Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: When was the Hunter × Hunter manga series developed?
Written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi, the "Hunter × Hunter" manga began its ongoing serialization in "Weekly Shōnen Jump" magazine on March 3, 1998. Shueisha has compiled most of the chapters into 36 "tankōbon" volumes as of October 2018. In December 2011, Shueisha began republishing the manga into a magazine-styled "sōshūhen" format. The company published one volume per month for a total of six volumes, covering up to the end of the Greed Island story arc. In December 2012, Togashi wrote a two-part manga titled to act as a prequel to the first animated film. "Tokyo Ghoul" author Sui Ishida created a 69-page storyboard of a manga chapter depicting the past of "Hunter × Hunter"s Hisoka. The storyboard was released digitally via "Shonen Jump+" on June 2, 2016.
The "Hunter × Hunter" manga has received much praise for its plot and characters. In his 2007 book "", Jason Thompson described its storyline as "an almost random collection of psych-outs, battles, puzzles, and trickery" that works on both a chapter-by-chapter basis and a larger scale. Thompson elaborated that with all the goals and subplots of each of the main characters, the story could seemingly go on forever and is unpredictable enough to hold reader interest. In a different review for Anime News Network in 2012, Thompson wrote that it was hard to summarize the story because it is every "shōnen" manga in one, with training sequences, tournament battles, a crime-mystery story arc, and a virtual-reality, RPG-style story arc. But unlike most "shōnen" manga, he called "Hunter × Hunter" "incredibly dense." Examples being its fictional nen ability, which is explained "so thoroughly that you almost think it could exist," and the little challenges and games the characters face; "Over and over Togashi invents some little closed system or rules just so the heroes can break them; if he ever wants to change careers, I'd suggest game designer." Thompson praised the character art as great, pointing out how instead of alternating between realistic and chibi like other artists, Togashi has cartoony and realistic characters interacting in the same panels. Thompson did note how the artwork during its magazine run is often "sketchy" and missing backgrounds, but that Togashi goes back and fixes it for its collected "tankōbon" release. Mentioning Togashi's love of gore he stated "the whole manga is about the mixture of childish adventure and creepy, adult themes" and noted how some panels later in the manga are apparently censored for gore by being covered with screentone.
The first "Hunter × Hunter" anime adaptation was produced by the company Nippon Animation and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, who had previously directed the "Rurouni Kenshin" television series. A total of 62 episodes of "Hunter × Hunter" were broadcast on the Japanese terrestrial television network Fuji Television from October 16, 1999 to March 31, 2001 during the same Saturday evening timeslot as the anime version of Togashi's previous series "Yu Yu Hakusho". Additionally, "Hunter × Hunter" has aired on the satellite television station Animax. Although it closely follows the manga, the violence in the anime version is lessened for younger audiences. Marvelous Entertainment has released all episodes of the series in Japan on DVD in 13 separate volumes between September 20, 2000 and September 19, 2001.
The "Hunter × Hunter" manga series features an extensive cast of characters created by Yoshihiro Togashi. The series takes place in a fictional universe where licensed specialists known as Hunters travel the world taking on special jobs ranging from treasure hunting to assassinations. The story focuses on eleven-year-old Gon Freecss and his quest to become a Hunter in order to find his father, Ging, who is himself a famous Hunter. While on his quest, Gon meets and becomes close friends with Killua Zoldyck, Kurapika and Leorio Paradinight who are also on quests to become Hunters for their own reasons.
Critical reception for the first "Hunter × Hunter" television adaptation has been generally favorable. Miyako Matsuda of "Protoculture Addicts", Carl Kimlinger of the Anime News Network (ANN), and Derrick L. Tucker of THEM Anime Reviews all expressed positive views of the series' narrative and characters. Matsuda admired the adventure-filled world of "Hunter × Hunter" and the practical character qualities of friendship, effort, and victory inserted by Togashi. Beginning with the second Viz DVD volume, Kimlinger summarized, "Togashi's plotting is canny and occasionally insightful and Furuhashi's visuals inventive yet attuned to the measured pacing of the series. Together they create a "shonen" action series that is both fun to watch and curiously respectful of its audience's intelligence. A strange combination indeed." Tucker admitted to being "bewitched" by the series mainly due to the remarkable and original characters, especially the interplay between the vastly different personalities of the Phantom Troupe members. Kimlinger gave particular praise to the characteristics of the complex villain Hisoka and the deep, emotional transformation of Kurapika in the latter half of the series. Theron Martin, also of ANN, contrastingly found the plot of the earliest episodes to be cliché, called the protagonist Gon "an obvious Son Goku derivative", and stated that many of the story's aspects have already been covered by other "shōnen" series such as "Dragon Ball Z" a decade earlier. Martin was also displeased by an alleged lack of character development on the main protagonists' parts in the initial episodes.
