I'm the one who's glad that I got to meet you...
- From the first chapter, all of the forest creatures giving Gon a farewell before he leaves for the Hunter Exam.
- And then after that, there's Gon saying goodbye to Aunt Mito. Made even more heartwarming in the 1999 anime when he tells her that as far as he's concerned, she isn't just like a mother to him, she is his mother.
- Kurapika cheering Gon up after a traumatic encounter with Hisoka on Zevil Island.
- The lengths Gon goes to trying to rescue Killua from his crazy family. Kurapika and Leorio coming along to help is just icing on the cake.
- From the same arc, we get to meet Canary, one of the Zoldyck butlers. The narrative takes its time noting that she sincerely wished to be friends with Killua even at an early age, but could not because the Zoldycks forbade real social interaction with him. So when he finally leaves the butler's quarters and passes her up without saying a word, it's a little hard to watch. But when Gon, who barely knew her but still saw her need to help Killua, cheerily says goodbye to her on his way out, it's the small smile on her face that she makes as Gon passes her by that makes it all worth it.
- "Gon....you are light itself."
- Kurapika revealing his powers to Gon, Leorio and Killua. The act of doing so was a great risk. One of the Troupe members, Pakunoda, had the power to read minds. If they were to be captured and Pakunoda were to read their minds, all of Kurapika's weaknesses would be exposed. Gon begs Kurapika to point a Nen arrow at his heart so that it would kill him if he were to reveal his secret. Killua and Leorio follow suit, agreeing that it was a good option. Kurapika, however, refuses their offer. He says that he would not mind it even if they somehow managed to reveal his secret. He had good friends...
- Before this point, Kurapika is extremely depressed because he believes that the Phantom Troupe had been eradicated, eliminating his primary endeavor. Kurapika has not seen Leorio, Gon and Killua for six months, and soon he reunites with the others at a park. Gon and Killua are having an ice-cream eating contest when he gets there, and, on sight, it is obvious that Kurapika is upset. Gon cheerfully tells him that he should be happy. Now that he doesn't have to worry about the Troupe, he can comfortably recover all of the eyes of his murdered Clan. Then, as Kurapika gets over his shock, Killua promptly shoves a pie in his face. Enter Leorio, and Kurapika laughs for what might be the first time in a while.
- Near the end of the Yorknew City arc, Kurapika and Pakunoda exchange hostages, with Kurapika trading Chrollo in exchange for Gon and Killua. To Gon's surprise, Kurapika isn't visibly upset, but instead greets them with a cheerful smile. He's given up his chance at the revenge he's always wanted so his friends will be safe, and he's just fine with that.
- Melody in general. Her calming presence and Morality Chain status for Kurapika makes the duo's friendship meaningful and sweet.
- When Gon is listening to the message Ging left for him and the recording says that if he keeps listening Ging will tell him about his biological mother, Gon shuts off the tape without a second of hesitation, knowing that the moment he shuts the tape off it will automatically erase itself. When Killua asks him why, Gon tells him that he doesn't care about who his biological mother may be, because in all other respects his real mother is Mito (and unbeknownst to him, Mito is listening in and hears this).
- Knuckle subtly trains Gon on his abilities during their fights together in the hopes that he will get better out of genuine friendship.
- Morel's incredible display of sympathy and forgiveness for the original hive ants, including a declaration of protection to their entire race spurned by watching Colt desperately clutch the last Chimera Ant to be birthed by the Queen is an excellent demonstration of what it means to be a hunter.
- Knuckle even states during this scene that his kind nature comes from his master. Note that he says this with tears in his eyes.
- Knuckle going one-on-one with a huge monstrous Chimera Ant, even though the smart thing to do would be to sit back and let his power do its job, because the monster had humiliated Shoot.
- Gon and Killua parting ways with Bisky at the end of the Greed Island arc is this and a bit of a Tear Jerker as well. Gon asks her if she wants to come along to meet his father, but she declines, knowing she'll become even more attached to them if she does. They do eventually meet again in the next arc, but it's still a very tender moment, and one that becomes even more touching in the OVA series, where she tells Gon and Killua they're the best and that she loves them. D'awwwww.
- From the same arc — Gon decides the first thing he's going to do when he meets his father for the first time? Introduce him to Killua: his best friend.
- Gon telling Killua how glad he is that he met him. The kicker? Killua thinks that Gon has it backwards.
- In a weird, twisted way, the numerous measures Illumi takes to protect Killua. Despite his upbringing, he goes to very extreme lengths to protect his little brother. It's definitely YMMV, but it's pretty much his only redeeming characteristic.
- Meruem, while having an inner monologue on how sociopathic he is, was about to kill Komugi, but he then sees her being attacked by a hawk. He kills it and asks why she didn't ask for help, she answers she didn't want to bother anyone. It serves as heartwarming development of a character who had previously acted as a complete psycho.
- Their last moments together. Meruem went from someone who wanted to take over the world to someone who just wanted to spend the last few hours of his life playing a board game with someone he had come to care deeply about. When he tells Komugi the poison is contagious, she tells him she won't leave his side and holds his hand when he starts to lose consciousness, thinking she'll be joining him soon.Komugi: Goodnight, Meruem. I'll be joining you soon.
