How Hunter x Hunter used the Art of War
“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War
A Critique of the Shounen Genre
Let’s talk about the Shounen genre in Anime and Manga which is arguably the most popular genre of anime out there. Famous for great heroic storylines, epic training sessions, exciting tournament arcs, power of friendship of moments, comedic character interactions and most of all, the battle scenes.
A big reason why I love watching shounen anime and superhero movies is because I have always been fascinated with people’s struggle to stand for their ideals. Whether it be for a grand vision, a noble cause, a quest for justice, a need to protect, or a drive to survive.
Among the top battle shows out there like Naruto, Dragon Ball, Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece, one shounen anime stands out to break the status quo, introducing well-designed concepts of battle which changed the landscape of the whole shounen playing field.
Hunter x Hunter
Hunter x Hunter is probably the best shounen anime out there when it comes fight scenes and battle sequences. The battles and 1v1s in this show are chef’s kiss.
The secret lies on the underlying principles guiding the professional assassins, hunters, students and martial artists of Hunter x Hunter. What makes this show unique is that all of its characters strictly follow a set of rules that have to be respected in battle. These certain guidelines of the battlefield can be found compiled into one superb book, with documentation dating 2,500 years ago in China. A handbook to warfare studied by Generals and Commanders in their quest to be victorious.
What do Napoleon, General Douglas MacArthur, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and the likes of Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro and Joseph Stalin have in common? They are all military leaders yes but also, on a kinder and different world with better circumstances, if they meet each other in the same timeline, they’d probably be in the same book club.
The aforementioned historical figures were all readers and disciples of the timeless book written by Master Sun, a.k.a Sun Tzu. The Art of War. 13 Chapters of military wisdom instructing generals and commanders how to win battles and subdue their enemies. Principles in this book have been applied by army generals and commanders during the second world war, both the Allies and the Nazis. It has been regarded by many historians to be the most influential book on military approaches, teaching the science of warfare.
In other Shounen anime shows, even though I enjoy watching them and I totally understand what they’re fighting for, many characters don’t follow logic and do not have a grasp of tactic when it comes to fighting (e.g Natsh from Fairytail).
With many of them winning over opponents who are stronger than them many times over because of the overused Never Give Up attitude and the Power of Friendship.
Strategy? Planning? Logic? What are those?
You see characters barging into enemy territory without even thinking, instantly getting beaten up because of their recklessness. Then we see them brushing dust off their shoulders after standing back up, making an annoying speech about how their friends are important to them, then from out of nowhere, getting a Powerup, or having an awakening of their hidden skill (which they probably didn’t earn and have obtained without any real consequences).
Then, the Villains who trained for hundreds of years will say their usual line, ‘That’s impossible’ before having the lights beaten out of them.
Just wonderful writing, right?
Some of you might argue and say, ‘Ayo, chill. It’s just fiction, man. We have people shooting laser beams, breathing fire, and punching a hole through industry standard concrete walls with ease and your main concern is the lack of logic when it comes to fighting? Really?’
And if such is the case, my answer to that will be a straight-up, ‘Yes.’
Yes, it’s Fiction and yes there are supernatural elements involved, but for the viewers to be fully immersed and satisfied with what they’re watching, the show has to follow a set of rules and logic that would give the story sense.
Let’s put it this way, would anyone want to see Goku, one of the leading figures of the shounen genre, one of the strongest beings in his universe, getting easily beaten up by Suzy from Accounting who hasn’t been to a real fight in her entire life? Dragonball fans would be outraged because it doesn’t fit the narrative and there is no senseful explanation as to why that happened.
I know that there are some exceptions to this rule (Saitama from OPM says hi), but in general, if the show is a battle manga, then the fight scenes, with all their power systems and special abilities, have to make sense and follow a pattern of logic for the story to work.
That is when I found out that Hunter x Hunter- Hunter x Hunter is just a different beast in this area. The characters of that show use a power called Nen, the ability to use Aura to perform superhuman feats, yet despite having this supernatural power system, the battle scenes of this anime are pretty grounded with a sense of realism and practicality. There is something unique about the choreography of the fights scenes of this show.
Surprisingly, I found out that there are more than enough instances wherein the characters of HxH have behaved and acted under the guidance of the laws of The Art of War, the famous book I have mentioned earlier. And that has made all the difference for me.
Hunter x Hunter x The Art of War
Lesson 1. All warfare is based on deception.
According to Sun Tzu, one way to get the upper hand in war or in battle is to trick your opponent
Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
This principle is observed in the show with the recurring use of the ability called Zetsu.
Zetsu in Hunter x Hunter is the ability to conceal your Nen, controlling and blocking the flow of their life force or aura which in turn helps them to conceal their presence.
When you’re in zetsu mode, the opponent will not be able to sense your aura or know your location, unless they can see your physical form.
The characters in this show often use Zetsu when hiding so they’re opponents would think that they are far away when in fact, they’re already close by, waiting for a chance for their enemy to lower their guard before they jump in for the decisive attack.
That’s one type of deception right there. Here’s another one.
