Hunter x Hunter No. 411: Announcement

‘Prince Halkenburg’ has died, and the Succession Battle continues to rage on in all of its under-handed and shady violence. The real prince, inhabiting the body of his Captain of the Guard, keeps in contact with his brother Benjamin. Benjamin’s plan remains to, even if he dies, hand the throne to his child, knowing he only has 24 hours left to live after being infected by Halkenburg. The number of princes in the running continues to drop as the infighting becomes even more brutal. An assassin prepares to disguise themself in order to murder the infant Prince Woble, claiming to be able to kill her in one shot, given they can get close enough.

We finally get to see our protagonist Kurapika again, as he begins to execute his plan on raising a Nen-capable army. Several guards are already suspicious of the individual attempting to get close to Woble. Kurapika is unaware of Halkenburg’s body swapping shenanigans, believing the in-roads he could provide to be closed. Many of Kurapika’s students are bodyguards planning to take a shot at Woble, the whole goal being serving the higher princes, by wiping out those considered weakest.

Kurapika reiterates the power of the succession contest, the violence empowers the Nen that will ensure the prosperity and domination of the Kakin empire, the stricter the rules, the more brutal the bloodshed, the stronger the next generation will be. However, if the rules are not followed to completion, and there is not one single survivor (either zero or multiple), The Hui Guo Rou family will cease to have the power to lead. Many involved in the contest take this to mean everyone should be wiped out, Kurapika believes that there must be the option for peace, as the risk involved would make the Nen more powerful. The chapter ends with Kurapika putting his foot down on the matter of Prince Woble. Saying that she is not eligible for the contest. The final page, the haunting image of her mother, frozen in fear.

It is so good to have Hunter x Hunter back, 10 chapters a year sounds like a lot but when they all release weekly and back-to-back it feels like such a short burst, and is often hard to remember what happened the previous year. Togashi is often criticised for his wordy and block-of-text style. I think sometimes it can be cumbersome and I will call it out when I see it, but this chapter was mostly fine on that front. The art is stellar as always, Togashi is always able to fill a room with divers and interesting looking people that stick out in your mind. Kurapika will do his best to fulfill his mission, hopefully preventing as many collateral deaths as possible. I can’t imagine Kurapika’s demands will go down well among his students who don’t take much of a personal or ethical approach to this whole situation. Kurapika can of course handle conflict, and I’m excited to see where the story goes next.