Hunter x Hunter, Volume 1: A Stunning, Joyful, and Quite Magnificent Opener

Volume One of Hunter x Hunter has a lot of ground to cover. You know, just setting up a whole universe, hopefully not generically, and a billion other things that probably put pressure on Togashi to really make a slam-dunk opener. What am I saying—not just a slam-dunk opener, but one that will go platinum internationally with all the sales plus finance? Thankfully, and I do mean thankfully, that never shows, as Togashi feels mainly quite calm in his writing and never frantic, and the excitement felt in the many pages and panels feels more like a chill and quite lovely atmosphere than the overly hyper, cringe-worthy debut manga volumes seemingly always fall into. If I had to use some simple terminology, it’s more like a Killua vibe volume than a Gon.

Yes. Yes. I am yessing. No, please don’t let me be. I am just loving the artwork. Togashi has this skill with his artwork that radiates every panel with each scene in Hunter x Hunter. There is this aesthetic that can be compared to the time it was released in the 1990s, adding to the type of artwork on the shonen landscape then, which was more fun and replicative in the style of successful manga like Dragon Ball in terms of fun action and stereotypical characters. Even more, the action Togashi plays out here, when showing his many characters fight or be themselves, feels so fluid that one would not be crazy to say they think they see the characters move. Even better are the creatures and characters Togashi pulls out, like Pokémon cards. Every design in this volume simply rocks, from the standout and very individual contestants for the exam to the many detailed and unique creatures Togashi handles creatively with elegance. While I plan, for this first volume, to be more general in my more fun discussion of this volume, the next and later volumes I discuss will be more directly discussing each plot point in the volume itself. This is, what I call, an introduction. Color-wise this manga does not have color besides its cover art. So, in regard to that, the color there is quite dynamic and strong, feeling like its popping at the scenes with its intended style it embraces to the maximum.

Bang! Bang! That is the simplest way to describe the paneling here. Embracive, uncontrolled, and never underestimated in its unabashed shonen display, Togashi takes it even further with this charm that radiates throughout the series. This nature is comparable to One Piece in its heart and warmth of seeing these random group utterly random of people coming together, and the wholesome family vibe is retained throughout with also a slice of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, which will only become clear later, with each arc of the series feeling individual yet flowing, and instead of cheapening itself through new characters and plot that don’t connect, like JoJo started to do after Part 6 (though it was a completely different universe but he could’ve just redid the series not called it Part 7), where each arc could really be its own series, Hunter x Hunter always has a lead from our group there making each arc feel like a part of our main characters journey. Also, as shown now and later, each arc in Hunter x Hunter is quite good. Something most manga its size cannot say for at least one arc.

Something 2011 anime fans might not notice is that, yes, Kite appears. Something that the fandom might not have told you endlessly about, but I am here to also remind you, like a memory you delete from your history, that, no, Kite wasn’t thrown in as the 2011 kind of does, even though it works there. In the original, he shows up—not later in a flashback after we met him, but here and now—and pops with probably the best fashion out of any character in this volume (with a cool sword, outfit, and wicked hair choice). That is saying a lot considering Togashi could probably fight Araki when it comes to fashion choices (if you need any other proof than this fantastic series, then read or just watch Yu Yu Hakusho; you also won’t regret it unless you count the ending, and then you’ll regret it).

We had Gon, Killua, Kurapkia, and… I think that’s about it. Oh, and Leorio. Anyway. Though, since I pointed him out, it’s worth discussing much later how Leorio was always the odd man out of the group. While he is the comedic relief, if I had to pick, and really pick, any character that felt most underused and treated as if their development was mushed in a dump compactor, even if there wasn’t really much to do with them as to not ruin them, I think we got the runner up. Truly, anyway, for this volume, these characters don’t serve their purpose. They doordashed, grabbed the order, and gave the $50 tip plus some charity. In other words, they didn’t just serve; they got their promotion, plus ultra, while also serving the entire shonen manga community to do better with their standards. Gon is a character; for the moment, there isn’t much to speak on as it is, by the way, the first volume, and in saying that, I say it not as a matter of fact but rather as a pure compliment. Really. Having a bland personality? Great. An unabashed main character who is literal blank piece of wood but has already bought the entire wood department? Even better—just incredible. Yes, really. At least for how Togashi is setting him up. As someone who knows what happens next, don’t worry; I probably won’t spoil (or I might, who knows). It can be said that this genius choice by Togashi can never go unnoticed. Gon as a character is a deconstruction. And a natural one. He is intended, at first, to be your generic, literary, nothing to be said of except he exists, a piece of wood you would find in any other shonen protagonist so as to use it as a stereotype. The genius of Hunter x Hunter is its trick of subversion and how it works. Hunter x Hunter sets up like Gon, with hints of later, a happy protagonist for Togashi to intentionally play with this like a toy with intention yet one that could go clearly unnoticed unless you are rewatching or rereading this series. Though, signs of Gon’s personality are made clear since if you aren’t his friend or hurt one of his friends, he is not one to be laughed at. This little bite Togashi gives him is less explored in this volume but nicely hinted at.

