As the Phantom Troupe faces off against the rival Mafia families aboard the Whale Ship, Hisoka becomes the Hunter everyone is looking for. But where did the Phantom Troupe come from, anyway? Flash back to the group’s founding and find out how this infamous gang of thieves got its start with a little help from the Mighty Sweepin’ Power Cleaners.
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.
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.
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
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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)!
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?
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!
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~
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
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.
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?
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.
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Deux tomes parus à deux ans d’écart, cela résume bien ce qu’est devenue la série malheureusement… Des tomes bien trop bavards dont l’abondance casse tout le rythme de lecture et rend le tout indigeste pour les lecteurs fainéant comme moi. Je salue en revanche le travail du traducteur, il doit souffrir.
Pour le reste, on reste englué dans les conflits entre ces trois faction de la mafia de Kakin à bord du navire, avec en prime la Brigade fantôme qui s’y trouve mêlée ainsi qu’Hisoka qui se glisse partout tel un fantôme. Ce tome est une gigantesque chasse à l’homme en mode à la fois chill et sanglant. Mais que c’est long long à lire malgré quelques sympathiques manifestations de pouvoir et rencontres tendues.
Seul moment que je retiens, quand Nobunaga de la Brigade fantôme se rappelle de la fondation de leur groupe et de comment Kuroro est devenu leur chef. Le reste, ce n’est que du blabla, beaucoup de dialogues sont inutiles à ce jour et l’auteur a beau essayer, n’est pas Agatha Christie qui veut pour jouer la carte du huis clos à bord d’un bateau.
Quant à la version collector de ce tome 38… à part le tome 0 en plus, cela n’a que peu d’intérêt… un pauvre mini-marque-page et un boîtier bateau, bof.
Tome 0
Intéressant pour découvrir le passé de Kurapika, ses origines et son drame fondateur avec son clan et son meilleur ami d’alors. J’ai apprécié de découvrir cette société enclavée, coupée du monde, mais c’était un peu rapide et succinct…
Wieder sehr viel Text - glaub nicht ganz so extrem wie im Band zuvor, aber dennoch viel. Der Thronfolgekampf auf dem Schiff geht weiter und die Illusionisten haben hier einen großen Auftritt. Sie sind weiterhin auf der Suche nach Hisoka und man erfährt nebenbei viel aus ihrer Vergangenheit und wie sie zu dieser Truppe wurden.. Das hat super viele Gefühle in mir ausgelöst.. 🥹🔥 welche, das werdet ihr sicherlich selbst schnell rausfinden!
Ich würde empfehlen, Band 37+38 zusammenzulesen - ich hab mich tatsächlich an einiges nicht mehr so gut erinnert.. aber nach ner Weile kam ich auch so wieder gut rein. Gefühlt passiert wieder wenig, aber trotzdem geht's voran. Auch hier würde ich super gern direkt weiterlesen, aber das dauert nun halt wieder ein wenig 🥹 aber das ist es immer alle mal wert! ❤️🔥
Btw.. wurde auf der ersten Seite von Kapitel 399 wirklich was zensiert!? 👀
First off, so happy that we finally got a new release of HunterxHunter. What I don’t really like, is that this release was delayed at least once, if I recall. Anyways, I feel like although things did happen, this was more of a build-up book than anything. I can tell that there are at least 2 groups that are planning something big that will hopefully be executed in the next couple chapters. Something that I did really enjoy, is some backstory on the Phantom Troupe. A look at their childhoods and a view at daily life in Meteor City, something that I don’t think has been seen before. This was a volume that Kurapika was working in the shadows, and the action was focused on other characters. Overall, a good addition to the manga, and probably chapters that will never be animated.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I love Hunter x Hunter because I don’t remember any of the names of the side characters featured in the Dark Continent arc but the tension, pacing and art are such high quality that I could not put this volume down. It was so DENSE but I was loving it.
I’m also not a big fan of humanizing villains but that Phantom Troupe origin? Heartbreaking. Devastating. The joy of childhood and the loss of innocence was such a painful read but man, you understand how these people ended up in the lives they’re leading.
Only one page of a main character in this volume but honestly? I don’t even mind at this point. I want to see what happens next and I trust the process,
Heavy on the dialogue, but man I just love what Togashi's building to here. I love the Phantom Troupe's backstory - getting to see their origins adds an extra punch to some of the scenes in Yorknew City (specifically when Chrollo has his fortune read and realises what happened to Uvo). It characterises the whole troupe in such a painfully tragic light. I think it's a very intentional and impactful move to stage it here, as the next batch of ten chapters seems to be building towards Chrollo making a serious gambit. I can't wait to see where this goes.
What the actual fuck, this is the best yap ever put onto page, yap more and more so i finally grow up and read non-picture books. Togashi really out here schooling us with the most in depth breakdowns of nen abilities, Holy fuck the succession war blows my mind as to how many moving parts are happening at the exact same time and how I am somehow following it with most of it making sense. Togashi really out here making me yap in review
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.
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.