The first "Hunter × Hunter" anime series has enjoyed much more modest popularity than its manga source. "Newtype" listed it as having a Japanese television rating of 10.5 for the fourth quarter of 2000. The show's viewership was ranked number six among the top ten anime television series in Japan for February 2001. The series was voted as the 16th best anime of 2000 in the "Animage" Anime Grand Prix, but rose to fourth place the following year. In 2001, the staff of the magazine listed "Hunter × Hunter" as the 94th most important anime of all time. In a 2006 web poll conducted in Japan by the network TV Asahi, the "Hunter × Hunter" television series was voted 28th best anime of all time. In 2010, Mania.com's Briana Lawrence listed "Hunter × Hunter" at number nine of the website's "10 Anime Series That Need a Reboot".
Hunter has long been rumoured to have written an unknown number of pornographic novels, as Dean Hudson, for William Hamling's publishing houses. Hunter himself adamantly and consistently denied writing any books as Hudson right up to his death. However, apparently his agent Scott Meredith sold books to Hamling's company as Hunter's work, and received payments for these books in cash. While notable, this in and of itself is not definitive proof: Meredith almost certainly forwarded novels to Hamling by any number of authors, claiming these novels were by Hunter simply to make a sale. Ninety-three novels were published under the Hudson name between 1961 and 1969, and even the most avid proponents of the Hunter-as-Hudson theory do not believe Hunter is responsible for all 93.
Before the first anime television series was created, a short film adaptation of "Hunter × Hunter" was shown as part of the 1998 "Jump Super Anime Tour" alongside similar adaptations of "Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi!" and "One Piece". Produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by Noriyuki Abe, it depicts the early events of the manga up to Gon's ocean voyage from Whale Island.
Erin Hunter is a collective pseudonym used by the authors Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Gillian Philip, Inbali Iserles, Tui T. Sutherland, and Rosie Best, in the writing of several juvenile fantasy novel series, which focus on animals and their adventures. Notable works include the "Warriors", "Seekers", "Survivors", and "Bravelands" book series. Each of the authors play a different role: while Holmes creates the storyline of each book, Cary, Baldry, and Sutherland take turns writing the books. In addition, another person who is not an Erin Hunter writes the manga: Dan Jolley.
A series of "Fist of the North Star" spinoffs began to be published in "Weekly Comic Bunch" and "Big Comics Superior" later. This lineup of titles has been dubbed the "Hokuto Gaiden" series, as each title focuses on a particular supporting character from the original manga. The following titles had been published so far:In 2018, a dedicated e-reader was sold that shipped with 18 volumes of Fist of the North Star, without the option of loading anything else, it is a read-only device just for Fist of the North Star. It has two screens that fold out like a book and sold for ¥30,000 in Japan. The device is called an eOneBook and is powered by removable AAA batteries.
The series first appeared in December 1969, when it was published simultaneously in six different magazines. A total of 1,344 stories were created in the original series, which are published by Shogakukan under the manga brand, extending to forty-five volumes. The volumes are collected in the Takaoka Central Library in Toyama, Japan, where Fujiko Fujio was born. In July 2013 it was announced that the manga would be released digitally in English in full-color via the Amazon Kindle e-book service.
Tetsuo Hara has stated that he came up with the idea of "Hokuto no Ken" from his editor Nobuhiko Horie. According to Hara, Horie suggested to him that he should draw a manga about "a martial artist who destroys his opponents by striking their acupressure points" based on Hara's aspiration to draw a manga about martial arts and his knowledge of pressure points. At the time, Hara was having trouble breaking into the market, as his first series, the "Iron Don Quixote", was cancelled ten weeks after its debut. A prototype version of "Hokuto no Ken" was published as a one shot story in the April 1983 issue of "Fresh Jump", which was followed by "Hokuto no Ken II", a second one-shot published in the June 1983 issue. Both stories are collected in the second "tankōbon" volume of "Tetsu no Don Quixote".
