Anime fans have been waiting impatiently for any news about the Hunter X Hunter Season 7 release date. The Hunter X Hunter reboot by Studio Madhouse ended in 2014 so it’s been almost seven years.
On October 2, 2021, it will be the 10-year anniversary of when the Hunter X Hunter 2011 anime first aired on TV.
So when voice actresses Megumi Han (the voice of Gon) and Mariya Ise (the voice of Killua) began teasing fans about working together it was hoped that they were referring to a Hunter X Hunter 2021 project, maybe even a TV series or a new Hunter X Hunter movie.
On February 5, 2021, Mariya tweeted out, “I had a great recording session today! On the way home, I was happy to see my buddy! I can’t wait to tell you about it, but I can’t show you yet… so I’ll put a mosaic on it! (What is it? What is it? I wonder what it is!)”
Megumi followed up that tweet with an Instagram post where she teased Hunter X Hunter anime fans even further.
“It’s Friday. I met my buddy at this place. She also tweeted on Twitter,” Megumi wrote. “Yes, it was a recording of that work. My starting point. I think we can let you know about it soon.”
Megumi’s Instagram post solidified the fact that she was working on recording lines for a Hunter X Hunter 2021 project. Her first major debut in a voice acting role was as Hunter X Hunter’s Gon, which is what she meant by her “starting point” comment.
Hunter X Hunter escape room game called Hunter Exam Online announced
The Hunter X Hunter return is here in 2021, but just not in the form we were all hoping for. Unfortunately, Megumi Han and Mariya Ise apparently were not talking about a recording session for a 2021 Hunter X Hunter Season 7 anime TV series.
Instead, it’s a web-based Hunter X Hunter escape room game where players can buy a game kit and play from anywhere in the world. It’s a completely new original work called the Escape from the Labyrinth of Transfiguration.
The idea is that anime fans can challenge the Hunter Test from the safety of their homes. Players communicate with Gon, Killua and others in the dungeon to cooperate and pass the hunter exam.
The Hunter X Hunter game includes newly recorded voices and animated videos. Hence why Han and Ise were recording new lines for their characters.
Besides playing online you can purchase a game kit. It’s estimated that the escape room challenge will take between 2 to 3 hours to complete.
Why a Hunter X Hunter 2021 anime announcement seemed unlikely
The story for the anime TV series is based on the manga by creator Yoshihiro Togashi. Launched in Weekly Shonen Jump in March 1998, the manga is up to 36 volumes, with Hunter X Hunter Chapter 390 being the most recent chapter.
The manga was originally adapted into a 62-episode anime TV series by Nippon Animation from 199 through 2001. Then in 2011, the Hunter X Hunter reboot restarted from the beginning and ended with Episode 148, which corresponded to manga Chapter 339.
Studio Madhouse’s version ended with Gon climbing the World’s Largest Tree to finally meet up with his father, which was a goal established near the beginning of the entire story. Father and son finally had a heart-to-heart conversation where they spoke of their dreams and goals for future adventures.
It was a great stopping point the next major Hunter X Hunter story arc shifted the focus to a different set of characters for an expedition into the Dark Continent. Then a war of succession begins between the princes of the Kakin Empire. Reoccurring character Kurapika is involved as well as the Zodiacs, but, notably, Gon and Killua don’t play a major role yet.
And that’s why a Hunter X Hunter Season 7 announcement seemed unlikely even before the escape room game was officially confirmed. If a Hunter X Hunter return were to be teased it wouldn’t involve Megumi Han and Mariya Ise recording new lines for Gon and Killua.
The second reason that a Hunter X Hunter Season 7 anime announcement seemed unlikely was due to the manga series length, or lack thereof. Unfortunately, the Hunter X Hunter hiatus is infamous for being very long, with the longest hiatus taking place from late 2018 to now in 2021. There’s even a website for tracking the hiatus schedule.
Manga fans are still waiting on Hunter X Hunter Chapter 391. That means there is currently only 51 chapters available for making Hunter X Hunter Season 7.
While that’s barely enough for a two-cour season the manga hasn’t reached a good stopping point in the story, which is why the anime’s return needs to wait at least several more years.
Hopefully, one day anime fans will wake up to news about an upcoming Hunter X Hunter Season 7 release date. Stay tuned!