Hunter × Hunter

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Hunter × Hunter
File:Hunter x Hunter Volume 1.jpgCover of the Japanese Hunter × Hunter manga Vol. 1
Genre	Shōnen
Created by	Yoshihiro Togashi
Manga
Written by	Yoshihiro Togashi
Published by	Shueisha Chuang Yi
Anime
Directed by	Kazuhiro Furuhashi
Studio	Nippon Animation
Related works
Hunter × Hunter: Original Video Animation Hunter × Hunter: Greed Island Hunter × Hunter: Greed Island Final

Hunter × Hunter (pronounced "Hunter Hunter") is a manga by Yoshihiro Togashi about a 12-year-old boy named Gon Freecss (ゴン＝フリークス), and his quest to find his father, Ging Freecss. Ging is a Hunter, which in the setting of Hunter × Hunter means that he is a member of society's elite, with pretty much total license to go anywhere or do anything. It started running in Japan in Weekly Shonen Jump in the 14th issue of 1998.

Story arcs

Main article: Hunter × Hunter story arcs

Characters

Main article: Hunter × Hunter characters

Types of Hunters

There are many career options available once the candidate has become a full-fledged Hunter. Here are a few main categories that were encountered in the series:

Culinary Hunters- Especially suited for the gastronomically inclined, the Hunter is responsible for discovering new flavours and bringing them alive through their creative cooking styles. An example of one is Menchi.

Archaeological Hunters- For those fascinated in bringing ancient cultures and structures to life. Gon's father, Ging, had made significant contributions to this area. A current Hunter with this profession is Satotz.

Wildlife Hunters- People who feel a deep love for nature would be inclined for this job, as a wildlife hunter is in charge of both preserving and searching for undiscovered animal species, just as what Bokuru aspires to be.

Musical Hunters- Definitely catered to the musically talented, they are in charge of finding rare musical pieces and are adept in using any musical instrument. Senritsu currently is a Hunter of this category.

Blacklist Hunters- A serious profession for the brave and determined upholders of justice- with the heavy duty of tracking down the most dangerous and wanted criminals. Kurapica has expressed his wishes in becoming one (and is currently covertly pursuing this career).

Treasure-Seeking Hunters- They scour the world in search of rare and valuable booty, especially suited for those with a sense of adventure and a liking towards the unknown. Gon can be said to be one currently.

Hunter license description

Appearance
A Hunter licence is in the form of a normal card, except that it is slightly thicker and has computer chips inbuilt. The front side shows the Hunter rank you are currently in, whereas the back has a magnetic strip with a unique serial number that identifies each individual with the licence. It works similar to a credit card, with card machines that can swipe and read the licence, except that it has many more features and benefits associated with it.

Benefits
With regards to the numerous benefits, first and foremost is the unparalleled fame and recognition a licence holder can enjoy, being one of the few in the world who owns a licence. Next comes the material benefits, as licensed Hunters can enjoy:

1. a hefty 95% discount on all public services like hotel lodging, food and transport, all provided with 1st class service.
2. More freedom to travel around the world, having access to 90% of countries normally restricted to people, and 70% access to 'forbidden' areas.
3. Even if a Hunter decides to sell his licence, he would be given enough money to support himself for at least 7 generations!

Hunter Rankings
Basically, there are 3 types.

The 1st and most common type is the one given to the candidate upon passing the Hunter Exam. The other 3 types are awarded to you after you've made significant contributions to mankind, and are ranked in order of importance----

1 star, 2 stars and 3 stars.

Moderate contributions might enable you to get 1 star recognition.
A more successful Hunter who has made many contributions over a variety of fields can be awarded 2 stars.
The 3 star licence is the rarest and most difficult to obtain. The Hunter who has been awarded this great honour must have made a monumental contribution to mankind over a far-reaching scope. Purportedly, there are only fewer than 10 people in this world who have the 3 star licence.

