As many of you may know from reading the material on this blog, Hunter x Hunter is a big favorite on here, which earned a highly favorable review, deservedly so, and also has an ongoing series where I’m comparing the 2011 anime to the arcs it shares with the 1999 anime, and a character piece about Killua. However, this article is about the final arc both animes share- Greed Island, and the very significant event happening in the anime right now- that the arc is finally getting a dub, which is unprecedented, and frankly, long overdue between the two anime versions. Here’s a brief look at the history of Greed Island in the Hunter x Hunter franchise (and specifically the anime.)
2001: Yoshihiro Togashi begins publishing the Greed Island arc in fall of 2001 in Shonen Jump.
2002: Nippon releases the first of three OVA sets; this one completes Yorknew City’s arc, which was not finished in the initial run of the show.
2003: The first of two Greed Island OVA’s is released. The manga version of the arc concludes in October of that year.
2004: Nippon Animation releases the final round of their OVA’s, which were Greed Island’s entire arc. This would also be their last outing on the Hunter x Hunter franchise and the definitive ending to the first anime, though it was left open-ended at the end of Nippon’s interpretation for the yet-to be created Chimera Ant arc (which never happened in 1999.)
2011: Hunter x Hunter is rebooted by Madhouse, which is a complete restart on the series with no binding ties to the first production.
2012: The Yorknew and Greed Island arcs air in their entirety (not as OVAs) for the first time. The anime also begins airing the Chimera Ant arc for the first time between either version as well.
2016: Two years after Hunter x Hunter finishes its run in Japan, the English dub begins for the show on Adult Swim’s Toonami block in May. Most of the year is the Hunter Exam and Zoldyck Family arcs.
2017: The anime finishes the Heavens Arena arc and for the first time, airs the final few episodes of Yorknew (that were OVA only in ’99 and Japanese only between both series) into English for the first time, and that brings us to now (at the time of this writing) where Greed Island is underway at last.
So over 13 years after Greed Island first made its animated debut, the arc finally getting an English dub is certainly an exciting prospect as initially stated. It will be interesting to see how key characters and interactions are handled with VA work going forward, and it will continue to serve as a slow-drip re-watch for long-time fans of the series as well. It’s also going to be a pleasure to listen to the ending credit song again- REASON, which is very nice:
(Skip to 0:17).
The biggest reason to be excited however, is that this fantastic series will continue to become more accessible to Western audiences who don’t follow subs. While I’m of the opinion that 2011’s Japanese VA work is actually excellent, a great dub always takes the cake for me if I can find one, and Hunter x Hunter has been no exception; it is well worth a look in English as it goes forward, not only for this arc, but for the four completed arcs already released (and it’s officially surpassed the released material of the 1999 dub) as well as the particular work already put in by the English cast.
Like what you see? Are you a fan of HxH and love this arc? Leave a comment!
AniB Productions 