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Dear ANN'ers, when is the best point to switch over from the 1999 Hunter X Hunter series to the 2011 remake?

I saw the first three eps of the new HxH, and didn't see what all the fuss was about. Then I gave the old series a shot, and was much more impressed. The old series took more time to explain things and to let the emotional beats breathe, and it was much more effective in making me invested in the characters. My hope is that the new series is suffereing from FMA:B syndrome, where it is trying to speed through already-adapted material, and once it gets to the new stuff it will slow down.

So what's the problem?

The problem is that the 1999 series was continued in a series of OVAs, and the last of these, G.I. Final, supposedly suffered from some serious production issues - subpar animation, bad music, etc.

So what should I do:

1) Watch all of the 1999 series and OVAs, and then jump to 2011 after the Greed Island Arc

-Or-

2) Watch the 1999 series up to the start of Greed Island and then jump to 2011

-Or-

3) Something else?

Your help is appreciated, thanks.

Warning, extended Hunter x Hunter fangirl rant incoming...

It's really hard to say for sure. I've watched the entirety of both series - but then, I'm a total Hunter x Hunter junky. I'd say watch the OVAs and then go to the beginning of the 2011 series, but I'm not sure you want invest the time to watch all of both of them. (I didn't have a problem with the OVAs' production values, but I was a lot less discerning about that sort of thing then than I am now.) Both series have their merits.

I think the 1999 series was a bit more artsy in its designs, and I adore the soundtrack. Despite having a decent budget, the early stages of the 2011 series didn't have a lot of those artful flourishes. (I personally think the first episode of the 2011 series was also the weakest plot wise, as them cutting out all the bits with Kite unfortunately carried away all of Mito's personality as well. I can understand why they did it - spoiler[they wanted to save his flashbacks for when he became relevant, in a later arc] - but it's still a shame.) That being said, both the art/animation and the music of the 2011 do gradually improve, building up to some truly breathtaking fight set pieces in the Chimera Ant arc.

As for "speeding things up"...That's not really the case. The 2011 is very, very loyal to the manga, so mostly it's going at the same pace. However, there are a few places early on, before it was sure they would go beyond a year of episodes, where it feels like they're rushing - the above Kite backstory elimination is the most obvious one. On the other hand, I feel like there were definitely some places where the 1999 anime needlessly drew things out with filler, or even contradicted the character arc of some characters a bit (particularly with making Killua extra mopey early on). Don't get me wrong, I did adore the 1999 anime, but I wasn't so sure about some of the things they did with the Hunter Exam arc character development. Another place where the 2011 series did seem to rush a bit was the Greed Island arc, which was covered by the second and third OVAs for the 1999 series. I admit that kind of baffled me, since it was obvious at that point they were going to go as far as they could through the manga. The important points of the story were there, and so was the character development, but a lot of the detail Togashi Yoshihiro put into the game in the manga was lost. So that was a little sad.

Also, I don't know how important this is to you, but I think the 2011 series is a treasure trove of voice acting talent. (The Phantom Troupe is pretty much entirely voiced by super-talented famous people in this version - Miyano Mamoru is a great Chrollo.) A bit of an overview of the main characters:

Gon: I really loved Takeuchi Junko's performance as him in the 1999 series. In comparison, at first it seemed that Han Megumi was just cruising on an imitation of Takeuchi's performance - it was perfectly fine, but didn't bring anything special to the role. However, you have to take into account that Gon was Han's first voice-acting role - she had done some live action acting, but no voice acting. As the series went on, she grew into the role to an incredible degree, really making it her own, and did such amazing work as him towards the end of the Chimera Ant arc that I'm going to be a little offended if she doesn't get an award at this year's Seiyuu Awards.

Killua: I'm going to be honest - Killua is my favorite character, but I didn't really ever like Mitsuhashi Kanako's voicing of him in the 1999 version. I don't know if it's just me, but I really didn't. On the other hand, I thought Ise Mariya did a great job capturing the complexity of the character as he evolved throughout the series.

