The creator of the famous manga Hunter x Hunter, the talented Yoshihiro Togashi, made a shocking revelation on the television program Iwakura to Yoshizumi no Bangumi (Iwakura and Yoshizumi’s Show) recently. He shared that he originally envisioned four possible endings to conclude the long-running manga. In a letter, read aloud during last Tuesday’s television show, he clarified that he had developed three of the possible endings, and presented the fourth ending, the abandoned one, during the show. He explained that it could be considered an emergency ending, to be used only if he were to pass away before formally completing the manga. Togashi is currently 57 years old.
The fourth ending, or ‘Ending D‘, as Yoshihiro Togashi recounted, takes place after a ‘time jump’, several years into the future. Mirroring the manga’s start, a girl named Gin is fishing in a pond and catches a huge fish. She proudly brings the fish to her mother, announcing that she will never again ask her to become a hunter. After receiving the fish from her daughter, the woman discusses the girl’s future with her husband, expressing disappointment at her daughter’s refusal to become a hunter like her famous grandfather Gon.
Gin vividly remembers how her grandfather frequently left her grandmother Nouko alone at home due to his hunter duties, and that’s what she wanted to avoid—leaving her home and loved ones. She then promises to never leave the island, as a boy enters the room. The last scene of ‘Ending D‘ is a bird flying towards the endless sky as someone watches.
Togashi mentioned that he intended to conceive an ending satisfying enough that it would not be necessary to use endings A, B, or C. He even anticipated that public reactions would be 80% positive for ending A, the same for B, and 90% negative for ending C, despite it being his favorite and the most controversial, to say the least.
The manga’s publication was paused in November 2018, citing the author’s health issues. There was a statement from Shueisha about a decision to not continue the weekly serialized format in the future. It returned after almost four years, in the 47th issue of the 2022 magazine, corresponding to October, about a month after the publication of its 37th compiled volume.
As a historical note, the original manga was launched by Togashi in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1998, and since then, it has inspired two TV anime series, two animated feature films, and several original video anime titles.
Please let us know in the comments if you’re a fan of Hunter x Hunter, and if you’re eager to find out (like us) what the possible endings Yoshihiro Togashi has thought for the story are. Go ahead, we’ll be reading!
Images Source: VIZ Official Hunter x Hunter Website, Reddit.
