Hunter × Hunter
Encyclopedia
, is a Japanese manga
series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi
. The story focuses on a young boy named Gon, who discovers that his father, whom he was told was dead, is actually alive and well. He learns that his father, Ging, is a legendary Hunter, an individual who has proven themselves an elite member of humanity and who specializes in finding rare creatures, secret treasures, and other individuals. Despite Ging having left his son with his relatives in order to pursue his own dreams, Gon becomes determined to follow in his father's footsteps, pass the rigorous Hunter Examination, and eventually find his father to become a Hunter in his own right. The original inspiration for the manga came from Togashi's own collecting
hobby.
Hunter × Hunter began its manga serialization on March 3, 1998 in the Shueisha
magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
. As of August 2011, its 310 chapters have been published in 29 tankōbon
(chapter collections) in Japan. However, the manga has frequently gone on hiatus since 2006. Hunter × Hunter was translated into English and released in North America by Viz Media
beginning in April 2005. In 1999, the manga series was adapted into a 92-episode anime
series produced by Nippon Animation
and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi
. The anime premiered on Japan's Fuji TV
and Animax
. Three separate original video animation
s (OVAs) totaling 30 episodes were subsequently produced by Nippon Animation and released in Japan from 2002 to 2004. The television series has been licensed and released in North America by Viz, and it aired on the Funimation Channel
starting in 2009. A second anime television series by Madhouse
began airing on Nippon Television
in October 2011. There are also numerous audio albums, video games, musicals
, and other media based on Hunter × Hunter.
The Hunter × Hunter manga has been a financial success in Japan, having sold over 55 million copies there as of August 2011. Popularity and viewer recognition of the anime series have proven much more modest. Critics of both the manga and its television adaptation have praised it as having a complex plot, endearing characters, and superb art and animation. However, reviewers disagreed on the quality of the anime's music and sound.
After the exam and a brief excursion to Killua's home estate, the four protagonists split up, promising to meet up in Yorknew City months later. Kurapika departs to find work and Leorio leaves to attend medical school
. Gon and Killua decide to gain both combat experience and money at the Heavens Arena, a skyscraper where thousands of martial artists
compete daily in fighting tournaments. There they meet a kung fu
(original Japanese version is Kenpō
) master named Wing, who trains them in utilizing Nen, a chi
-like life energy that can be used to manifest superhuman powers.
The next story arc reunites the main characters for the world's largest auction in the sprawling metropolis of Yorknew City. Gon, Killua, and Leorio try different methods to make enough money to buy Greed Island, an extremely rare and expensive video game with Nen-like properties that may help Gon locate his father. Meanwhile, Kurapika, having mastered a form of Nen himself, takes a job as bodyguard for a rich client who is attempting to obtain a pair of Kurta eyes. While at the auction, Kurapika crosses paths with the Phantom Troupe, the group responsible for the slaughtering of his clan and who are attempting to steal valuable artifacts throughout the city's many auctions. With the help of his comrades Kurapika neutralizes the Nen of Chrollo Lucilfer, leader of the Phantom Troupe, halting the group's activity in Yorknew City.
Finally, Gon and Killua find Greed Island, the seemingly-magical video game that sucks players within. The goal of the game is to collect a number of set cards, although almost everything in the game, from food to money, can be turned into cards. Inside Greed Island Gon and Killua are joined by an experienced teacher of Nen, Biscuit Krueger, who trains them. With help, Gon and Killua clear the game. As part of their reward, they are allowed to take three cards to be used outside the game. Using one of the cards, Gon and Killua travel to the location of a player with the username "Nigg", who they believe to be Ging. However, it ends up bringing them to Kite instead.
Alongside Kite, Gon and Killua briefly work as biological researchers in the country of Kakin. As they investigate a giant insect limb found on the country's shores, the group discover it came from a man-sized Chimera Ant queen, an insect that devours other creatures and then gives birth to progeny that inherit the characteristics of the different species it has eaten. The queen washes up onto an island nation called the Neo-Green Life (N.G.L.) Autonomous Region, inhabited by a neo-luddite
culture. She quickly develops a taste for humans and builds a colony in order to conceive both an army of offspring and a Chimera Ant king named Meryem. The Chimera Ants proceed to wipe most of the population out before Gon, Killua, and Kite arrive. The queen dies during labor, and the king and his Royal Guards flee the N.G.L., secretly overthrowing the government of the nearby Republic of East Gorteau soon thereafter.
Under the guise of the former king of the Republic, Meryem initiates the process of forcibly awakening Nen in the civilians of East Gorteau in order to select soldiers to join his own personal army to conquer the world, and convert the remaining inhabitants to foodstock. As Ants formerly under the queen's rule rejoin the king, the Hunter Association mobilizes quickly to stop the oncoming genocide by sending in an extermination team of Hunters to East Gorteau. Distraught over the murder of Kite at the hands of the Royal Guards, Gon and Killua join the extermination team in order to take revenge for their friend. The confront reaches the climax during a battle between the king himself and Netero, the chairman of the hunter association, who sacrifices himself to defeat Meryem by detonating a weapon of mass destruction implanted into his body. The king manages to survive, but due to the powerful poison liberated by the weapon, he dies days later. Gon also manages to enact revenge for Kite's death, but is severely wounded and lies unconscious under intensive care.
