Hunter × Hunter
The "Hunter × Hunter" manga has received much praise for its plot and characters. In his 2007 book "", Jason Thompson described its storyline as "an almost random collection of psych-outs, battles, puzzles, and trickery" that works on both a chapter-by-chapter basis and a larger scale. Thompson elaborated that with all the goals and subplots of each of the main characters, the story could seemingly go on forever and is unpredictable enough to hold reader interest. In a different review for Anime News Network in 2012, Thompson wrote that it was hard to summarize the story because it is every "shōnen" manga in one, with training sequences, tournament battles, a crime-mystery story arc, and a virtual-reality, RPG-style story arc. But unlike most "shōnen" manga, he called "Hunter × Hunter" "incredibly dense." Examples being its fictional nen ability, which is explained "so thoroughly that you almost think it could exist," and the little challenges and games the characters face; "Over and over Togashi invents some little closed system or rules just so the heroes can break them; if he ever wants to change careers, I'd suggest game designer." Thompson praised the character art as great, pointing out how instead of alternating between realistic and chibi like other artists, Togashi has cartoony and realistic characters interacting in the same panels. Thompson did note how the artwork during its magazine run is often "sketchy" and missing backgrounds, but that Togashi goes back and fixes it for its collected "tankōbon" release. Mentioning Togashi's love of gore he stated "the whole manga is about the mixture of childish adventure and creepy, adult themes" and noted how some panels later in the manga are apparently censored for gore by being covered with screentone.
List of Hunter × Hunter characters
is an 18-year-old shinobi who has trained in the art of ninjutsu since he was born. He decided to become a Hunter in order to find the elusive Hermit's Scroll. In the second test of the exam, featuring cooking, he is the only one to know what sushi is, as it is a dish from his home country, Japan. In the final test of the Hunter Exam, Hanzo is put against Gon in a fight where your opponent must admit defeat. Despite his speed, strength, and battle experience easily exceeding that of Gon, Gon refuses even after Hanzo breaks his arm. Noting the lack of hate in Gon's eyes after this act, Hanzo realizes he actually has come to like him. He willingly bows out of the battle, giving Gon the victory needed for him to pass the exam. Hanzo wins and passes the exam himself when he threatens the same to Pokkle in his next match, becoming a licensed Hunter. It is later stated by Wing that Hanzo learned Nen after the Hunter Exam. Hanzo later reappears in the Dark Continent arc as part of Kurapika's party and becoming the guard of the twelfth prince, Momoze. After Prince Momoze's sudden death by one of her bodyguards, a furious Hanzo blames himself for not being there to save her. He believes the murderer might strike again, and deduces that he is one of the two bodyguards taking a break. He swears to Biscuit that he would make the murderer pay for killing Momoze. Hanzo came in eighth and sixteenth place in the series' first two popularity polls.