TL;DR:
- Hunter x Hunter returns! Manga author Yoshiro Togashi created a Twitter account to tease a comeback
- The Hunter x Hunter hiatus has lasted since November 2018
- Where did the story leave off?
The Hunter x Hunter manga appears to be back! Hunter x Hunter author Yoshiro Togashi has famously dealt with health constraints which have left him unable to create new manga chapters for the acclaimed story that debuted in the pages of the Shonen Jump magazine back in 1998. The hit manga has spawned two anime series, a handful of OVAs and two movies. With the latest hiatus lasting almost four years, fans have been pretty pessimistic about the manga’s return. There’s finally good (and official) news on the Hunter x Hunter return from a pretty reliable source.
Yoshiro Togashi teases that he’s working on the manga
A Twitter account claiming to be Yoshiro Togashi, the author of Hunter x Hunter surfaced early on May 24th, with a caption that’s translated to mean “four more episodes for the time being.” Manga authors like the late Kenta Miura have referred to their manga chapters as “episodes” in the past, so this account, if legit, is teasing another four chapters to add to the Dark Continent saga in the story.
There was some initial skepticism since Togashi has shied away from the public eye, especially amid health problems. However, this news was quickly co-signed by some really reliable sources. For one, the author of One Punch Man – Yusuke Murata – tweeted to confirm that the account is indeed Togashi himself. Additionally, Riichiro Inagaki, the author of Dr. Stone tweeted a tongue-in-cheek message that alludes to Togashi being the person behind the account.
Finally, the most heart-warming confirmation came from the voice actors of two of the main characters – Gon and Killua. Gon Freecss’ voice actor, Megumi Han, tweeted one half of an image showing Gon crying (a reference to the last arc covered by the anime). In contrast, Mariya Ise, the voice actor for Killua Zoldyck, tweeted the other half with Killua crying. If you’re a fan of the show, you know that this exchange tugged on your heartstrings.
There’s no news on when these next four chapters will release in the Shonen Jump magazine.
How long has ‘Hunter x Hunter’ been on hiatus?
The last time a Hunter x Hunter manga chapter graced the page of Shonen Jump, the world looked a lot different. November 26th, 2018 was the last time a new chapter was published, and since then, we haven’t received any new official content. The story right now is in the middle of the Dark Continent saga (specifically, the Succession Contest arc), which is a stretch of chapters that’s in the process of expanding the world significantly.
Kurapika transitioned into the main character after Gon and Killua took a back seat following the 13th Hunter Chairman Election arc. The Succession Contest arc began with Chapter 349 after the brief Dark Continent Expedition arc set the stage, and it has continued sporadically over the last several years. Since Togashi is famous at this point for going on hiatus with this story, Hiatus x Hiatus is a good way to keep track of when we’ve seen new chapters and when we’ve been missing Hunter x Hunter content. There’s been a lot of red since 2005.
What this means for the ‘Hunter x Hunter’ anime
The Hunter x Hunter anime settled with a far more satisfying ending than where the manga left off in the middle of a story arc that’s riddled with exposition. The anime left off at the end of the 13th Hunter Chairman Election arc, following the death of Chairman Netero. In the anime’s closing episode, a nen-less Gon finally met up with his father Ging Freecss, achieving the goal he set out to reach at the beginning of the story.
It came at a price – he had to separate from his best friend Killua, who goes his own way on a journey with his sibling, Alluka.
While the tweet from Togashi only alludes to a Hunter x Hunter return in the manga, it can’t be a bad sign that the voice actors for the two main characters to date chipped in on Twitter. The manga likely will need to at least finish this current story arc with the Succession War before anime production discussions can ramp up with Studio Madhouse. There’s already a bit of content that separates the anime and the manga. Still, the production team will likely want to avoid any possibility of overlapping the manga with the anime.
For that to happen, we need more manga chapters. Thankfully, it appears that they’re on the way.
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