With the matter of the Chimera Ants solved, the Hunter Association now focus on the process of choosing Netero's substitute as chairman, while the other Hunters try to have a new chairman elected by a voting system proposed by Gon's father Ging, Killua returns home to consult his father looking for a way to save Gon's life.
explained that one of his hobbies is collecting
objects of all sorts, so he was inspired to create a manga
involving collecting titled "Hunter". He came up with the final name Hunter × Hunter while watching the television variety show
Downtown
, in which the hosts often repeated what they said to make the audience laugh. The title of the manga is usually pronounced "Hunter Hunter" with the "×" being silent. As with his previous series, YuYu Hakusho
, Togashi used drafting ink
and Kabura pens for his illustrations but began using an eMac
to color them. Togashi uses few or no assistants in the manga's production; however, fellow manga artist
and future wife Naoko Takeuchi
assisted Togashi in adding screentone
to single-color pages for the first volume. With the birth of their first son early in its publication, Togashi felt that this personal aspect of his life would be a great influence on his work, particularly the manga's theme of a young boy searching for his father.
There have been several instances in which Togashi has apologized to readers in Shueisha's
Weekly Shōnen Jump
for low quality artwork and promised to redraw portions of the chapters for their tankōbon
(collected volume) releases. In addition, the publication history of the Hunter × Hunter manga has been plagued with hiatuses in more recent years, in which serialized chapters would be separated by extended periods of time. The longest of these breaks lasted one year and eight months from March 2006 to October 2007. They were often attributed to various rumors such as Togashi suffering from an unspecified illness and the birth of his second child. The latest hiatus began after the publication of Chapter 310 in May 2010. Hunter × Hunter resumed on Weekly Shōnen Jump in August 2011 and since then is being serialized regularly.
began translating the manga into English and publishing it through Viz Media
. Viz marketed the manga as part of its "Shonen Jump Advanced" line for readers in their older teens and young adults. Twenty-seven volumes have been released in North America as of March 2011. The manga has also been licensed and translated into multiple languages throughout Europe and other parts of Asia. For instance, it was serialized between 2001 and 2005 in Banzai!
, a German version of Weekly Shōnen Jump.
adaptation was produced by Nippon Animation
and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi
, who had previously directed the Rurouni Kenshin
television series. A total of 62 episodes of Hunter × Hunter were broadcast on the Japanese terrestrial television
network Fuji Television
from October 16, 1999 to March 31, 2001 during the same Saturday evening timeslot as the anime version of Togashi's previous series YuYu Hakusho. Additionally, Hunter × Hunter has aired on the satellite television
station Animax
. Although it closely follows the manga, the violence in the anime version is lessened for younger audiences. Marvelous Entertainment has released all episodes of the series in Japan on DVD
in 13 separate volumes between September 20, 2000 and September 19, 2001.
Viz Media licensed the Hunter × Hunter anime for distribution in the Region 1
market, with English voice-work handled by The Ocean Group at Blue Water Studios
in Calgary
, Alberta
, Canada
. The series was released on four DVD boxed sets from December 9, 2008 to December 1, 2009. Starting with the second set, Viz partnered with Warner Home Video
to distribute the DVDs. Hunter × Hunter began airing in the United States on the Funimation Channel
in the spring of 2009.
, scripted by Jun Maekawa, and character designs were created by Takahiro Yoshimatsu. The series began airing on Nippon Television
starting October 2, 2011.
OVA
was shown as part of the "Jump Super Anime Tour" of 1998 alongside pilots for Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi!
and One Piece
. Produced by Studio Pierrot
and directed by Noriyuki Abe
, it depicts the early events of the manga up to Gon's ocean voyage from Whale Island. When the Hunter × Hunter anime covered most of its source material by 2001, Nippon Animation made the decision to end the adaptation rather than continue it with filler
. Due to fans' unsatisfied reactions to the conclusion of the television series, three subsequent OVAs were produced by Nippon Animation. These carried the plot from where the broadcast left off during the Yorknew City arc and covered the Greed Island arc. The first OVA was directed by Satoshi Saga and ran for eight episodes in four released volumes from January 17 to April 17, 2002. The second OVA season, Hunter × Hunter: Greed Island, was directed by Yukihiro Matsushita and ran for eight episodes in four released volumes from February 19 to May 21, 2003. The third OVA season, Hunter × Hunter: G.I. Final, was directed by Makoto Sato and ran for 14 episodes in seven released volumes from March 3 to August 18, 2004. After the original anime's initial run on Animax, the OVAs were aired successively. Viz has shown no intention of releasing English versions of the OVAs.
for the first Hunter × Hunter anime and three OVA series was composed by Toshihiko Sahashi
. A large number of audio CDs for the franchise have been released by Marvelous Entertainment. The three-volume soundtrack
for the anime television series contains 129 instrumental and vocal songs. The Original Video Animation Hunter × Hunter Sound Trax for the first OVA series contains 18 songs and the Original Video Animation Hunter × Hunter: Greed Island Original Sound Tracks for the second OVA series contains 30 songs. In addition, character-specific and story arc drama CDs and a 17-volume radio drama
titled Hunter × Hunter R have been published throughout the anime adaptations' release period.
