Hunter x Hunter 38: 結成 [Hunter x Hunter 38: Kessei]

Hunter × Hunter [ハンター×ハンター] #38

by Yoshihiro Togashi, 冨樫義博

暗黒大陸を目指す船内での三つ巴のマフィア抗争は激化。2つの組が共闘し、さらにヒソカを追う幻影旅団も抗争に加わり、エイ＝イ一家を狩り始める。その最中、ノブナガは幻影旅団結成のいきさつを追懐し…。

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Young Adult, Shonen, Fiction, Graphic Novels

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2024

About the author

Yoshihiro Togashi (冨樫義博) is a manga artist. Credited in Chinese translations as Fu Jian Yi Bo.

He began drawing manga at an early age; while he attended college, the publisher Shueisha recognized his talent. Togashi has authored numerous manga series in different genres during the past three decades. He is perhaps best known for writing and illustrating the YuYu Hakusho and Hunter × Hunter series, both of which have been published in the popular Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Togashi is married to Naoko Takeuchi, the author of Sailor Moon.

Reviews

[Umairah (Sereadipity)]

The Phantom Troupe origin story really moved me... it's crazy to think that if it was a less cruel world they would have been an ordinary theatre troupe. It really explains their messed up idea of morality and retribution. It's like they decided the world doesn't care about them so why should they care for the world.

But despite all the despicable acts they've committed, they still have boundaries and care deeply for each other. Which just makes it more messed up but oddly compelling... they are such an interesting antagonist group I really love them.

I think it's cool that currently their conflict isn't with the main characters but with Hisoka instead. The whole plot with the Phantom Troupe, Hisoka and the mafia is so, so intriguing I can’t wait to see where it goes.

[Bradley]

Seeing all of these popular reviews makes me think I'm looking at the wrong volume. At this point Togashi should write a book given the garrulous, expositional dialogue. The last volume containing any fun was 34, and it was a gem in the past several. Fellas, I'm all about stacking the dominoes but they are falling at .25 speed and slowing. All of the 5 stars are copium. We need a lot more, if not Hunter X Hunter will become the next Berserk, unlike Berserk I am not sold on the last few arcs.

The only thing caught in a Spiders web right now is you, reader.

P.S. Hopefully I'll have to redact/edit this out :P

[Icko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hinrigh is me, especially after I read the flashback chapters for the Troupe. I was trying to hold back tears during the interactions between Chrollo and Uvo. It gave me flashbacks to the Yorknew City Arc.


Togashi leaves us with a banger backstory before going on hiatus again. Get well soon.

[Riki (˶˃⤙˂˶) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5💫

Re-read before getting to the new chapters. Love <3

( •̀ ω •́ )✧

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art isn‘t very consistent and just mediocre at best. The story is barely interested with it being most word bubbles of people discussing random, barely related stuff at least half the time. For the amount of time I waited for this volume to come out I have to be honest, I feel very disappointed.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

We're so fucking back!

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are still too many characters with long explanations about their Nen abilities, and while creative, it makes every confrontation feel too long. Best thing about this volume is learning about the origins of the Phantom Troupe!

[Loulou11 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je ne veux spoiler personne. Une pure régalade (préparez vous tout de même à LIRE ce manga vu la quantité de bulles présentes à chaque page ou presque)!

[insert-a-snoopy · Rating 3 out of 5]

did I read a majority of this manga….
did I primarily skimmed it???? yea

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The search for Hisoka is on as multiple Mafic factions seek him out, hoping to utilize the Phantom Troupe's desire for his head to their advantage - but what was it that brought Chrollo and the others together, turning a ragtag group of children into the infamous thieves they are? Togashi unveils long kept secrets and fascinating new powers in this haunting entry, tense and emotional at every turn. Who will find Hisoka first - and can they even control him?

