Home Kings of Hiatus - The One Year Anniversary of Hunter X Hunter Hiatus February marks the 1 year anniversary of Hunter X Hunter's hiatus in Shonen Jump. Created by the (in)famous Yoshihiro Togashi in 1998, Hunter X Hunter has experienced many breaks during its serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump. Toward the end of 2005, Hunter X Hunter's serialization stopped for over a month due to Togashi's illness. The manga returned in January 2006 only to go on hiatus again 4 chapters later. While the announcement in Jump stated that the series would resume serialization in early April, a year later the series has yet to return. From TV Anime Resource Center comes information on Hunter X Hunter's irregular schedule, as well as its effect on the anime version of HxH. Also included is a chart that lists all the Hunter X Hunter-related announcements in Shonen Jump from 1998 to 2004, and more. Thoughts on Hunter X Hunter's Hiatus One cannot talk about the current Weekly Shonen Jump without thinking about the hiatus of Hunter X Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi. The manga was adapted into an anime TV series and has managed to maintain a high approval rating in Shonen Jump. Despite its popularity, Hunter X Hunter's serialization schedule is very unstable when it comes to making the deadlines. Throughout the years, many rumors flew around regarding the real reason behind Hunter X Hunter's frequent hiatus: Yoshihiro Togashi draws his manga without assistants, because he is too picky about the images; Yoshihiro Togashi is busy preparing for Comiket (Togashi brings his works to Comiket); Yoshihiro Togashi is too lazy (the most popular one)...Although Hunter X Hunter has been on a very loose schedule, it still managed to continued its serialization in Jump, and the story remained interesting and popular among the fans. Looking at Togashi's pace of drawing, in 2001 an emergency decision by the editors of Shonen Jump, the number of pages per chapter every week for HxH was reduced from 19 to 15 to ensure the manga's appearance in the magazine every week. However, after the decision was made, Togashi recessed the serialization again in order to redraw the manga for its volume releases. It would seem Togashi had the order of his priorities wrong. By comparison, ever since Yu Yu Hakusho, there has been a big disagreement between Togashi and the editors of Shonen Jump. Togashi's previous work Yu Yu Hakusho ended in the middle of one of its storyline because Togashi was too hostile toward the story policy favored by his editor. The story policy, often called the "Jump system" among the fan, is an editorial strategy of Shonen Jump, which states that: "The story of a popular manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump must continue uninterrupted." The most well-known example of this system is Dragon Ball. However, nowadays it seems like Togashi has power than the Jump editors, because judging by Hunter X Hunter's number of breaks, the editors are permitting Togashi's breaks. Tables and Charts Below are two tables from the website hunter.noihjp.com. The first table compares HxH's number of serialized chapters to its number of hiatus. Year Frequency of Publication Frequency of Hiatus Total Hiatus Ratio 1998 34 3 37 8.1% 1999 33 15 48 31.3% 2000 35 13 48 27.1% 2001 32 16 48 33.3% 2002 30 18 48 37.5% 2003 38 10 48 20.8% 2004 23 26 49 53.1% 2005 31 17 48 35.4% 2006 4 44 48 91.7% The second table lists the longest instances of continual serialization and hiatus, and the issue # of Shonen Jump. Year # of continual serialization [Issue #] # of continual hiatus [Issue #] 1998 12 [Issue 14 - 26, 28 - 40] 1 [Issue 27, 41, 51] 1999 18 [Issue 42 - 8 (2000)] 1 [Issue 4, 33 - 36] 2000 17 [Issue 42 (1999) - 8] 6 [Issue 27 - 32] 2001 9 [Issue 16 - 25] 5 [Issue 39 - 43] 2002 13 [Issue 48 - 10 2003)] 6 [Issue 26 - 31] 2003 13 [Issue 48 (2002) - 10] 1 [Issue 1, 16, 19, 25, 29, 33, 26, 41, 46, 50] 2004 6 [Issue 51 (2003) - 1, 3 - 6-7, 9 - 11, 13 - 15] 6 [Issue 24 - 29] 2005 3 [Issue 8 - 10, 12 - 14, 19 - 21-22, 24 - 26, 28 - 30, 32 - 34, 36-37 - 39] 7 [Issue 51 - 6-7 (2006)] 2006 4 [Issue 8 - 11] Too many... The Influences of Manga Hiatus on the Anime TV Series The original story of Hunter X Hunter was in the middle of the Yorkshin city arc when the anime TV series began. The anime staffs had a lot of storyline available to cover: The Hunter Exam arc and the Celestial Tower arc. However, as the original story experienced many breaks and a page reduction, the anime series soon caught up with the manga, and the only available storyline were 10 chapters from Jump that haven't even been compiled into a tankoubon yet. As a result the anime staffs took scripts from the magazine, which proved to be a fatal mistake. In episode 60, "Kurapica X Black Eyes X First Job," which was aired on March 10th, 2001 in Japan, there was a fatal mistake which involved future storyline. In this episode, Neon, who has the ability to tell the future, gave a prophecy to Kuroro Lucifer. Below is part of the prophecy. Let's play the intermezzo. (幕間劇に興じよう)