based on Hunter × Hunter. The first, , was originally performed during December 2000. It is an original story that appears to take place between the end of the Yorknew City story arc and the beginning of the Greed Island arc. The second, , was originally performed during August 2002. It is a retelling of when Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon go to fetch Killua back from his family estate after the end of the Hunter Exam arc. Both musicals have received separate DVD and audio CD releases, as well as a dual DVD release from Marvelous Entertainment. There is also a live-action play
titled , which was performed 16 times at the Theater Sun-mall in Shinjuku, Tokyo
during August 2004. The play is a retelling of the Phantom Troupe finale in the Yorknew City arc. It received a DVD release in Japan on December 10, 2004.
or Bandai
. They range from role-playing and strategy games
to action
and adventure game
s. These include titles for the WonderSwan
, WonderSwan Color, Game Boy Color
, Game Boy Advance
, PlayStation
, and PlayStation 2
. Characters from the franchise have appeared along with other Weekly Shōnen Jump properties in two fighting game
s for the Nintendo DS
: Jump Super Stars
and Jump Ultimate Stars
.
by Bandai, action
and trading figures, and various other collectables.
.
The Hunter × Hunter manga has received much praise for its plot and characters. Jason Thompson
, author of Manga: The Complete Guide
, described its storyline as "an almost random collection of psych-outs, battles, puzzles, and trickery" that works on both a chapter-by-chapter basis and a larger scale. Thompson elaborated that with all the goals and subplots of each of the main characters, the story could seemingly go on forever, despite being unpredictable enough to hold reader interest. Charles Solomon, a writer for The New York Times
and Los Angeles Times
, admired the moral seriousness of Gon, a quality that gives the protagonist "an appeal his relentlessly upbeat counterparts lack". Publishers Weekly gave a positive review to the first volume of the manga, stating that Togashi "shows a deft touch" with its standard story, calling his artwork "clear and graceful", and mentioning that his characters are "endearing and complex". While Rika Takahashi of EX.org and Claude J. Pelletier of Protoculture Addicts
found the art style in Hunter × Hunter to be much simpler than Togashi's two previous serializations, Level E
and YuYu Hakusho, both reviewers appreciated the intricate narrative and characters.
listed it as having a Japanese television rating
of 10.5 for the fourth quarter of 2000. The show's viewership was ranked number six among the top ten television anime series in Japan for February 2001. The series was voted as the 16th best anime of 2000 in the Animage Anime Grand Prix, but rose to fourth place the following year. In 2001, the staff of the magazine listed Hunter × Hunter as the 94th most important anime of all time. In a 2006 web poll conducted in Japan by the network TV Asahi
, the Hunter × Hunter television series was voted 28th best anime of all time. In 2010, Mania.com's Briana Lawrence listed Hunter × Hunter at number nine of the website's "10 Anime Series That Need a Reboot".
Critical reception for the first Hunter × Hunter television adaptation has been generally favorable. Miyako Matsuda of Protoculture Addicts, Carl Kimlinger of the Anime News Network
(ANN), and Derrick L. Tucker of THEM Anime Reviews all expressed positive views of the series' narrative and characters. Matsuda admired the adventure-filled world of Hunter × Hunter and the practical character qualities of friendship, effort, and victory inserted by Togashi. Beginning with the second Viz DVD volume, Kimlinger summarized, "Togashi's plotting is canny and occasionally insightful and Furuhashi's visuals inventive yet attuned to the measured pacing of the series. Together they create a shonen action series that is both fun to watch and curiously respectful of its audience's intelligence. A strange combination indeed." Tucker admitted to being "bewitched" by the series mainly due to the remarkable and original characters, especially the interplay between the vastly different personalities of the Phantom Troupe members. Kimlinger gave particular praise to the characteristics of the complex villain Hisoka and the deep, emotional transformation of Kurapika in the latter half of the series. Theron Martin, also of ANN, contrastingly found the plot of the earliest episodes to be cliché, called the protagonist Gon "an obvious Son Goku
derivative", and stated that many of the story's aspects have been covered by other shōnen series such as Dragon Ball Z
. Martin was also displeased by an alleged lack of character development on the main protagonists' parts in the initial episodes.
The art and animation of the Hunter × Hunter anime have also been commended by the press. Kimlinger and Tucker were impressed by the art direction of Hunter × Hunter, the former of whom critiquing the adaptation of Togashi's work by Furuhashi as having "understated energy and flair, making the most of the era's (1999) mix of traditional and CG animation to bring Gon and friends' physical feats to fluid, exhilarating life." Martin faulted both the artwork and the subtle differences in character design. "The artistry not only shows its age but, in fact, looks older than it actually is," the reviewer commented, "hearkening back to a day when digital coloring and CG enhancements were not ubiquitous and allowances for a rougher look were greater." Opinions of the series' sound and music have been somewhat mixed. Martin positively noted the soundtrack as the strongest production point of Hunter × Hunter, and was satisfied with both the English translation of the script and Ocean's voice overs. Tucker found the music satisfactory and improved as the series progressed, but did not think it lived up to its potential. Kimlinger agreeably felt the musical score to be appropriate in most instances, but criticized the English dub as "a letdown since day one".
