One of the things that I find the most annoying about shounen series is the huge amount of time that you have to wait before things get good. Gitnama’s first 13 episodes were significantly less funny than the rest of the series. Bakuman took a huge amount of time to get going, and Nurarihyon no Mago was especially bad at this. It’s because of this that I refuse to watch One Piece, Fairy Tail and Rurouni Kenshin: out of all of them, I watched their first episode at some point, and none of them contained any hints whatsoever that they’d turn out better. Sure, they probably will and all, but I really don’t want to sit through seasons of mediocrity with no hints at quality whatsoever before that happens.
I may have given this show a lot of criticisms, but really: it’s already much better than the majority of shounen series out there. And heck, out of the shounen series that do have a good start, the vast majority of them turns sour after its first arc (Bleach, Ao no Exorcist for example). In three episodes, Hunter X Hunter 2011 has already showcased a lovable cast, an imaginative and detailed setting, a great atmosphere and a ton of intrigue. For that, I have to praise it.
Now, for the criticisms: I had one big issue with this episode: Hisoka. There were quite a bit of differences in this episode, but the only one that really was a downer was how Hisoka was introduced. The first season did this really well: he just stood there, and the only think you knew about him was that he was really dangerous and that he killed an examinator. It created a tremendous aura around him. In this episode? Some one bumps into him and he starts acting like this smug “I’m stronger than you hahaha” villain.
The other major difference in this episode was Tonpa, the rookie killer. In the first season it actually wasn’t clear that he was one until he started to double-cross the main characters. Here, they outright state it. It had an interesting effect, though: introducing all of the colourful side characters that will be appearing in the next number of episodes. He did it in quite an interesting and enjoyable way, making introductions which normally are just a boring side-task, fun and interesting.
For the next episode though, I really do hope that the creators take their time with the running exam. That’s just something that needs to drag on, otherwise it’ll lose its entire point of testing the endurance of the different characters. This episode already made a step in the right direction though. I really liked how it showed everyone just waiting for the exam to start. It’s a great way to build up atmosphere.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Hunter X Hunter – 03
Well hisoka is suppose to be high and mighty since he is a cruel and deductive realist who looks down on people. When he is faced with worthy opponents his tricks are deceptive cheats but when he is messing with small fries they’re quite straight forward. In the manage he actually chopped the guys arm off and hide them just to say “his arms disappeared like magic.” The whole flower crap in the new anime just ruined that characterization -.-” i guess they weren’t kidding when they said they will downgrade the violence….
It’s because of this that I refuse to watch One Piece, Fairy Tail and Rurouni Kenshin: out of all of them, I watched their first episode at some point, and none of them contained any hints whatsoever that they’d turn out better.
I think this is what makes HxH stand out as a shounen. All it’s arcs have their own strong points and special features. The characters don’t dawdle around with a monster/enemy of the week.
I agree with you on Hisoka though, I thought the first series established him much better but we have yet to see how unhinged he can truly be and I hope this remake can pull it off even with the 10:55 am timeslot and all that.
You should really tried One Piece out. The series is really good and the storyline is really imaginative and fun. The managaka actually having fun drawing the series. You can really tell. The storyline actually have a direction, I remember Oda said somewhere that he already wrote the ending already. THe nami arc is when things get totally worth it. Before that, its not that awesome yet. Well its up to you if you wanna blog it or watch it. But give this series some amount of your time at one point of your life.
Actually, I think I would disagree with Akamyi on One Piece. I love the manga but i found the anime version way worse. They tend to drag things out and other stuffs. For example, last week’s episode managed to make the first five minutes entirely recap from the previous episodes (mainly the episode just preceding it) I didn’t watch most episodes of One Piece but the ones I did watch felt very inferior to the manga.
Pgsels, you really need to read the manga of Hunter X Hunter. Everything that happened in this episode was a complete adaptation of it. The ripping off the dudes arms (or turning them into flowers here) was what happened originally
And yet having read One Piece, Hunter X Hunter and Kenshin for me Kenshin & One Piece are definitely the superior series.
I liked the Hunter X Hunter manga but I personally got bored of it after while. It never happened with Kenshin & One Piece is still going strong 500+ chapters later. Of course that’s just me.
Kenshin anime is also a great adaption, except the final arc of the anime is all filler. Sadly the fantastic final arc of the manga was never animated.
One Piece anime can drag a little but that is because it is following an ongoing manga series. If they go too quickly they catch up to the manga too quickly. So with One Piece overall I prefer the manga, but I do enjoy watching the anime from time to time for the great seiyuu work.
