Monday, May 30, 2016
Hunter × Hunter is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since March 3, 1998, although the manga has frequently gone on hiatus since 2006. As of December 2012, 340 chapters have been collected into 32 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. The story focuses on a young boy named Gon Freecss, who discovers that his father, who he was told was dead, is actually alive and a world-renowned Hunter, a licensed profession for those who specialize in fantastic pursuits such as locating rare or unidentified animal species, treasure hunting, surveying unexplored enclaves, or hunting down lawless individuals. Despite being abandoned by his father, Gon departs upon a journey to follow in his footsteps, pass the rigorous Hunter Examination, and eventually find his father. Along the way, Gon meets various other Hunters and also encounters the paranormal. The original inspiration for the manga came from Togashi's own collecting hobby.
In 1999, Hunter × Hunter was adapted into a 62-episode anime television series produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi. The show premiered on Japan's Fuji TV and ran until 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 Madhouseaired on Nippon Television from October 2011 to September 2014, with two animated theatrical films released in 2013. There are also numerous audio albums, video games, musicals, and other media based on Hunter × Hunter. The manga has been translated into English and released in North America by Viz Media since April 2005. Both television series were also licensed by Viz, with the first having aired on the Funimation Channel in 2009 and the second airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block since April 2016.
Hunter × Hunter has been a huge critical and financial success and has become one of Shueisha's best-selling manga series, having sold over 65.8 million copies in Japan alone as of February 2013.
The story follows a young boy named Gon Freecss who was told all his life that both his parents were dead, but when he learns from Kite, an apprentice of his father, Ging Freecss that he is still alive and has since become an accomplished Hunter, Gon leaves his home on Whale Island and take the Hunter Examination in order to become a Hunter like him. [2][3][4] During the exam, Gon meets and eventually befriends three of the other applicants: Kurapika, the last remaining member of the Kurta clan who wishes to become a Hunter in order to avenge his clan and recover their scarlet-glowing eyes, plucked from their corpses by a band of thieves known as the Phantom Troupe; Leorio, a prospective physician who, in order to pay for medical school, desires the financial benefits Hunters receive; andKillua Zoldyck, another twelve-year-old boy who has left his former life as a member of the world's most notorious assassin family.[3][4][5] Among many other examinees, Gon continuously encounters Hisoka, a mysterious and deadly transmuter who takes an interest in him. After passing by many trials together, Gon and his friends end up passing the exam except for Killua who fails after killing another applicant out of frustration and runs away to his family's estate in shame.
After Gon and the others convince Killua to rejoin their side, Leorio and Kurapika depart temporarily for their own personal reasons, while Gon and Killua set for the Heavens Arena,a skyscraper where thousands of martial artists compete daily in fighting tournaments, seeking to improve themselves.[6] There they meet a kung fu master named Wing, who trains them in utilizing Nen, a Qi-like life energy utilized by Hunters to manifest parapsychological abilities, and also considered to be the final requirement to pass the Hunter Exam. Some time later, Gon and his friends reunite again in Yorknew City where they have a clash with the Phantom Troupe. In the occasion, some members of the band of thieves are killed and Kurapika is forced to give up the chance of hunting down the rest to rescue Gon and Killua, who were captured by them, but not without succeeding to seal the powers of their leader, Chrollo Lucilfer.
A few days later, Gon and Killua achieve their objective of start playing Greed Island, an extremely rare and expensive video game with Nen-like properties following some clues about Ging's whereabouts. [7] While exploring the game, it is revealed that its scenario is actually set somewhere in the real world, created with nen by no other than Ging himself. Outclassed by the difficulty of the challenges in the game at first, they are soon joined and trained by Biscuit Krueger, an experienced teacher of Nen and kung fu master and after Killua takes a short break to apply for the Hunter Examination again, this time with success, the trio complete the game together against all odds and Gon obtains the right to choose the artifacts from the game necessary to reunite with his father.
However, Gon decides to have Killua accompany him to meet his father, and the artifacts send them to meet Kite instead. The duo then decide to help with Kite's research, and upon discovering a giant insect limb, 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, where she quickly develops a taste for humans and builds a colony powerful enough to overcome the population, specially when its offsprings learn the power of Nen after consuming some Hunters. Upon facing the Chimera Ants, Kite sacrifices himself to allow Gon and Killua to flee and alert the Hunter Association. After months of preparation, the Association sends a team of some of their most powerful Hunters, including Netero, the president of the Association himself, to defeat the Ants and their king, Meruem, whose subjects secretly overthrew the government of the nearby Republic of East Gorteau as part of ther plan of subduing all of mankind. Despite losing to Meruem in combat, Netero ends up killing him with a bomb implanted on his body that poisons him to death soon after. In the occasion, Gon has a showdown with Neferpitou, the Ant who killed Kite, and despite having enacted his revenge, is hospitalized in critical condition.
After the Chimera Ant incident is resolved, the Hunter Association's top echelons, the Zodiacs, from which Ging is a member, begin the process of choosing Netero's replacement as Chairman, while Killua returns home to ask for his younger sister Alluka to save Gon's life. However, his family is unwilling to risk losing Alluka or having her dangerous powers used against them, but after evading his older brother Illumi's attempts to intercept him, Killua manages to bring Alluka to Gon's side and have him fully recovered, before sealing her powers completely to ensure she can have a normal life. Killua then parts ways with Gon, as he wants to travel with Alluka who had never seen the outside world before, while Gon himself finally meets his father and learns the true nature of his quest.
Some time later, Netero's son, Beyond, assembles an expedition to the Dark Continent (暗黒大陸 Ankoku Tairiku?), the forbidden, vast area outside of the known world, sponsored by the Kingdom of Kakin. Fearing that the expedition may bring disaster to the world, just like it occurred in previous attempts, the world's five greatest powers accept that Kakin join their ranks in exchange for full authority over its findings. To accompany Beyond and prevent him from doing something unexpected, the Zodiacs decide to watch over him, inviting Kurapika and Leorio to join them, replacing Ging and the former Vice-Chairman Pariston, who assembled their own team by Beyond's request.