Types of Nen power

Kyouka (Reinforcement)- Makes something stronger eg. your body. Ubogin, Nobunaga and Gon are kyouka type people.

Houshutsu (Emission)- Can make one's aura stay under control away from the body eg. Shooting aura, making aura fly, moving aura that's detached from the body. Franklin and Shachmo-no Tochi-no are houshutsu type people.

Sousa (Manipulation)- Can control objects/living organisms. Shalnark, Veize and Sukuwara are sousa type people.

Gugenka (Materialization)- Can create objects out of one's aura. Shizuku, Coltopi and Kurapika are gugenka type people.

Enka (Transformation)- Can make one's aura's property change. Killua, Machi and Hisoka are enka type people.

Tokushitsu (Specialization)- Anything that doesn't come under the other five categories. Neon, Pakunoda, Kuroro and Kurapika are tokushitsu type people.

Terms

Ten- The ability to keep the aura from escaping into the air. By using this, the body is much stronger and able endure strong forces applied to the body (for example, someone using Ten can endure a very strong punch whereas an ordinary person may get a bigger damage.) One can look younger (when using Ten all the time) than the ordinary person who can't use Ten.

Zetsu- The ability to stop the aura flowing around the body altogether. It is useful when you're spying on someone and you don't want that person to know that you're there. Without using Zetsu, the person can easily detect the aura (if he/she is a Nen user) coming out of your body and the game will be up!

Ren- The ability to make more aura flow around the body than usual.

In - Technically, it's a more difficult form of Zetsu. You can make your aura extremely hard to see by using this. For example, if you can create a Nen sword out of your aura, you can make it almost invisible and still hold use it.

Gyou- Makes one's aura "almost" invisible because by using Gyou, it is possible to see the aura that the person is hiding with In. Gyou is a higher form of Ren. To achieve this, one must create a lot of aura (like in Ren) and make it stay around the eyes.

Shu- A higher form of Ten. You can strengthen a shovel (or any other object) by making your aura flow around the shovel (wrapping it with your aura) and you can dig a hole in a rock if you strengthened it enough! You have touch the object you wish to strengthen if you want this to work and it takes a lot of energy to do Shu.

Kou- This is the Nen ability that Gon uses for fighting. (It comes up in volume 13) This is Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu and Gyou put together to make all of your aura to concentrate around one part of your body (eg. around the fist like Gon) and use that part of your body to attack. In Gon's case he uses Kou around his fist and punches. This is powerful enough to make a rock crumble to pieces.

Ken- Higher form of Ten and Ren put together. To do Ken you must do Ren continuously.

Wing’s assessment of Nen

The classic wine glass x leaf x water test. A person who has sufficiently mastered the uses of nen is asked to unleash his powers into the wine glass. Based on the observation that is seen, he can be assessed to become a;

Kyouka (Reinforcement)- If the water is seen to overflow and trickle out of the glass

Gugenka (Materialization) - When some crystalline particles are created, clouding up the water that was initially clear

Enka (Transformation)- The chemical make-up of water changes, i.e. it changes flavour. Its taste depends on the preference of the person (since Killua has a sweet-tooth, his became sweeter)

Sousa (Manipulation)- The leaf that floats atop the water is seen to vibrate/float.

Houshutsu (Emission)- Colouration of the water will undergo a transition from colourless transparency to a coloured pigmentation, like red or black

Tokushitsu (Specialization)- Some unknown event that is not within one of the five events listed above would happen.

Hisoka’s assessment Of Nen

Hisoka uses an easier method to determine the hatsu of a person, and this benefits him immeasurably when battling against opponents, being able to sound them out and employ battle strategies to deal with them. This is his checklist--

Kyouka(Reinforcement)- naive, single-minded

Gugenka (Materialzation)- Highly sensitive person, with a rich imagination

Enka (Transformation)- Unpredictable nature. Loves to fabricate lies

Sousa (Manipulation)- Has a liking for lecturing others, very stubborn

Houshutsu (Emission)- Is impatient and brash

Tokushitsu (Specialization)- An Individualistic person with some amount of uniqueness; charismatic.

