Hunter X Hunter licensed by Viz Media for BD/DVD release

[Oniros]

This was just announced at NYCC. After all this time we finally get news on an HxH release for the West! An English dub was also confirmed for this release, more details to follow soon. As one of my top 5 anime series of all time, I cannot stress how excited I am for this.

[mrclt1994]

Great news. Only recently started watching HxH and i am really enjoying it. I hope Viz Media do some nice Blu-ray releases. I would be happy with something similar to what they did with Ranma 1/2, those sets looked pretty

[Trig]

WOOT CELEBRATION!!!!

Probably my top anime of all time or at least in the top 5.

Cmon Togashi. I need more HxH fix.

EDIT: Hahaha. BigOnAnime, it did happen. We just talked about this not about 3 weeks ago. Thats crazy. But what happens if they continue the show i wonder? Well at this rate, prob not til next 10 years.............

[Naiera]

I've yet to finish my 2001-series DVDs

[Vintrus]

Finally

[BigOnAnime]

I have no words, especially after I had given up all hope. Guess it's time to use this again to show how blown away I am...

[Naiera]

[Naiera]

Man, I didn't know it was that long.

I didn't know it had a 8.6 on ANN either (that's more than Eva )

Definitely getting this.

[ParkerAL]

My thoughts, re-posted from the ANN news thread.

Now that I’ve had a night to allow my gleeful fanboy joy to settle, I’ll jot down a few thoughts on Viz acquiring Hunter x Hunter.

First of all, I have to give Viz Media major credit for being the company that finally stepped forward and picked the series up. At times, I legitimately feared Hunter x Hunter would forever languish on Crunchyroll, without a dub or disc release. Call me crazy, but I actually thought at one point that Discotek or Sentai were more likely to pick up the show than Viz. After all, the first Hunter x Hunter anime burned it pretty badly. But it would have been shortsighted of Viz to let this opportunity pass based on that prior experience, for a number of reasons.

Looking back, it’s hard to imagine how Viz could have made the 1999 Hunter x Hunter anime a success. The publisher released a decade-old show in the aftermath of the Great Recession, gave it a questionable Blue Water dub full of unconvincing performances and then dumped it on DVD with little ceremony. As an added bonus, the show itself wasn’t even that good. While I fully admit its animation occasionally outperforms the 2011 series during a selection of key scenes, the 1999 anime simply didn’t capture the best aspects of its source material. Director Kazuhiro Furuhashi painted the series with a layer of his signature gloomy, ostentatiously artsy style, and it dragged the show down. Add to that unappealing character designs, drab colors, wonky filler during the first arc, inconsistent censorship and a rather poor transfer of the cel elements, and it’s easy to see why Viz didn’t have an instant hit on its hands.

Though not a perfect show by any means, the 2011 anime version of Hunter x Hunter is different. Sure, it made a fair share of mistakes when animating Togashi’s manga, abridging occasional plot points and altering Gon’s meeting with a key character in a way that baffles me to this day. For the most part, however, the show is an example of exceptional workmanship from Madhouse. The character art is colorful, charming and full of energy. The animation is consistent and peaks regularly. And most important of all, Togashi’s style comes through wholly intact. It also already has a sizable fanbase in the West, thanks to its high ratings on Crunchyroll. Viz has a show with all the makings of a hit on its hands. With the Naruto anime heading towards an inevitable conclusion and the Bleach anime run finished on DVD, Hunter x Hunter could be Viz’s next hot successful Shonen property. All it has to do is handle the release and marketing competently.

I do have my share of concerns. While I doubt Viz could mess up the show’s visuals, like what happened with Sailor Moon, I’m anxious about what decisions the company will make with the dub. Its quality will largely depend on how Viz casts Gon and Killua. The endearing friendship these two share is essentially the heart of the story. Their English voices could make or break the dub singlehandedly. Unfortunately, casting voices for young boys is not an easy task. Megumi Han and Mariya Ise absolutely nailed their personalities in the original Japanese version. They’re tough acts to follow, no doubt about it. But I’ll try to be optimistic. As long as they steer clear of casting adult men to voice Gon and Killua (Nicolas Roye as Shingo in the new Sailor Moon dub was a disastrous miscast) they should turn out alright.

Given its length and the need to justify dubbing costs, we can probably expect Hunter x Hunter to air on Toonami. That should give this underrated property much-needed exposure in the States.

[Naiera]

The title of this thread should be changed. It's "BD", not BR.

[Snarfs]

Originally Posted by Naiera

Man, I didn't know it was that long.

I didn't know it had a 8.6 on ANN either (that's more than Eva )

Definitely getting this.

Eva was also reviewed by about almost 10,000 people where as hunter x hunter only has about 700 lol. Also, I feel like if you don't like eva, you REALLY don't like eva.

I love yu yu hakusho, it's perfect in my eyes and it's a completely satisfying experience. They're created by the same guy so I'll definitely be picking this up as well.

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by Snarfs

Eva was also reviewed by about almost 10,000 people where as hunter x hunter only has about 700 lol. Also, I feel like if you don't like eva, you REALLY don't like eva.

I love yu yu hakusho, it's perfect in my eyes and it's a completely satisfying experience. They're created by the same guy so I'll definitely be picking this up as well.