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi
Yoshihiro Togashi
is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age; while he attended college, the publisher Shueisha recognized his talent. Togashi has authored numerous manga series in different genres during the past three decades...
. The story focuses on a young boy named Gon, who discovers that his father, whom he was told was dead, is actually alive and well. He learns that his father, Ging, is a legendary Hunter, an individual who has proven themselves an elite member of humanity and who specializes in finding rare creatures, secret treasures, and other individuals. Despite Ging having left his son with his relatives in order to pursue his own dreams, Gon becomes determined to follow in his father's footsteps, pass the rigorous Hunter Examination, and eventually find his father to become a Hunter in his own right. The original inspiration for the manga came from Togashi's own collecting
Collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...
hobby.
Hunter × Hunter began its manga serialization on March 3, 1998 in the Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
. As of August 2011, its 310 chapters have been published in 29 tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
(chapter collections) in Japan. However, the manga has frequently gone on hiatus since 2006. Hunter × Hunter was translated into English and released in North America by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
beginning in April 2005. In 1999, the manga series was adapted into a 92-episode anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series produced by Nippon Animation
Nippon Animation
is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginza district of Chūō and production facilities in Tama City....
and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi
Kazuhiro Furuhashi
is a Japanese anime director and supervisor, born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. He is amongst anime's most foremost directors, having directed and helmed the entire Rurouni Kenshin series , the You're Under Arrest series, GetBackers, Hunter x Hunter, Zipang, Le Chevalier D'Eon,...
. The anime premiered on Japan's Fuji TV
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
and Animax
Animax
is a Japanese anime satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Japanese media conglomerate Sony, it is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment and the noted anime studios...
. Three separate original video animation
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
s (OVAs) totaling 30 episodes were subsequently produced by Nippon Animation and released in Japan from 2002 to 2004. The television series has been licensed and released in North America by Viz, and it aired on the Funimation Channel
FUNimation Channel
The FUNimation Channel is a 24-hour cable network which broadcasts anime series in the United States. OlympuSAT was chosen as the exclusive distributor of the network....
starting in 2009. A second anime television series by Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
began airing on Nippon Television
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...
in October 2011. There are also numerous audio albums, video games, musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, and other media based on Hunter × Hunter.
The Hunter × Hunter manga has been a financial success in Japan, having sold over 55 million copies there as of August 2011. Popularity and viewer recognition of the anime series have proven much more modest. Critics of both the manga and its television adaptation have praised it as having a complex plot, endearing characters, and superb art and animation. However, reviewers disagreed on the quality of the anime's music and sound.
Plot
Twelve years prior to the start of the story, Ging Freecss left his infant son, Gon, with Gon's aunt, Mito, on Whale Island. Gon, who was told all his life that both his parents were dead, finds out from Ging's apprentice, Kite, that his father is still alive and has since become an accomplished Hunter. Hunters are licensed, elite members of humanity who are capable of tracking down secret treasures, rare beasts, or even other individuals. Gon leaves his home to become a Hunter like his father by taking the Hunter Examination, a series of brutal tests involving skill, survival, and teamwork. Prior to and during the exam, Gon meets and befriends three of the other applicants: the last remaining member of the Kurta clan, Kurapika, who wishes to become a Hunter in order to avenge his slain people; Leorio, a prospective physician who claims to desire to become rich; and Killua Zoldyck, who had left his life as a member of a notorious assassin family. Among many other examinees, Gon continuously encounters Hisoka, a deadly, sadistic magician.After the exam and a brief excursion to Killua's home estate, the four protagonists split up, promising to meet up in Yorknew City months later. Kurapika departs to find work and Leorio leaves to attend medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
. Gon and Killua decide to gain both combat experience and money at the Heavens Arena, a skyscraper where thousands of martial artists
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
compete daily in fighting tournaments. There they meet a kung fu
Chinese martial arts
Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" , "sects" or...
(original Japanese version is Kenpō
Kenpo
is the name of several Japanese martial arts. The word kenpō is a Japanese translation of the Chinese word "quánfǎ. This term is often informally transliterated as "kempo", as a result of applying Traditional Hepburn romanization, but failing to use a macron to indicate the long vowel...
) master named Wing, who trains them in utilizing Nen, a chi
Qi
In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...
-like life energy that can be used to manifest superhuman powers.
The next story arc reunites the main characters for the world's largest auction in the sprawling metropolis of Yorknew City. Gon, Killua, and Leorio try different methods to make enough money to buy Greed Island, an extremely rare and expensive video game with Nen-like properties that may help Gon locate his father. Meanwhile, Kurapika, having mastered a form of Nen himself, takes a job as bodyguard for a rich client who is attempting to obtain a pair of Kurta eyes. While at the auction, Kurapika crosses paths with the Phantom Troupe, the group responsible for the slaughtering of his clan and who are attempting to steal valuable artifacts throughout the city's many auctions. With the help of his comrades Kurapika neutralizes the Nen of Chrollo Lucilfer, leader of the Phantom Troupe, halting the group's activity in Yorknew City.
