The first episode of an anime is arguably the second most important episode of the entire series only behind the very last episode of the series. That first episode is when you meet the characters, world and concept for the first time. Then you ask yourself; should I invest my time into watching the entire series? Even if you don’t truly ask yourself that question, subconsciously you are making a decision if this is going to be a journey your willing to take in this world; with these people. The first episode has a responsibility to set the stage of greater things to come and to hopefully capture the viewer’s attention. The episodes that directly follow that entry point has to keep the pace going in order to keep the audience’s interest. So with that in mind we are going to look at a Japanese animated series and determine how well the first five episodes did in terms of initiating that interest.
In this entry of “The First Five,” we are going to compare the first five episodes of the original Hunter X Hunter with the first five episodes of the 2011 remake.
Alright so I’ll start by saying that I’m addicted to Hunter X Hunter. I started watching it about a week ago, and I’m now thirty episodes in. I don’t now what it is about HxH, but it keeps impressing me at every turn. But the question is though, which version is the best; the original or the remake? I focused on the first five episodes of the series to spot any story differences, character introductions and animation changes.
The original version of HxH seemed to move at a slower pace. The first episode of the original did a better job of establishing Gon as a respectable character. It gave an expanded definition as to why Gon wants to become a Hunter, and helped me understand the character better. The first episode of the original focused on Gon meeting Kite, a character not seen in the opening episode of the remake version. I don’t know if Kite eventually shows up in the remake version, but he seemed to be a pretty important character. The remake also omitted the Foxbear creature that Gon bonded with. Overall, the opening episode of the original did a better job opening a long series.
The 2011 version obviously would have better animation, but it doesn’t have a better soundtrack than the original. The original’s soundtrack is more quite and subtle than the remake’s higher and louder tunes.
The first couple of episodes of the remake is faster paced than the original. In five episodes, the remake covered way more ground. At the end of the fifth episode of the remake, you meet much more characters, including Hisoka and my personal favorite character, Satotz(The way he runs is freaking hilarious). The story is at a farther spot since the first five episodes of the original only covers the first portion of the Hunter exam.
In closing, the original had a better opening episode and seems to do a slightly better job establishing characters. It is slower paced, matched with its soundtrack. However, the first five episodes of the remake is slightly better than the original since it covers more ground, has better animation work and more things are happening on-screen compared to the original. Remember that we are only comparing the opening episodes of the series, and not the entire thing. I’m sure folks can and have enjoyed both the original and the remake.
Classic But New 