After nearly 20 years of garnishing all the hype an anime can possibly garnish, Hunter X Hunter has spent the last two years on hiatus and this is not the first time fans have had to wait for new issues of Shonen Jump to continue on with the story.
As it's a common trend of the series, all of the hiatuses that Hunter X Hunter has been on since first being published in Shonen Jump back in 1998 can be organized and recalled in chronological order. Only the hiatuses that lasted at least 2 months will be counted in order to demonstrate the respectful patience that a mangaka like Yoshihiro Togashi deserves.
12 2006-2007: 84 Week Hiatus Streak During The Chimera Ant Arc
Prior to 2006, Yoshihiro Togashi was getting his work published in Shonen Jump on a semi-regular basis. 2006 was different though.
Perhaps the Chimera Ant Arc that Togashi was working through was not entirely plotted when he started. Or it could be that Yoshihiro Togashi wanted to take more time to perfect and build upon this extensive arc.
11 2008: 9 Week Hiatus Streak Gave Birth To The Nickname "Hiatus X Hiatus"
After the Hunter X Hunter manga returned in 2007, it took another short hiatus from the pages of Shonen Jump in January of 2008. It is at this point in the Hunter X Hunter publication history that the series began to evolve into "Hiatus X Hiatus," a fanmade nickname.
While this new title is intended as more of a friendly term of endearment, this 9-week hiatus made it clear that the 84-week break that Hunter X Hunter took from Shonen Jump in 2006 and 2007 was not a one-time thing.
10 2008: 19 Week Hiatus Streak During A Global Recession
If the 9-week streak that followed Hunter X Hunter's first true hiatus was not enough to suggest that the series would be released at a much slower rate moving forward, then the 19-week hiatus the series took in the middle of 2008 should.
To be fair to Yoshihiro Togashi and Shonen Jump, 2008 did notch a global recession into the history books that the manga industry was absolutely affected by. Still, the Chimera Ant arc was responsible for introducing Gon and Killua to the true scale of the Hunter X Hunter world. It couldn't be helped that this revelation had to be put on hold as often as it was.
9 2009-2010, 53 Week Hiatus Streak Covered All But The First 2 Weeks In 2009
The hiatus that Hunter X Hunter took in 2009 was not the first year-long break that the series took from Shonen Jump. It did remove Togashi's manga from the pages of Shonen Jump for nearly all of 2009, though.
If Yoshihiro had not been published in Shonen Jump for the first two weeks of 2009, that year would have been completely void of any new Hunter x Hunter chapters before resuming their Chimera Ant adventure in 2010.
8 2010-2011, 59 Week Hiatus Streak Was Followed By The Conclusion Of The Chimera Ant Arc & Two New Arcs
When the series returned in 2011, fans were finally treated to the end of the Chimera Ant Arc, the entire 13th Hunter Chairman Election Arc, and the beginning of the Dark Continent Expedition Arc. For fans that had adjusted to the new pace that Togashi and Shonen Jump were publishing HXH, the release streak at the end of 2011 and start of 2012 was a genuine treat.
7 2012, 35 Week Hiatus Streak Halted The Dark Continent Expedition Arc & Led To A Kurapika One-Shot
After waiting 3 years for the Chimera Ant Arc to wrap and being treated to two entirely new arcs, it took an additional 35 weeks for a Kurapika one shot to be published in place of new chapters in the Dark Continent Expedition Arc.
The Kurapika one-shot that was published in January of 2013 gives Hunter X Hunter fans the chance to see into Kurapika's past before setting him up as the protagonist in the Dark Continent Expedition Arc. Still, fans were surely disappointed after waiting for so long for more Dark Continent lore.
6 2013-2014, 75 Week Hiatus Streak Prolonged The Dark Continent Expedition Arc Even Further
After the Kurapika one-shot was published in the pages of Shonen Jump at the beginning of 2013, Hunter X Hunter took a 75-week publishing hiatus. That means fans excited to learn more about the Dark Continent Expedition Arc were actually forced to wait 110 weeks for new Dark Continent lore after being introduced to the new arc back in 2011.
5 2014-2016, 85 Week Hiatus Streak Is Currently The Second Longest Break
One of the longest hiatus streaks since the series took its first break in 2006 comes after the Dark Continent Expedition Arc wrapped up halfway through 2014.
This is also the first Hunter X Hunter hiatus that spanned the entirety of a given calendar year. For the entirety of 2015, HXH never published new content in the pages of Shonen Jump. This left fans to imagine what the true expedition to the Dark Continent would look like themselves until the series returned in 2016 to fill in the blanks.
4 2016-2017, 49 Week Hiatus Streak Was Followed By More World Building Details
Another extended hiatus right in the middle of a new arc was nothing new by the time 2016's end-of-year hiatus hit Hunter X Hunter fans. At this point, fans had come to embrace the hiatus and even casually began flooding the internet with light jabs about their favorite anime. Fortunately, the Succession Contest Arc is full of chapters that offer viewers answers to world-building questions that they have been asking since the Chimera Ant Arc.
3 2017-2018, 19 Week Hiatus Streak Followed After A Legendary Battle
After fans were treated to more Succession Arc content, another hiatus of 19 weeks stalled the new arc from giving HXH fans more Kurapika content.
This hiatus also followed after the legendary battle between Chrollo Lucilfer and Hisoka Morow. After cutting to the Heaven's Arena and introducing the life-saving capabilities of Nen, Togashi pivots back to the Succession Contest for a single chapter before entering another hiatus.
2 2018, 23 Week Hiatus Streak Interrupted The Succession Contest Arc
After waiting another 23 weeks for more Succession Contest Arc content, fans were finally satisfied when Yoshihiro Togashi returned with new HXH chapters at the end of 2018.
The Succession Contest is meant to entertain viewers with incredible Nen battles up until the massive dark continent expedition team reaches their destination.
1 2019-current, 129 Week Hiatus Streak & Counting
The plans are set and the succession contest has begun, but fans of Hunter X Hunter are still waiting today for Yoshihiro to return with illustrated panels of Kurapika playing detective while the wealthy princes of Kakin battle for their right to the throne.
The current hiatus that fans are patiently waiting through is the longest Hunter X Hunter hiatus yet. Still, fans are re-watching and re-reading with hopes that Yoshihiro Togashi will one day be back and better than ever.