- During the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, it shows that Komugi never did let go of his hand as she lay dying with him on her lap.
- Their last moments together. Meruem went from someone who wanted to take over the world to someone who just wanted to spend the last few hours of his life playing a board game with someone he had come to care deeply about. When he tells Komugi the poison is contagious, she tells him she won't leave his side and holds his hand when he starts to lose consciousness, thinking she'll be joining him soon.
- The epilogue of the Chimera Ant arc is a pretty solid Bittersweet Ending. Make no mistake that thousands of lives were lost during the battle against the Ants, but in the end not only does an oppressive regime finally get taken down, but some of the more sympathetic Ants involved end the arc better off:
- Bronorev and Hina's servant decide to go back into NGL of their own free will. He escorts the servant to one of the villages to talk to a certain person. At first, the townsfolk are frightened, but they allow her to visit one person— her human mother, the grief-stricken mother of Reina and Kurt from the beginning of the arc. The two have a tearful reunion, and the townsfolk invite both the servant and Bronorev to a dinner to celebrate.
Reina: H-how did you know it was me?Mother: I'm your mother, Reina. Of course I know it's you!- Welfin joins Hina and Bizeff on their journey to Meteor City in order to find his old friend Gyro. He claims that he's not afraid of anything anymore and plans to live out his life to the fullest.
- Colt has been safe the entire time, and is still raising the mysterious baby that the Queen left, who may or may not be a reincarnated Kite. Upon hearing the child speak, Morel rushes to find Gon and Killua and tell them the news.
- Heartwarming in Hindsight — Gon had been saying the entire arc that he had a gut feeling that Kite was still alive. Well, he's right... sort of.
- Killua orders Nanika to either kill his mother by the end of a thirty minute time limit or give him a kiss on the cheek if he leaves the house safely with her in tow. What follows is a very adorable Smooch of Victory because the latter was fulfilled.
- Said mother is proud of him for doing this. Not only is he acting like a wonderful elder brother to Alluka but she takes such a cruel act as proof that he is growing up properly.
- Killua vowing to protect not only his little sister Alluka, but also Nanika, her wish-granting alter ego. Especially since this was seconds after Killua told her to never come out, and reduced the poor thing to tears. After being called out on this by Alluka, Killua tells Nanika he was wrong and he'll always protect both of them, before tearfully asking for her forgiveness. She forgives him.
- Killua and Alluka's relationship in general is this. Despite his reservations, he always wants to make sure Alluka is happy.
- In a rare Pet the Dog from his mother; having viewed Killua's Declaration of Protection over a monitor, she decides to remove the restriction movements she placed on Killua and allows him to watch over Alluka freely. Tsubone, who she relays that order too, is crying alongside her charges.
- Leorio and Gon reuniting after Gon's life is saved by Nanika. It's the midair hug that really sinks it.
- Even if he's still a major pain in the ass, Pariston admitting that he fools around so much because he was trying to carry on Netero's will was somewhat nice to hear.
- Ging reassuring Gon that he doesn't need to shoulder all of the blame for the events that transpired during the Chimera Ant arc. In addition, he basically tells Gon that Kite wouldn't have taken him along with him if he didn't think he was capable enough. When Ging wants to be a dad, he can be a dad.
- Ging's absolutely flustered reaction to seeing Gon for the first time in years was pretty sweet, too.
- Before going their separate ways for what may be the first time in the entire series, Gon, Killua (accompanied by his sister Alluka/Nanika) decide to spend one last day together, goofing around and having as much fun as they can.
- After everything that went down in the Chimera Ants Arc, it's a relief to see Gon and Killua having fun together again.
- Gon thanks Killua for "everything" and Killua decides to troll Gon just once before leaving, by saying how worried he was about Gon trying to fight Pitou alone, and how much trouble Gon caused him. Gon collapses in comical blue-streaks, Alluka snaps at Killua, and he responds with a cat smile. It's great low key kid-like humor, how they how make light of one of the most intense moments of their adventure.
- Gon and Ging's conversation atop the World Tree. When he tells Gon about his ambitions, he basically tells him that keeps losing sight of his ultimate goal because he's more interested in the faces of his colleagues as the journey's being completed. In the 2011 anime it's especially poignant because the show cycles through the faces of his dearest friends throughout the series, and ends with where they all ended up after the previous two arcs (Chimera Ant and Chairman Election).
- The scene where Gon and Ging trade adventure stories in the anime is very reminiscent of the scene where Killua and Silva sat down and talked about Killua's outings. If one didn't know that they had been separated for a good number of years, they'd never be able to tell.
- The final shot, where Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika are all looking at the same sunrise despite being separated, punctuated by the full version of "Departure!" playing in the background. It almost hurt to see the 2011 series end that way, but man, what a way to go.
- From the manga, the incredibly soft and almost sorrowful expression on Kurapika's face as he holds Prince Woble is this and a Tear Jerker at the same time.
- Kacho and Fugetsu's Nen Beast ability shows how close they are as sisters since how their powers work is related with each other. Fugetsu's wormhole ability works by having her controlling the departing trip and Kacho controlling the return trip, mirroring how they used to play as kids while Kacho's shapeshifting ability works when one of them dies to protect and take care of the other one, mirroring Kacho's unconditional love to her younger sister."We'll always be together, even in death."
