Hunter X Hunter
by McCamy Taylor
Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter X Hunter is my
favorite
manga. I have read the series three times. I own the first anime
adaptation. I am currently watching the second
anime adaptation as it is being released in Japan on
Crunchyroll. When the manga series goes on hiatus---which it
does with alarming regularity---I cry and tear out my hair. So does my
son. What kind of manga can make addicts of a 50 year old mom and her
20 year old son?
Hunter X Hunter is the follow up to Yu Yu
Hakusho, which
was made famous in this country by Cartoon Network. I have
read the Yu Yu Hakusho manga, too, and while it is
well
scripted, I would not go back and read it all over again, because I
already know what is going to happen. Hmmm. I already know
what is going to happen when I reread Hunter X Hunter ,
too. But that does not stop me from enjoying it. Could it be
the characters?
Our hero, Gon is a kid. A cute little boy in shorts who dreams of being
a Hunter like his absentee father. Ah, isn’t that
sweet? He can communicate with animals. Everyone who meets him grows to
love him. His major strength is his determination-----
And he gleefully pals around with assassins, psycho-killers and mass
murderers. I think, perhaps, it is the supporting
cast that sets this manga apart from all the other Puny Heroes Who
Prevail In The End Due To Their Determination manga and anime titles
that seem to flourish in Japan the way that kudzu covers the
American south.
Gon’s best friend is a kid, too. The brightest star of a
family of assassins. And no, Killua (get it, Kill You) does not just
talk about the assassinations he has committed in the past. He rips the
heart out of characters who stand in his way. And Gon cheers him on.
Gon’s biggest fan is the psychotic killer, Hisoka
who dresses like a clown out of hell. Hisoka is looking forward to the
day when Gon shows his full potential, so that he can fight---and,
presumably, kill him. In the meantime, he goes out of his way to keep
the “Unripe fruit” (his term for Gon) from being
knocked from the vine prematurely.
Gon does not really have enemies. His biggest strength, after his
determination, is his ability to make people like him.
However, there are plenty of villains, some of them extremely nasty.
And by nasty, I am not referring to the way they kill people. Remember,
one of the heroes plucks out people’s hearts. In the world of
Hunter X Hunter the villains are the ones who refuse
to be won
over by Gon. Since Gon charms people---even extremely bad
people--- by accepting them for who they are, admiring their strengths
and criticizing their flaws, only someone who hates
himself can hate Gon. And in the heavily Buddhist culture of
Japan, self-loathing leads to fear leads to violence leads to all the
troubles of the world---
So, love yourself. Go read Hunter X Hunter. Ignore
the fact that
it starts off like Pokemon---school kid leaves home with the permission
of his guardian in order to fight scary monsters and power up---and get
to know Gon, Killua, Leorio, Kurapika and the rest. Just
don’t be surprised if you get to a cliff hanger and discover
that the writer has decided to take off six months in order to hang out
with his wife (Sailor Moon
creator Naoko
Takeuchi). Hmm. Maybe that is the other reason this manga stays so
readable. If more comic book authors had the
opportunity to sit back and plan their next story arc in advance, we
might have less Most Popular Character In The Series Dies Then Has To
Be Resurrected A Few Volumes Later As Author Realizes His Terrible
Mistake (yes, Masashi Kishimoto of Naruto fame
and
Hiroya Oku of Gantz fame. I am talking about you.)
© 2010 McCamy Taylor
McCamy Taylor is the long-fiction editor of Aphelion.
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