Hunter x Hunter sometimes a boys club isn't so bad

Note this article contains spoilers up to episode 25

Notice anything missing?

In some defiance of my usual anime viewing habits I have started watching Hunter x Hunter. I say this is unusual as I don't normally pick up a nearly two years old show and I almost never mini marathon twenty five episodes of a show in about two weeks. However I found the new Hunter x Hunter series to be quite interesting as thus worth this kind of treatment. I find this series to be quite interesting for several different reasons but the one I would like to talk about now is a bit about the show's view on gender.

I think the most important thing to remember about this show is that Hunter x Hunter is a shonen adventure show. This is to say that this is show aimed at the young male demographic with the intent of entertaining the prospective audience with action and in the case of this particular show thinking puzzles. I have seen several such shows (my knowledge is not exhaustive partially because of the fact that such shows are so incredibly long) and I have noticed a few things that are different about it. Noticeably the lack of a female character in the main cast, and I think that is a good thing.

The tendency with females cast in entertainment directed at males is to label as love interests for the main character. While this is all well and good for some shows, the fact of the matter is not all shows place enough focus on the idea of romantic relationships to warrant their inclusion.

Moreover, the lack of a love interest also creates an important lesson for the boys and younger men for whom this show is targeted. Having goals and working to achieve them doesn't always net you a woman for your effort and life shouldn't always center around finding a love interest. Oftentimes critics will rankle at the idea of a strong female character getting a love interest to the point where they begin to complain when they start noticing the opposite sex. Given this wouldn't one also say that it is a good policy to have high profile chaste male characters as well?

Also there is the issue of what happens after the hunter exam in episodes twenty one through twenty five. In these episodes Killua is manipulated into returning home only only to have the rest of the main cast follow him and attempt to break Killua free from the control of his family. This is very clearly a rescue arc. I can't but think that if there was a female character in the main cast of Hunter x Hunter that she would have been placed in Killua's shoes and the story would have been viewed as a derailment of her character.

In short I think Hunter x Hunter is a stronger adventure show because it dispenses with he idea of love interests and that while diversity in a cast may be preferable in many cases the exclusion of a certain type of person (in this case female) is preferable to weighing down a story with a shoehorned character.

As a side note I do know that there is a main female character added to the cast later. I will comment further after I have seen the greed island arc when she appears.