Warning! Contains spoilers for Hunter x Hunter Chapter 393!
While Hunter x Hunter’s return to serialization has largely been successful, the manga’s latest chapter shows how its long hiatus has deeply hurt the series. Author Yoshihiro Togashi has had to often take breaks from producing the manga due to severe health problems preventing him from being able to draw. The last hiatus was around four years long, which in an arc as complex as the current Succession Contest arc can have some unfortunate unintended consequences.
The Succession Contest arc is easily the most complicated arc of the series so far, featuring various factions and a myriad of named characters that readers are expected to keep track of. One group of factions most relevant to the arc right now is the Cha-R, Xi-Yu, and Hei-Ly crime families, each of which is supported by one of the Kakin princes engaged in Hunter x Hunter’s Succession Contest. These factions have a strict code of conduct that the leader of the Hei-Ly family Morena is breaking by empowering her various followers with her Nen ability and encouraging them to kill as many people as possible in order to unlock Nen abilities of their own. Many of these new characters have been introduced, but one of the ones who seemed the most important was Luini, a character who was using his unique teleportation ability to wreak havoc against the Cha-R family. He also seemed to have mysterious plans concerning the Phantom Troupe, as he was a big fan of them. But the latest chapter revealed that he wasn’t as important as fans may have thought.
In chapter 393, Luini transports himself into the Cha-R office where various Phantom Troupe members are standing guard and tries to convince them to join him in a plan to destroy first the different crime families and then the world itself. In response, Nobunaga immediately kills him. This makes sense, as the Phantom Troupe aren’t senseless killers out for world destruction, so there was no reason why they would join Luini on his destructive mission. And Luini’s ability wasn’t strong enough to really pose a threat to any of the Troupe members, as they are each extremely strong. But it is kind of disappointing given how long fans have been speculating on what Luini’s role in the story would be.
Hunter x Hunter‘s Hiatus Made Minor Characters Seem Important
![Hunter x Hunter’s Hiatus Hurt the Series, & Its New Chapter Just Proved It](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Nobunaga-quickly-kills-Luini.jpg)
Given that Luini’s plan and the threat he posed was one of the newest plot threads to be introduced before Hunter x Hunter’s last hiatus, it is only natural that fans spent a large part of the four-year break wondering what he would actually do when the story resumed serialization again. So while it is only natural that a delusional weakling like Luini is defeated quickly upon his reintroduction, it is also natural that the end of his plot line would feel like an anticlimax for fans who spent so much time speculating about him.
This likely won’t be an issue for future fans, as they won’t be left wondering about Luini for too long. In fact, this turn of events will likely feel natural for them. But for fans who have had to wait to see this outcome, Luini’s abrupt death is much more disappointing and shows how Hunter x Hunter’s long hiatuses can hurt enjoyment of the series for fans reading it as it comes out.
Hunter x Hunter is available to read from Viz Media.