Hunter x Hunter, a series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. It first appeared in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1998. The series became very famous, and its popularity did not go down even after it went on multiple breaks since 2006. It was also published in a shoshuhen edition; this edition has the same original print of the original manga but with colored pages instead of the classic black and white.
Viz Media acquired the English version license for North America, and they have published the manga in their Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha English manga magazine. This magazine is completely digital and is available for a free preview online on Viz Media. A spin-off called Kurapika’s Memories was also translated by Viz Media and included in the same. It’s interesting to note that the spin-off was also featured in Banzai!, a German Shonen Jump magazine.
Seeing the manga’s popularity alone, it should come as no surprise to fans that the anime was adapted with great confidence. Hunter x Hunter has not one but two anime adaptations behind it. One which started in 1999, the same starting year as One Piece. And another which started airing in 2011. The first one was produced by Nippon Animation and became quite a success in its time. However, due to technological advancement being slow, it only reached big streaming sites like Funimation in 2009.
The second series was created and produced by Madhouse. It aired from October 2011 all the way until September 2014. It ended officially in its 6th and final season after having aired 148 episodes. Ever since its ending, fans have been making demands to release the 7th season. However, some claim that there’s not enough source material available for a new season, while some think hints about Hunter x Hunter return has been dropped.
Gon Freces
Hunters are the main focus of the series. Hunters are people who are licensed to hunt down anything, basically. Be it rare animal species, treasures, even other human beings. They are the elite of society and can do things regular people can’t. To become a Hunter, one has to pass the super difficult Hunter Examination, which has a meager success ratio. The series focuses on Gon, a boy who was told his whole life that both of his parents were dead. However, he finds out that his father is actually alive and has since become an esteemed Hunter.
Motivated to find him, Gon decides to participate in the annual Hunter exams. He comes across three other people, Kurapika, Leorio, and Killua. Killua is from a family of assassins who left his past life to become a Hunter. Kurapika is the last surviving member of a clan who wishes to avenge his clan after the grave-robbing thieves stole the eyes of his clan members’ corpses. And then there’s Leorio, who is just in the Hunter exams to secure the financial benefit the job gives to complete his medical studies. They also encounter Hisoka, a transmuting clown-like antagonist who seems to have a thing for Gon.
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The Story So Far
The ending episode of the anime was all about tying down the arcs of all the characters. Gon has a heart-to-heart talk with the man he had been seeking, his father. Ging Freces meets Gon on the top of the World Tree and reveals how he wanted to be a Hunter to step outside of the map they live by. He wanted to find the origin of the chimera ant and see where it came from. Gon returns his Hunter license to him after having loaned it to Kite. On the other hand, Kurapika has finally gotten the remains of his clan members back. He finishes the last rites of the eyes of his clan members and hence achieves his goal.
Hunter x Hunter Season 7 Release Date & Renewal
The anime is at a halt at the moment, the manga is no different it is on halt as well. We have enough content for another season, and we could be seeing Hunter x Hunter Season 7 as early as mid-2022. Fans have desperately asked for the seventh season of Hunter x Hunter. However, seeing that the story is pretty much complete with the individual characters having finished their redemption arcs, as we see in episode 148. We can say there’s a slight chance for Madhouse to give in to the requests even though they are currently busy with other projects. We will have to wait for an official announcement from Madhouse themselves. We will update you right here as soon as we have any information on Hunter x Hunter’s new season.
Renewal Status: Not Renewed (5/April/2021)