I think I should clarify that I really enjoy Hunter X Hunter up to the Greed Island arc but after that I started to get bored of the series and dropped it (Togashi’s frequent breaks did not help). It’s possible later story arcs are better.
I agree that One Piece tends to drag but that isn’t really noticeable until hundreds of episodes and many good arcs.
And compared to many other shounen you can actually see that Oda has planned many things in advance instead of pulling twists out of nowhere like Naruto or Bleach tend to do.
@ Kim
Totally agree. One Piece and Kenshin animes/mangas are vastly superior compared to HXH anime/manga and I preety much watched all shounens out there.
You’re terribly wrong when you say One Piece takes too long to get good. Yeah right, it takes a bit of time to go beyond epic, but I’m not afraid to say, after conutless dozens of shounens I’ve watched, that One Piece is probably the best shounen out there along with both FMAs and Hajime no Ippos. There’s also very good shounens like Rurouni Kenshin, Hikatu no Go and Yu-yu Hakusho (Hakusho is a bit generic but it’s a shounen that succeds where the rest fails).
Fairy Tail? Crap, I read 150 chapetres of the manga and it’s irritating.
Katekyo Hitman ReBoring? Weak storyline, weak cast. Not worth it.
Bleach? Not nowadays. It had a decent start but nowadays is just plain bad.
Naruto? Very good start, nowadays is decent, but it lost it’s magic along the way.
D-Gray Man? Generic, it does some things right… but no, still decent though.
Air Gear? meh. Beelzebub? More meh. Busou Renkin? Hell no. HxH? So-so. Gintama? Good. InuYasha? Very good start, but also lost it’s magic along the way. Soul Eater? Quite good. Toriko is shit. Law of Ueki is good. Dragon Ball is Dragon Ball, I respect it. Claymore is decent. Nurarihyon no Mago? Meh. Saint Seiya is average. Shaman King, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon and etc are average.
So there you go. 90% of the shounens out there are not special. Watch at least the Arlong arc of One Piece (the first 40 episodes). Sanji’s and Zoro’s backstories kick asses and Nami has one of the best backstories I’ve seen for a shounen, I shed a tear with her struggle. Watch to understand the reason One Piece is one of the most well received animes/mangas out there. It’s legendary.
Not to go off topic, but you should at least watch the Rurouni Kenshin OVAs. Those are tragic, dark and beautiful animations.
Psgels already watched RK Tsuiokuhen and gave 90/100. The review can be found at this site.
It’s too early to tell how good HxH will be. But, about One Piece, I have only one thing to say –
If you’re going to watch it, get ready for an intervention; I’d pump it into my veins if I could.
As for Rurouni Kenshin, I don’t really care that much, whether you’ll watch it or not, since I like the manga version better anyway (although I don’t deny the tv series IS a fairly good adaptation, when you exclude all the annoying fillers); the same with Fairy Tail, which DOES get better after some time, but even so, I still don’t think it would be your cup of tea.
As for One Piece, I can only say: your loss, as you voluntarily deprive yourself of experiencing one of the better adventures anime has to offer and probably the best one as far as shounen genre is concerned. It doesn’t take that much to get to the good parts and when you do, it only gets better. And personally, I like anime better than the manga, if only for the excellent seiyuu (the manga doesn’t have this much of an emotional impact on me). But hey, it’s your choice what to watch. Although I can’t help but think it’s a shame you waste your time and energy on the likes of Ao no Exorcist, which may show some potential in the beginning, but eventually fail to do anything with it, instead of checking out the most loved and respected shounen series out there. I’m FAR FROM the opinion that something popuar and liked by most people must be good by default, but in case of One Piece, I think it’s popularity is well-earned. It’s got great characters with great backstories, the plot that actually knows where it’s going, interesting world and some of the most emotional moments I have ever seen in anime. Not to mention that it can skillfully avoid most of the shounen cliches or at least adjust them to its own standards and not the other way around. So, maybe when you’re done wih your to-watch list, try to give OP a chance, if only to find out what the hype is all about.
Sorry for the rant, but it kind of annyoys me when you keep comparing HxH to other shounen series (you did the same in your last post) when you haven’t even watched most of them (sorry, but I don’t think that in case of those long-running shounens one episode woud be enough to form an objective opinion).
I like Hunter x Hunter. it’s a good shounen that manages to be something more.
