Hunter 21

2015’s final issue of Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine included no new episodes of hit manga Hunter x Hunter, ending a 25-year-long record.

It’s quite something when an episode of a manga not appearing in a magazine becomes the subject of considerable attention, but that’s exactly what’s happened with Yoshihiro Togashi’s internationally popular manga and anime series, Hunter x Hunter.

Togashi, while considered an absolutely brilliant story-teller, is also notorious for taking long periods off from comic writing, starting from the time he was working on his earlier hit, Yu Yu Hakusho, back in the 90s. The explanations given for his time off have been illnesses or lower back pain, but the real reason has never quite been clear, as there are stories of him having run away from his work and hiding when he felt he couldn’t handle the grueling weekly serial pace. In short, it’s now somewhat accepted that Togashi can only produce work in relatively short spurts with long periods of rest in between. In fact, there’s a running joke that at any given time, some fan somewhere is crying out, “Get to work, Togashi!” Now, while we’re sure the fans mean that in a loving way, we can also understand their frustration, as Hunter x Hunter has appeared in fewer than half (42.4% to be precise, according to Nico Nico Pedia) of the Weekly Shonen Jump volumes published since the series began in March of 1998.

▼ Like many successful manga, Hunter x Hunter has been turned into a TV series and multiple films.

Hunter filmAmazon Japan

That said, Togashi has, until now, had the distinction of having his work appear in Weekly Shonen Jump at least once for 25 years running, which is quite a feat in itself. The only artist to surpass that record is Osamu Akimoto, whose manga Kochikame (or Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo, if you want the full title) has been serialized in the magazine for an amazing 39 years (and still running). Not even Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball and Hirohito Araki of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, both famous for their long serials in Weekly Shonen Jump, have had something published in the Jump magazine each year for so many consecutive years.

Now, unfortunately, it appears the record has ended here for Togashi. Fans who were aware of the situation were hoping that something might appear in the magazine in the final few issues of the year, but their hopes were dashed as the last issue of Weekly Shone Jump for 2015 was published on December 21 with no Hunter x Hunter to be found among the pages.

But perhaps the truly amazing thing is that there are still fans out there waiting for Togashi to continue and, hopefully, finish the story, despite the fact that a new episode hasn’t been published in roughly a year.

▼ After 32 volumes of Hunter x Hunter, fans are still waiting for the story to go on!

Hunter 1-32Amazon Japan

For the sake of followers around the world, we hope Togashi-sensei can get to work sometime soon!

Top image: Amazon Japan (edited by RocketNews24) 
Source: Hachima Kiko, Nico Nico Pedia, KAI-YOU.net