Did 'Hunter x Hunter's Comeback Take A Jab At Shueisha?

Hunter x Hunter just made its major comeback after the manga had been on hiatus for the last 18 issues of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, and while fans are excited to see the series' big return, they noticed something a bit odd in the proceedings.

The character names of some shady characters may just be creator Yoshihiro Togashi taking a shot at Weekly Shonen Jump itself.

During Chapter 371, the Phantom Troupe reappears and hears information about the three mafia families who have boarded the Black Whale to the new continent as well. What fans have latched onto, however, are the names of each of the mafia families.

Each of the names of the families spell out "Shueisha," the publisher of Weekly Shonen Jump where Hunter x Hunter is published. There's the Shuu family, Ei family, and Sha A family.

Fans are wondering if alluding to the publisher under the guise of the mafia families is a tongue in cheek joke or if something Togashi secretly feels about the publisher. Surely this will become more clear as the chapters keep releasing.

Premium Bandai is currently selling a replica set of its Greed Island card game. It runs 8,800 yen (about $78 USD) and Premium Bandai will be taking orders through February with shipment beginning in April. If this seems like it would be too cumbersome but you still want to show off your love of Hunter x Hunter, you can do so with Premium Bandai's other replica offering, the Beatle 07.

For those unfamiliar with Hunter x Hunter, the series was originally created by Yoshihiro Togashi. The story follows a young boy named Gon Freecss, who discovers that his previously thought to be dead father is in fact alive. Not only is he alive, he is a famous Hunter, a professional traveler who specializes in finding rare treasures, exploring unidentified lands, and hunting down dangerous individuals. Gon then decides that in order to meet his father he has to become a licensed Hunter, but in that journey gets wrapped up in way more strangeness than he ever could have anticipated.

The series first ran in Shuiesha's Weekly Shonen Jump in March 1998. Unforunately, the series has gone on a number of hiatuses ever since 2006 which were most likely incurred by bouts of illness Togashi experienced when publishing his last work, Yu Yu Hakusho. The series has run for 360 chapters, and been collected into 47 volumes as of 2017. It's one of Shueisha's most successful selling series with over 66 million copies sold in Japan.

Hunter x Hunter was then adapted into two different anime series. One series ran from 1999 to 2001 from Nippon Animation and lasted for 62 episodes. The second adaptation, produced by Madhouse, ran from 2011 to 2014.