And One Piece? After watching OP my standards for shounens were never the same again. Epic indeed.
@Guigas
Rurouni Kenshin pretty much degenerated to ‘another enemy appears, and the n number of guys you need to fight before him’ With each new enemy, the power levels increased, rinse repeat. I felt that it lost its magic as well, like the others you’ve mentioned. The anime dragging out near the end, and the manga art losing it’s unique style slowly did not help…
You’re on the spot for the others, but I dunno why you seem pessimistic rating them?
In my opinion, FMA and HXH are two of the best shounens out there, with a good balance of action and character developement, good imagination etcetc.
That ‘your arms are turning into flower crap’ in this episode of HXH was just rubbish though… I understand it might be in their interest to keep gore down for the kids though.
Everyone has their own thing when it comes to enjoying anime. It just so happened psgels enjoyed watching HxH more because it was easy to get into and immediately started strong. I think some of you are forgetting that long running shounen shows are very hard to get into especially when they’re 100+ episodes long so not everyone has the luxury to sit down and digest all that especially when there are already a lot of shorter shows people could watch. I think some of us could live without seeing an episode or chapter of One Piece.
I’m a fan of RK and I have the manga volumes and DVDs but to be honest I find that RK has only two strong arcs (Shishio and Enishi arc) while HxH is consistently good. So rereading HxH is much more entertaining than RK especially because it’s also focused on a wide range of topics other than battles like auctioning and information gathering.
@Miura
I am a fan of RK as well- even having the ‘Kanzenban’ edition of the manga. It’s very apparent that the arcs of RK is just ‘more of the same’ the later into the story you go; although the eventual delve into character’s past was not bad, it lead to ANOTHER antagonist with yet another number of underlings whom Kenshin must fight before the ‘boss’…
sorry to go off topic, but the above mentioned issue which I dislike, appears to be a staple in many shonen anime, which HXH seems to have avoided, (though I have not read HXH beyond early chimera ant arc).
Does One Piece have this problem? I have not watched it before, but wouldn’t mind getting into it.
By the way, the voice actor for Hanzo was really well done, it’s distinctively different from the previous one(I should stop comparing), but still great. Killua’s voice seems to lack that hint of mysteriousness though!
As I said before, I hadn’t watched or read the series before this remake, but just the first two episodes got me to go back and look into them. I just caught up with the manga, however I ended up unable to deal with the earlier anime adaptation. It felt really drawn out and like a completely different series altogether – “heavy” would be the word. Especially against the reboot and how it is keeping more or less with the flow of the original manga.
Only difference is that they left out an important backstory, but it’s been done before in Shounen adaptations. They’ll leave out a backstory in favor of establishing the characters first, then have the backstory show up later through flashbacks. I know they did it with One Piece, and with how the HxH manga is, there are a number of places for Gon’s backstory to show up. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got some of it next episode, actually.
@Riryoushi
I agree with what you said about Kenshin. Altought the fights and the story kept me hooked (I read the manga), your statment is valid, it does follow that pattern. But what can i do if is one of the few shounens that entertain me? XD
Everybody has a favorite shounen.
Well, I’m quite harsh about shounens in general because, let’s face it, most of it is just a rehash of older formulas that doesn’t add much for the viewer. They seem different at a first glance, but in the end you realize it’s nothing special at all. Then you realize you just wasted your precious time. And the more animes I watch, the harder it gets to judge a shounen totally unbiased, since my standards for animes improves with the time. I watch/read a large nº of episodes/chapters of the animes I mentioned earlier, I read at least 100 chapters of each shounen manga before drawing my conclusions.
I admit I was quite harsh on HxH, after all, it didn’t piss me off like many other generic shounens. Not my favorite, but at least, I didn’t feel like I was wasting my time with HxH, unlike many other shounens =D.
And for me what sets One Piece apart from the other shounens is the fantastic setting and world building. It’s unrivaled when it comes about world building amongst shounens, side to side with FMA Brotherhood (of course this is my opinion, everyone has it’s own opinion). I mean, there’s a ton of creative/great ideas for the countries. You feel like every arc is unique and memorable. The story actually knows where it’s going. The cast is one of the most lovable anime can offer. I haven’t met anyone that are immune to the charms of characters like Sanji, Zoro, Luffy or Nami XD They all have unique personalities that you won’t find anywhere, and they all have compelling and emotionally powerful backstories. It’s just shounen at it’s absolute best.
