In 2016, Masashi Kishimoto and Yoshihiro Togashi together answered some fan questions about their creations, Naruto and Hunter x Hunter. These questions revolved around their process of drawing such great mangas, their characters, shaping their storylines, and even the inspirations behind the series that motivated them.
During the discussion, both Kishimoto and Togashi were asked about the concepts from the real world that helped them shape the fantastical universe of their storylines. While Kishimoto explained how he used empathy as a tool to make a connection with readers of the Naruto manga, Togashi had a different approach altogether for Hunter x Hunter.
Togashi explained that he used his own experiences and created a story with references to these experiences. He also talked about how he decided to include the real-life issues of others in his story to make it look more realistic. The ideal example of this was Gon’s issues with his father, Ging Freecss.
Gon’s Problems With His Father Helped Hunter x Hunter
The discussion between Kishimoto and Togashi was shared by Viz Media, where Kishimoto pointed out that he wanted to take a different approach with Hunter x Hunter, which is why he decided to include some real-life experiences in the story. Kishimoto, who has been inspired by Togashi a lot, pointed out some real-life things that he observed in Hunter x Hunter.
Kishimoto and Togashi discussed:
Masashi Kishimoto: “Hunter x Hunter starts with Gon fishing, right? That’s a connection to our world right there. And Gon has an issue with his father. And other small details, like receiving mail.”
Yoshihiro Togashi: “Exactly. In the end, you don’t need to think too hard about it. Even when creating a fantasy world, by basing it off the world you’ve experienced at a certain age, you can link it to reality.”
Masashi Kishimoto stated that Hunter x Hunter had a lot of small and big real-world experiences like fishing, mail, etc. He even stated that Gon’s issues with his fathers are also a realistic experience. Togashi replied that creating a fantasy world based on real-life issues makes it easy to link the story to reality.
Yoshihiro Togashi Linked Hunter x Hunter to his Personal Life
While discussing about including reality in a fantasy story, Yoshihiro Togashi admitted that he based a lot of events in Hunter x Hunter on his life during elementary and middle school. He linked it to his personal life and started including aspects of his reality in the series to make it more interesting.
Togashi stated:
“When I began Hunter x Hunter, I based it off when I was in elementary to middle school. But as the serialization continued, it got linked to the current me. I put in cell phones, then smartphones. So I didn’t worry about it too much. I guess I can’t say this is the best advice to those who like complete fantasy stories.”
According to Togashi, he introduced cell phones and smartphones because they made communication within the story easy, indirectly reducing his stress about thinking about such aspects of the narrative. Togashi even said that while these things helped him, they wouldn’t be great advice for someone who wants to create fantasy stories.
You can watch Hunter x Hunter on Prime Video, Max, Hulu, and Netflix.