Finally, Gon and Killua find Greed Island, the seemingly-magical video game that sucks players within. The goal of the game is to collect a number of set cards, although almost everything in the game, from food to money, can be turned into cards. Inside Greed Island Gon and Killua are joined by an experienced teacher of Nen, Biscuit Krueger, who trains them. With help, Gon and Killua clear the game. As part of their reward, they are allowed to take three cards to be used outside the game. Using one of the cards, Gon and Killua travel to the location of a player with the username "Nigg", who they believe to be Ging. However, it ends up bringing them to Kite instead.
Alongside Kite, Gon and Killua briefly work as biological researchers in the country of Kakin. As they investigate a giant insect limb found on the country's shores, the group discover it came from a man-sized Chimera Ant queen, an insect that devours other creatures and then gives birth to progeny that inherit the characteristics of the different species it has eaten. The queen washes up onto an island nation called the Neo-Green Life (N.G.L.) Autonomous Region, inhabited by a neo-luddite
Luddite
The Luddites were a social movement of 19th-century English textile artisans who protested – often by destroying mechanised looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life...
culture. She quickly develops a taste for humans and builds a colony in order to conceive both an army of offspring and a Chimera Ant king named Meryem. The Chimera Ants proceed to wipe most of the population out before Gon, Killua, and Kite arrive. The queen dies during labor, and the king and his Royal Guards flee the N.G.L., secretly overthrowing the government of the nearby Republic of East Gorteau soon thereafter.
Under the guise of the former king of the Republic, Meryem initiates the process of forcibly awakening Nen in the civilians of East Gorteau in order to select soldiers to join his own personal army to conquer the world, and convert the remaining inhabitants to foodstock. As Ants formerly under the queen's rule rejoin the king, the Hunter Association mobilizes quickly to stop the oncoming genocide by sending in an extermination team of Hunters to East Gorteau. Distraught over the murder of Kite at the hands of the Royal Guards, Gon and Killua join the extermination team in order to take revenge for their friend. The confront reaches the climax during a battle between the king himself and Netero, the chairman of the hunter association, who sacrifices himself to defeat Meryem by detonating a weapon of mass destruction implanted into his body. The king manages to survive, but due to the powerful poison liberated by the weapon, he dies days later. Gon also manages to enact revenge for Kite's death, but is severely wounded and lies unconscious under intensive care.
With the matter of the Chimera Ants solved, the Hunter Association now focus on the process of choosing Netero's substitute as chairman, while the other Hunters try to have a new chairman elected by a voting system proposed by Gon's father Ging, Killua returns home to consult his father looking for a way to save Gon's life.
Production
Author Yoshihiro TogashiYoshihiro Togashi
is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age; while he attended college, the publisher Shueisha recognized his talent. Togashi has authored numerous manga series in different genres during the past three decades...
explained that one of his hobbies is collecting
Collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...
objects of all sorts, so he was inspired to create a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
involving collecting titled "Hunter". He came up with the final name Hunter × Hunter while watching the television variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
Downtown
Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!
, often abbreviated , is a Japanese variety show hosted by the popular Japanese owarai duo, Downtown, with comedian Hōsei Yamasaki and owarai duo Cocorico co-hosting. The program has been broadcast on Nippon TV since its pilot episode on October 3, 1989, and continues to this day, celebrating its...
, in which the hosts often repeated what they said to make the audience laugh. The title of the manga is usually pronounced "Hunter Hunter" with the "×" being silent. As with his previous series, YuYu Hakusho
YuYu Hakusho
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The name of the series is spelled YuYu Hakusho in the Viz Media manga and Yu Yu Hakusho in other English distributions of the franchise. The series tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent who is struck and...
, Togashi used drafting ink
Fountain pen
A fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action...
and Kabura pens for his illustrations but began using an eMac
EMac
The eMac, short for education Mac, was a Macintosh desktop computer made by Apple Inc. It was originally aimed at the education market, but was later made available as a cheaper mass market alternative to Apple's second-generation LCD display iMac....
to color them. Togashi uses few or no assistants in the manga's production; however, fellow manga artist
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
and future wife Naoko Takeuchi
Naoko Takeuchi
is a Japanese manga artist who lives in Tokyo, Japan. Takeuchi's works have a wide following among anime and manga fans worldwide. Her most popular work, Sailor Moon, rose to become one of the most recognized manga and anime products to date.-Early life:...
assisted Togashi in adding screentone
Screentone
Screentone is a technique for applying textures and shades to drawings, used as an alternative to hatching. In the conventional process, patterns are transferred to paper from preprinted sheets, but the technique is also simulated in computer graphics...
to single-color pages for the first volume. With the birth of their first son early in its publication, Togashi felt that this personal aspect of his life would be a great influence on his work, particularly the manga's theme of a young boy searching for his father.