If there was something this volume of Hunter x Hunter hopefully made, hinting wisely and clearly, it’s that the villains are just as great as the protagonists. And that’s a really hard match to play with. We got Hisoka, who is barely shown but will become more of a threat later, so I will discuss later, but just know he is a dangerous domineering threat to be played with that will be present a lot more going forward. Then we have less physical and more mental and annoying threats here, like Tonpa, who is someone who cuts corners and takes down applicants by sheer tricks rather than by fairness. He makes an important and agonizing villain to watch, as he is never fair in his tactics, but he can start to become fun the more you see him fail at his tactics. Though, regardless, Togashi brilliantly writes him as the opener to the exam world, showing how hard it can be not just fighting but making friends and showing real enemies. Tonpa is, to put it simply, a needed addition to this world that wouldn’t work without him since he represents something that is real and just fits. Those who, as said before, cut corners and hurt others. But this time, in the Hunter world.

Part one. If I had to label this volume anything, it would be the beginning of growth. I would call Hunter x Hunter, looking back, an almost coming-of-age narrative. The Hunters Exam is the start, and, to casually skip over some arcs, the Chimera Ant Arc is the moment of truth. But we will get to that when we are there, so for the moment, just know that this is the starting arc.

One thing that is so incredible about Hunter x Hunter is that it felt like a challenge. No, it is not a challenge to read the agonizing thing called lots of words Togashi put into his work later—I mean, the exhilaration. No, not just from how fantastical the series is at its creativity constantly, but in regard to the tone it sets for manga going forward. Hunter x Hunter set a standard. Fix that; it made one. One of quality and actually doing things right. Hunter x Hunter tore the map that shonen manga felt constrained to and asked it to up its standards and be whatever it wants, and it can also work. Hunter x Hunter felt like it went there, plus more in terms of doing whatever it wanted. Togashi felt daring here, as if he didn’t care at all about what people thought and did what he always wanted to do with manga. While his previous series, Yu Yu Hakusho, felt constrained by the standards of its medium, Togashi made Hunter x Hunter feel spurred and in the moment. It is comparable to someone who consumes random events in their life, randomly writes them down, and makes something out of it all. It doesn’t all fit together, but it doesn’t need to. It just works and pops. Those are the lines that keep it together. It, like the best art, took itself for what it is, not for what it could or should be; it just had respect and did what it wanted.

This volume places itself at the Hunter Exam and gets mostly towards the beginning stages. We get mostly into what I call the cliff notes of the exam, with it focusing more on the fun, tricky little challenges that start the game and the gathering of the crew while setting up Gon’s journey. We start with seeing Gon’s flashback interaction with Kite and his leaving Mito to do the Hunter Exam (likely as his dad did it, his living-life attitude, and that his dad did it himself) as he goes out for the exam on a ship where we met Kurapkia and Leorio, and they all start to get along and become friends. Then we lead to some other exam trials and tests they face before meeting Killua and setting off for the danger that the volume ends off at. Specifically, it ends with Gon and the rest of the applicants in danger as creatures and the applicants themselves fight each other. Overall, this volume is general fun and nonstop excitement, comparable to seeing a debut volume not just with strong potential but exceeding all expectations and continually delivering style, personality, and pure intense and sometimes cheerfully mundane content every second. Gratefully, as will become less apparent till much later, Hunter x Hunter is great at managing both the mundane and extreme with a thin line, making it an almost universally fun experience for fans of both character drama and some fun action. Though, for fans of the 2011 version, it will become clear that Mito and Gon interactions feel a bit shorter. Albeit just a bit likely, thanks to the Kite flashback.

If I had to compare this volume to the brilliant 2011 version, it retains the same curious and fun charisma but without the strong life the 2011 captured. Not to say this is a terrible thing; the life 2011 had was based on it, well, being made into this unknown thing called animation, which almost enables that liveliness. But regardless, the manga feels more like a creative vision of a world than one that is breathed in, with panels feeling more made in the moment rather than set in stone like moments in history to words about moments in their imaginary history. Comparable to knowing a film is, well, a film, but still loving it all the same.

To compare, for just a lengthy moment, Hunter x Hunter to another manga Togashi did previously, Yu Yu Hakusho. Yu Yu Hakusho had this fresh and bold energy compared to the angsty teenager, like the writing it continued to produce. In other words, there was defiance in Yu Yu Hakusho and pride in itself. By comparison, Hunter x Hunter feels like an older creative accomplishing his attempted true vision and being less defiant and more examining, retrospective, deconstructive, and wise in his style. Comparable to a teenager’s writing to an adult’s writing. While this volume is less of a deconstruction, the hints are clearly there. And I do mean clearly.