If you’ve spent any time in the Shonen Jump rabbit hole, you know the legend. You’ve seen the screenshots. One page looks like a Renaissance painting, and the next looks like a napkin sketch from a frantic fever dream. Yoshihiro Togashi is a genius, but his work is chaotic. Specifically, hunter x hunter manga panels have become a case study in how the industry treats its titans and how a creator’s physical health can fundamentally reshape the art on the page.
It’s not just about "bad art." That’s a lazy take. It’s about the massive, often jarring gap between the weekly magazine runs and the polished tankobon volumes.
The Infamous "Chicken Scratch" Era and the Jump Context
Most people who complain about the art quality are looking at the weekly Shonen Jump scans from the Chimera Ant arc. It was rough. During the mid-2000s, Togashi’s chronic back pain became so debilitating that he literally couldn't sit at a desk. There are hunter x hunter manga panels from Chapter 184 or Chapter 337 that, in their original magazine release, were nothing more than loose pencil sketches with zero backgrounds and barely any ink.
Why did Jump even publish them? Because Togashi is Togashi. Most artists would have their work rejected or be forced into a hiatus immediately. Togashi’s pedigree—having written YuYu Hakusho—gave him a level of editorial freedom that is almost unheard of in the industry. He wanted to tell the story, even if the "art" wasn't ready.
But here’s the thing: he fixes them.
Almost every single one of those sketchy panels gets redrawn for the volume releases. If you buy the physical manga today, you aren't seeing the scribbles. You’re seeing the corrected, inked versions. It’s a fascinating look into a creator’s perfectionism versus their physical limitations. You can actually track his health by looking at the line weight. When he's feeling okay, the lines are sharp, decisive, and intricate. When the pain flares up, the lines get shaky or disappear entirely into blocks of text.
The Power of Negative Space and Minimalism
Togashi doesn't just use detail to tell a story. He uses the lack of it.
Take the fight between Netero and Meruem. There are sequences where the backgrounds vanish completely. In the hands of a lesser artist, this would feel like a shortcut. In Hunter x Hunter, it creates a vacuum. It forces your eyes to focus entirely on the kinetic energy of the characters. By stripping away the environment, Togashi emphasizes the "Zero Hand" or the "100-Guanyin Bodhisattva" in a way that feels mythic.
It’s a deliberate choice. He’s a master of panel flow. He knows exactly where your eye is going to land next. He’ll use a tiny, cramped panel to show a character’s internal anxiety, then blow the page wide open with a double-page spread that feels like it’s screaming.
The "Wall of Text" is another polarizing element. Lately, especially in the Succession Contest arc, hunter x hunter manga panels have become increasingly dense with dialogue and internal monologue. Sometimes there isn't even a drawing—just a black box with white text. It’s dense. It’s polarizing. Some fans hate it because it slows down the "action." Others love it because it treats a shonen manga like a high-stakes political thriller. Honestly, it’s basically a light novel at this point, but the way he lays out those text blocks still follows a specific visual rhythm. He uses the text as a graphic element.
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How the Succession Contest Redefined the Visual Style
Since the return from the long hiatuses around 2018 and 2022, the art style has shifted again. It’s more precise. Togashi has been using more digital assistance and assistants for backgrounds, which has led to some of the most detailed environments in the series' history. The Black Whale ship is a godsend for architectural nerds.
Look at the panels featuring Tserriednich. The horror elements are visceral. Togashi has always had a knack for drawing "unsettling" things—think back to the early days of the Nen reveals—but the newer panels feel more mature. There’s a scratchy, hatching-heavy style used for Tserriednich’s Nen beast that feels distinct from the cleaner lines of Kurapika.
- Togashi uses heavy blacks to signify "malice."
- He uses "sketchy" lines during high-speed movement to mimic motion blur.
- He often leaves faces blank in the background to save time, a common manga trope, but he does it more frequently than his peers.
It’s also worth noting that the digital transition has changed his "screentone" game. Early Hunter x Hunter relied on physical tones that gave the Greed Island arc a softer, more "game-like" feel. The current arc is stark. It’s high-contrast. It’s moody. It perfectly matches the theme of a deadly succession war where everyone is lying to everyone else.
Reading Between the Lines (Literally)
If you’re trying to appreciate hunter x hunter manga panels, you have to look at the "Gyo" of it all. Togashi often places clues in the background that he doesn't call out in the text. In the current arc, a character’s position in a room or a subtle change in their facial expression can tip you off to a Nen ability hours before it’s explained.
