All the Hunter x Hunter Arcs Ranked

Hunter x Hunter is regarded as one of the best shonen anime of all time. Although the manga was stopped in its track (and restarted once last year) due to the creator’s health issues, several arcs captivated fans and instantly made them fall in love with this anime. For those who have watched Hunter x Hunter or are planning to watch it, the debate about which is the best HxH arc of all time still keeps the community busy. So, we have compiled a list of all Hunter x Hunter arcs (anime only) and ranked them in this guide. Read on to find out where your favorite arc ranks in our best Hunter x Hunter arcs list.

Spoiler WarningThis article contains spoilers about the Hunter x Hunter series. We suggest you watch the anime or read the manga to avoid ruining your experience.

1. Yorknew City Arc

  • Episodes: 37-58
  • Manga Chapters: 64-119

The Yorknew City arc is the pinnacle of the Hunter x Hunter anime series. In my opinion, it surpasses all the other HxH arcs as it offers the most enthralling ride in the series. We have the main characters enter a mega auction inside the world of HxH where the events start to get heated up.

Not only do we have Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio present at the auction site, but we are also introduced to the main antagonists of the series – The Phantom Troupe. And it is one of my favorite groups of villains as they are uber cool, have unique abilities, and make the series way more spell-binding. Moreover, we get to see Kurapika and his chain abilities take center stage in this arc.

This arc manages to pull off many exhilarating battles between the main characters while keeping the narrative riveting until the end. I (as well as many other fans) didn’t want this arc to end, and that’s how much everyone fell in love with this arc. This arc is just perfect in every aspect and is the reason why it has a slight edge over the Chimera Ant arc in my books.

2. Chimera Ant Arc

  • Episodes: 76-136
  • Manga Chapters: 186-318

The Chimera Ant arc is easily one of the GOAT arcs in the history of anime and manga. Want to see the protagonists fight an OP villain? It is the Chimera Ant arc that will fulfill your wish. This arc took nearly 8+ years to finish in the manga and two years in anime, which speaks volumes about its story.

There were a large number of characters involved in this arc and everyone’s participation was shown effortlessly. The Hunters Association going head-to-head against the supreme and powerful King Mereum was a sight to behold. While the writing is absolutely top-tier high in this arc, the pacing dips down slightly at the beginning of the setup, which was something I didn’t expect.

This arc featured several incredible battles, and one was hands down among two of the greatest battles I have ever seen in an anime. You can’t even predict how things are going to turn out as there were many twists and shocking moments along the way. I can talk all day about the character development in this arc, but let’s not spoil the fun.

Finally, this arc is filled with the highest of all the high moments in the show and will always be one of the best Hunter x Hunter arcs of all time for many.

3. 13th Hunter Chairman Election Arc

  • Episodes: 137-148
  • Manga Chapters: 319-339

The 13th Hunter Chairman Election Arc is the final arc of the HxH anime, and it was a wonderful conclusion to the saga. For the first time in the series, we get to learn more about the Hunters’ organization and the politics around it. The new character added in the form of Pariston was interesting to watch. But the main show-stealer in this arc was Killua’s sister Alluka. It was so intriguing to witness her powers and abilities and how her character got intertwined with the main plot. Furthermore, Hisoka and Illumi’s team-up added more heat to this arc.

Moreover, we finally get to see more of Ging Freecs and Gon finally gets to meet his dad. The ending was good to end the series and mark the beginning of something even better. Thus, it is by far one of the best Hunter x Hunter arcs and is ranked high by many fans; albeit has fewer action scenes.

4. Heaven’s Arena Arc

  • Episodes: 27-36
  • Manga Chapters: 44-63

The Heavens Arena arc has to be the most underrated arc among all of the Hunter x Hunter anime arcs. This is the very first training arc for the boys’ Gon and Killua. They both enter a fight club-like Heavens Arena to participate in the fighting tournaments and make their way to the top along with winning cash. That’s right where they meet Wing, and we are introduced to the concept of Nen.