You will be capable of searching for new companions. (新たに仲間を探すもいいだろう)

If you go, go together. (向かうなら束がいい)

you will certainly find the person waiting for you. (きっと待ち人に会えるから) This poem appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump issue 41 in September 2000, and the anime episode was aired soon afterwards. Did anyone make a mistake? The truth is, the prophecy in the magazine had a typo. The third sentence should be "If you go, go east. (向かうなら東がいい)." This typo was corrected in the tankoubon (volume release), which was released after the wrong scripted appeared in the anime. It's not the anime staff's fault, because the root cause was the slow serialization of the manga. After the anime series ended, Kuroro Lucifer went east as in the original story. One cannot help but wonder what the anime series would do about the mistake if the series is resumed. Details of Hunter X Hunter Announcements in Weekly Shonen Jump Below is a table that lists all the "announcements" that were made regarding HxH in each issue of Shonen Jump. Please note that some details were omitted after 2003, and the table only goes up to 2004. Jump # # of pages Original story Anime story Announcement for the hiatus Notes 1998 14 32 Magazine cover, opening chapter, 3 full-colored pages in the beginning, 16 two-color printed pages. 15 23 Hunter Exam 16 19 17 21 18 19 A full-colored page in the middle. 19 19 20 19 21 19 22-23 18 A full-colored page in the middle. 24 19 Magazine cover. 25 19 26 19 27 hiatus Hunter X Hunter is absent this week because the author is ill. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 28 19 29 19 30 19 31 19 32 19 33 19 34 19 35 19 36 19 Magazine cover. 37-38 19 39 19 40 19 41 hiatus *Notice: Hunter X Hunter is absent this week because Mr. Yoshihiro Togashi is ill. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 42 19 43 19 44 19 45 19 46 19 47 19 48 19 49 19 Magazine cover. 50 19 51 hiatus *Notice:Hunter X Hunter is absent this week because Mr. Yoshihiro Togashi is ill. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 52 19 1999 1 hiatus Hunter Exam Announcement: This week's and next week's Hunter X Hunter will be absent due to Mr. Togashi's research. The story will resume after #4, 5. Please look forward to it. The announcement used a full-page. 2-3 hiatus 4-5 19 6 19 7 19 8 19 Please note that this week's and next week's Hunter X Hunter will be absent. 9 hiatus 10 hiatus 11 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 12 19 13 19 14 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 15 19 16 19 17 19 18 19 Celestial Tower 19 19 20 19 21 19 22-23 19 Magazine cover. 24 14 A special 5 page feature to make up for the gap in serialization. 25 20 Magazine cover, opening manga, 3 full-color pages in the beginning. A dialogue in the popularity poll announcement celebrating Hunter X Hunter's 50th chapter - Leorio: "We did it!" Gon: "What are you talking about?" Kurapika: "He's talking about the 50th chapter." Killua: "Huh? That's strange. The other manga that started serialization around the same time, such as Rookies and Whistle!, are already... [Editor: "are already way ahead"]" (^_^;) 26 19 27 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 28 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. 29 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. 30 19 31 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 32 19 All 19 pages of this chapter were rough sketches. This chapter was redrawn for the tankoubon. 33 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. －－－ Announcement: Hunter X Hunter will be absent for a while because Mr. Togashi is ill. Mr. Togashi is aiming to come back soon. Please look forward to his comeback. The announcement used up a full-page. 34 hiatus 35 hiatus 36 hiatus 37-38 19 Anime adaption confirmed A synopsis of the story appeared on the second page. 39 19 40 19 There was a synopsis on the second page. 41 hiatus *This week's Shaman King and Hunter X Hunter are absent. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 42 19 43 19 44 19 45 19 46 20 Anime begins airing Magazine cover, opening manga, 3 full-colored pages in the beginning. 47 19 48 19 Hunter Exam 49 15 50 19 51 19 52-53 13 Yorkshin City 2000 1 19 Yorkshin City Hunter Exam 2 18 3-4 19 5-6 20 Opening manga, 3 full-colored pages in the beginning. 7 19 8 19 Next week's will be absent due to Togashi's research. 9 hiatus 10 13 There was a special gag manga for 6 pages to make up for the gap in serialization 11 19 Illustrations were sloppy for 7 pages. This chapter was redrawn for the tankoubon. On the second page of the story, Mr. Togashi wrote in his handwriting: I'm sorry the drawings are so sloppy. I will redraw them for the tankoubon. The latter part is sloppier. If you can see... (The last part of the sentence was missing.) 