“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
Some characters in this show also use this principle. They make themselves seem harmless under the show’s social standards to manipulate their how their opponents perceive them- so they can be underestimated. Then when it comes to battle, when the opponents try to attack them, the pretenders will catch them off-guard, overwhelming them with their concealed inner strength, falling off like a thunderbolt, getting that easy win.
If you decieve your opponents, they will not be able to predict your next move and they will have higher chances of making a mistake.
That’s lesson 1. Trick your opponent.
Lesson 2 Master the Terrain. Use your surroundings to your advantage
Sun Tzu talks about the concept of Heaven and Earth. Basically the environment and our surroundings and how we can use them to our advantage.
What’s great about Hunter x Hunter characters is that they always keep their environment into account. Using the structure of the buildings and the characteristics if the terrain they are in to outsmart their opponents. Moving up to high places where they can get the best view when scouting, using environmental factors to give them the upper hand in combat.
In Kurapika’s fight against Uvogin, we see how Uvogin punched the ground as his starter move. He didn’t just do this in order to display his immense aura and strength, he also did this to create a smokescreen wherein he could easily conceal his presence.
Following the rule of mastering the terrain gave him the opportunity to land a hit against his highly alert opponent.
The characters of Hunter x Hunter are sharp, perceptive and adaptive when it comes to the changes in their environment and this adds a lot of complexity in the fight scenes.
Lesson 2 in the Art of War would be to use your surroundings to your advantage.
Lesson 3. Target the opponent’s weak points. Avoid stronger opponents.
The Art of War teaches fighters the concept of weak and strong.
“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.”
The characters of Hunter x Hunter also follow this principle.
If they see a much stronger opponent, they are sensible enough to know when not to fight. They’re not eager to foolishly jump in blindly at the first sight of the enemy.
In other battle animes, the main characters, put in the same scenario, would probably have faced the enemy head on and just hope that the power of friendship and their plot armor can help them accomplish their objective.
In Hunter x Hunter, if they see dangerous enemies who outclass them, this is what they do… they just run away.
The only time HxH characters face opponents who they know they couldn’t defeat is in scenarios when there is no other way but to fight. When it was the only play available.
The characters in this show also needed to use their heads in order to look for the weakpoints of their opponents.
And if they are planning to take down an opponent a lot stronger than them, they make sure they can weaken their forces as much as possible by isolating them from their strong allies.
Lesson 4. Know your enemy, know yourself.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb to every battle.”
Gathering intel has been regarded by the characters to be very vital in this show. Knowing the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses before a fight could pretty much determine whether a character lives or dies. The experienced fighters in Hunter x Hunter, people like Zeno Zoldyck, do not go all in and reveal their cards all at once. They usually gauge their enemies first, knowing the range of their attacks and the scope of their capabilities, before they go in with their finishing move.
“Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.
The victories in Hunter x Hunter are not always determined by who the stronger person is, but rather, on whose strategy is more effective against the other. Preparation is key for every battle (Look at the Kurapika vs Uvo fight. Mans was so prepared he even brought a shovel to the match to bury his opponent). Countering the opponent’s skills and abilities are vital factors that could lead to victory.
Sun Tzu teaches us that knowing yourself and your enemy through gathering information and preparation can show you the best option on how to proceed with your attack. That is Lesson 4.
Conclusion
To conclude, the characters of Hunter x Hunter use and understand the elements and principles of the ART of War and that made the fight scenes of the show extremely immersive, exciting, and highly logical. It gives off a sense of realism and practicality to the show and that boosts overall watching experience for many its fans.
The characters in that show:
Trick their opponents and subvert their expectations by pretending to be weak when they are strong, and strong when they are weak.
Master the terrain, the environment and their surroundings to get the upper hand in battle
Target their opponent’s weak points and avoid those who are stronger than them if possible and
Try to know everything there is to know about themselves and their opponents through meticulous preparation to increase their odds of winning.
Indeed, Hunter x Hunter clothed itself with the principles of the Art of War that is why I think this is peak shounen. When it comes to fight scenes, this is where it’s at.
At the end of the day, The Art of War is a book about winning wars and defeating opponents. And I would advocate for viewers not to use these techniques to harm innocent people. Please be don’t be like people who take advantage of others and manipulate them out of malicious intentions.
Applications of the Art of War
Knowledge of the Art of War is like having a really sharp sword. And the users must be responsible in using its potential.
We can use the principles of The Art of War on very healthy applications. For example, if you are part of a sports team and you are approaching the finals, you can use the lesson about knowing yourself and your opponents, to study the strengths and weaknesses of their team. If it’s a basketball game, maybe the other team is good at shooting threes or maybe, after watching a lot of game footage, your coaching staff realised that there is a good way to stop those threes and the other team are weak in transition. You can exploit those weaknesses and form better strategies to increase the odds of winning.
Or if you are doing business, if you understand and studied carefully your terrain, the whole market environment and the status of the economy, it can help you make sound judgment and keep you away from making mistakes when it comes to deals and investments. Also, if you understand what your strengths and capabilities are, you can capitalise on those to form an intelligent tactic to attack the market with a strategy no one, not even your competition, expects.
Thus, The Art of War can be applied to many other industries such as sports, e-sports, business, academics, and other competitive fields.
Just remember to use this legally, ethically, and morally so we’re all cool.
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