The classic anime that helped shape Hunter x Hunter.

Classic anime and manga influences have helped shape Hunter x Hunter.

Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter x Hunter has been so influential that readers and viewers sometimes forget how decades of anime and manga have shaped its creator. Togashi openly discusses the works that define him as an artist, and his tactical matches and unique storyline structures are rooted in the shōnen tradition and have influenced generations of native creators. These influences can be seen not only in specific Hunter x Hunters characters, but also in a wider range of stories where Togashi praises them for coming back to life with shared gameplay systems, character archetypes, and fans hoping to take on shonen protagonists.

Dragon Ball has given us the Shonen language

It is almost impossible to discuss the ancestors of Hunter x Hunter without mentioning Dragon Ball. Akira Toriyama's series has set up many hopes that it will be inherited from later fighting shonen, with battles built around adventurous young heroes, martial arts training, tournament formations and characters discovering new levels of power.

Like the younger Goku, he possesses extraordinary physical talent without fully realizing what makes him special. There is also a laughably direct resemblance between their signature techniques: early on, Goku uses a rock-paper-scissors base combat system called Jan Ken, and Gong's Jajanken eventually splits his Nen attack into Rock, Paper and Scissors.

They show that Togashi can start out as one of the most recognizable heroes in shōnen, and gradually reveal qualities Toriyama was not particularly interested in. Togashi's reverence for Dragon Ball is still evident decades later.

Polar Star's fist gives the bad guys their insides.

Fist of the North Star helped define the savage fighting manga landscape that Togashi entered as a young creator. Its battles were rarely technological demonstrations; rivals brought philosophy, history and spiritual burdens to battle. This made a military conflict become decisive for all characters rather than just another obstacle for the protagonist.

This instinct is manifested throughout Hunter x Hunter. Togashi often gives his enemies such an inner voice that defeating them ceases to be the only outcome of interest. The Phantom Troupe are assassins, but they truly grieve for each other; Meruem begins as an incomprehensibly cruel creature until she experiences one of the story's worst twists.

There is a particularly direct connection to Meruem's final moments. When discussing the scene between Meluem and Komugi, Togashi refers to the lasting impact of the prominent death image from Fist of the North Star.

Kurapika was inspired by Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

One of Hunter x Hunter's clear character influences comes from a source far removed from war shonen. Kurapika was partly inspired by Ohmu in Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.[citation needed] Large omou normally possess calm blue eyes, but they turn fiercely red when angry.

The Kurapika and Kurta Clan exhibit remarkably similar physical transformation, with their famous Scarlet Eyes opening within higher emotional states.

Togashi not only copies the visual sensation of changing eye color, but transforms it into one of Hunter x Hunter's most important emotional symbols. & This image from Studio Ghibli shows baby Ohmu trying to help Nausicaa.

Jojó's strange adventures teach us the value of being limited

Hunter x Hunter and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure envy interesting abilities due to their limitations. An attacker succeeds because they can handle the situation until those rules are beneficial, by understanding their capability and recognizing what an enemy's ability cannot do. This philosophy is fundamental for Nen.

Knuckle's Hakoware turns the fight into a supernatural calculation. Morel has repeatedly shown that flexibility and intelligence can be more important than big production. The same fun in JoJo's bizarre adventure has defined many Stand fights, with characters finding out how to take advantage of them as their strange powers become deadly.

It would be too simplistic to say that Nin is the Stands version of Togashi, who has built a more systematic framework around aura types, limitations and personal technology development.

Yu-Yu Hakusho was the lab for Hunter x Hunter.

Perhaps the most important predecessor to Hunter x Hunter is Togashi's own previous work. Yu Yu Hakusho has gained many years of experience writing character groups that feature him in extreme battles, races, morally complex enemies and completely different personalities.

Dark Tournament Arc has been shown to treat villains as characters rather than disposable opponents, and Chapter Black Arc moves away from simple physical upgrades by introducing terrain users with unique supernatural rules. These concepts feel surprisingly familiar when viewed through Hunter x Hunter. Nen ultimately expands Togashi's range of massively multiplayer surrealist battles.

The Phantom Troupe receives the attention normally reserved for heroes, and Gon himself finds it increasingly difficult to be described as a traditional hero. Yu Yu Hakusho was the novel that helped Togashi discover his love affair with fighting manga, something he wanted further promotion on, and did not want to continue in this way. Studio Pierrot imagery shows Genkai being trained by Yusuke while Genkai is standing flying through the wind of hair.

The importance of genealogy

The practical value for readers is that Hunter x Hunter can be understood not as a simple break from shonen, but rather an intentional blending of its inherited language. Dragon Ball supports the adventure framework; Fist of the North Star provides psychological weight and inner villain spirit; Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind supports a tangible idea which becomes a moral symbol; JoJo's Bizarre Adventure provides the logic of constraint; and Yu Hakusho offers Togashi's own land to test out tournaments, supernatural rules, and morally complex enemies.

Togashi asks how these patterns can make sense when he forces the characters to live within more demanding combat systems, layered enemies and uncomfortable heroic expectations.

The source also lists the names of Hunter x Hunter actors including Issei Futamata and Megumi Han, sent [email protected] for edits, and asked readers to choose with a MyAnimeList comparison prompt.