Written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa, "Monster" was published in "Big Comic Original" from December 1994 to December 2001. The 162 chapters were periodically collected into 18 tankōbon volumes published by Shogakukan, the first on 30 June 1995 and the last on 28 February 2002. While writing "Monster", Urasawa began the series "20th Century Boys" in 1999, which would continue after "Monster" had finished.
Written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa, "Monster" was published in "Big Comic Original" from December 1994 to December 2001. The 162 chapters were periodically collected into 18 "tankōbon" volumes published by Shogakukan, the first on 30 June 1995 and the last on 28 February 2002. While writing "Monster", Urasawa began the series "20th Century Boys" in 1999, which would continue after "Monster" had finished. "Monster" received a nine-volume "kanzenban" re-release between 30 January and 29 August 2008.
The first "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai" manga series, written and illustrated by Itachi, has been published in Media Factory's "Monthly Comic Alive" magazine since its May 2010 issue, released on March 27, 2010. Additionally, the series has been collected in 14 "tankōbon" volumes. Seven Seas Entertainment has licensed the first manga series in North America under the title "Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends".
A novel series written by Tatsuya Hamazaki and illustrated by Yuzuka Morita of the same name retells the story of the games with slight modifications, such as depicting Epitaphs as weapons instead of physical Avatars and a further exploration Haseo's background who gains a new armor. It is composed of a total of four volumes published by Kadokawa Shoten between April 1, 2007 and August 1, 2008. Tokyopop published the novels in North America between February 10, 2009 and April 26, 2011. Cyberconnect2 also produced ".hack//G.U. Trilogy", a computer animated film adaptation of the games that takes numerous liberties with the story. The film was first screened in Japan in a Tokyo theater in December 2007. Bandai Visual later released it in DVD and Blu-ray format on March 25, 2008. In May 2011, Bandai Entertainment announced that they licensed the film for an English release but only with Japanese audio accompanied by English subtitles on August 18, 2009. Following the closure of Bandai Entertainment, Funimation announced at SDCC 2013, that they have acquired 4 .hack title including G.U. trilogy. 
The games' sequel is ".hack//Link", a PlayStation Portable game that takes place three years in the future with a new version of "The World".
Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #1 (March 1963), making him the first member of Spider-Man's rogues' gallery, based on issue publication date, excluding the burglar who murdered Ben Parker (Supercharger was the first Spider-Man supervillain chronologically). He is also well known to be related to Kraven the Hunter. That revealed relationship helped evolve him as a major villain compared to his original depiction of being just a solo villain in the original issue of "The Amazing Spider-Man".
My Monster Secret, known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiji Masuda. It has been serialized in Akita Shoten's "shōnen" manga magazine "Weekly Shōnen Champion" since January 31, 2013. As of December 2016, the series has been collected in 20 "tankōbon" volumes. An anime television series adaptation began airing July 2015. AnimeLab has secured streaming rights in Australia & New Zealand. Seven Seas Manga acquired the rights to translate and distribute the manga for North America with the first volume being released in January 2016.
Okayado (a pen name of Takemaru Inui) published the prototype for "Monster Musume" in "Comic Ryu"'s Anthology Comic "Kemomo 02", published by Tokuma Shoten, in 2011. He then reworked the story into a serialized publication, and the first chapter was published in Tokuma Shoten's "seinen" manga magazine "Monthly Comic Ryū" on 19 March 2012. The first collected "tankōbon" volume was released on 13 September 2012. The series moved to online-only serialization when "Comic Ryū" changed formats on 19 June 2018. The series has been licensed in English by Seven Seas Entertainment and in German by Kazé.
Urasawa later wrote and illustrated the novel "Another Monster", a story detailing the events of the manga from an investigative reporter's point of view, which was published in 2002. The manga was adapted by Madhouse into a 74-episode anime TV series, which aired on Nippon TV from April 2004 to September 2005. It was directed by Masayuki Kojima, written by Tatsuhiko Urahata and featured character design by Kitarō Kōsaka. The manga and anime have both been licensed by Viz Media for English releases in North America, with the anime having been broadcast on several television channels. In 2013, Siren Visual licensed the anime for Australia. "Monster" has been critically acclaimed, with the manga having won several awards, and its anime adaptation being called one of the best of the decade.