Leorio: Gouda Hozumi pretty much failed to make any impression on me at all in the 1999 series. On the other hand, Fujiwara Keiji is pretty much perfect, and does a totally hilarious, lovable Leorio.

Kurapika: This was one of the hardest voice changes for me to accept at first. I admit, I loved Kaida Yuki's work in the 1999 anime, she was amazing. For a while I was actually holding a grudge against Sawashiro Miyuki for replacing her for the 2011 anime (silly, I know Embarassed

). But Sawashiro eventually proved herself to me in that she does a really, really excellent enraged, revenge-mode Kurapika. Scary stuff.

Hisoka: Probably the most interesting comparison between series in the entire cast. Both Takahashi Hiroki (1999 series) and Namikawa Daisuke (2011 series) give really excellent performances, but they are extremely different performances. Takahashi goes for high-pitched creepy, while Namikawa goes for super-deep creepy. I do think it's really worth hearing both of them, but be warned that the difference in voices will really throw you off at first.

Anyways, that's my take on the pros and cons of each series. I really think it's worth it to watch both versions, but you can decide what's most important to you. If you decide to start the 2011 anime somewhere partway through, here's where the episodes line up:

End of the 1999 TV anime: It's been a little while since I watched the 1999 series, and the 2011 series sometimes rearranged chapter order slightly when adapting to make things fit into anime episode size more logically, but I'd say that if you're picking up from the end of the 1999 TV series, start with episode 53 of the 2011 series just to be safe. There will probably be some overlap with what you just watched, but you won't be missing any important plot points.

End of the first OVA: The first OVA goes to the end of the York New arc. You'll probably be fine with starting from episode 59 of the 2011 series after finishing the first OVA, but if you feel you're missing a scene you might want to check out 58 too.

End of the third OVA (there's really no point in stopping at the end of the second OVA since it's all one arc): Pick up at episode 76 of the 2011 series. Beyond the Kite flashbacks which are added in at that point, everything from episode 76 all the way to the final episode, 148, is material that is only in the 2011 series and had never been animated before.

Happy Viewing! Very Happy

Keep in mind that I tried watching the '99 HxH series and quit a few episodes in, so I can only talk about the 2011 series and the manga. I thought the '99 series was far too slow-moving for a shounen series like this and preferred the faster pace of both the manga and the 2011 series. With that in mind, I'll give my opinion about the 2011 series.

I think the 2011 series just had growing pains, to be honest. I've re-watched the series recently and the exam arc and Heaven's Arena arc are extremely bland in terms of characterization, pacing, and especially direction compared to everything afterwards (and compared to the manga). 2011 does speed through the exam arc a bit, though not to the same extent of FMAB, but slows down a lot after that point. HxH is arc-based shounen, so you can really jump in with any arc, especially if you already know the earlier plot points from the '99 series.

Personally, if you already know the basics of Nen from the Heaven's Arena arc, I would recommend starting with the Phantom Troupe arc (around 38-39). It's not only widely considered the best arc in the show (personally I have a stronger fondness for Chimera Ant), it's also where the show really comes into its own as its own work separate from the old series or the manga. I was astounded on re-watch just how much better the direction, pacing, and style were compared to the previous arcs, like the director suddenly decided he cared lol. The fight between Kurapika and Uvogin and the Troupe's requiem are high points of the entire show. And IMO it only gets better from there--Chimera Ant is a wonder to behold.

But if you're set on skipping everything until Greed Island, you can probably start there just as easily. As I said, it's extremely arc-based so you wouldn't be missing a whole lot. Maybe some characterization, but Phantom Troupe is largely Kurapika's arc and he doesn't show up in G.I. or Chimera Ant so you're fine on that front.

