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  jason1637 said: Versus_Evil said: We have to wait 3 weeks for the next episode though ;-; What?? link

just search in naruto episode 476

my friend told me it's gonna be an hour long.

Yup. I was enjoying the original Hunter X Hunter for a few dozen episodes, until it became obvious that the writing/plot would keep on stumbling upon itself whenever it needed Gon to succeed. Gon started to become the generic "cheerful and somewhat ignorant male lead, which happens to be fearless and the universe wants him to be great at all costs". I got fed up with that type of narrative when I was a teenager.

"Let the lead character beat up everyone else, though the heavens fall".

I think the issue here lies with you. I'd say there are remarkably few anime (hell make that all media in general) where the protagonist doesn't win in the end. The question is how we arrive to that conclusion and whether or not the growth of the characters is handled in a way which makes things believable and exciting. Hunter x Hunter nails both of these elements in my opinion. First of all, it makes sure Gon loses quite a bit (saying he beats up everyone makes it sound like you didn't watch the same show I did). It makes it very clear that he is not all powerful and there are a lot of people stronger then him. If you watched the first two arcs, you should have seen that Gon absolutely gets his ass handed to him by Hisoka at the end of the Heavens Arena arc. Then it sets up what Gon needs to do to improve and shows him improving bit by bit as he works for it.

Also, Gon isn't really fearless. I doubt you have seen the Chimera Ant arc but I'd say that Gon shows a lot of emotional and mental instability throughout. That said, I am talking about HxH 2011 and you are talking about HxH 1999 (presumably).

While you may not like this kind of narrative, I don't think that is because the narrative is flawed. HxH executed a shonen plot just about as well as physically possible imo.

That...is a very poor assessment of Hunter x Hunter. If anything, the narrative makes it clear that Gon is one of the weaker characters in that universe. Looking at the story as a whole, the only big fight he objectively wins was in the Greed Island arc, and a tragic fight later on that I hesitate to call a victory. Most of the fights he's forced to flee, or ends with him scoring a moral victory before he's utterly dominated by his opponent. That cheerful personality is created to be a sharp contrast to the struggles he's forced to deal with later on...and reaches a breaking point in the Chimera Ant arc. The events of that arc sting much more when you realize how carefree he was at the beginning of the series.

Admittedly, this isn't for everyone...but Hunter x Hunter isn't even close to your standard Jump battle manga. It's easily one of the most unique stories in its genre.