"Omamori Himari" is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Milan Matra. The story follows Yuto Amakawa, an orphaned boy who, on the day of his sixteenth birthday, meets Himari, a sword-wielding girl who turns out to be a cat spirit. He soon discovers that his family is one of the twelve Demon Slayer families that had slain demons for hundreds of years, and that Himari has sworn an ancient oath to protect him from the demons that are out to kill him until his powers fully awaken. Throughout the series, Yuto encounters other girls who later take a romantic liking to him, most of them ayakashi: Shizuku, a mizuchi in the form of a small child, Lizlet, a tsukumogami in the form of a busty tea-serving maid, and Kuesu, the heiress of the Jinguji Family of Demon Slayers and Yuto's fiancée.
By 2016, the "City Hunter" manga series had sold over 50million tankobon volumes worldwide. In addition, the series was circulated in approximately 900million copies of "Weekly Shōnen Jump" manga magazine between 1985 and 1991. The series was voted the 19th "Most Powerful" series to have featured in Shonen Jump. In a 2005 poll held by TV Asahi, "City Hunter" was voted #66 out of the 100 most popular animated TV series, as voted by TV viewers. A TV Asahi web-poll put "City Hunter" at #65.
There have been several instances in which Togashi has apologized to readers in Shueisha's "Weekly Shōnen Jump" for low-quality artwork and promised to redraw portions of the chapters for their "tankōbon" (collected volume) releases. In addition, the publication history of the "Hunter × Hunter" manga has been plagued with hiatuses, in which serialized chapters would be separated by extended periods of time. After returning from a two-year-long hiatus in June 2014, and joining the English-language "Weekly Shonen Jump" lineup, the manga went on another just two months later. The series returned from this hiatus, which has been its longest to date, on April 18, 2016. However, just over two months later, "Hunter × Hunter" began another hiatus on June 4, 2016, until resuming serialization again on June 26, 2017. Just over two months later, on August 31, it was announced the series will go on hiatus again, with plans to return by the end of the year. The series returned in the 9th issue of "Shonen Jump" on January 29, 2018, before entering in hiatus again on April 9, 2018. The manga returned on September 22, 2018, and went on hiatus again in November after issue #52.
In 1999, "Hunter × Hunter" was adapted into a 62-episode anime television series produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi. The show premiered on Japan's Fuji TV and ran until 2001. Three separate original video animations (OVAs) totaling 30 episodes were subsequently produced by Nippon Animation and released in Japan from 2002 to 2004. A second anime television series by Madhouse aired on Nippon Television from October 2011 to September 2014, with two animated theatrical films released in 2013. There are also numerous audio albums, video games, musicals, and other media based on "Hunter × Hunter". The manga has been translated into English and released in North America by Viz Media since April 2005. Both television series were also licensed by Viz, with the first series having aired on the Funimation Channel in 2009 and the second series premiering on Adult Swim's Toonami block since April 16, 2016.
The story follows a young boy named Gon Freecss, who was told all his life that both his parents were dead. But when he learns from Kite, an apprentice of his father Ging Freecss, that he is still alive and has since become an accomplished Hunter, Gon leaves his home on to take the in order to become a Hunter like him. During the exam, Gon meets and soon befriends three of the other applicants: Kurapika, the last remaining member of the Kurta clan who wishes to become a Hunter in order to avenge his clan and recover their scarlet-glowing eyes that were plucked from their corpses by a band of thieves known as the Phantom Troupe; Leorio, a prospective physician who, in order to pay for medical school, desires the financial benefits that Hunters receive; and Killua Zoldyck, another twelve-year-old boy who has left his former life as a member of the world's most notorious assassin family. Among many other examinees, Gon continuously encounters Hisoka, a mysterious and deadly transmuter who takes an interest in him. After passing by many trials together, Gon and his friends end up passing the exam except for Killua, who fails after killing another applicant due to being controlled by his brother, Illumi, and runs away to his family's estate in shame.