Media

The manga is currently published in Japan in Weekly Shonen Jump, and past episodes have been compiled into a set of 22 tankōbon and growing. The manga is currently being published in the United States by VIZ Media.

An early Hunter × Hunter OVA was shown only at the 1998 Jump Super Anime Tour.

An anime of Hunter × Hunter was broadcast on Fuji Television from mid October 1999 to March 2001, and ran for 62 episodes. The anime series removed the vast quantities of gore and severed limbs that filled the manga, added new scenes like the "Battleship Island" test in the Hunter Test, and fleshed out both the main characters and a few minor characters. The televised anime ended just before the end of the Genei Ryodan story arc. Three subsequent OVAs have carried the story through the end of the Genei Ryodan story arc (8 episodes), and through the Greed Island story arc (8 episodes, released from February through April 2003, and 14 episodes, released from March through August 2004). The anime is produced in English in Singapore by Odex.

There has been three musicals, the third of which very little is known about. In the musicals, Killua, Gon, Leorio, Kurapika, and Hisoka, are all played by their japanese voice actors;

Gon – Junko Takeuchi
Killua – Kanako Mitsuhashi
Leorio – Hozumi Goda
Kurapika – Yuki Kaida
Hisoka – Hiroki Takahashi

The first is just called "Hunter × Hunter: Musical". It is an original story, that appears to take place in between the end of the "Genei Ryoden Arc" and the beginning of the "Yorknew City" part. Gon gets a mysterious phone call, to come aid the citizines of Elrais. Once they get there they find that the country's 4 best performers have been kidnapped. It is later found that the kidnappers are controlling Madame Isabel (who is like a ghost). They plan to use her power to take revenge on Elrais. It is up to Gon and party to rescue the preformers, and save the country.

The second Musical is called "Hunter × Hunter; The Nightmare of Zoldyck". This is a alternate re-telling of when Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon go to Kukuruu Moutain to fetch Killua back. This includes a farewell party at the Zoldyck mansion, and Illumi placing a "switch" in Killua's mind. This switch will cause Killua to become murderous and attack his friends, if he ever tries to fight Illumi.

As with several other anime series, Hunter × Hunter has spawned numerous video games (most of which take place on Greed Island),the most recent being Jump Superstars for the Nintendo DS, and a trading card game (which is not based on the cards used on Greed Island).

Miscellany

Trivia

The title is pronounced "Hunter Hunter" rather than "Hunter-ecks-Hunter". Yoshihiro Togashi got the idea for the title from a Japanese cop show in which the hero's sidekick always says everything twice.

Yoshihiro Togashi makes two cameo appearances in the anime as a man wearing a dog mask with square-rimmed glasses. In the first appearance, he gives the audience some very tangential exposition about Hisoka's childhood, and in the second appearance he gives the audience a brief, public-service-announcement-style warning about the perils of online auctions. Both appearances are completely superfluous to the plot, and the main characters are oblivious to his presence.

Hisoka is sexually aroused by people with very powerful Nen ability, regardless of gender, and derives sexual satisfaction from fighting and killing them. At one point in the Celestial Tower story arc, when he's telling Gon how impressed he is with his power, he is depicted with beams of energy emenating from his crotch, and at another point in the Greed Island story arc, he holds an extended telescope against his crotch while talking about how arousingly powerful another character is.

While Killua's little brother Kalluto appears to be female (i.e. dressing like a girl and being voiced by a female seiyū in the anime), he addresses himself as "boku" (a humble male first-person pronoun in Japanese), and the manga guidebook for Hunter × Hunter distinctly states that Kalluto is male. Also, there are only five Zoldyck children, and it is quite clearly stated in the manga that the Zoaldyeck's have 'five sons.'

