Hunter × Hunter
The first "Hunter × Hunter" anime adaptation was produced by the company Nippon Animation and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, who had previously directed the "Rurouni Kenshin" television series. A total of 62 episodes of "Hunter × Hunter" were broadcast on the Japanese terrestrial television network Fuji Television from October 16, 1999 to March 31, 2001 during the same Saturday evening timeslot as the anime version of Togashi's previous series "Yu Yu Hakusho". Additionally, "Hunter × Hunter" has aired on the satellite television station Animax. Although it closely follows the manga, the violence in the anime version is lessened for younger audiences. Marvelous Entertainment has released all episodes of the series in Japan on DVD in 13 separate volumes between September 20, 2000 and September 19, 2001.
Hunter × Hunter
Reviewing the first story arc, Chris Sims of ComicsAlliance called "Hunter × Hunter" one of the most "fun, ridiculous, and ludicrously violent comics I've ever read." He stated that while it has every stereotypical idea about "shōnen" manga in force, what sticks out the most is the violence. Sims summed it up as "full of clever setups and characters that, while simple to the point of almost seeming one-dimensional at times, still manage to be solid and entertaining based on their reaction to the increasingly strange, increasingly deadly events around them". Charles Solomon, a writer for "The New York Times" and "Los Angeles Times", praised the moral seriousness of Gon, a quality that gives the protagonist "an appeal his relentlessly upbeat counterparts lack". "Publishers Weekly" gave a positive review to the first volume of the manga, stating that Togashi "shows a deft touch" with its standard story, calling his artwork "clear and graceful", and mentioning that his characters are "endearing and complex". While Rika Takahashi of EX.org and Claude J. Pelletier of "Protoculture Addicts" found the art style in "Hunter × Hunter" to be much simpler than Togashi's two previous serializations, "Level E" and "Yu Yu Hakusho", both reviewers appreciated the intricate narrative and characters.