As we prepare for yet another return for shounen’s greatest masterpiece, I offer a few thoughts on this subject on MAL.
Why Are so Many Hunter X Hunter Fans so Miserable?
As we prepare for yet another return for shounen’s greatest masterpiece, I offer a few thoughts on this subject on MAL.
Simone
April 1, 2016 at 7:41 amIt’s true that the kind of spite that is shown at times towards Togashi by the fans (worse still – sometimes by people who simply reads his worn in scanlation form, thus really losing any ground to complain about anything) is really poisonous and undeserved. Personally I’m at peace with HunterXHunter’s awkward pacing, but that also means I basically accepted that the manga is effectively over by now. I fundamentally abandoned all investment in the new arc; I don’t think I’ll ever see it complete, and that’s that. I accept the open ending of the anime as the “proper” ending and perhaps would have appreciated it if the manga had the courage to actually end on the same note. It’s a personal thing but I guess it’s a form of OCD; I prefer to know something is completed and self-contained than going on and at risk of being left unfinished. But that’s just an aesthetic criterion, if you want.
Jindujun93
April 1, 2016 at 8:02 am“there really aren’t any other beloved manga with 10 years of hiatuses and a 60% hiatus rate to compare fan reaction against”
Except if you’re a fan of Berserk. I’m not quite sure about its hiatus rate, but suffice to say it’s high.
Guardian Enzo
April 1, 2016 at 8:08 amYeah, it’s high, but it’s not anywhere close to 60% I don’t think – is it?
Earthling Zing
April 1, 2016 at 8:43 amIt might be lower than that actually…
http://i.imgur.com/iG47Pbp.jpg
Not a single chapter has come out this year.
Earthling Zing
April 1, 2016 at 8:57 amCrunched the numbers from this chart.
http://skullknight.net/images/eps.htm
From 2000 onwards(it started in 1997, but no data there), its publishing rate is 49%, so it has a hiatus rate lower than 60%, but because its in a bimonthly magazine it ends up with about the same amount of chapters as HxH.
elianthos
April 1, 2016 at 10:18 amGentlemen, I present you Glass No Kamen, beloved and infamous shoujo manga camp hiatuses champ. It belongs in the ‘goal/career-oriented/monotrack minded’ MC old school of shoujo, but with acting instead of sport. Romance is secondary. Started serialization in 1976, went on hiatuses a few times (one hiatus lasted 12 years :,D ), still ongoing, irregularly updated. Volume 50 annonced then delayed a few times now… latest story twist took a 180° turn when you compare the magazine chapters version with the tankobon version… I have some friends who are have abandoned hope to see it finished before them or the mangaka leaves this world.
Warsin Tamadur
April 1, 2016 at 2:38 pmThat indeed is a record.
Kenshin
April 1, 2016 at 10:14 amI’ve heard people refer to the “Kings of Hiatus” being Berserk, HxH, Bastard!!, and Guyver. I’m fairly certain Bastard is the worst of the four by far though.
It’s interesting though that Miura gets a lot of the same complaints as Togashi, even down to his hiatuses being blamed on a specific game series (idolmaster) but it’s rarely with the same level of anger. I almost never see anyone claim Miura is lazy, or that Berserk will never come back from hiatus. And when discussing his frequent hiatuses there’s always plenty of people saying it’s worth waiting for no matter how long it takes…
My guess is the reason for that difference is that one is a shonen manga and the other is a seinen, with all the differences in fanbases that implies.
sonicsenryaku
April 1, 2016 at 10:06 ami wouldnt say togashi has done what most mangaka couldnt do in ten lifetimes (he just knows how to not fall into the similar pitfalls mangaka who write for these demographic do) but i do respect the fact that he knows how to subvert shounen tropes and use the genre/demographic to his advantage in telling decently solid and powerful stories. If he can, he should write his manga in seasonal spurts so that he can keep sanity, health, and integrity as a writer while finding some middle ground with his fans
Chrysostomus
April 1, 2016 at 10:50 amIt’s true that most of us are entitled, it’s an uncomfortable truth to swallow and I will freely admit it. I love Togashi, I will praise him to high heaven, I will defend HxH’s occasional doodle-like chapters until I die because the quality of his writing is simply unrivaled. I would mind at all if all his next chapters were doodles if it meant consistent releases.
