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Yoshihiro Togashi, the author of Hunter x Hunter, had recently answered the questions asked by former Sakurazaka46 member, Yumiko Seki, on TV Asahi’s popular variety show Iwakura and Yoshizumi.
Togashi’s answers were delivered in a letter, which was read aloud during the show by Shintaro Morimoto, a Japanese singer, who was one of the guests and the coordinator, for everyone to hear.
One of the questions asked by Seki, who is an avid fan of Hunter x Hunter, made the author reveal his initial idea for the series.
According to Togashi, in this initial idea, Gon was actually supposed to fail the hunter exams. The story was then supposed have a time-skip, jumping several years into the future.
However, when Togashi presented this idea, it was scrapped by the editor.
“Once I had a rough idea of the setting (a story in another world that focuses on the profession of Hunters), I felt like I could continue the story as long as I wanted. So I decided that the goal of the serialization would be to “continue for as long as possible” and that it should start with the main character (TBD) taking the Hunter Exam. At the start of the serialization, I decided to write three storyboards and a scene where the main character (TBD) fails the exam and the story jumps one to several years in the future. I didn’t decide on the content of the exam until right before the start of the series because I wanted to enjoy the fact that I didn’t know what would happen. In the end, after I discussed it with my editor, the idea of Gon failing the exam was rejected.“
Togashi was then forced to revise his initial plans, including the part about the time-skip. And the parts from the initial draft that made it to the original story were only worth the first three chapters.
However, the author clarified that he only revised the narrative structure of his idea, and main characters like Killua and Hisoka, who were the pillars of the story along with Gon, were already decided on. He had planned for them to make an appearance at the beginning of the hunter exams.
“So if the question is asking about what actually appeared in the story, the answer would be the first three chapters. However, I had already decided that pillars of the story—the friend (Killua) and the villain (Hisoka)—would appear at the beginning of the exam. I decide what needs to be done in terms of narrative structure first, and then work on the details with a great sense of urgency until the last minute. In that regard, I had a rough idea of the outline for the story ahead, but since the timeskip idea was rejected, I had to draw the section right before that part and revise my initial plans. I remember that I probably wasn’t able to finish the manuscript that week.“
In the same show, Togashi had also revealed the three planned endings to the HxH manga – A, B and C, all of which will have different levels of satisfaction from the fans. In addition to it, he also revealed the details of a fourth ending, which was initially scrapped.
Togashi, however, wanted fans to be aware of the details of this ending, in case he passed away before he could finish writing the manga.
Hunter × Hunter is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump since March 1998, although the manga has frequently gone on extended hiatuses since 2006.
Its chapters have been collected in 37 tankobon volumes as of November 2022. Hunter x Hunter manga had returned from its long hiatus of nearly four years on Oct 24, 2022.
Hunter × Hunter was adapted into a 62-episode anime television series produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, which ran on Fuji Television from October 1999 to March 2001.
Three separate original video animations (OVAs) totaling 30 episodes were subsequently produced by Nippon Animation and released in Japan from 2002 to 2004.
A second anime television series by Madhouse aired on Nippon Television from October 2011 to September 2014, totaling 148 episodes, with two animated theatrical films released in 2013.
Translation Credits: Togashi’s Troupe (브이브 and AoM).