It's been a long time since I watched the 1999 version, but the thing with the 2011 anime (which I remember recently) is that it's a little inconsistent, especially at the beginning: sometimes it can go very slow (usually kind-of-slow), other times go fast, sometimes it takes some liberties in the visual scene of the manga, other times it just follows it too faithfully that it's boring, sometimes the tone of whole scenes and arcs are not very measured in terms of seriousness-darkness-innocence-comedy (although to be honest the manga is not very clear about that either), and there is some really blatant censorship that is eliminated since episode 38 but before is really baffling and doesn't fit (before episode 38 they were in a channel aimed for children so that's where it comes from). In those terms the 1999 version is more consistent in all those aspects, although that means much more filler (many unnecessary, although there is some that is good and complementary) and slowness than the 2011 version. Both have their fair share of good and bad moments though, I wouldn't say there is a gap of quality difference in terms of anime direction as big as in FMA and FMA:B.

Personally, if you know you are going to watch it without stops I would say the 2011 so there's no radical changes of expectatives once you change from one anime to another. If you don't mind to change between versions, I'd say watch the 1999 until episode 44 and continue with 2011 with 37.

... Geez, sometimes things would be so much easier if one anime was clearly definitely better than the other, having so many discussions and pros and cons must be so confusing and frustrating for newers Laughing

Darkmagick wrote:

Gon: [..] As the series went on, she grew into the role to an incredible degree, really making it her own, and did such amazing work as him towards the end of the Chimera Ant arc that I'm going to be a little offended if she doesn't get an award at this year's Seiyuu Awards.

spoiler[Dear god, her performance in episode 116 is so incredibly good she deserves it only for that episode, just wow. Although in that episode the character animation in Gon was also brilliant and really pulls you in that scene despite the slowness of that arc.]

justsomeaccount wrote:

Darkmagick wrote:

Gon: [..] As the series went on, she grew into the role to an incredible degree, really making it her own, and did such amazing work as him towards the end of the Chimera Ant arc that I'm going to be a little offended if she doesn't get an award at this year's Seiyuu Awards.

spoiler[Dear god, her performance in episode 116 is so incredibly good she deserves it only for that episode, just wow. Although in that episode the character animation in Gon was also brilliant and really pulls you in that scene despite the slowness of that arc.]

100% agreed. Despite the fact that that episode was essentially three characters sitting/standing in a room and talking, it was a tiny miracle of voice acting, art, animation, music, and character development.

Thanks for the responses! Although it didn't make things quite as clear as I'd hoped . . .

Quote:

Another place where the 2011 series did seem to rush a bit was the Greed Island arc, which was covered by the second and third OVAs for the 1999 series . . . a lot of the detail Togashi Yoshihiro put into the game in the manga was lost. So that was a little sad.

Okay, in that case I should probably just watch the old series all the way to the end of the OVAs before I switch, janky animation or no janky animation.

Quote:

I would recommend starting with the Phantom Troupe arc (around 38-39). It's not only widely considered the best arc in the show (personally I have a stronger fondness for Chimera Ant), it's also where the show really comes into its own as its own work separate from the old series or the manga.

So this is when the 2011 anime 'gets good', huh? It's nice to finally get a straight answer on this, since whenever I've seen anyone express discontent with the beginning of 2011 online, they've just gotten dumped on by people criticising their taste Confused

Quote:

If you don't mind to change between versions, I'd say watch the 1999 until episode 44 and continue with 2011 with 37.

Now I have to decide whether to jump over at the beginning of Phantom Blood, or the end of Greed Island. Probably I'll watch a couple episodes of each version at the start of Phantom Blood and decide then which I want to go with. But if I do switch over at that point, I'll have to decide if I want to switch back for the Greed Island Arc, since apparently 2011 rushes through it!

Quote:

... Geez, sometimes things would be so much easier if one anime was clearly definitely better than the other, having so many discussions and pros and cons must be so confusing and frustrating for newers Laughing

No kidding! But at least now I have some idea of what I'm doing.

PS - A post comparing the visual styles of the two shows, arguing that the 1999 version was much more effective in this regard, at least during the Hunter Exam arc.

Oh, and this is a small thing, but I thought of something else that might be confusing between the two adaptations: the structure of Gon's family is different. In the 1999 anime, Mito is Gon's mother's sister, and thus his actual aunt. In both the manga and the 2011 anime, however, Mito is Ging's first cousin, and thus Gon's cousin once removed - he calls her "Aunt" occasionally just because she's in that age range compared to him.