There have been several instances in which Togashi has apologized to readers in Shueisha's
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
for low quality artwork and promised to redraw portions of the chapters for their tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
(collected volume) releases. In addition, the publication history of the Hunter × Hunter manga has been plagued with hiatuses in more recent years, in which serialized chapters would be separated by extended periods of time. The longest of these breaks lasted one year and eight months from March 2006 to October 2007. They were often attributed to various rumors such as Togashi suffering from an unspecified illness and the birth of his second child. The latest hiatus began after the publication of Chapter 310 in May 2010. Hunter × Hunter resumed on Weekly Shōnen Jump in August 2011 and since then is being serialized regularly.
Manga
On March 3, 1998, the Hunter × Hunter manga began its ongoing serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in Japan. Shueisha has compiled most of the manga's chapters into 29 tankōbon volumes thus far. In April 2005, Shaenon K. GarrityShaenon K. Garrity
Shaenon K. Garrity is a webcomics writer and artist, best known as the creator of Narbonic. She is one of the most prominent cartoonists in the Modern Tales network of commercial webcomic sites, and became the site's editor on August 1, 2006...
began translating the manga into English and publishing it through Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
. Viz marketed the manga as part of its "Shonen Jump Advanced" line for readers in their older teens and young adults. Twenty-seven volumes have been released in North America as of March 2011. The manga has also been licensed and translated into multiple languages throughout Europe and other parts of Asia. For instance, it was serialized between 2001 and 2005 in Banzai!
Banzai! (magazine)
Banzai!, officially stylized BANZAI!, is a discontinued shōnen manga anthology that was published in Germany by Carlsen Verlag, from November 2001 to December 2005. It debuted in November 2001 as a German language adaptation of the popular Japanese manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump, published by...
, a German version of Weekly Shōnen Jump.
First series
The first Hunter × Hunter animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
adaptation was produced by Nippon Animation
Nippon Animation
is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginza district of Chūō and production facilities in Tama City....
and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi
Kazuhiro Furuhashi
is a Japanese anime director and supervisor, born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. He is amongst anime's most foremost directors, having directed and helmed the entire Rurouni Kenshin series , the You're Under Arrest series, GetBackers, Hunter x Hunter, Zipang, Le Chevalier D'Eon,...
, who had previously directed the Rurouni Kenshin
Rurouni Kenshin
, also known as Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai X, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The fictional setting takes place during the early Meiji period in Japan. The story is about a fictional assassin named Himura Kenshin, from the Bakumatsu who becomes a wanderer to...
television series. A total of 62 episodes of Hunter × Hunter were broadcast on the Japanese terrestrial television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
network Fuji Television
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
from October 16, 1999 to March 31, 2001 during the same Saturday evening timeslot as the anime version of Togashi's previous series YuYu Hakusho. Additionally, Hunter × Hunter has aired on the satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
station Animax
Animax
is a Japanese anime satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Japanese media conglomerate Sony, it is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment and the noted anime studios...
. Although it closely follows the manga, the violence in the anime version is lessened for younger audiences. Marvelous Entertainment has released all episodes of the series in Japan on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in 13 separate volumes between September 20, 2000 and September 19, 2001.
Viz Media licensed the Hunter × Hunter anime for distribution in the Region 1
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
market, with English voice-work handled by The Ocean Group at Blue Water Studios
Blue Water Studios
Blue Water Studios Ltd. is a recording company located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada mainly known for voiceovers on Anime-dubs and Video games...
in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The series was released on four DVD boxed sets from December 9, 2008 to December 1, 2009. Starting with the second set, Viz partnered with Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
to distribute the DVDs. Hunter × Hunter began airing in the United States on the Funimation Channel
FUNimation Channel
The FUNimation Channel is a 24-hour cable network which broadcasts anime series in the United States. OlympuSAT was chosen as the exclusive distributor of the network....
in the spring of 2009.
Second series
A new Hunter × Hunter anime adaptation was announced in July 2011. Instead of continuing the story from the OVA series, it will restart the story from the beginning of the manga in an attempt to adapt it more accurately. The series is directed Hiroshi Kōjina, produced by MadhouseMadhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
, scripted by Jun Maekawa, and character designs were created by Takahiro Yoshimatsu. The series began airing on Nippon Television
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...
starting October 2, 2011.
Original video animations
Prior to Nippon Animation's television adaptation of Hunter × Hunter, a stand-alone pilotTelevision pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
OVA
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
was shown as part of the "Jump Super Anime Tour" of 1998 alongside pilots for Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi!
Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi!
is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro. The manga was serialised in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1997 until the author was convicted of child prostitution in 2002...
and One Piece
One Piece
is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...
. Produced by Studio Pierrot
Studio Pierrot
is a Japanese animation/animation studio, founded in 1979 by former employees of Tatsunoko Production. Its headquarters is located in Mitaka, Tokyo.The company has a simple logo of the face of a clown...
and directed by Noriyuki Abe
Noriyuki Abe
is a Japanese anime director, storyboard artist, and sound director. He is best known for working with Studio Pierrot on major hits such as Ninku, Flame of Recca, Bleach, and Yu Yu Hakusho...