The thing is that, I think the fanbase is angry because it seems as though he doesn’t care about HxH anymore, you know? I’m not stating this as a fact, but as speculation. I mean, if someone you knew worked on a project for a few weeks in between years, wouldn’t you say that he’s not really invested in it? I am almost convinced that this is the case, he just can’t be bothered with it anymore. He’ll pump out 10 maybe 11 chapters once in a blue moon to keep the publishers happy so they can arrange the next tankoubon.
Chrysostomus
April 1, 2016 at 10:52 am*NOT mind at all
Guardian Enzo
April 1, 2016 at 10:58 amI see absolutely no evidence of that myself, but that’s just me. Honestly, I don’t know why that’s the conclusion anyone would come to based on the evidence. If he didn’t care about the series, why wouldn’t he just stop writing it altogether?
Chrysostomus
April 1, 2016 at 11:43 amI think he doesn’t end it because he has a dream contract with HxH and he’s taking advantage of it, especially since he explicitly said in the YYH interview that in those years he almost worked himself to death. As we know there are not that many mangaka who can work when they want to in between casually taking years off from serialization.
I feel it can be argued that he’s losing interest in HxH. His back pains, the increasingly longer hiatuses, the fact that Gon already achieved his goal… If he felt the same at the end of YYH, that there were other priorities above it in his life, why not with HxH?
I could say the same for Miura, though in his case I feel he wrote himself into a corner lol.
sonicsenryaku
April 1, 2016 at 1:30 pm“wrote himself into a corner” haha that’s kinda funny when you think about it. here’s the simple gist of things: togashi and fans need to find a middle ground. I dont agree with people completely apologizing for togashi, but i sure as hell dont agree with the immature self entitlement fans have about his content. Togashi, as a writer who produces creative content, has a responsibility to himself and the people who read his art. He got into this business and as such knows what it entails. Togashi shouldnt be derided by his fanbase, however he should realize (and he probably does) that he could probably tackle these hiatuses in much more intelligent way. He should try meeting them halfway; that’s it. He should be allowed to take the breaks he takes; his fans should appreciate the chapters when the come out; but there also needs to be some consistency.
Earthling Zing
April 2, 2016 at 11:39 pmWhat advantages does Togashi have from his dream contract? He should already be pretty well off, and if he’s using it to take time off in order to think of more ideas for his story I say go for it, the closure after the Election arc is more fulfilling than many endings of completed manga.
I’m also curious what you mean about Miura writing himself in a corner, the story feels like its progressing pretty naturally imo…
Chrysostomus
April 3, 2016 at 3:41 pmThat he can work literally whenever he feels like and can take year-long hiatuses without thinking twice. Would you not kill for such an opportunity?
Well, I said that because Miura made the God Hand too powerful and the big elephant in Berserk’s room is… how the hell is Gut’s party ever going to defeat Griffith, much less the rest of the God Hand? They haven’t even defeated Zodd yet.
Earthling Zing
April 4, 2016 at 4:08 amYeah, that’s a tough task, but I’m guessing they’ll get some serious power up from the island they are currently on. I think Miura spends a lot of his breaks drawing the manga and so on though, I remember him saying somewhere its takes him a day to draw each page. Anyway I’m used enough to the breaks though that I don’t really mind, be it HxH or Berserk.
Mark
April 1, 2016 at 2:14 pmI’ve basically accepted where the anime stopped as the ending. If Togashi manages to finish it one day then that will be a nice surprise (especially if the rest gets animated). If he doesn’t, I have no hard feelings about it. The typical mangaka lifestyle is insane and I wouldn’t begrudge anyone who has the means to do it at a slower pace.
And the anime ending isn’t too bad at all. Gon meets up with his dad and there’s solid “the adventure continues on” feel. The only thing I’m really missing is some healing/closure on Gon and Killua’s relationship after the Ant arc. Their relationship is the pillar of HxH and I wish the anime had been able to cover at least a bit of that. Kurapika’s story also needs closure, but not having that isn’t nearly as crucial to me as the Gon/Killua stuff. Plus it would take way more time.
Warsin Tamadur
April 1, 2016 at 2:35 pmThat anguish- the image you chose for the article is so apt!