In an official "Hunter's Guide" book that was released in June 2004, the official spelling of several names by Yoshihiro Togashi were shown. They are mostly considered bizarre, since they make very little sense. Because of this, translators kept the original translations of the names based on pronunciation rather than the official versions. Here are a few examples of the names of the official spellings:

Kurapika – Curarpikt
Hisoka – Hyskoa
Quoll/Kuroro Lucifer – Quwrof Wrlccywrlir
Ubogin – Wbererguin
Shizuku – Chzzok
Pakunoda – Phalcnothdk
Bonorenolf - Vonnornoth
Coltopi - Colhtophy
Feitan - Heytun
Franklin - Fulunkln
Illumi - Yellmi
Karuto - Calltt
Machi - Matiy
Phinx - Phynkss
Shalnark - Syarnorke

Following the recent announcement that D.Gray-man would be temporarilly halted due to the manga-ka being ill, Shonen Jump has announced that Yoshihiro Togashi is also ill, therefore Hunter × Hunter will be on hiatus until next year's issue #8, to be released on January 23 2006.

One paticulary interesting "cameo" that featured early on in the series was Sailor Moon (as one of Togashi's pre-chapter sketches) as thanks towards Sailor Moon's writer, Naoko Takeuchi, for her help with the colored artwork and toneing in Hunter × Hunter's first volume. This happened, notably, before their marriage in 1999.

Views and speculation

The manga is noticeably more talky and poorly-drawn through the middle of the Greed Island story arc. This is supposedly because Yoshihiro Togashi was "very sick" at the time (which in Japan, where illness is almost always left vague, could mean anything from "a bad flu" to "on chemotherapy").

Kurapika's gender is a major point of contention among fans of the series. Although Kurapika speaks "male Japanese", his features, clothes, and mannerisms are all very feminine, he is voiced by a woman in the anime, and he does numerous things (like refusing to undress in front of anyone else, becoming incredibly embarrassed when Leorio strips down to his underwear at one point in the anime, and showing complete sexual disinterest in either women or men) clearly designed to keep his gender ambiguous. In a scene that some fans feel resolves the issue, Kurapika dons a long-haired pink wig and even more feminine clothing as a disguise to capture someone. When his captive says "I didn't realize was a girl", Kurapika removes the wig and replies "you shouldn't make assumptions" which is, of course, probably the most ambiguous answer possible. This dispute is easily resolved by pointing out the cover to manga volume 14, which depicts him shirtless. He has also appeared shirtless in episodes of the anime, completely comfortable as thus, and without any indication of breasts. In addition to this, the Official Hunter × Hunter manga guidebook states his gender as being male. This suggests that he is merely another in a long line of anime bishounen.

It has been noted in Naoko Takeuchi's website that she has been asked when 'she' would resume the series, meaning there was some confusion between who out of the married couple writes Hunter × Hunter. However it has to be noted that she laughed this off on her website, meaning that the possibility of her continuing the series in the event of Togashi's illness not improving isn't too high.

Music

Openings:

"Ohayou" by Keno (episode 1 – 48)
"Taiyou wa Yoru mo Kagayaku" by WINO (episode 49 – 62)
"Pale Ale" by Kenichi Kurosawa (episode 63 – 70/OVA)
"Pray" by Wish (GI)
"Believe In Tomorrow" by Sunflower's Garden (GI Final)

Endings:

"Kaze no Uta" by Minako Honda (episode 1 – 31)
"E-Jan - Do You Feel Like I Feel" by Masato Nagai (episode 32 – 50)
"Hotaru" by Masato Nagai (episode 51 – 62)
"Carry On" by Kenichi Kurosawa (episode 63 – 70/OVA)
"Popcorn" by Mikuni Shimokawa (GI)
"Moshimo Kono Sekai de Kimi to Boku ga Deaenakatta Nara" by Sunflower's Garden (GI Final)

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