[Gabríel Ísarr Travagini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love getting new bits of Phantom Troupe lore, and the chapters in this volume were especially good.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this really, really boring, to be honest. At least all the stuff with random people searching. There are *so* many named characters, and *so* much exposition. I’m not someone who has trouble reading more difficult books, but the pages of text here meant so little to me that it became extremely difficult.

I did give it an extra star for the Spiders’ backstory, which was great, and the little bit with Melody (my favourite character).

[★☆★Glowingz★☆★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Carlos Fernandes II · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phantom Troupe origin story is electric and the quick glimpse of Hisoka aboard the ship has me excited to see how things play out!

[catherine ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phantom Troupe origin story 👍🏼

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The very sad Phantom Troupe backstory aside, this is a tedious read. Togashi is making manga in goggle docs at this point. He should just write a book if this is what he wants to do with the story~

[Person Michaels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Idec if this never gets finished, it’s cemented its legacy several times over. Thank you Togashi

[Deniz Thorogood · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5. Phantom troupe back story was pretty slay. But then the ending… snore fest!

[bea &#x1fab4;]

finally caught up and didn’t expect the phantom troupe back story to be as tragic as it was

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up (phantom troupe origin story itself would be 5/5 for sure)

[Arthur · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I need to stop reading this series

I can’t even follow what is Happening anymore
I wish the author luck and the fan base

I just want to accept that it no longer sparks my interest after all these years

[Corey Thibodeaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

When "show/don't tell" reaches critical mass, just tell me everything.

I have no idea what is going on in that room to which everyone seems to teleport. Togashi is going hard on the mechanisms at play here. Give me all the exposition because I am not smart enough.

The highlight of this book was the Phantom Troupe origin story. Some liquid came out of my eye whilst reading it - not sure what that was about.

[Timo Stadler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is really hard to rate for me. On the one hand the main-plot is really fun, on the other hand the author just writes about what he thinks is interesting at the moment. This leads to around 50 character interacting with each other in around 16 Sub-Plots with numerous deviations. It is fun, but I can’t focus and I need a “it’s all comming together moment” asap.

[Sophia Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE TROUPE FORMATION AND BACKSTORY OH MY HEART. PAKU 3 3 chrollo and kurapika are such foils and so similar and they are just going to go round and round until they destroy each other and themselves. Wonderful. Amazing. I need them to fight NOW

[Frank Viebke · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 ig

he's still got it

also a fucking phantom troupe flashback no way

[Kapitol Tank · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 capítulos que marcan un hito en la edición argentina de Hunter × Hunter: se pone al día con Japón ya que alcanzamos el último tomo recopilado allá a la fecha.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished my binge today with this annoying cliffhanger, which I predicted would be the case when I reviewed book 36. There at least seems to be a next volume—AT LEAST—though I strongly doubt it will wrap up the story at ALL if it's going to be even remotely good. Back to hoping Togashi lives to finish his work! (This will be a regular refrain until I hear otherwise, since I'm at a point in my life where I sadly have decreasing hopes that the people who need to live longer actually will.)

The main problem—which I feared the instant I saw unfamiliar-looking characters on the back cover—is this volume goes into several chapters of flashback. Of the Spiders, and why they're the way they are. How dare! Making me feel bad for them even though I knew going in that they came from trash and were treated like trash, so why should I be surprised they had intense feelings of loyalty to each other and vowed to get revenge on the world for the mafia coming and killing one of their own (and as CHILDREN!). Ugh.

So, it's terminal at this point, that the story that WAS a fun shounen adventure mostly with Gon and Killua is now precisely ZERO of them (though Gon is on the cover, Togashi says in his author blurb, "*Please be advised that Mr. Gon Freecss does not make an appearance in vol. 38. Thank you for your understanding."—even though Gon and Yusuke appear in the chapter 391 splash page, haha). Not that I expected them to magically show up, given that the current characters are effectively sealed in an inescapable conveyance (that goes so far as to kill anyone who tries to leave!) and it's so far removed from the "known" world that they may as well be travelling in space... it would just be interesting to have a check-in (as impossible as that is without even more serious contrivances than already exist).

