This is the version of Gon's first hunt that Togashi actually signed off on, before the manga even finished. It swings harder than the 1999 anime and different from 2011 in ways that matter, the opening feels genuinely dangerous instead of inevitable. The image quality is grainy and the animation occasionally raw, but that rawness is the point: you're watching the story at its hungriest, before anyone knew what Hunter×Hunter would become.
Gon Freecss is a boy on Whale Island who hopes to become a Hunter like his long-absent father. His aunt Mito is against the idea, but she agrees to sign his Hunter Exam application if he can catch the giant fish called the Master of the Swamp. When he finally lands it, Gon bids farewell to Mito and his foxbear friend Kon and boards a ship bound for the mainland. While still at sea, he faces the first stage of the exam, set by the ship's captain. On the voyage, he joins fellow candidates Leorio and Kurapika to fight off huge sea monsters attacking the vessel. The one-episode action adventure pilot was screened at the 1998 Jump Super Anime Tour and served as a precursor to the 1999 TV series.
