Yoshihiro Togashi, the creator of popular manga and anime series like Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter, is referred to as a legend in the industry. His works are deemed classic and have inspired many prominent creators like Gege Akutami, Tite Kubo, Masashi Kishimoto, and many more.
His most prominent work, Hunter x Hunter, follows the story of Gon, who wants to become a legendary hunter like his father and also wants to find him. He clears the legendary hunter exam, and along the way, he makes friends and goes on an adventure where he finds both happiness and trouble.
However, this was not the initial premise for Hunter x Hunter. In an interview, Togashi revealed what he planned for the series and the main character, Gon Freecss. According to him, Gon was going to fail the hunter exam, which could have brought a big change to the overall narrative of the story.
Yoshihiro Togashi’s Original Plan For Gon Freeccss
In a special letter to the Iwakura and Yoshizumi Show, which was later translated and shared by @TogashisTroupe on X(Formerly Twitter), Togashi discussed how much of the story he had already planned when he started writing Hunter x Huner. The creator stated that he had already decided to write three storyboards and even had plans for the main character to fail the exams.
Togashi stated:
“At the start of the serialization, I decided to write three storyboards and a scene where the main character fails the exam and the story jumps one to several years in the future. I didn’t decide on the content of the exam until right before the start of the series because I wanted to enjoy the fact that I didn’t know what would happen. In the end, after I discussed it with my editor, the idea of Gon failing the exam was rejected.”
According to Togashi, while he had decided that Gon was going to fail the hunter exams, he had no idea how that would happen, as he had not made a decision about the contents of the exams. Later on, when he discussed it with his editor, the plan for the protagonist failing the exam on his first try was eventually rejected.
Yoshihiro Togashi Also Wanted To Introduce a Time Skip in Hunter x Hunter
Yoshihiro Togashi also talked about how, along with Gon failing the exams, he planned on introducing a time skip in the story. However, as the original plan was dropped, he also had to change the idea of the time skip. The only important things that were kept from the original plan were Killua and Hisoka.
Togashi stated:
“However, I had already decided that pillars of the story-the friend (Killua) and the villain (Hisoka)-would appear at the beginning of the exam. I decide what needs to be done in terms of narrative structure first, and then work on the details with a great sense of urgency until the last minute. In that regard, I had a rough idea of the outline for the story ahead, but since the timeskip idea was rejected, I had to draw the section right before that part and revise my initial plans.”
Togashi’s change in narrative yielded a positive result for him and for Hunter x Hunter, as the series went on to become one of the greatest manga and anime series in the Shonen manga world and inspired so many people all around the world.
You can watch Hunter x Hunter on Prime Video, Max, Hulu, and Netflix.
