Whether you're watching the 1999 or 2011 version, Hunter × Hunter's soundtrack is pretty awesome.
1999 Anime
- "Ohayō"
, the 1999 anime's first opening theme, is a laid-back pop song that counts as Sweet Dreams Fuel. The full version is even more heartwarming. - "Kaze no Uta", the first ending theme, is a beautiful, moving, bittersweet Japanese folk-esque song guaranteed to leave chills down your spine. The Arabic dub adapted the song as its opening theme and made it even more of an experience.
- "E-Jan - Do You Feel Like I Feel", the second ending theme, is just about as late-90s as Yu Yu Hakusho's "Homework ga Owaranai" is early-'90s. Its lyrics are fitting for the development of Gon and Killua's friendship during the Zoldyck Family and Heavens' Arena arc, as well as the period when Gon takes Killua to Whale Island.
- When the Yorknew arc kicks in, "Taiyou wa Yoru mo Kagayaku" replaces "Ohayō" as the opening theme, averting the Soundtrack Dissonance found in the 2011 anime. Say what you want about that, but the song itself is a pretty moving rock ballad.
- "Pray", the opening theme to the first Greed Island OVA, couldn't sound less like a Turn of the Millennium pop-rock song if it tried. That only makes it even better when one hears it two decades after the OVA was released in 2003.
- Hikari Ga Mienai, a somber track that captures a gradually building sense of loss and melancholy.
2011 Anime
- The 2011 Anime has only one opening theme, much like the first anime based on Togashi's work, YuYu Hakusho. That doesn't mean that "Depature" isn't worth listening to every single time. The fact that it plays every single episode makes the full version playing throughout the final scene of the show that much more satisfying and bittersweet.
- "Hunting for your Dream", the 2nd ending theme. It's a badass power metal track that started the trend of ending songs that start playing during the final few seconds of an episode.
- Hyouri Ittai", the 5th and final ending theme, is a beautiful track whose lyrics perfectly tie into the themes of the Chimera Ant arc as a whole. Like several ending songs before it, it usually starts playing during an episode's ending narration and often creates a brilliant Soundtrack Dissonance between the gentle piano notes and the Chimera Ant arc's often harrowing cliff-hanger episodes. It also has a soft instrumental piano version that plays during the battle between Gon and Neferpitou, particularly the point where Killua intervenes and tearfully begs Gon to stop.
- "World of Adventurers" could be considered the theme of the first half of the show, popping up in moments from the Hunter Exam to Heaven's Arena. Then after you thought it was done for, the theme pops up out of nowhere at the end of the Chimera Ant Arc and the beginning of the 13th Chairman Election Arc. It's refreshing to hear again after everything that has happened in the story by this point.
- "Kusari Yarou" / "Chain Bastard", Kurapika's theme in the 2011 version, is a rocking track that perfectly encapsulates Kurapika's determination and rage.
- "The Emperor's Time". Despite its name suggesting a connection to Kurapika, it is usually used during Gon's most climactic and heroic moments, especially throughout the Greed Island arc. First comes rock...
- "Tell Me", Killua's Image Song. An instrumental version plays in the show during the Curb-Stomp Battle between Killua and Sub.
- Anytime "Hashire" plays, something awesome or intense is about to happen. Notable moments include: the Opening Narration during the Hunter Exam Arc, Gon using his Jajanken in the dodgeball game against Razor, and when he shows the fearsome extent of his power to Morel during the Chimera Ant Arc.
- "Restriction and Pledge" is a somber orchestral track that builds up to a short but powerful guitar solo. It is reserved for the Chimera Ant arc's most climactic moments, namely Netero's Final Speech and activation of the Miniature Rose, and Gon's transformation into "Adult Gon".
- The Last Mission is an epic Orchestral Bombing track that's reserved for the battle between Netero and Meruem. The Ominous Latin Chanting repeating throughout is "Kyrie eleison", or in English "Lord, have mercy".
- "Kingdom of Predators" often plays during scenes that highlight the Chimera Ant arc's theme of Humans Are the Real Monsters, suggesting that the name of the track refers not to Chimera Ants but to humanity.
- While it's not a part of the show's original soundtrack proper, the 2011 anime made the brilliant choice of incorporating Mozart's Lacrimosa during the Phantom Troupe's "requiem" midway through the Yorknew Arc.
