Hunter X Hunter (Original + Remake)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

This YYH reference with that key-chain was a really nice little nod to that series by the animators:



This was also yet another really good episode. There was no action, but it moved along the plot along quite nicely and it really does a great job of foreshadowing how dark this story can get later on. I mean, this episode was literally about Neon's predictions that there would be a lot of death to come at the auction, using her ability of divination. It also introduces most of the members of the Genei Ryodan, and sets up the group quite nicely.

[Avaitor]

AWW LOOK, IT'S PUU!!

Man, I should try to start watching this.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

You may like this series even better than the first anime. While I have a biased attachment to that series (though, to be fair, it is a legitimately good series on its own), this one has far less filler bogging it down and moves at a much smoother pace (it covers the first 5 episodes of the original anime in 2 episodes without feeling rushed), and while I wasn't keen on the music or voice acting in this series at first, both have substantially improved since the beginning. Also, this adaptation is strictly more accurate to Togashi's original work. That's not to say that the 1999 series deviated from the story all that much, but it made some notable character changes of its own that did not sit well with a lot of purist HXH fans (a part of the fan-base which I despise, even though I agree that the manga is better).

Still, I thought the old anime did a terrific job with the York Shin City arc. This anime only just started it, so I have to see how well they handle it in comparison.

[talonmalon333]

Is Hisoka still good in the new series?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

You have to specify what you mean by that? I think his choice of voice actor is perfect for his character, and they make him a bit more sadistic and psychotic than before, which is more accurate to how he is in the manga (though he is still largely the same character as in the 1999 anime), so in that regard they make him the type of character that he's supposed to be. Whether he's "good" in it or not is really up to how you define that term in the context of his character.

[talonmalon333]

You have to specify what you mean by that? I think his choice of voice actor is perfect for his character, and they make him a bit more sadistic and psychotic than before, which is more accurate to how he is in the manga (though he is still largely the same character as in the 1999 anime), so in that regard they make him the type of character that he's supposed to be. Whether he's "good" in it or not is really up to how you define that term in the context of his character.

Awesome! That answers my question, and is just what I wanted to hear.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm not really a fan of Hisoka because of how Togashi uses him. Mostly the same as what he uses most of the Ryodan for after York Shin, which are nothing more than killing machines for characters Togashi doesn't like anymore.

It works in the Hunter exam because of how creepy he is, and in York Shin because of how Kurapika deals with him, but after that he is totally wasted as a generic villain.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm not really a fan of Hisoka because of how Togashi uses him. Mostly the same as what he uses most of the Ryodan for after York Shin, which are nothing more than killing machines for characters Togashi doesn't like anymore.

I kind of agree about Hisoka, but I completely disagree about the Ryodan. First off, Togashi's barely used them that much since York Shin, which is kind of disappointing given how good they were there. But I'm not sure if you missed the point of their apperance in the Chimera Ant arc, since they were doing the exact opposite of killing off minor characters just because Togashi didn't want them anymore. They were actually eliminating a bunch of Chimera Ants that had been terrorizing people at their home-town, Meteor City. That's actually contrary to what you'd expect of them, since they were actually helping people out (granted that, I think they were getting paid for it, and it WAS their home-town they were looking out for, anyways), and to me it makes them more 3-dimensional characters since not everything they do is pure evil as you might be lead to believe by their past actions. I think it'd be great to see more of them doing stuff like that, but either way, they are certainly underutilized by Togashi after York Shin.

It works in the Hunter exam because of how creepy he is, and in York Shin because of how Kurapika deals with him, but after that he is totally wasted as a generic villain.

Well in Greed Island he works together with Gon and Killua, though while that could have been more interesting I feel as though Togashi doesn't do much with that scenario. It would have been interesting to see him in the Chimera Ant arc, but I'm kind of glad that Togashi left him out of it as that arc was already cluttered enough with character and plot-lines as it was, and his addition would have just made things far more confusing. I do fully agree that Togashi really wastes him in the post-Chimera Ant arc events, though. The way he just kills off minor characters for the sake of it really pissed me off, and it didn't even feel in character for Hisoka to target such "smally-fry" (that's probably how he'd put it), anyways. Especially ones that didn't even do anything to deserve such gruesome deaths at his hands.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Well, you already know my feelings on Greed Island. 