The big difference this makes is that in the 1999 series, Gon's mother is definitively dead. In the manga and 2011 series, no one but Ging has any idea who Gon's mother is or what on earth happened to her. (It hasn't really mattered so far, but I'm convinced it's eventually going to become a plot point.)

So that's something else to keep in mind. Wink

DarkMagick wrote:

Another place where the 2011 series did seem to rush a bit was the Greed Island arc, which was covered by the second and third OVAs for the 1999 series . . . a lot of the detail Togashi Yoshihiro put into the game in the manga was lost. So that was a little sad.

Honestly, I think this depends a lot on what you're looking for in the show. I thought that while the 2011 adaptation took out some unnecessary world-building (Togashi got really into coming up with the Greed Island game, to the point that I thought all the explanations of rules and such got really excessive in the manga) in favor of developing the relationship between Gon and Killua, which is the core of the show and the main reason why I watch. Also, if you're looking for detailed explanations of what each and every card in the game does, they still provide that information for those who want it--in the "Greed Island Tutorial" segments at the end of each episode.

Ian K wrote:

PS - A post comparing the visual styles of the two shows, arguing that the 1999 version was much more effective in this regard, at least during the Hunter Exam arc.

Thank you for the interesting read, though I'll admit I disagreed with a lot of it. Laughing

I especially disagree about the character designs--I hated '99's character designs for exactly the reasons the writer of that post liked them. I suspect this is another area where I'm looking for something different in the show than them--for me, a lot of HxH's charm comes from the fact that it is a children's show. The manga's designs are really wacky and out there a lot of the time, so more "realistic" designs don't make sense in the first place and often end up looking really strange and out of place. In contrast, I like how the simple, wide-eyed 2011 character designs complement the show's sense of fun and adventure. I think Phantom Troupe and Chimera Ant in particular showcase how well those simple designs can work in favor of a darker storyline if the right lighting and cinematography are applied. But I've always loved how Togashi can weave a complex and nuanced story without abandoning its sense of fun, and personally I'd prefer the style reflect that. I also think the designs move better than those of the '99 series--both series have a moderate budget stretched out over many episodes, but 2011 suffers less for it because its character designs are simpler to animate. I found that (in my admittedly limited experience) the characters in the '99 series often looked stiff, whereas even when relying on panned stills the 2011 series feels more dynamic.

In terms of scene direction and such I'm more inclined to agree with the post's examples. As a counter (provided you don't mind spoilers) I'll provide this episode 116 write-up from ANN's own Nick Creamer.

If you'd rather not see the spoilers, here are some of my favorite screenshots from later arcs:
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4] (This one requires context to understand, but contains a pretty big spoiler. Consider yourself warned.)

rheiders wrote:

DarkMagick wrote:

Another place where the 2011 series did seem to rush a bit was the Greed Island arc, which was covered by the second and third OVAs for the 1999 series . . . a lot of the detail Togashi Yoshihiro put into the game in the manga was lost. So that was a little sad.

Honestly, I think this depends a lot on what you're looking for in the show. I thought that while the 2011 adaptation took out some unnecessary world-building (Togashi got really into coming up with the Greed Island game, to the point that I thought all the explanations of rules and such got really excessive in the manga) in favor of developing the relationship between Gon and Killua, which is the core of the show and the main reason why I watch. Also, if you're looking for detailed explanations of what each and every card in the game does, they still provide that information for those who want it--in the "Greed Island Tutorial" segments at the end of each episode.

Oh, I know, that's why my original post said that all the important plot points and character development were still there. It's just, it was kind of cool how Greed Island was essentially a fully realized game, and so I was a little sad to lose that.

Also, I kind of wanted that bit where Gon and Killua spoiler[essentially cheat their way to victory on a rock-paper-scissors tournament, and then end up super serious in their final match against each other. It's just so them. Laughing

]

Also, your image links have hurt my heart. I hope you're happy. Anime cry