This arc heavily focuses on developing the powers and characters of Gon and Killua and does it flawlessly. On top of it, we even get to see the much-awaited Gon vs Hisoka match-up in this arc in the anime. Thus, along with the growth of the characters and the intense fights, this arc was extremely gripping and enjoyable to watch.

5. Hunter Exam Arc

  • Episodes: 1-21
  • Manga Chapters: 1-38

The Hunter Exam arc set up the beautiful beginning of one of the greatest anime. We were introduced to our main characters and the tests to become a hunter began. It was fascinating to watch the series of tests, which will keep you hooked throughout. Alongside the tests, our MC also starts befriending three characters who went on to become our favorites later. Additionally, we were also introduced to one of the most bizarre antagonist characters, Hisoka, which made this arc the perfect introduction to this series.

The Hunter Exam arc is a great example of how an opening arc should be and was an influential arc to the other shonen anime. We have seen the exam arc tropes in other anime like Naruto, Demon Slayer, and others. Therefore, this is one of the best HxH arcs, and it mostly goes unnoticed by the fans in many ranked lists.

6. Greed Island Arc

  • Episodes: 59-75
  • Manga Chapters: 120-185

In Hunter x Hunter, the Greed Island arc features Gon and Killua entering a ready-player-one movie-esque game in search of his father. It was another major training arc for both characters ahead of the great Chimera Ant arc (ranked at #2 above). This arc had a great story that continued to entertain fans until the end, as it had the game going on around Phantom Troupe making their win, Gon and Killua’s training under Biscuit, and more.

While the aforementioned things were entertaining to watch, the antagonist Bomber wasn’t the ideal character for a bad guy, which made it a lot less appealing. Overall, it’s a great arc that had some great moments but lacked a final finish in my opinion.

7. Zoldyck Family Arc

  • Episodes: 22-26
  • Manga Chapters: 39-43

The Zoldyck Family arc is the shortest arc in the series but it uncovers some important secrets about Killua’s parents. It conveyed the message it wanted to in the needed time, hence, the short duration.

We were introduced to the mysterious members of the Zoldyck family surprisingly. And more importantly, we learned about why Killua’s character is portrayed in the way it is. It gave us a deep insight as well as brilliantly set up the pathway for the next arc with Gon & Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika going their separate ways. It is a short arc and fulfilled its purpose and is the least favorite arc in the whole show.

What is the most popular arc in HxH?

The Chimera Ant arc is recognized to be the most popular arc followed by Yorknew City arc. It is because the Chimera Ant arc is regarded to be one of the greatest arcs in the history of anime and manga.

What is the longest arc of HxH?

The Chimera Ant arc is the longest arc of HxH. It has about 133 chapters and 61 episodes overall. It also should be noted that it took 8+ years to get completed in the manga.

Is Chimera Ant a good arc?

Chimera Ant is one of the greatest arcs in not just HxH but in anime history too. The quality of this arc is just mindblowing and kudos to the genius Togashi for creating this masterpiece.

Which is the shortest arc?

The Zoldyck Family Arc is the shortest arc in the series. It has about only 4 episodes (4 chapters).

What is the saddest EP in HxH?

According to me episode 131 titled “Anger And Light” is the saddest episode in HxH as of now.

Comments 12
  • JR says:

    Me personally I think the chimera ant arc is the best and greed island should be higher.

  • Tomba says:

    To me, Yorknew city is the best arc, the hostage scene is really clever

  • A says:

    The chimera ant arc has some of the most pretentious fans i swear. An arc can tackle complex themes well while still not being to someone’s taste, which is just what this list is. I also like Yorknew more, and the fact of the matter is that I didn’t like the cast of characters as much as I did in Yorknew. Kurapika, Hisoka, Chrollo, the rest of the Troupe, etc. were characters I became extremely invested in so having them absent is obviously going to affect my enjoyment to some extent. While I did enjoy Meruems growth and some of Pouf’s antics, you can’t just point at them and tell me I’m supposed to like him more than the other characters I listed. If one arc has all of my favourite characters with their primary motivations and goals at the forefront, why are you so surprised it’s the arc I like most?