Well you need to take into account people rating anime on ANN was WAY more common back when DVD's were all the rage and companies like Geneon and ADV were still king. Older shows back from like the 2000's have more ratings than most of today's anime, even titles more popular than those early 2000's shows. Like look at this. Now look at MAL. The popularity lists differ greatly. I doubt that many even know you can keep track of anime and rate them on ANN. People go there really only for the news.

If you're going to want to look for ratings, look at places like MAL, Anime-Planet, or AniDB. Of course, ratings are meant to be taken with a grain of salt, and the more popular something is, the more suspect its quality is.

[Naiera]

I really only go to ANN for the encyclopedia

[Trig]

Does anyone know how long licensing companies in general take to release the blu rays, specifically Viz Media? I literally cannot wait for this any longer. I want to own it. Im so impatient lol.

Also to those that have not watch this, please do so now. This is the 2011 version btw. The writing is just genius.

If anyone also plans on reading the manga, just know that its on haitus, but dont worry the anime ending is satisfactory, more or less FMA:B level.

Those hesistant on watching the show, know that it is highly rated, listed as #69 on Top 250 TV shows on IMDB ( which is especially outstanding for a site with a Western fanbase, mostly focused on Western TV shows and movies) and #5 on MAL or 3 if you discount Gintama sequels. Checking top anime of all times on many sites and personal lists of others, ive been seeing it listed as number 1 on numerous occasions, if not, at least in the top 10. Known as underrated to the community, depending on your definition, it is quickly gaining more popularity. Ignore the Shonen tag as displayed in some sites, as Shonen is only a demographic, and its content is only what matters. Its genre is action/adventure. I dont want to go into the realms of the terms "deep, edgy, and controversial", but note that it is not a kids show. It delves into multiple themes. The OST is godly (classical, epics, orchestral, rock, OSTs, retro, dark classical, they even play a Mozart piece bruh) and the character development is unlike ive ever seen, up there with Eva, Lain, Tatami, and other shows. Most of the voice actors are well known, some of which you all probably seen in other animes such as Light from Death Note, Kida and Celty from Durarara, Okabe from Steins, Obito from Naruto, Suruga from Monogatari Series, Ladd from Baccano, Ladd from Baccano, and tons more.

More info: There is no fillers, no fanservice, no loli, etc. Some episodes might feel long, especially later. If the first couple episodes, dont do it for you, you might want to consider dropping. While they are not like anything compared to the later episodes, do not watch if it does not interest you. It starts picking up around 35 and just goes full on til the end. The atmosphere changes throughout the show. From the same creator as YuYu Hakusho. There is a 1999 version with 2002 OVAs and such. Feel free to watch those, but i didnt. I hear watching the 1st episode of 1999, then watching 2011 is the way to go.

As for personal opinion, i think this rivals shows such as Breaking Bad, Steins Gate, etc. Take my opinion though with a grain of salt. Im just fanboying hard. Oh, also dont let the 148 episodes discourage you. Your going to want more. I promise. Hopefully, one day it will continue.

TLDR: Just encouragement to give Hunter x Hunter (2011) a shot. Also wondering if anyone knows the general time period after a company licenses a show when it will start to release the blu rays. Just need a estimate or if its unknown.

[Naiera]

You're in for a long wait. It was only just announced. And the sets are probably going to be 13 eps each, so it'll take years to be fully released.

[Trig]

Originally Posted by Naiera

You're in for a long wait. It was only just announced. And the sets are probably going to be 13 eps each, so it'll take years to be fully released.

Ah that sucks. Thanks though. I hope they look nice! xD

[Oniros]

This is one of the few shows where I wouldn't mind a little number of episodes per release. It would suck if Viz stuffed a bunch of episodes on each release and sacrificed PQ and/or bonus content for that.

[Naiera]

It'll be 9/3 or 4 no matter what they do.

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by Trig

Does anyone know how long licensing companies in general take to release the blu rays, specifically Viz Media? I literally cannot wait for this any longer. I want to own it. Im so impatient lol.

It really varies, particularly for shows that have yet to finish being released in Japan (HxH is not this thankfully). It's going to probably be out sometime next year, that's my best guess. It'll take a while for them to get the whole show out though.

(For shows that have yet to be finished being released in Japan, typically companies have to wait at least 6 or so months after the final JPBD hits because reverse-importation fears and all that. It's especially a long wait on TBS titles as they're very, very, very paranoid about reverse-importation. Heck, that Beyond the Boundary OVA being a CE-exclusive thing was probably a restriction from TBS if Sentai wanted to bring it over.)

[Trig]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

It really varies, particularly for shows that have yet to finish being released in Japan (HxH is not this thankfully). It's going to probably be out sometime next year, that's my best guess. It'll take a while for them to get the whole show out though.

(For shows that have yet to be finished being released in Japan, typically companies have to wait at least 6 or so months after the final JPBD hits because reverse-importation fears and all that. It's especially a long wait on TBS titles as they're very, very, very paranoid about reverse-importation. Heck, that Beyond the Boundary OVA being a CE-exclusive thing was probably a restriction from TBS if Sentai wanted to bring it over.)

Ah okay. Thanks. Im still kind of new to the blu ray thing xD.