Hunter X Hunter features the loveable Gon as its main protagonist. In both the manga and anime adaptations, Gon's ultimate goal is to find his father, Ging, who was a Hunter. Gon meets an array of characters while searching for his father, such as Kurapika, Leorio, and Killua. He even meets rivals along the way, like the deadly Hisoka and other members of the Zoldyck family.
Gon goes through similar developments overall in both the manga and the anime. However, there are still distinct differences in how Gon is portrayed between both versions. This varied from the pacing of his friendships to actually reuniting with his own father.
10 Gon Meets Kite First At The Beginning Of The Manga
Manga fans know well that Kite is the first Hunter that Gon ever met as a young child. Kite, in fact, saves Gon's life when he's in danger back when Gon was a young child. Kite is also the one who gave Gon initial clues about his father's identity and taught him about the existence of Hunters in the first place.
Gon does not meet Kite in the anime until the events of the Chimera Ant Arc. It's only after this meeting that Gon learns about Kite's connections with his father.
9 Gon Is Motivated To Be A Hunter After Meeting Kite In The Manga
In the anime, Gon is motivated to become a hunter on his own. In the first episode, he convinces his aunt, Mito, that he needs to leave to learn more about his father. He further proves himself by catching the local monster fish, "Lord of the Lake," to convince his aunt. Though Mito is reluctant, she lets Gon go on his own to take the Hunter Exam.
In the manga, Gon is initially motivated to become a Hunter after meeting Kite as a child and learning clues about his father. Though their meeting is brief, it was enough motivation to get him to join the Hunter Exam in the manga after proving himself to his aunt by catching the local monster fish.
8 Gon Encourages Leorio To Continue The Hunter Exam In the Anime But Not The Manga
In the anime, Leorio almost gave up the Hunter Exam during its first phase, but with Gon's encouragement, Leorio decided to continue it, no matter how grueling it was.
This moment does not happen in the manga. Instead, Leorio just hypes himself up to continue running through the Hunter Exam. Gon, however, does pick up Leorio's briefcase for him with his fishing rod. Otherwise, Leorio would lose the briefcase too early in the exam, and that would be a hindrance to Leorio's progress in the long run.
7 Gon & Killua's Initial Friendship Is Colder In The Manga
Gon forms a close bond with Killua throughout both the anime and the manga versions of the series. The anime even added many more scenes where Killua and Gon got to bond not just as fellow examinees but also as friends.
Gon and Killua had fewer bonding moments featured in the manga. Instead, the manga's Hunter Exam Arc focused on establishing Killua and Gon as rival examinees. They both still shared a fairly friendly bond, but it was based more on being examinees rather than getting to know each other as individual people.
6 Gon & Killa's Dialogue Differs Regarding Hisoka
During the second phase of the Hunter Exam, the examinees must keep up with the examiner, Satoz, as they trek through the dangerous jungle. In both versions, Killua encourages Gon to move to the front of the running group to maintain distance between the two of them and Hisoka.
The dialogue surrounding this reasoning differs slightly between both versions. In the manga, Killua claims that he is like Hisoka due to both of them being killers, and Gon disagrees with this comparison. In the anime, Killua claiming that he is a killer is cut out of this scene. Instead, Gon focuses on Killua's claim that Hisoka smells like a killer and points out that Hisoka himself doesn't deliberately smell.
5 Hisoka's Aggression Differs In His Fight Against Gon In The Hunter Exam
In both the anime and the manga, Hisoka is one of Gon's toughest opponents. During the second part of the Hunter Exam, all the examinees must make it through a dangerous jungle area to get to the next round's location. Hisoka immediately starts killing off the competition, including threatening the lives of Gon, Kurapika, Leorio, and others.
Both versions feature Gon defending his friends with his trusty fishing rod, and Hisoka easily grabs Gon by the neck before deciding to let Gon live. This part of the fight differs slightly between both versions. Hisoka nearly strangles Gon in the anime. However, Hisoka more calmly holds Gon by the neck in the manga, rather than actually trying to strangle him.
4 Gon & Hanzo's Fight Is Less Detailed In The Manga
During the final round of the Hunter Exam, in both the anime and the manga, Gon and Hanzo face off against each other. Whoever explicitly admits defeat first is the one who loses, while the other examinee automatically passes the Hunter Exam. Hanzo tries to break Gon's spirit during the fight by torturing him, but Gon refuses to give up.
The anime features Gon and Hanzo's fight in fuller detail. There are more scenes explicitly showing Hanzo beating up Gon during the fight. These same scenes demonstrate more of Gon's own persistence and refusal to admit defeat. Gon ends up getting knocked unconscious, with Hanzo admitting defeat after realizing that he can't break Gon's spirit.
3 Gon's Dream About His Dad Is Shortened In The Manga
After Hanzo knocks out Gon in the Hunter Exam's final match, Gon has a dream of his father, Ging, in both the anime and the manga. The anime shows Gon running up a series of stone steps toward his father. The stone steps underneath him break down and collapse, resulting in him falling before he wakes up.
The manga's version of the dream is different. Instead of falling, Gon reaches for his father's hand. Additionally, this scene is only shown in one panel before he wakes up and finds out that he passed the Hunter Exam. Both dreams show that Gon is on the path to reaching his father, but he still has a long way to go before that happens.
2 Gon Asks About Satoz's Background In The Manga, But Not The Anime
In both the manga and the anime after Gon wakes up and finds out that he passed the Hunter Exam, Satoz is sitting by Gon's bedside to speak with him. Satoz explains to Gon about the license he now has, before summarizing the rest of the finals matches and Killua's eventual failure and disqualification.
The manga slightly extends the initial waking scene. During this scene, Gon asks Satoz about his own Hunter background. Satoz explains that he focused on restoring and preserving ancient ruins after he was inspired by another famous Hunter who did the same thing. This part was cut out of the anime, most likely due to time restraints.
1 Gon Has A Heart To Heart With Ging, But Not At The End Of The Manga
At the end of the anime, Gon reunites with his father at the World Tree. Both of them take the time to have a heart-to-heart as father and son together. This brings a wonderful conclusion to both the anime series as a whole and to Gon's own initial quest of finding his father.
This heart-to-heart moment did not signal the end of the manga series, unlike the anime. This can be due to the fact that the manga series itself is not being finished yet. This also means that Gon and Ging might reunite again in the future of the manga.