I comment this mostly as I am finding I'm not as quick on the uptake as maybe people (*cough*Dad*cough*) think I am, since it's only *just* occurring to me why the story feels so off—it's almost literally a different genre now. There's still action, but it's more adult than shounen, and SO heavy on political mafia wars that I'm not surprised I'm lost. So much reading, too! Even the Spiders' flashback seemed fairly dialogue-heavy for what it was.

It's... yeah. I don't know. I don't HATE it, and I do want to see things wrap up, but... it's not the same anymore, is it? Definitely impenetrable to complete newcomers, too.

[Dani Wladdimiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este volumen me demuestra por qué puedo emocionarme con Kuroro de una manera que nunca logré con Meruem. En algunos capítulos, se nos presenta el trasfondo del Genei Ryodan, su origen y las razones detrás de su formación. Hace mucho tiempo, cuando todos eran niños y niñas, Kuroro y su grupo vivían en Ciudad Meteoro, un lugar marcado por la marginalidad y la pobreza. A pesar de estas condiciones, los personajes encontraban formas de entretenerse y disfrutar, liderados por Kuroro, quien organizaba actividades como obras de teatro. Sin embargo, todo cambió tras el brutal asesinato de Sarasa, una de sus amigas, a manos de mafiosos que buscaban "mercadería". Este evento traumático llevó a Kuroro a una conclusión determinante: no era posible cambiar el mundo ni realizar actos heroicos. Solo el miedo podía protegerlos. Fue así como decidió formar una banda tan temida que nadie se atreviera a tocar Ciudad Meteoro jamás.

Tras este desgarrador flashback de la araña, surge la pregunta: ¿fue acertada la decisión de Kuroro? A diferencia de Meruem, Kuroro no nació siendo malvado. Por el contrario, era alguien noble, con el deseo de hacer felices a los demás y el sueño de dirigir una compañía de teatro. Pero las circunstancias de su vida, nacer en un lugar abandonado, sin protección y con un sistema que negligía por completo a sus ciudadanos, lo empujaron a tomar un camino oscuro. ¿Qué más podría haber hecho? Es una pregunta difícil de responder.

Hasta ahora, sus objetivos parecen estar enfocados en combatir a mafiosos. Tanto en Yorkshin como en el Barco Ballena Negra, sus enfrentamientos han tenido a criminales como oponentes principales. Sin embargo, me pregunto si todo esto tiene un propósito más profundo cuando ellos aniquilaron al Clan Kurta, el cual pertenecía Kurapika. ¿Habrá tomado Kuroro estas decisiones con la intención de, eventualmente, encontrar un fin digno? ¿Quizá esperaba morir a manos de alguien similar a él, cerrando su vida de forma poética?

Esta contradicción me deja lleno de dudas. Por un lado, entiendo las motivaciones de proteger a los suyos; por otro, me resulta hipócrita que, tras formar la Brigada Fantasma en respuesta a la injusta muerte de su amiga, haya acabado aniquilando a todo un clan, dejando solo un sobreviviente que se convirtió en su verdugo. ¿Irónico, no?

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es ist wirklich schön, wie Togashi weniger auf Action und mehr auf Intrigen und psychologische Kriegsführung setzt. Vor allem stehen im Vordergrund die vielen verschiedenen Nen-Fähigkeiten, die wirklich kreativ sind. So sehr ich jedoch den Succession War Arc für seine Komplexität mag - es tauchen immer mehr Fraktionen auf, dass man irgendwann den Überblick verliert. Auch wenn die Suche nach Hisoka interessant gestaltet ist, war die erste Hälfte dieses Bandes größtenteils langweilig, was einfach an den vielen neuen Figuren liegt. Die zweite Hälfte hingegen, in der die Vergangenheit der Spinne beleuchtet wird, war unglaublich emotional, was den Band für mich rettet. Alles in allem bin ich dennoch gespannt, wie es weitergeht.