, it depicts the early events of the manga up to Gon's ocean voyage from Whale Island. When the Hunter × Hunter anime covered most of its source material by 2001, Nippon Animation made the decision to end the adaptation rather than continue it with filler
Filler (media)
In media, filler is material that is combined with material of greater relevance or quality to "fill out" a certain volume.-Early television:...
. Due to fans' unsatisfied reactions to the conclusion of the television series, three subsequent OVAs were produced by Nippon Animation. These carried the plot from where the broadcast left off during the Yorknew City arc and covered the Greed Island arc. The first OVA was directed by Satoshi Saga and ran for eight episodes in four released volumes from January 17 to April 17, 2002. The second OVA season, Hunter × Hunter: Greed Island, was directed by Yukihiro Matsushita and ran for eight episodes in four released volumes from February 19 to May 21, 2003. The third OVA season, Hunter × Hunter: G.I. Final, was directed by Makoto Sato and ran for 14 episodes in seven released volumes from March 3 to August 18, 2004. After the original anime's initial run on Animax, the OVAs were aired successively. Viz has shown no intention of releasing English versions of the OVAs.
CDs
The background musicBackground music
Although background music was by the end of the 20th century generally identified with Muzak or elevator music, there are several stages in the development of this concept.-Antecedents:...
for the first Hunter × Hunter anime and three OVA series was composed by Toshihiko Sahashi
Toshihiko Sahashi
is an accomplished Japanese composer. He graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1986. Sahashi has composed music for various anime series , video games, movies, dramas, and musicals...
. A large number of audio CDs for the franchise have been released by Marvelous Entertainment. The three-volume soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
for the anime television series contains 129 instrumental and vocal songs. The Original Video Animation Hunter × Hunter Sound Trax for the first OVA series contains 18 songs and the Original Video Animation Hunter × Hunter: Greed Island Original Sound Tracks for the second OVA series contains 30 songs. In addition, character-specific and story arc drama CDs and a 17-volume radio drama
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
titled Hunter × Hunter R have been published throughout the anime adaptations' release period.
Musicals and theatrical play
There have been two musicalsMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
based on Hunter × Hunter. The first, , was originally performed during December 2000. It is an original story that appears to take place between the end of the Yorknew City story arc and the beginning of the Greed Island arc. The second, , was originally performed during August 2002. It is a retelling of when Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon go to fetch Killua back from his family estate after the end of the Hunter Exam arc. Both musicals have received separate DVD and audio CD releases, as well as a dual DVD release from Marvelous Entertainment. There is also a live-action play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
titled , which was performed 16 times at the Theater Sun-mall in Shinjuku, Tokyo
Shinjuku, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population...
during August 2004. The play is a retelling of the Phantom Troupe finale in the Yorknew City arc. It received a DVD release in Japan on December 10, 2004.
Video games
There are ten Japan-exclusive video games based on Hunter × Hunter, many of which are either developed or published by KonamiKonami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
or Bandai
Bandai
is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third-largest producer of toys . Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs...
. They range from role-playing and strategy games
Strategy video game
Strategy video games is a video game genre that emphasizes skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory. They emphasize strategic, tactical, and sometimes logistical challenges. Many games also offer economic challenges and exploration...
to action
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
and adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s. These include titles for the WonderSwan
WonderSwan
was a line of handheld game consoles produced in Japan by Bandai between 1999 and 2003. It was developed by the late Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto and Bandai...
, WonderSwan Color, Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
, Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, and PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. Characters from the franchise have appeared along with other Weekly Shōnen Jump properties in two fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
s for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
: Jump Super Stars
Jump Super Stars
is a 2D fighting game for the Nintendo DS. It was developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo. The game was released on August 8, 2005 in Japan and accompanied the release of a red Nintendo DS...
and Jump Ultimate Stars
Jump Ultimate Stars
is a fighting video game developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the sequel to Jump Super Stars, also released for the DS. The game was released in Japan on November 23, 2006...
.
Other merchandise
A series of three film books based on the first anime series and authored by Nobuaki Kishikan has been released by Shueisha from December 3, 1999 to August 24, 2001. A guidebook to the anime titled was published by Shueisha in January 2001. A guidebook to the manga titled was published by the company on June 4, 2004. There is also an extensive trading card gameCollectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
by Bandai, action
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
and trading figures, and various other collectables.
Manga reception
The Hunter × Hunter manga has been largely commercially successful, having sold over 55 million copies in Japan as of August 2011. Volume 24 of the manga was the sixth best-selling manga of the year in Japan in 2007 Volume 25 was the second best-selling manga in the region during its release week. Volume 26 was the best-selling manga in the first two weeks of its release and has sold approximately 811,995 copies as of November 3, 2008. Volume 27 sold 488,446 copies in Japan in its first week and 941,550 copies by the middle of 2010. Volume 28 was also the best-selling manga in Japan during its week of release at 633,082 copies. Volume 29 was the third best-selling manga in Japan durings its week of release at 693,458 copies. In North America, volumes 23 through 27 have ranked within the top 300 best-selling graphics novels list of sales estimates by Diamond Comic DistributorsDiamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
.