A lot of people miss the "hidden" storytelling. They see a wall of text and skip it. Big mistake. Togashi writes for the "re-reader." He knows his audience is obsessive. He leaves breadcrumbs. If you look at the panels where Ging Freecss is explaining the Dark Continent, the scale of the drawings compared to the known world map is intentionally designed to make the reader feel small. It’s cosmic horror disguised as an adventure manga.
Why Some Panels Look Like "Bad" Art (But Aren't)
There is a huge difference between "bad" art and "raw" art.
When Gon undergoes his transformation against Neferpitou, the art is brutal. It’s messy. The lines are thick and jagged. This wasn't because Togashi was tired—it was because the moment required a lack of polish. It needed to feel ugly. It needed to feel like a child’s soul being shredded. If that scene had been drawn with the clean, sterilized lines of a standard battle manga, it wouldn't have had the same emotional impact.
Contrast that with the Election arc, where the art is generally very clean and "pop." The visual style adapts to the tone of the story.
- Chimera Ant Arc: Gritty, high-contrast, often grotesque.
- Yorknew City: Noir-inspired, heavy shadows, cinematic framing.
- Greed Island: Bright, cleaner lines, more focus on "items" and UI.
- Succession Contest: Dense, detailed, claustrophobic.
Togashi’s genius isn't in "perfect" drawing. It’s in his ability to use the medium of manga—ink on paper—to manipulate the reader's heart rate. He knows when to be "bad" and when to be "great."
The Evolution of the "Hatch" Technique
One thing you’ll notice if you zoom into hunter x hunter manga panels is the sheer amount of hatching. Instead of using grey screentones (the stickers manga artists use for shading), Togashi often draws every single individual line for shadows. This gives the manga a "hand-drawn" feel that is becoming rarer in the age of fully digital production.
It’s labor-intensive. It’s probably why his back hurts. But it gives the world a texture that feels "lived-in." When you see the sweat on a character’s face during a high-stakes Nen battle, it’s not just a generic droplet. It’s a series of frantic, tiny marks that convey genuine desperation.
How to Properly Collect and Study These Panels
If you want to see the "real" Hunter x Hunter, you have to go beyond the scans. Web-based scanlations often blow out the blacks or blur the fine lines because of low-resolution uploads.
The best way to experience the art is through the Japanese "Kanzenban" or the standard English Viz volumes. The paper quality actually matters here. Because Togashi uses so much fine detail and varying line weights, the texture of the paper helps "hold" the ink in a way a computer screen doesn't.
Actionable Steps for Fans and Artists
If you're an aspiring artist or just a super-fan who wants to understand why these panels work, try this:
- Compare the magazine vs. volume versions. Find a side-by-side of the Chimera Ant arc. It will teach you more about inking and "finishing" a page than any textbook. You'll see exactly what Togashi prioritizes when he has the time to do it right.
- Track the "eye path." Take a page from the Yorknew City arc. Draw a line following where your eye goes first, second, and third. Notice how Togashi uses the shape of the word balloons to point toward the next action.
- Look at the "silent" pages. The series is famous for its dialogue, but some of its best moments have zero words. Study how he conveys a character’s realization or fear purely through the "camera angle" of the panel.
- Ignore the "lazy" narrative. Next time someone says the art is bad, look at the composition. Even in the "sketches," the anatomy and the perspective are almost always spot-on. He knows the rules; he just chooses when to break them.
The art of Hunter x Hunter isn't about being "pretty." It’s about being effective. Whether it’s a hyper-detailed Nen beast or a shaky sketch of a boy holding a fishing rod, every mark on that page is a reflection of a creator who refuses to compromise on his vision, even when his body is fighting him every step of the way.
To truly appreciate the manga, you have to embrace the messiness. You have to realize that the "flaws" are often the most honest part of the story. Togashi isn't a machine; he’s a guy with a pen and a brilliant, tortured mind. That’s what makes those panels legendary.
Next Steps: Pick up Volume 34 and turn to the fight between Hisoka and Chrollo. It is widely considered the peak of "complex" paneling in modern manga. Don't just read the words—look at how the crowd is drawn and how Togashi manages to keep the geography of the arena clear despite the chaotic action. It’s a masterclass in visual storytelling that most artists couldn't pull off even on their best day.