WHY HUNTER X HUNTER 1999 IS SIMPLY BETTER

Hunter x Hunter is one of my favorite literary works of all time. I genuinely think this is one of the most profound and well-written stories in animanga and there is nothing that compares to it. I wasn't always such a big fan of it though, I watched the 2011 version and considered the Chimera Ant arc the high point while all the rest was just "alright". Then I decided on a whim to watch the 99 anime and absolutely fell in love with it. The directing, artstyle, soundtrack, hell even the filler, it was all PERFECT and now every time I look at the 2011 version I just feel like it was a MASSIVE downgrade, and I need to talk about it.

THE ARTSTYLE

The artstyle and art direction in general of 99 are some of the most incredible I've seen in any anime and perfectly encapsulate the spirit of the original manga in a way the 2011 anime fails to. 99 can be bright, colorful and whimsy but also somber and moody and it knows how and when to switch between these massively contrasting tones whenever it fits a scene, take scenes like Gon vs Hanzo or Illumi talking to Killua during the Hunter Exam, the 99 anime makes said scenes look like truly dark and hopeless moments while 11 has the same color pallette for both and nearly no intensity or sense of dread to them. There is a genuine artistry to 99 and the way they frame these iconic scenes that is nearly missing from 11 until at least Chimera Ant, although that was mostly because of how closely they followed the manga, there is intent in every shot and color they utilize to compose each scene that just feels excluded from the other adaptation somehow.
The way the artists draw the characters' expressions, hair, clothes, it's all perfect (except beans' design why did they make him skin colored :<), even when it strays from the manga's depictions it tries to do its own unique spin on things that is honestly beautiful, the hand drawn scenery, smooth animation during fights, level of detail in the environments and faces, it all makes me sad realizing an anime like this will probably never be made today, even after so many improvements in animation technology.

THE PACING

The pacing on 99 is so good it makes 2010 look rushed and cramped in comparison, I've even heard before that 2011 "rushed" through previously adapted arcs to get to new material like Chimera Ant, and I can honestly see that being the case without issue, Chimera Ant is adapted at a normal pace while everything else flows at a breakneck speed. In 99, there are moments of silence, contemplation, that contrast perfectly with the intensity of all the rest and give you time to breathe and reflect on things. You can see all of this just in the first episode of each show, while 99 takes its time with Gon's backstory and doesn't OMMIT CRUCIAL DETAILS LIKE KITE WHICH IS THE WHOLE REASON GON BECAME A HUNTER IN THE FIRST PLACE WHY WOULD YOU CUT THAT OUT, 11 rushes through it all and is already at the start of the third chapter.
I personally believe downtime and moments of silence are some of the most important elements of storytelling that can completely change the impact of scenes and 11 almost fully lacks that instead opting for an almost robotic approach to adapting it all, until Chimera Ant at least where it slows down (yet still not completely).

THE FILLER

I never thought I'd say this in all my life, but the filler in Hunter x Hunter 99 is FUCKING AMAZING. I have never seen filler that adds so much more depth to the story and the characters, the Ship Resort filler made WAY more sense as a test in the Hunter Exam than the rest they came up with and is just an amazing episode, the way they show how Kurapika trained to get his Nen chains instead of the original where he just says he did it, Leorio's backstory being an actual backstory that is actually beautiful and sad instead of him just telling it all we get to see his grief and his guilt represented, the way the characters actually get to take breaks and interact with eachother also adds so much more humanity to them and makes their relationships sound more believable, especially how they wrote Gon and Killua's friendship evolving and Killua learning to be normal through Gon, it's all perfect, the foreshadowing it all also somehow adds makes me think Togashi was there telling them what to do, and actually I looked it up a while ago and he genuinely might've been, that would explain why the filler fits in so seamlessly with the original story and why it's so well-written and executed.