What inspired Hunter x Hunter?

This page exists under a strict rule of this Library: an inspiration page prints only what the creator said himself. Togashi clears that bar twice over, and the two statements point in opposite directions, which is what makes them worth printing together.

The warm version first. Togashi has stated that his hobby of collecting various objects inspired him to create a manga about collecting, a work he first conceptualized under the title '(something) Hunter'. The profession at the center of the series, licensed people who hunt rare beasts, secret treasures and unexplored places, is a collector's fantasy given a job title: a world organized around finding, keeping and coveting things.

The cold version is his too, from Shueisha's interview marking the series' 20th anniversary in 2018. He said it without varnish: 'This might be an unpleasant way to put it, but back then I thought that my next work should aim to hit since I was writing for Jump and all.' He had been watching the reader polls closely since the latter half of Yu Yu Hakusho, tracking not only his own standings but who was number one and with what kind of story. His conclusion from the data: 'Analyzing everything, I concluded that the popular works were about sports or battles, stuff where there were clear winners and losers. Then I thought that if I was going to write something next, it had to be a battle manga after all.' Hunter x Hunter began as a calculated hit, built on a collector's hobby. Both halves are on the record, in his own words.