Honestly, I would have liked to have seen them (and Hisoka) in the Chimera Ant arc just to actually see them face a legitimate threat and get knocked onto the ropes for a bit. I'm actually kind of surprised they were hired for clean up, and not at the point when the threat was really severe.

Anyway, I'm kind of burnt out still on this series. I probably won't return to it until he actually finishes it. Whenever that may be.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I like the series on the whole, but I think it has flaws. It gradually gets better until the end of the York Shin City arc, which I still find to be its peak. Then Greed Island comes along, and while I wouldn't call it bad, its pretty underwhelming, especially with all of the build-up to it. Then we get the Chimera Ant arc which gets off to an even worse start, but thankfully picks up. Its a really ambitious arc and Togashi does a surprisingly great job of achieving that ambition....until the last 20 chapters or so when it just starts to drag out way too long. After that the post-arc stuff has a cop-out solution to "Gon's dilemma" and some stuff happens that pisses me off and then the series goes back on hiatus. So, yeah, its a very inconsistent run, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't still want to see where Togashi would take this series next. He's a terrific writer when he actually cares about what he's writing. The best in all of shonen manga, really. But I just feel like Togashi had gotten so out of tune with his own series after taking so many breaks from it that it may just be better for him to find a way to end it in another couple of arcs rather than keep fans waiting decades before its over.

Honestly, I would have liked to have seen them (and Hisoka) in the Chimera Ant arc just to actually see them face a legitimate threat and get knocked onto the ropes for a bit. I'm actually kind of surprised they were hired for clean up, and not at the point when the threat was really severe.

That clean-up part was just because it was at their home-town. It was more of a personal thing for them rather than business. I thought it was actually really awesome of them to defend their local people. It also really makes it interesting when you consider that they supposedly massacred Kurapika's whole clan, yet they have their own to look out for as well, so it may be a future plot-line that Kurapkia tries to hit them where it hurts if he ever gets that far-gone. At the very least it'll be interesting to see.

That, and some of them showed some humanity in how they were disgusted at how those particular Chimera that they had to kill were treating the humans as slaves and torturing them by forcefully mutating them for their sick pleasure. The Ryodan may kill a lot of people themselves, but at least most of them aren't so sick and twisted about it. The even mercy killed the surviving humans who were so badly mutated that they were living in mortal pain.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Just drop all the characters and make the series about Knuckle teaching Gon and Killua how to be tough manly men.

Such a shame he was already basically written out. He was the best part of the whole Chimera Ant arc, and a reminder of why YYH characters will always be his best style of character writing.

And then we find out his last name was Urameshi or Kuwabara and this whole series was a stealth YYH sequel. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, he hasn't really written Knuckle and the other side-characters out of the story yet. It feels like they could easily come back in the next arc as recurring characters. Gon's going to need a new companion to replace Killua since they parted ways, at any rate, so while I would love for it to be Leorio who joins him, I have a feeling that Knuckle would probably be the most likely candidate since he is also pretty much Gon's current mentor.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Another great episode this week, and as a nice bonus some great new scores have been added into the continually improving soundtrack. Man, this show has been on a streak lately. It really just may very well surpass the old anime in my eyes, and even possibly the manga if it manages to make Greed Island a good arc and fix the various problems with the Chimera Ant arc, but it'll still be quite a while before it ever actually gets to that point.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The beginning and ending of this episode were fucking awesome. The middle was kind of meh. I prefer how the 1999 anime handled this part in general, but this reboot still did a good job of it. I suppose my main problems were with the animation and choice of music for this episode. I'm a tad bit disappointed, but its still really good stuff, overall.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Here is a perfect comparison video of the animation between the 1999 version and the 2011 version of the anime, with the most iconic fight sequence in the series.