Seriously, When Did HUNTER X HUNTER Jump the Shark?

Was there a precise moment when HxH jumped the shark? I don’t know if
we’re looking at a drop-off here so much as a conceit that was never going to sustain
itself for that long. This whole show has always smelt of a mangaka playing a
storytelling game with himself instead of setting out to tell an actual story. Togashi
has said as much, it’s been obvious throughout the entire watching, I’ve
commented on it in almost every write-up… and the novelty’s finally wearing
off.

If you step back and look at the 'science' of shonen, these endless
serials more-or-less get by forever on whatever good will they collect at the beginning.
The first few episodes are slow-paced, spent entirely on making you like the
characters so much that you’ll follow them wherever they go, no matter how
tedious the journey gets. You listen to fans talk about ‘powering through’
filler, or ‘checking in’ every few episodes during
that filler, and it speaks to an odd sense of obligation to the characters.

== TEASER ==

That used to sound silly to me but, here I am, on the other side of it. I didn’t actually enjoy the show over these nine episodes, but I weirdly felt
like I owed it to Gon and Killua to show up. Why? Because they
were working hard…?

And I’m convinced that Togashi’s long ball aim has always been to see how much
loyalty he can engender with heroes as thinly sketched as these guys. I still
like Gon and Killua, don’t get me wrong, but… why are they here? Gon isn’t that
committed to finding his father. Killua isn’t that committed to going straight
and vanquishing evil.

Even when the show throws these characters into a war for
half a season, it’s like Togashi’s trying to make the threat as spongy as
possible. Over nine episodes, you have one or two awesome scenes of the King
making scary moves with his invasion, and they’re sprinkled over what? Gon goes on a play date? This side character rumbles around with
that side character on the highway?

This is the most obfuscating epic I've ever come across. It’s the
unfortunate resort of an animation studio having to crank out a show every week that's based on a story even the
creator evidently doesn’t care about.

Watch "Search
X and X Pursue” and decide for yourself, then read my comments about the
previous episode.

About the Author

Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk