Hunter X Hunter

Cover of the 10th volume of Hunter × Hunter as released by Shueisha on November 2, 2000 in Japan.

Hunter × Hunter (ハンター×ハンター Hantā Hantā), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The story focuses on a young boy named Gon Freecss, who one day discovers that the father he had always been told was dead is in fact alive and well. He learns that his father, Ging, is a legendary "Hunter", an individual who has proven themself an elite member of humanity. Despite the fact that Ging 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 Hunter × Hunter manga series began serialization in March 1998 in the Shueisha magazineWeekly Shōnen Jump. With 310 chapters to date, it has been published in 27 tankōbon chapter collections in Japan so far. However, the manga has gone on hiatus a number of times in recent years. Hunter × Hunter was translated into English and released in North America by Viz Mediabeginning in April 2005. In 1999, the manga series was adapted into a 62-episode anime series produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, and premiered on the Japanese terrestrial television network Fuji TV and has also aired on the satellite televisionstation Animax. Three separate original video animations (OVAs) totalling 30 episodes were also 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. There are also numerous audio albums, video games, musicals, and other media based on Hunter × Hunter.

Plot

Twelve years prior to the start of the story, the famous Hunter Ging Freecss left his infant son,Gon, with his aunt Mito on Whale Island. Gon, raised believing his parents were dead, finds out from Ging's apprentice, Kite, that his father is still alive. Gon then leaves his home to follow in his father's footsteps as a "Hunter" by taking the "Hunter Exam". Hunters are elite members of humanity capable of tracking down secret treasure, rare beasts, and even other individuals. Prior to the exam, Gon meets and befriends three of the other applicants, Kurapika, Killua Zaoldyeck, and Leorio. After the exam, Kurapika departs to find work and Leorio leaves to attend medical school. Gon and Killua decide to gain combat experience by training at the "Heavens Arena", a 251-story building where thousands of martial artists compete daily in fighting tournaments. There, they meet the kung fu master, Wing, who teaches them about "Nen", a chi-like life energy that can be used to manifest superhuman powers.

The third story arc reunites the main characters for the world's largest auction in a sprawling metropolis called Yorknew City. Gon, Killua, and Leorio try different methods to make enough money to buy "Greed Island", a video game that could help Gon find his father. This story arc introduces the Phantom Troupe, a group of thieves who, among many other crimes, slaughtered all the other members of Kurapika's clan. Kurapika crosses paths with them while working as a bodyguard. Finally Gon and Killua's find the 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 Biscuit Krueger, a master and experienced teacher of Nen who trains them. As part of their reward, they are allowed to take three cards to be used in the real world. Using the card "Accompany", Gon and Killua travel to a player under 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 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 form his own personal army to conquer the world, resulting in the deaths of millions unable to awaken Nen. 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.

Production

The publication history of the Hunter × Hunter manga has been plagued with hiatuses beginning in November 2005. These hiatuses were often attributed to rumors of the author suffering from an unspecified illness. Since that time, the manga has settled into a schedule of being serialized for ten weeks (ten chapters) with no delays for any chapters, but then going back into hiatus for several months until the publication of the tankōbon collecting the most recent ten chapters, upon which the serialization continues for another ten weeks. The latest hiatus began after the publication of Chapter 310 in May 2010.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 also began using eMac for his coloring.

Media

The Hunter × Hunter manga is currently being serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan. Shueisha compiles the manga's chapters into tankōbon volumes, of which 27 have been released. An English version of the manga began publication in North America by Viz Media starting in April 2005. With a translation by Shaenon K. Garrity, Viz marketed the manga as part of its "Shonen Jump Advanced" line for readers in their older teens and young adults.Twenty-six volumes have been released in North America as of January 2010. The manga has also been licensed and translated into multiple languages throughout Europe and other parts of Asia.

Anime

The Hunter × Hunter anime adaptation was produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi. A total of 62 episodes were broadcast on Fuji Television from October 16, 1999 to March 31, 2001.The series has additionally aired on the satellite television station Animax.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, where it was released across four DVD boxed-sets. The first set was released on December 9, 2008 and the final was released on December 1, 2009.Starting with the second volume, Viz partnered with Warner Home Video in distributing the DVDs. Hunter × Hunter began airing in the United States on the Funimation Channel in the spring of 2009.