Only Hunter × Hunter (pronounced “hunter hunter”) fans know the agonizing wait they had to endure for their favorite anime series to continue. Hunter × Hunter is actually known for its hiatuses and rocky road to success; the extremely popular show has hit yet another snag and is yet to return for additional seasons. However, Netflix has some good news for fans: Starting November 1, 2024, the streamer will add two Hunter × Hunter movies to help the fans quench their thirst for fresh content.
However, to be entirely honest, the two animated movies, titled Phantom Rogue and The Last Mission, aren’t exactly fresh. They were originally released in Japan in 2013 before VizMedia licensed their distribution in North America in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Both movies are considered fillers, as they’re not actually canon to the main anime series, but they still provide exciting backstories for some key characters of the anime and feature some really exciting battles against the film’s antagonist, Jed.
The first animated Hunter × Hunter feature, Phantom Rogue, debuted as number one at the Japanese box office and follows the young hunter Gon as he reunites with his friends to deal with a rogue member of the Phantom Troupe. The movie dives into Kurapika’s tragic past and the massacring of his entire clan by the Phantom Troupe. Meanwhile, The Last Mission is set before the main events of the Hunter × Hunter series and follows Gon, Killua, and their friends as they battle the enemies from their organization’s past while Jed seeks to make Hunter’s black ops records public.
Considering that VizMedia took 5–6 years to license the movies for North American distribution, the fans have had a hard time accessing these features without resorting to shady internet streaming websites or even digital piracy. However, with Netflix adding these movies to its streaming catalog, the fans are granted easier access to these releases, making their addition to Netflix a major update in the franchise that’s often on hiatus or going through tedious licensing processes.
This also explains why Hunter × Hunter, a really popular action-adventure anime with strong martial arts elements — Cobra Kai actors Xolo Maridueña and Jacob Bertrand are massive fans — managed to produce only two animated features in 25 years of its existence. For comparison, Dragon Ball has been around for 40 years now, and it has produced 21 movies. That’s nearly 85% higher production rate per year when adjusted for the franchise lifetimes.
Plenty of that can be attributed to the franchise creator’s health issues. Hunter × Hunter was created by Yoshihiro Togashi (husband of Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of the legendary Sailor Moon), who suffered an immense amount of stress while working on YuYu Hakusho, which caused inconsistent sleep patterns and chest pain. He also suffers from chronic back issues, leading to several hiatuses spanning multiple years. It’s due to these issues that he’s only able to draw sporadically and only while lying down. In fact, he hasn’t been able to sit in a chair for more than four years now.
Yogashi’s health issues led to lengthy hiatuses in Hunter × Hunter serialization since 2006. Some of those were due to illness and lower back pain, while reasons for others weren’t disclosed. This gave Hunter × Hunter its infamous reputation for taking a long time to advance its own story, and fans even created a hiatus chart that illustrates the huge gaps the manga series went through. Despite all of this, Hunter × Hunter remains one of the most popular Japanese series of all time, and the brand-new Chapter 402 was finally released a few weeks back.
For those who aren’t really familiar with the Hunter × Hunter franchise, the manga has been in serialized publication since 1998 and has since become a massive critical and financial success and one of the best-selling manga series of all time. It follows a young boy named Gon Freecss who discovers that his father, who left him at a young age, is actually a world-renowned Hunter: an elite individual with extraordinary abilities who takes on various roles and missions. Gon departs on a journey to become a Hunter himself, driven by the desire to find his father.
The massive success of the manga led to the first anime adaptation, which helped build a fanbase, introducing the story to a broader audience. However, its ending wasn’t satisfying for the fans, and the new adaptation was announced in 2011. But instead of continuing where the original adaptation ended, the new adaptation restarted the story from the beginning of the manga in an attempt to adapt the story more accurately.
The second adaptation was marked by a massive success among the fandom, owing to the additional material available for adaptation. It also introduced the franchise to a new generation of fans. Even Reebok called it one of the greatest anime of all time while detailing its collaboration with the franchise to produce merch. Hunter × Hunter: Phantom Rogue and Hunter × Hunter: The Last Mission are expected to hit Netflix on November 1, 2024.