i watched hxh (2011) in.. 2015? i didnt expect to like it, and wasnt sure of the appeal at first, but i found myself binge watching all 148 episodes in 2 weeks. my grades dropped, i was mildly(?) obsessed with it for like 2 entire years. one day i decided to read the manga, i started on the first chapter even though i already knew most of the story, and read every available chapter at the time. it's the kind of story you find yourself never wanting to end, its so full of potential and adventure, the characters' stories feel like they have their whole lives ahead of them that you want to see.
people say the art is awful, but it really isnt-- it's rushed often, and sloppy, and simple, but it's not bad. togashi is by no means a bad artist, and some of the panels that he had the time to put more work into are really beautiful and intricate. the volumes have updated art that is a lot neater if it really bothers you so much, and togashi's artstyle in my opinion is full of a certain charm i can't replicate.
the main appeal of hunter x hunter, to me, is the characters. my immediate favorite was killua, i first became attached to him because his personality was really endearing to me, and he later became my favorite character of all time due to how complex and well written he was. killua and gon's friendship has been said by many to be one of the greatest and most well-written in anime, and i have to wholeheartedly agree. they have a very realistic friendship, and it's very meaningful and impactful for both characters without just being used to have friendship powers save the day. the two characters complement each other and are foils of each other in more ways than one, and their relationship does have tension later on that makes sense for the characters and story and isnt just added to create drama and be edgy.
many think gon is a boring protagonist, and take him at face value, but what togashi really likes to do is deconstruct many shounen tropes. gon is a very clear deconstruction of the typical shounen protagonist, and if you pick up on foreshadowing and see him as you'd see a person rather than a "protagonist," i think you'll find him much more interesting and complex than you originally may have thought. his simplicity is his complexity, if that makes sense. people also forget that he's just a child, too.
the same can be said for leorio, another character many overlook and i'll admit i did too at first, but i've really grown to love him over time. he's a genuinely good guy, and he hasnt had as much of his story explored yet, but if you think about what we do know about him, he is much more remarkable than he seems.
kurapika is a character i also personally love. he is fixated on revenge and was a major inspiration for sasuke. a lot of ppl like him so i won't explain why i like him.
side characters are all pretty unique visually, conceptually, etc. there's a lot to love
villains are all interesting with the exception of some villains in one arc
tl;dr, the main four are all very likable (imo) and gon and killua are both very well written as is their relationship.
there's also the fact that it's very well thought out, in terms of the fighting system and everything. one con is that sometimes togashi will cover entire pages in text explaining things that just go in one ear and out the other, but once all these threads come together it forms something beautiful. so u gotta bear with it. but i will admit i've been kind of lost in the more recent chapters
(if you care, hxh also has a very good example of good trans representation in the character alluka, who is a trans girl, and there are several nonbinary and gnc characters. i'm not gonna pretend its amazing lgbt rep, though, and just be warned in the first arc there is a very transphobic moment in trick tower. it was made worse by the anime subtitles using a slur, and im not sure if the manga does as well, but i just wanted to warn anyone who might want ot avoid it. as far as i know that's the only instance of transphobia played as a joke. later there is some, but no slurs are used and the transphobic characters are condemned for it. there's also a character, hisoka, who is an antagonist and is the most heavily implied to be gay character in the series. he's also a pedophile. sooooo... yeah. just fair warning. i'm hoping togashi will add gay characters who aren't villains or pedophiles cuz otherwize............. i'm sure he wants to, as both he and his wife are very vocally supportive of the lgbt community and have included many lgbt characters in their respective manga)
i could go on forever about this manga. i'm so grateful to have read it, it will always have a special place in my heart.