As a long time fan (since 2005), I used to utter the comments that make me so embarrassed today whenever HxH went into hiatus. Until I read Togashi’s interview when he ended YYH. And I understood, and related to every point he made.
Jump’s schedule doesn’t allow for much creativity in plot. It also doesn’t allow for a mangaka to have a time for themselves to do other things. And from the way he explained things, Togashi seems like the type that get ideas for his stories by exploring the real world. We probably wouldn’t get things like the auction mini-arc in Yorkshin or the Gungi games if he didn’t allow himself some time for inspiration and (maybe) research, and these plot-pints are vital for the narrative. And then there’s his health, his family, /his sleep time/, his daily routines that allow to function as a normal human being.
But fans are gonna be fans, I guess. It is quite frustrating when the hiatus is in the middle of a conflict and you want to know what’s going to happen next this very instant. But we must also understand that the creative process isn’t a consistently flowing fountain, and that an artist, even though they care about their own project more that anyone else, simply might not be in a condition where they can work at their best.
Gina
April 2, 2016 at 1:45 amI’m alright with hiatuses, it is his series after all, but I do hope he has plans on how he can end this manga. Even if he has to use an artist to draw it for him because of his health issues. Most of us are probably (and selfishly) worried about HXH the manga, and I feel that if he is unable to, and wants to stop, the manga, he is still responsible for bringing the series to a clean finish.
Of course, if he has expressed wishes to continue, we can only support and appreciate him for it
ThatLatinxChick
April 2, 2016 at 10:08 amI personally accept the anime ending (which was a great chapter they adapted) so I have a mild interest in the new arc because I do not want to get my hopes up either. Plus it looks like its going to be another REALLY long arc with the focus on the adults of HxH. While I understand that Togashi has health reasons, I also understand the audiences frustration in waiting how many years for a series they like to continue (I’m in the same boat with Glass Mask and seriously though I’m the one person that wants a happy ending for that series because god damn it we deserve it) its not a fun process for both sides sadly. While I also understand his artistic desire to do everything himself I feel he needs to understand that all humans have limitations and get himself assistants that will help him move the series forward.
In regards to the ending while I know we all want a finish line I dont want just any ending either. This is a good story with a large cast of characters that deserve a proper conclusion. *sigh* Either way I hope his health improve and that he ultimately takes care of himself.
noodles
April 2, 2016 at 10:30 pmWhere do the scorn and bile you mentioned came from? Twitter? :/ The places I have been at (tumblr, youtube) have nothing but good feeling towards togashi continuing the manga.
Well if you are referring to the past, there was certainly a lot of unhappy fans especially back in the good days of 200X on nexgear forum when the scribbling in JUMP began and hiatus started and we were not given any reasons for the hiatus nor when it would end. It was a bitter and dark time. :/ Although after a while(read; a few years) I just got used to it and stopped having any expectation. As with everything, time helped to resolve this. It helped that the 2011 anime was released and the reason of the Hiatus was made known after that. To me, Hiatus x Hiatus is a frustrating yet fond experience and I don’t think I will never ever stop referring it as such.
SO this has been my experience at least…. I can’t speak for the rest but I am satisfied and Togashi can do whatever he wants.
Karmafan
April 3, 2016 at 5:44 pmWhile watching the dubbed version of Parasyte last night on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network) they advertised that starting on April 16th they will be starting Hunter X Hunter. Will be interesting to see how the voices are on the dubbed version. Hopefully they will run the entire series from beginning to end.
hgfdsahjkl
April 5, 2016 at 1:58 pmas long as he keeps writing and doesnt rush up HxH,I’m all up for the hiatus
hgfdsahjkl
April 5, 2016 at 2:26 pmbut I can understand the frustration of long time fans ,we went through alot,just imagine the anime going into undifined hiatus just before gon confrontation with pitou or just before the invasion
Karmafan
April 13, 2016 at 11:15 amI decided to rewatch HxH on Netflix. When I got to season 5 episodes 21 and 22 I was shocked. Those 2 episodes were about Zazan making a castle in Meteor City and the Phantom Troupe fighting against Zazan and her minions. I don’t remember seeing these 2 episodes when the series originally aired. Did I miss those episodes when they aired or were they from an OVA or something similar?
Guardian Enzo
April 13, 2016 at 11:40 amNope, those aired with the original Japan airing.