Togashi toys with the concept of male mental health and PTSD with most of his characters, but most notably in Killua Zoldyck. Additionally, these tears are not portrayed as a sign of weakness. One of the most satisfying parts is that the male characters never try to bottle up their emotions but instead directly interact with them. There are a lot of healthy male tears in this anime. Togashi’s long-held interest in exploring gender norms and queer themes in his works influences this. However, HXH steps away from the mold when it crafts characters differing from typical anime archetypes.

It has everything a normal show from that genre would have: a form of magic powers (called Nen), fight scenes, a complicated journey for strength, and incredible character design. Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter X Hunter (HXH) is an adventure anime falling under the shonen subtext, typically geared for young males. Contains spoilers up to the end of the 2011 anime, so beware!