12 19 13 19 14 19 15 19 16 19 17 11 There was a special gag manga for 7 pages to make up for the gap. 18 19 19 19 20 19 21-22 19 23 15 24 18 25 hiatus This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 26 19 Next week's will be absent due to Togashi's research. 27 hiatus 28 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. 29 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. 30 hiatus Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. 31 hiatus *This week's and next week's Hunter X Hunter will be absent due to certain circumstances. The story will resume after issue 33. 32 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances.. The story will resume after issue 33 33 19 There was a synopsis for the story on the first page. 34 19 35 19 36-37 19 Celestial Tower 38 19 39 19 40 19 41 15 42 19 43 19 44 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 45 18 Magazine cover, opening manga, 3 full-colored pages in the beginning, There was a special feature to make up for the loss. 46 19 47 19 Hunter X Hunter will be absent for 4 weeks starting next week. The story will resume after issue 52. Illustrations were sloppy for 14 pages. This story was redrawn for the tankkoubon. The announcement used up half a page. 48 hiatus 49 hiatus 50 hiatus 51 hiatus 52 19 Celestial Tower 2001 1 hiatus Yorkshin City (Not aired yet) Yorkshin City *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 2 13 There was a special feature that lasted for 2 pages to make up for the gap. 3-4 11 5-6 9 7 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. 2 full-color pages in the middle (the result of the popularity vote). The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 8 19 9 11 Next week's will be absent due to Togashi's research. 10 hiatus 11 15 12 15 13 11 14 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 15 hiatus This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 16 15 17 15 TV series ends 18 15 19 15 20 15 21-22 13 23 15 24 15 25 15 26 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 27 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 28 15 Greed Island (Not aired yet) 29 15 30 15 31 15 32 15 33 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter and Pyuu To Fuku! Jaguar are absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 34 15 35 15 Illustrations of the entire chapter were sloppy. This chapter was redrawn for the tankoubon. 36-37 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 38 15 39 hiatus Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. 40 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 41 hiatus ※*This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. 42 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. 43 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. 44 15 There was a synopsis of the story on the first page. 45 15 46 15 47 15 48 15 49 hiatus *Hunter X Hunter is absent. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 50 hiatus *Please note that this week's Hunter X Hunter is absent. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 51 15 52 15 2002 1 hiatus Greed Island (Not aired yet) *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 2 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. 3 15 4-5 15 Illustrations of the entire chapter were a little bit sloppy. 6-7 15 Illustrations of the entire chapter were a little bit sloppy. 8 15 9 15 10 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter and Pyuu To Fuku! Jaguar are absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 11 15 12 15 13 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 14 15 15 15 16 15 17 hiatus (No hiatus announcement) The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 18 15 19 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter and Pyuu To Fuku! Jaguar absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 20 hiatus (No hiatus announcement) The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 21 hiatus Hunter X Hunter is absent because the author is ill. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 22-23 15 24 15 25 15 26 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 27 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain circumstances. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 28 hiatus (No hiatus announcement) The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 29 hiatus *This week's Rookies and Hunter X Hunter are absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 30 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter and Pyuu To Fuku! Jaguar absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 31 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 32 15 There was a synopsis of the story on the first pag 33 15 34 15 35 hiatus This week's Stone Ocean, Rookies and Yu-Gi-Oh! is absent due to their authors' research. Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 36 15 37-38 15 39 15 Next week's story will be absent due to the author's research. 40 hiatus 41 15 Magazine cover, an illustration on the front cover, a full-colored page in the middle of the story, there was a 4 pagedescription of a special feature that celebrates the 150th chapter. 42 15 43 15 44 15 45 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 46 15 47 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. The title in the questionnaire card was not replaced. 48 15 49 15 50 15 51 15 52 15 2003 1 15 Greed Island (Not aired yet) 2 15 3-4 15 5 15 6-7 15 8 15 9 15 10 15 Next week's will absent due to the author's research. 11 hiatus 12 15 13 15 14 15 15 15 16 hiatus (No hiatus announcement) 17 15 18 15 19 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to the author's research. 20 15 21 15 22-23 15 24 15 25 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to the author's research. 26 15 Magazine cover. 27 15 28 15 29 hiatus *Hunter X Hunter and The Prince of Tennis are absent due to their authors' research. 30 15 Chimera Ant (Not aired yet) 31 15 32 15 33 hiatus *This week's Rookies is absent because the author is ill. Mr. Fullswing and Hunter X Hunter are absent due to their authors' research. 34 15 35 15 36 hiatus *This week's One Piece and Hunter X Hunter are absent due to their author's research. 37-38 15 39 15 40 15 41 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to the author's research. 42 15 43 15 44 15 45 15 46 hiatus *This week's Ichigo 100% and Hunter X Hunter are absent due to their authors' research. 47 15 48 15 49 15 50 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to the author's research. 51 15 52 17 Magazine cover, a full-color page in the middle, there was a 3 page feature on the second Hunter exam. 2004 1 15 Chimera Ant (Not aired yet) 2 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter and Shaman King areabsent due to their authors' research. Pyuu To Fuku! Jaguar is absent due to certain reasons from the author. 3 15 4-5 15 6-7 15 8 hiatus *This week's The Prince of Tennis and Hunter X Hunter are absent due to their authors' research. 9 15 10 15 11 15 12 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to the author's research. 13 15 14 15 15 15 16 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to the author's research. 17 15 18 15 19 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. One Piece and Mr. Fullswing are absent due to their authors' research. 20 hiatus *This week's Buso Renkin and Hunter X Hunter are absent due to their authors' research. 21 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. Naruto and Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar areabsent due to their authors' research. 22-23 15 24 hiatus *This week's The Prince of Tennis and Hunter X Hunter are absent due to their authors' research. 25 hiatus To all readers, an announcement of Hunter X Hunter's hiatus: Thank you for supporting Hunter X Hunter. We're sorry, but the story will be absent for a while. The serialization will resume after #30. - Weekly Shonen Jump Editorial Desk The announcement used up a full-page 26 hiatus 27 hiatus 28 hiatus 29 hiatus 30 15 31 hiatus This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. 32 15 Next week's story will be absent due to the author's research. 33 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter and Pyuu To Fuku! Jaguar are absent due to their authors' research. 34 15 35 15 36 hiatus *This week's Buso Renkin and Hunter X Hunter are not carried for the author's research. 37-38 15 39 hiatus *This week's The Prince of Tennis is absent due to the author's research. Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. 40 15 41 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to the author's research 42 hiatus This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. 43 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter and Buso Renkin are absent due to certain reasons from the authors. 44 hiatus *This week's Buso Renkin is absent due to the author's research. Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. 45 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. 46 15 47 15 Magazine cover. 48 hiatus This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. 49 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to the author's research 50 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. An extra "Hunter's Guide" was printed instead. 51 15 52 15 53 hiatus *This week's Hunter X Hunter is absent due to certain reasons from the author. *The questionnaire card is a poll where readers vote for their favorite series each week. Series that are not popular are more likely to be dropped from the magazine. Sources :

- Source 1

- Source 2 Translation by Michiko