group which operates Fox Sports' online properties in the United States. History Fox Interactive Media was form ...
praised the animation quality of the new adaptation, "the animation actually appears to get better and better as the series progresses. The color palette can shift from vibrant and inviting to grim and menacing at the drop of a hat, the character designs are unique and appealing, the CG is very minimal, and the action sequences are some of the best that the shonen genre has ever produced, on-par with the best works of Studio Bones. It's almost miraculous how consistently beautiful this anime is." He also considered it to be "one of the best anime of all time." Nick Creamer held similar sentiments, writing "the show's fantastic aesthetics elevate it above almost everything out there – in direction, in sound design, in pacing, in animation, in basically every relevant aesthetic metric, Hunter x Hunter triumphs. That it's been maintaining this level of quality for well over a hundred episodes is nothing short of astonishing." In 2019, ''
Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two to ...
'' named the series as one of the best anime of the 2010s, and Crunchyroll listed it in their "Top 25 best anime of the 2010s".
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
also listed the ''Hunter × Hunter'' 2011 adaptation among the best anime series of the 2010s.


Notes


References


Bibliography

*


External links

* * * * *
Hunter x Hunter Story Board Exhibit at the Shinjō Mogami Manga Museum Event Report
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter x Hunter 1998 manga 1999 anime television series debuts 2002 anime OVAs 2011 Japanese television series debuts Adventure anime and manga Animated films based on manga Anime series based on manga Coming-of-age anime and manga Fantasy anime and manga Fuji TV original programming Japanese-language films Madhouse (company) Manga adapted into films Martial arts anime and manga Muse Communication Musicals based on anime and manga Nippon Animation Nippon TV original programming Odex Shōnen manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Toonami Viz Media anime Viz Media manga