Hunter X Hunter: How to Set up Great Characters
The first episode of the 2011 Hunter X Hunter is just that: a beginning. Unlike other television pilots, this one doesn’t encapsulate what the entire series really is. It hardly even tries. Proof: there’s no Killua. Killua is maybe the series’ second-most important character, and a fan-favorite. He appears prominently in the opening and ending themes, but first-time viewers have absolutely no idea who he is. Killua doesn’t actually appear until the 4 th episode. The way this episode approaches the story might result from the fact that this series is an anime adapted from a manga. When Togashi started this story, he probably didn’t have all the future arcs in mind, and didn’t realize the rest of the series would get so dark. But it’s also because the series is an adventure. Even on a purely thematic level, this first episode can’t encompass everything that will happen to Gon over the course of the series. The...