@Mira
“I think some of you are forgetting that long running shounen shows are very hard to get into especially when they’re 100+ episodes long so not everyone has the luxury to sit down and digest all that especially when there are already a lot of shorter shows people could watch.”
I’m perfectly aware that that it’s not easy to watch long running shounens, they demand lots of time and patience. In fact I personally do not reccomend Psgels to watch any other long running shounens “except” for One Piece. And only because in my humble opinion, it’s the only long running shounen that will bring him something special, something that will change his perception about shounens in general.
@ Guigas
I guess there are some shows which we just like, just for the pure entertainment factor! By the way, I will check out one piece, it does seem really good hahaha
I kind of have to comment in this discussion because Hunter x Hunter and One Piece are, by far, my favorite shounen mangas of all time.
Imo, One Piece and Hiatus x Hiatus each have a different focus and different strong points.
Strong points of One Piece are its world building, sense of exploration/ adventure, comedy and intricate detail. Its weak point is imho the overly sappy nakama/ friendship thing (especially in the anime) and one-dimensional characters.
HxH has a weaker overall plot and setting than OP (altough I like how it blends with the real world). It still uses foreshadowing quite effectively but not on the same level as OP. However, the emotions and psychology of the characters in HxH are overall much better told and more interesting. The heavy focus on tactics and strategy in HxH combat is also a plus.
What both titles have in common is that they are incredible page-turners, largely void of clichés and very diverse between story arcs.
Totally agree with Tomtom about HxH and One Piece, ecxept for the fact that the characters of One piece aren’t one-dimensional (at least not the main characters).
Anyway, both are excellent shounens and shouldn’t be missed.
One Piece is a must watch and it doesnt take long to get good! the first few arcs with the characters backrounds are one of the best. The later arcs are beyond epic but the anime does suffer from being dragging once you hit 400+ episodes because it’s sadly getting really close to the manga.
one piece is the best manga i’ve ever read. my favorite genre in an anime/manga is romance comedy i’ve read hundreds of it but i never got tired of reading them still after reading/watching one piece i have understood that one piece is on a different level from those countless of manga i’ve read.if it wasn’t for my brother pestering me to watch/read it i would have missed the the greatest creation ever created
Well my personal top 5 Shounen manga have:
One Piece, Hunter X Hunter, Yuyu Hakusho, FullMetal Alchemist and Rurorin Kenshin.
I wasn’t convince of the how good one piece is till half of Skypea Arc. And for me the first interesting plot was in the Baratie Ark when they show Dracule and a little of the Shishibukai background. The story have a lot of bit piece of build and they show how big is the world and how little are the main character.
But with Hunter X Hunter I just love it for the first episode, just by making that everything is a new puzle that Gon and his friend has to resolve. Is a very genius way to make a story and never get down.
I would recommend to watch One Piece too. I recommend to watch only Manga Episodes. The Filler Episodes are not that bad (I think the best of all Shounen), but it saves time. You can find out which Episodes are Filler at http://www.anime-planet.com/forum/general-anime-discussion/24458-anime-filler-guide.html .
God. That fanfare bgm was like nails scraping on a chalkboard. Almost ruined the whole episode for me. Is there any chance that the production will get rid of it in the near future?
I have no complaints on Hisoka and Killua’s voices, both suits the theme of the current adaptation. Killua sounds mischievous and there’s the hint of danger in his voice. The flowers thing doesn’t really bother me that much either. What with Hisoka’s nen, he’s able to create different textures, turning those limbs into a thousand flowers is not that far fetched.
For the comments about Kenshin following a pattern when it comes to fights, perhaps but well there is much more to Kenshin than fights: The characters and their interaction itself is great. And not to mention Kenshin is a fantastic protagonist with a compelling back story (quite different from your typical shounen lead).
If the only thing Kenshin had was fights I could care less about the series.
@Kim
You are right, RK does have great chemistry between characters.
@anim3spy
thanks for the link
@Mache
It’s not that making those flower looking things are far fetched… it just doesn’t look cool… right? >_>
In the manga and the original anime Tonpa acted just as we saw in this 2011 episode. It was very clear this early that Tonpa was a ‘rookie-killer’. Tonpa also did the same introduction of characters for Gon too, so that is not new.
I totally agree about Hisoka, plus it looked to me that Hisoka’s character design is much thinner too, the powerful looking body looks much weaker in this episode compared to the old Anime anyway. Perhaps they will change it as time goes on. Also the guy that Hisoka took out…..his arms turned into something,— it didn’t really convey that he was killed. That makes me a little concerned about the gore scenes still to come.
