Hunter x Hunter is well-known in the anime and manga community due to its long breaks. But in an interview, it was revealed that the manga also came too close to receiving an epic time skip.
So, what deterred Yoshihiro Togashi from the time skip, and how did it impact the manga? You will find out in the author’s statements regarding his masterpiece creation.
Yoshihiro Togashi’s Initial Plan with Hunter x Hunter
Yoshihiro Togashi took part in an interview in Japan and answered some questions about his Hunter x Hunter manga. The author was asked how much of the story he had planned when the series first began to be published.
In a shocking twist, Togashi revealed that only the first three pages of Hunter x Hunter were planned. After the author was sure of the lore and figured out how the hunting system worked, he felt that he could continue the story as long as possible.
Once I had a rough idea of the setting, I felt like I could continue the story as long as I wanted.
Interestingly, there was also a meaningful reason why Gon debuted as early as he did. According to Togashi, the goal of the Hunter x Hunter serialization in the beginning was to continue as long as possible. Thus, the story begins with the main character taking the Hunter Exam.
This setting allowed the protagonist to begin at the lowest possible tier, and the author could then slowly upgrade him over the years.
Hunter x Hunter Almost Received Time-Skip of the Century
So what other steps did the author want to take with Hunter x Hunter? According to Togashi, he had aimed to fail Gon in the Hunter exams. The scene would then directly jump to years in the future. Thankfully, he never took that route with his plot because his editor vehemently rejected the idea of Gon’s failure.
Togashi was also incapable of deciding what the exam would be about because he just wanted to enjoy the fact that he didn’t know what would happen.
The time-skip arc in One Piece is legendary because, during the two years of it, the Straw Hats grew immensely. The Straw Hats had the chance to reunite after training themselves till the brink of death.
But had Hunter x Hunter been allowed to attempt the time-skip, readers would have been taken directly to meet an adult Gon. This could have had far-reaching consequences, as the precious period of developing an attachment to the character would have been gone.
Gon would have also taken much longer to become powerful because it was his adventures as a kid that helped shape his powers and character.
Togashi confessed that when he first began the story, the main pillars were already constructed, including the characters of Killua and Hisoka. However, the rest of the characters were slowly filled in as the author kept expanding the story.
The author claimed that his style is to construct the narrative structure first and then work on the details when a sense of urgency approaches. Since his time skip idea was rejected, he had to revise his initial plans.
I remember that I probably wasn’t able to finish the manuscript that week.
The Hunter x Hunter creator loved being close to deadlines so much that the rejection of his time-skip idea led his manuscripts to be delayed that week.
You can read Hunter x Hunter on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