Ich muss jetzt leider ein bisschen ranten über die deutschen Ausgaben von Carlsen, was ich in der Sternebewertung aber nicht berücksichtigt habe: Es ist nachvollziehbar, dass es bei der Transliteration von japanischen Eigennamen Hürden gibt und teils auch verschiedene Möglichkeiten. Manche Entscheidungen sind aber wirklich wild. Aus Machi wird Mati. Manchen Namen wird einfach ein neuer Buchstabe hinzugefügt. Aus Feitan wird Feitang, aus Ubo plötzlich Ubor? Kal(l)uto mit Kult zu übersetzen finde ich megaunglücklich gewählt, vor allem weil der Name so überhaupt nicht mehr zu den Geschwistern passt.
Die Phantom-Brigade ist hier als die Illusionisten unterwegs, was ich auch nicht nachvollziehbar finde, aber kann man mit leben. Komisch wirkt es dann aber genau in diesem Band, wenn die Gruppe über ihre Namensgebung spricht und sich selbst dann Brigade nennt. Da hätte ich mir etwas mehr Einheit gewünscht. Auch bei Melodie ist es nicht einheitlich, da sie manchmal Senritsu genannt wird.
Ich will die Übersetzung keinesfalls schlechtreden, das ist immer noch eine gute Leistung (auch wenn ab und zu mal ein Rechtschreibfehler drin ist) und vor allem sind einige Entscheidungen subjektiv geprägt. Mein Favorit ist sie nur leider nicht.

Auch wenn die Bände das gängige Manga-Format haben, hätte man sich ruhig für ein größeres entscheiden können, so wie es andere Verlage bereits tun. Die Sprechblasen sind teils viel zu klein, was sie schwer lesbar machen. Ist zum Teil natürlich Togashis Zutun, da er sehr viel Text auf eine Seite packt, aber das entschuldigt diese Minischrift nicht.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Togashi blazed the trail for battle manga in Jump through both Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter. So it was a little disappointing to read the Spider flashback when it was new. It's a nice little story, but it's also some Naruto shit. I mean, I fuck with Naruto, but it's inherently "lighter" than HxH. Thematically, I guess I mean. But this is on the level of Obito being "the coolest guy." "Guys, I need to make a broken Nen ability to kill a bunch of people so the world will fear Meteor City so no one will abduct and murder the children here." Uh, okay. I hope Hisoka wins, and I hope he kills more of your goons on the way, you weirdo.

The Gon and Yusuke illustration is nice, even though Yusuke looks way different than he did thirty years earlier.

Hisoka's return after years IRL is/was hype as fuck. Aura-farming out the wazoo. Somewhat literally, since his Aura spooks Hinrigh's people.

Ken'i's smiles are GOATed also.

Togashi is definitely taking the piss. He's never going to finish the Succession War, and even if he does he will certainly never finish the Dark Continent. But then he goes and adds more characters in this arc, and makes them talk a whole fuckload. That said, I always enjoy the memes when a new chapter drops and people laugh about how Togashi is giving us enough text to last until the next batch.

I don't know what this means, but the Phantom Troupe became friends because of cleaning-based superheroes, and Goten and Trunks are fans on a cleaning-based superhero in Dragon Ball Super. Both things happened around the same time, I think.

Shalnark getting hit in the flashback and falling the same way as when Hisoka killed him is just the funniest shit.

Renko is hot.

****

Hinrigh vs. Padaille, Quorolle, and Tevelares
(Hisoka vs. Lynch)
(Nobunaga vs. Luini)
(Nobunaga vs. bathroom wall)
(Franklin vs. Uvogin)
(Hinrigh vs. Terebellum)
(Nobunaga vs. Yokotani)
(Nobunaga vs. Terebellum)
Yokotani and Conjured guards vs. Nobunaga and Hinrigh

Not a lot of "proper" fights in this volume.