Amlux wrote: Mon May 11, 2026 6:03 pm
The 1999 adaptation of Hunter X Hunter is great. The anime itself is superior to the 2011 one in several ways IMO (well, at least through the arcs it covers because I thought the Chimaera Ant arc was probably the highlight of the whole series). But the clearest place is stands out is its quality OPs. The 2011 ones are mostly generic shounen-core. This is nasty and angsty as fuck and I love it! It was one of my go-to songs at karaoke in Japan for a while because the tempo is slow and easy and the words aren't too hard:
I always scream about this at anyone who will listen. I can't think of an area that HxH 1999 at least up until they move to digital in the OVAs isn't better than 2011 in, it only suffers for it's lack of source material and occasional weird filler scenes in my eyes. The visual direction by Kazuhiro Furuhashi (also known for his work on the Tsuioku-hen masterpiece) is absolutely incredible and one of a kind, probably my favourite anime director due to his unique ability of utilising sombre visuals and creative shot composition to create an absolutely oppressive atmosphere but has the taste for it not to be overlaid in the show 24/7 like a lot of people mistakenly do when trying to go for that grimdark feel.
The OST also has a lot of earworms on it and the art is absolutely gorgeous for a TV anime, you can really see how big the budget was. The attention to detail throughout is much higher, they pay a lot of attention to the lighting and other minute details while HxH just puts a bright generic filter over everything and re-uses the same handful of cheap digital effects, namely that stupid purple hue. The brightness and kiddiness of the art style also greatly clashes with when the story takes more serious turns. I mean just compare Illumi's look in 1999 where he feels like a threat to the stupid Bozo the Clown look he has in 2011.
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Imagine having the Chimera Ant arc done in the 1999 style. I'd do unspeakable things for it, my god. Also, even though I made an exception for some filler scenes being weird, I actually think most of them are good and add to the source material and characters. I enjoyed the stuff with the tree during the Hunter Exam and we even get this fight below that isn't really present in the manga or anime, and I think it's an incredible fight.
Was talking about this the other day at our anime watch meetup, but HxH 2011 is a good adaptation if your idea of a good adaptation is something that's just the manga in anime form and nothing else. But I hate that mindset because animation and comics are two completely different mediums, and if you want the manga you can just read the manga. A great adaptation in my eyes is something that
adds to it's source and gives fans of the source a unique experience instead of merely shamelessly wearing it's skin.
Stuff like HxH 1999 has such a unique passion behind it, and the whole mindset about the anime needing to be 100% accurate I feel like mainly grew out of Shounentards in the 2000s complaining about filler scenes because it interfered with their powerscaling debates. When you view it from that perspective and then consider it was made in a time when that mindset was very pervasive, as well as it being able to adapt the Chimera Ant arc, it makes sense than 2011 became so highly regarded. But I think that perspective is very flawed.