The Hunter × Hunter manga has received much praise for its plot and characters. Jason Thompson
Jason Thompson (writer)
Jason Thompson is a manga critic, journalist, writer and comics artist.-Life and career:...
, author of Manga: The Complete Guide
Manga: The Complete Guide
Manga: The Complete Guide is a 2007 encyclopedia written by Jason Thompson and published by Del Rey which provides basic details and short reviews of over 1000 Japanese manga titles that have been translated and released in English in North America...
, described its storyline as "an almost random collection of psych-outs, battles, puzzles, and trickery" that works on both a chapter-by-chapter basis and a larger scale. Thompson elaborated that with all the goals and subplots of each of the main characters, the story could seemingly go on forever, despite being unpredictable enough to hold reader interest. Charles Solomon, a writer for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, admired the moral seriousness of Gon, a quality that gives the protagonist "an appeal his relentlessly upbeat counterparts lack". Publishers Weekly gave a positive review to the first volume of the manga, stating that Togashi "shows a deft touch" with its standard story, calling his artwork "clear and graceful", and mentioning that his characters are "endearing and complex". While Rika Takahashi of EX.org and Claude J. Pelletier of Protoculture Addicts
Protoculture Addicts
Protoculture Addicts was a Canadian-based North American anime and manga magazine published by Protoculture Inc., an Anime News Network company...
found the art style in Hunter × Hunter to be much simpler than Togashi's two previous serializations, Level E
Level E
is a comic science fiction manga series by Yoshihiro Togashi. The plot follows an alien prince who crash lands on Earth and begins living with a high school student...
and YuYu Hakusho, both reviewers appreciated the intricate narrative and characters.
Anime reception
The first Hunter × Hunter anime series has enjoyed much more modest popularity than its manga source. NewtypeNewtype (magazine)
is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime and manga . It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985 with its April issue, and has since seen regular release on the 10th of every month in its home country...
listed it as having a Japanese television rating
Audience measurement
Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites...
of 10.5 for the fourth quarter of 2000. The show's viewership was ranked number six among the top ten television anime series in Japan for February 2001. The series was voted as the 16th best anime of 2000 in the Animage Anime Grand Prix, but rose to fourth place the following year. In 2001, the staff of the magazine listed Hunter × Hunter as the 94th most important anime of all time. In a 2006 web poll conducted in Japan by the network TV Asahi
TV Asahi
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
, the Hunter × Hunter television series was voted 28th best anime of all time. In 2010, Mania.com's Briana Lawrence listed Hunter × Hunter at number nine of the website's "10 Anime Series That Need a Reboot".
Critical reception for the first Hunter × Hunter television adaptation has been generally favorable. Miyako Matsuda of Protoculture Addicts, Carl Kimlinger of the Anime News Network
Anime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
(ANN), and Derrick L. Tucker of THEM Anime Reviews all expressed positive views of the series' narrative and characters. Matsuda admired the adventure-filled world of Hunter × Hunter and the practical character qualities of friendship, effort, and victory inserted by Togashi. Beginning with the second Viz DVD volume, Kimlinger summarized, "Togashi's plotting is canny and occasionally insightful and Furuhashi's visuals inventive yet attuned to the measured pacing of the series. Together they create a shonen action series that is both fun to watch and curiously respectful of its audience's intelligence. A strange combination indeed." Tucker admitted to being "bewitched" by the series mainly due to the remarkable and original characters, especially the interplay between the vastly different personalities of the Phantom Troupe members. Kimlinger gave particular praise to the characteristics of the complex villain Hisoka and the deep, emotional transformation of Kurapika in the latter half of the series. Theron Martin, also of ANN, contrastingly found the plot of the earliest episodes to be cliché, called the protagonist Gon "an obvious Son Goku
Son Goku (Dragon Ball)
Goku, known as in the English-language manga and original Japanese-language version, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. He is loosely based on Sun Wukong, a central character in Journey to the West...
derivative", and stated that many of the story's aspects have been covered by other shōnen series such as Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
. Martin was also displeased by an alleged lack of character development on the main protagonists' parts in the initial episodes.
The art and animation of the Hunter × Hunter anime have also been commended by the press. Kimlinger and Tucker were impressed by the art direction of Hunter × Hunter, the former of whom critiquing the adaptation of Togashi's work by Furuhashi as having "understated energy and flair, making the most of the era's (1999) mix of traditional and CG animation to bring Gon and friends' physical feats to fluid, exhilarating life." Martin faulted both the artwork and the subtle differences in character design. "The artistry not only shows its age but, in fact, looks older than it actually is," the reviewer commented, "hearkening back to a day when digital coloring and CG enhancements were not ubiquitous and allowances for a rougher look were greater." Opinions of the series' sound and music have been somewhat mixed. Martin positively noted the soundtrack as the strongest production point of Hunter × Hunter, and was satisfied with both the English translation of the script and Ocean's voice overs. Tucker found the music satisfactory and improved as the series progressed, but did not think it lived up to its potential. Kimlinger agreeably felt the musical score to be appropriate in most instances, but criticized the English dub as "a letdown since day one".