An Anime Truly Worth Watching: Hunter × Hunter

Carter Zyskowski, Journalist

Hunter × Hunter's cover (Madhouse/Shueisha)
(Madhouse/Shueisha)

Hunter × Hunter is an anime about Gon Freecss’s journey to find his father, who is a famous hunter. Gon and his friends go on many adventures along the way; each one is interesting and leads me to want more. The first episode aired in 2011 and the anime has been loved by millions since then!

This anime is very worth watching because every character has a very good reason to like them. They are all very well-written and feel alive when you’re watching. With 148 episodes you’re in for a ride; set in an alternate version of Earth, Gon and his friends set out on many dangerous adventures in search of Gon’s father, Ging. Ging is a famous hunter that left Gon when he was born in order to pursue being a hunter, which is a licensed member of humanity capable of tracking down treasures, rare beasts, and even other humans. You feel like a part of the adventures as you get to know each character and watch them grow as a person and grow stronger physically as well as becoming a better Nen user.

Nen plays a significant role in Hunter × Hunter, Nen is a technique that allows living beings to use and manipulate their own life force. Nen defines a character’s abilities and each person’s Nen is very different. There are 6 different types of Nen each has its own unique properties and all can be used except the 6th type of Nen with enough training but each Nen user is naturally stronger in a specific category. The 6 categories are Conjuration, the user is able to create objects with their aura, enhancement, the user can strengthen themself or other objects, emission, the user is able to detach their aura from their body which still allows them to use another technique with that aura, transmutation, the user can change the strength of their aura to match something else, manipulation, the user can control animate and inanimate things, specialization, the user is able to use all Nen categories freely. The reason the specialist category is unobtainable is due to the fact that you need to be born a specialist which is an extremely rare circumstance.

Gon meets all kinds of allies and foes on his adventures in Hunter × Hunter but my favorite character is Killua. Killua is a silver-haired boy from the Zoldyck family, a family of very powerful and elite assassins. Killua ran away from his family because he had enough of his family’s pressure to become an assassin and was constantly being told what to do. The reason he is my favorite is because of his determination; when he puts his sights on something he will do anything to achieve it. He is also very powerful both mentally and physically, even while not using his powerful Nen he developed during his grueling training to be an assassin. 

Hunter × Hunter is entertaining throughout the entire series and keeps me wanting to know more at the end of every episode. I definitely recommend this anime to anyone looking for a longer action anime. This anime has so much to offer you as the viewer and the whole viewing experience truly is an experience that is worth every second of watching.