Episode 1 (2011)

Departure x And x Friends ( タビダチ×ト×ナカマタチ Tabidachi × To × Nakama-tachi ) is the 1st episode of the Hunter X Hunter 2011 anime. It first aired in October 2, 2011.

Twelve-year-old Gon Freecss catches Whale Island's monster fish, the Master of the Swamp to gain permission from his reluctant Aunt Mito to take the Hunter Exam. Aboard the ship going to the location of the examination, Gon meets Kurapika and Leorio.

Synopsis
Gon is first seen at his home of Whale Island, fishing for The Master Of The Swamp — a fish that five grown fishermen pulling together couldn't land. Gon made a wager with his aunt that if he could catch the fish, she would allow him to take part in the Hunter Examination. After a week of work, Gon finally succeeds and his aunt signs his application. Gon proceeds to go visit his friend, a grown-up foxbear named Kon, who Gon had raised since he was a cub. Gon tells Kon that he's going to become a Hunter and that he will do things the the animals of the forest won't like. Since Kon is the king of the forest, he can't talk to Gon anymore. Kon walks away from Gon to a gathering of other animals. Gon returns home and speaks to his aunt. She asks if Gon always knew his Father's trade, and also tells him his father left Gon with her when he was still a baby; Gon replies being a Hunter must be an important job that family comes only second and that it's time for him to meet his father.

He is then seen preparing to board a ship heading for the Hunter exam. Everyone in the town comes to say bye and wish him luck. Aunt Mito comes and tells him his father didn't abandon him; she made him give up Gon through the courts. Gon says he knew because she never looks at him when she's lying. He gets on the boat and yells back to her that he will return as a great Hunter.

The first night on the boat, there is a huge storm that tosses about most of the would-be Hunters. After the storm, the ship's drunkard of a captain walks around to see only three candidates still able to move (one of them being Gon is running back and forth trying to take care of the sea-sick). Later on, Gon is standing on the front of the boat where he predicts they will be hit by another storm, but this time it will be three times the size as the previous night. The captain knows he is correct and not guessing; he sees Ging in Gon.. He asks who Gon's father is, and finds he is correct. The captain shows Gon how to steer the boat, he also announces that the next storm was coming and anyone who wanted off should right now. All but Gon,Kurapika, and Leorio leave. The captain asks why they all want to be hunters. Gon answers while the other two don't. Leorio asks why they should tell him when he just steers the ship. The captain replies he screens applicants and it is up to him whether or not they pass. The remaining two tell him. While explaining, Kurapika annoys Leorio to the point they go out into the storm to fight. When a crew member jumps in to stop them he falls overboard and Gon jumps after him, narrowly missing falling into the ocean thanks to Kurapika and Leorio grabbing his ankles in time to pull them both back on board.