The shonen genre in anime is one of the most popular, as a plethora of shows reach an insane level of popularity that is hard to match. However, this genre has a gem, which is Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter. Although the series has a faltering pace, Togashi-san’s manga remains one of the most popular manga series to be ever written.
Both the manga and the anime are commercially successful, thanks to the series’ unorthodox style of narration and world development. However, the series would not have been so popular if it followed the original storyline that the artist had initially planned out in his mental map. Moreover, the series’ editor played a key role in changing the story of our adorable protagonist in the most important arc of the series.
Yoshihiro Togashi Made Killua Take The Fall After The Series’ Editor Discarded His Original Hunter Exam Plan
Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter breaks the orthodox storytelling narratives by delving into different genres, featuring psych-out battles, puzzles, and devious trickery, putting the series in a genre of its own. The major credit for the manga’s popularity goes to its genius writing style, featuring an assorted range of interconnected characters and a rich storyline.
One of the show’s most important arcs was the Hunter Exam, where Togashi-san had a different outlook for the very first arc of the series. But his publisher decided to reject his idea. During an interview with TV Asahi’s Iwakura and Yoshizumi Show, Togashi-san was sent a list of 11 questions, which the author wrote back stating, the “goal of the serialization would be to “continue for as long as possible.””
The former Sakurazaka46 member, Yumiko Seki, recently sent Yoshihiro Togashi a list of 11 questions, and he sent back an extensive handwritten letter.
It was then read aloud on “Iwakura and Yoshizumi’s Show”.
Here is the Q&A translated⬇️ pic.twitter.com/5O4ii3seFd
— Togashi's Troupe (@TogashisTroupe) November 26, 2023
To do so, he planned to make Gon fail the Hunter Exam and do a time skip at the very beginning of the series. The story would have continued in the future. However, when he pitched the idea to his editor, it was rejected.
He said,
“I decided to write three storyboards and a scene where the main character (TBD) 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 edit the idea of Gon failing the exam was rejected.”
He added how he had already decided that Gon’s best friend, and Hisoka, the antagonist, would appear at the beginning of the arc. However, since he was forced to make revisions to his initial plans, he decided to make another character take the fall in the arc.
“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. I remember that I probably wasn’t able to finish the manuscript that week.”
Nevertheless, the decision of Killua Zoldyck to take the fall instead of Gon was insane, as the Zoldyck family are exceptional and formidable individuals in the world of hunters and are infamous for being skilled assassins.
Why Was Killua Zoldyck Failing The Hunter Exam a Shock to Its Readers?
Killua Zoldyck belonged to the long lineage of proficient assassins, who have honed their skills and passed down their secret assassination techniques to the next generations of children. Moreover, the children of the bloodline undergo a merciless training program, specializing them in numerous combat techniques as well as other skills that can be deemed crucial in their line of work.
Moreover, this intense training program plays an important part in awakening their natural aptitude, making them so dangerous and an infamous name in the art of killing. But more importantly, it helps them to be versatile in different situations, which the readers would have noticed when Killua Zoldyck and his brother, Milluki Zoldyck, were taking the exams.
Naturally, to think that Yoshihiro Togashi decided to make Killua Zoldyck fail the exam instead of our protagonist, Gon, was quite absurd, because he did not undergo such an intense training regime or possessed unnatural skills that put him in a different league.
Hunter x Hunter (2011) can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