Killua also seemed to lack the adult like menace he needs to have…but that may improve with time. We shall see.
I am liking this Hunter x 2011 as it really is doing a good job overall. The art is a little too simple for my taste but they make it work pretty well.
@Riryoushi:
If you’re indeed going to check out One Piece, I’d recommend you not skip the fillers. There’s not much of them and they vary from decent to really good (well, at least they’re MUCH better than the fillers in any other shounen anime); they’re quite enjoyable and fun to watch most of the time and they can be a nice catch of breath in between the powerful and emotionally-charged story arcs. But yeah, it’s only my opinion and you’ll do whatever suits you better.
I love shounen anime. I really do. And I’m excited about HxH (2011). I get to enjoy it and reread/rewatch an old favorite of mine. My little silbings are enjoying the new version too.
Just to be clear, I enjoyed the manga long before I saw the first anime. The new anime IS the more “loyal” version.
But “loyal” does NOT necessarily mean “better.” One of the advantages of making an anime (and one that very very few anime ever take into consideration) is that by being able to create a new version of the story, they are able to make changes that may work better in video format than comic format, and may even make improvements.
The first anime made a lot of changes, but they made a solid show that was entertaining and unique. The first HxH anime was a lot better than most people have given it credit for, both in the past and now. I’m not saying that this new version won’t be just as great. I’m personally looking forward to it.
But the First Stage was handled beautifully in 1999 and so far the series hasn’t had me hooked quite the same way (though it has been improving with each episode and and I’m looking foward to the next).
As far as shounen series in general go. I did drop Bleach and Naruto (and Inuyasha, but I did reread it when it finished) after their better arcs ended. These three shows deserve their fandoms and popularity because they had such strong starts, but they eventually lost sight of what made them so good to begin with.
This is whats makes series like One Piece stand out. It’s still going on, but still about basically the same thing. Lots of wacky adventures and world-building (and character development, duh!) but it still stayed the same show who fell in love with in the beginning.
The real question is whether you love standard shounen enough to be satisfied with a show that while great, probably won’t end for another 8+ years.
Back on the original topic I mentioned though, I’m really happy about more loyal adaptions (Brotherhood FTW), I hope this don’t mean the series I love will be subjected to copy and paste adations with a “as long as we make it loyal enough to please the hardcore fans we don’t have to put extra effort into it” mentality.
Actually HxH is one of the best anime I watched. And when I learned before that it doesn’t continue the series on anime (only on manga) i was really disappointed. I hope that this time it will continue.
Anyways, I love the pace of the series now. It’s only episode 3 and they already started the 1st phase of the hunter exam. The animation is better.
I will continue watching this series =)
Dont, forget Black cat manga XD One of my favorites of all time.
I had the same problem when I saw the first few episodes of One Piece, thinking “bleh, this series doesn’t seem like it’s for me. Generic shonen action… what’s with this annoying purple-haired kid? …weird pacing… blegh.”
Then a friend of mine strongly encouraged me to keep watching, insisting that it would get better. “Yeah right”, is what I thought.
Eventually, after hearing more and more about how popular the series had become in Japan, I caved in and kept watching. It was around episode 8, when they introduced Usopp, that I started to find the series mildly interesting. And strangely, the interest kept building, and the story kept getting better and better.
And after 50 or so episodes in, I realized I was watching one of the greatest anime series ever created.
I kid you not ~ One Piece is a series that just keeps getting better and better, almost ridiculously so. It has great action, great drama, and an epic scope, that put it into a strange realm that’s almost unlike any anime out there. Even the filler arcs are surprisingly entertaining and well-told ~ the series is just that good.
I’m an old-time anime fan, having grown up during the era of Riding Bean and Bubblegum Crisis. And out of all the anime I’ve seen over the years, One Piece ranks as my all-time favorite.
I just want to give the same encouragement I was given years ago ~ don’t let the start of One Piece fool you. It really is an excellent piece of work that, if you give it a chance, clearly becomes the classic everyone makes it out to be.
Hey, I’m huge HxH fan. It’s one of my favorite series, and incomparable to the run-of-the-mill crap like naruto/bleach.
However, I really think you should give One Piece a try. The anime is amazing and the comedy, character interaction, and voice acting are all unparalleled. Once you get past 20 eps or so, you’ll be completely hooked. Watching the series quite literally becomes an epic adventure, and the sheer number of episodes just makes the pleasure last that much longer.