10 Great Anime For People Who Hate Anime

This list would be incomplete without a traditional, old school shonen, and Hunter x Hunter 2011 is the best of them all.

The series follows a young boy in search of his deadbeat dad. Along the way, he meets the best of friends and the worst of enemies.

For those unfamiliar, shonen is a genre of anime directed toward teenage boys. Series like Naruto, One Piece, and Dragon Ball fall under this category. While the genre may be aimed at a younger demographic though, that doesn't mean it inherently lacks maturity. In the right hands, what the genre excels at is telling emotional, character driven stories with messages about friendship, hope, and all that good stuff.

Unlike other anime of its kind, Hunter x Hunter uses its episode length to its advantage. Over its 148 episodes the series introduces and develops dozens of fully fleshed out, unique characters. Take protagonist Gon for instance. Initially he seems like your run-of-the-mill, happy-go-lucky main character, but as his arc progresses, it's revealed that he is much more psychologically complex than your average shonen protagonists.

Hunter x Hunter has something for everyone. Well written characters? Check. Compelling plots? Check. Incredible fight scenes? Check. Hell, it even goes the extra mile and explorers some surprisingly heavy themes. If this doesn't make a hater do a full 180, nothing will.