Yoshihiro Togashi (冨樫義博), the creator of the long-running manga series Hunter x Hunter, announced on his X account on Monday that he will no longer accept any work that comes with a deadline, citing a decline in both his physical and mental health. Going forward, he said, he intends to prioritize his own manuscript work above outside requests.
The announcement did not specify the exact nature of his health issues, nor did it state whether Hunter x Hunter’s own serialization schedule will be affected. Togashi framed the decision specifically around turning down external, deadline-bound assignments so that he can focus his limited energy on his own drawing work.
Hunter x Hunter has been published irregularly in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump since 1998, with the series going on numerous extended hiatuses over the years, many of them previously attributed to Togashi’s chronic health problems, including back pain that has made it physically difficult for him to draw for long periods. Monday’s statement is the latest in a long pattern of the author being open with fans about the physical toll the job takes on him.
Who is Yoshihiro Togashi?
Yoshihiro Togashi is a veteran manga artist best known for creating Yu Yu Hakusho in the early 1990s and Hunter x Hunter, which debuted in 1998 and has become one of the best-selling manga series of all time, with adventure, strategy, and dark fantasy elements that have earned it a devoted global fanbase and multiple anime adaptations. He is also widely known to the public as the husband of Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon.
No timeline was given for how long the new policy of declining deadline work will remain in place, and neither Togashi nor his representatives have commented further beyond the X post.
Author’s Comment
Oh, Togashi-sensei, you beautiful, chaotic disaster of a workaholic. If you’ve followed Hunter x Hunter for more than five minutes, you know the drill: genius storyline, agonizing hiatus, genius storyline, agonizing hiatus, repeat until the fanbase collectively ages a decade. I love that this time he’s actually drawing a boundary — literally refusing outside deadlines so he can protect time for his own manuscript, which, read between the lines, probably means more Hunter x Hunter chapters eventually, not fewer. Japanese Twitter’s reaction is exactly what you’d expect: equal parts "please take care of yourself" and "does this mean we’re getting the next arc or not." Look, the man has a legendary bad back and an equally legendary habit of disappearing for years at a time, so forgive me for reading this as cautiously optimistic news dressed up as a health scare. Rest up, sensei. We’ve waited this long.