  • K says:

    I genuinely agree with Yorknew being my favourite as well,absolutely enthralling! I actually enjoyed every single arc but I did actually start to wane interest during the chimera arc. It was one of my favourites but also my least favourite as I found it lost the tempo I loved in the series. Nonetheless I still enjoyed it,amazing series.
    Anyone who disagrees is totally entitled too as it’s completely subjective lmao

  • Steph says:

    While I understand the mature themes of the Chimera ant arc, the arc itself simply lacks entertainment value and drags on way too long. The only occurrence that kept my sanity going was Gon’s anger. On the contrary Yorknew City and the hunter exams were so fresh and introduced the world of HxH beautifully. Another thing I would like to point out is how uninteresting and unlikeable the new characters seemed in the Chimera Ant arc (both side characters and the antagonists). The best one was probably Knuckle but even he was nothing special during the main invasion of the palace.

  • James says:

    Awesome post! Keep it up. Hopefully you run across some underrated and amazing indie manga/anime to share with us.

  • Killua Gojo says:

    Agreed with the other comment. Anyone who puts anything above Chimera Ant Arc has more than a few screws loose. It’s getting where you can’t even Google for good accurate information anymore. Especially when it comes to anime. The genre has too many younger underdeveloped minds who can’t comprehend mature themes. York New City was a splendid arc and 2nd best in the series. But the Chimera Ant Arc is WIDELY considered one of the greatest arcs in anime history. It fully embraces the duality of mankind. Are we the good guys, villains, or antiheros? What does it take to calm a savage beast? What does it take to turn innocence into a monster? Like the old Native American legend about the good wolf and bad wolf in our minds. Which one is stronger… The one we choose to feed the most.

    Just like Gon Freecss says, “If you really want to get to know someone. Find out what makes them angry.” The Chimera Ant Arc is the game changer in this story. It’s what makes HxH the masterpiece it is today. Anyone who classes it anywhere below 1st place, CLEARLY did not pay attention to it’s importance and epic storytelling.

    It seems that an opinion can be completely wrong. And the writer of this article just proved that.

    • A says:

      The chimera ant arc has some of the most pretentious fans i swear. An arc can tackle complex themes well while still not being to someone’s taste, which is just what this list is. I also like Yorknew more, and the fact of the matter is that I didn’t like the cast of characters as much as I did in Yorknew. Kurapika, Hisoka, Chrollo, the rest of the Troupe, etc. were characters I became extremely invested in so having them absent is obviously going to affect my enjoyment to some extent. While I did enjoy Meruems growth and some of Pouf’s antics, you can’t just point at them and tell me I’m supposed to like him more than the other characters I listed. If one arc has all of my favourite characters with their primary motivations and goals at the forefront, why are you so surprised it’s the arc I like most?

    • Nanyang Bitnes says:

      That is not true in the slightest. About 8/10 people I asked about HxH said to skip the Chimera ant article because it’s the worst. Online seems to have the same consensus.

  • B says:

    Anyone or anything who doesn’t have ant chimera number one should NEVER be allowed to read or watch anime again! wow

    • Killua Gojo says:

      I FUNDAMENTALLY AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID!

    • Smiley face says:

      ? Why? They shouldn’t be allowed to have an opinion just because they don’t agree with you? How childish can you be? If you can’t respect other people opinions, then why are you even on social media? This whole article is based in their own entertainment and enjoyment from watching the arcs, and they just liked the chimera arc less than the yorknew arc. There is no problem with having your own opinion, and if you disagree with that, then I don’t even know why you are on this.

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