Hunter x Hunter has one of the most uneven entry points in anime and manga. The story shifts tone, genre, and scope so dramatically between arcs that what starts as a classic shonen adventure eventually becomes something closer to a war novel and a political thriller. Here is every arc, in order, with what you need to know about each one.
Every Hunter x Hunter Arc, From the Hunter Exam to the Succession Contest
Hunter Exam Arc
Manga: Chapters 1–38 | Anime: 1999 series (episodes 1–31), 2011 series (episodes 1–21)
The arc that starts everything. Twelve-year-old Gon Freecss leaves his home on Whale Island to take the Hunter Exam, hoping that becoming a licensed Hunter will eventually lead him to his absent father, Ging. Along the way, he meets the three people who will define the rest of the series: Kurapika, a survivor seeking revenge for his slaughtered clan; Leorio, a blunt aspiring doctor; and Killua, a child assassin on the run from his family.
The exam itself is a gauntlet of survival tests, and it introduces Hisoka, a magician-themed psychopath who becomes the series’ first recurring antagonist by openly stating he wants to kill Gon later, once Gon is “ripe.”
Why it matters: This arc sets the emotional core of the series and establishes Togashi’s habit of subverting typical shonen structure. Exams are not won by raw power alone, and the smartest character in the room often matters more than the strongest. Both anime adaptations cover this faithfully, so it is safe to start with either.
Zoldyck Family Arc
Manga: Chapters 38–43 | Anime: 1999 series, 2011 series (episodes 21–26)
A short bridge arc, sometimes folded into the Hunter Exam or Heavens Arena discussion. After the exam, Killua is called home by his older brother, Illumi, and disqualified. Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio travel to the Zoldyck family’s fortified estate to get him back, encountering assassins, including Killua’s mother, Kikyo, and brother, Milluki.
Why it matters: Brief as it is, this is the first real look at Killua’s family and the trauma underneath his personality. Everything that makes Killua compelling as a character traces back here.
Heavens Arena Arc
Manga: Chapters 44–63 | Anime: 1999 series, 2011 series (episodes 27–36)
Gon and Killua head to Heavens Arena, a 251-floor tower where fighters climb for prize money. This is where Nen, the series’ chi-based power system, gets introduced and taught to the boys by a martial artist named Wing. Hisoka returns as a fellow combatant, and Gon eventually gets his rematch with him.
Why it matters: It is the shortest arc in the series, but structurally essential. Nen becomes the backbone of every fight from this point forward, and without this arc, nothing that follows makes sense.
Yorknew City Arc
Manga: Chapters 64–119 | Anime: 1999 series (through OVAs), 2011 series (episodes 37–58)
Widely considered one of the series’s best arcs. The four leads converge on Yorknew City for the world’s largest black-market auction. Kurapika takes a bodyguard job for Neon Nostrade to get close to his clan’s stolen Scarlet Eyes. Meanwhile, the Phantom Troupe, the spider-tattooed crime syndicate that massacred Kurapika’s clan, arrives in the city for their own heist.
Why it matters: The arc delivers brutal, morally complex fights and gives the Phantom Troupe genuine depth rather than treating them as faceless villains. Kurapika vs. Uvogin is a highlight of the series. This is where Hunter x Hunter stops feeling like a typical shonen and starts feeling like something harder to categorize.
Greed Island Arc
Manga: Chapters 120–185 | Anime: 1999 series (OVAs), 2011 series (episodes 59–75)
Gon and Killua enter Greed Island, a brutally difficult VR-style game, hoping it will lead Gon closer to Ging. They are trained here by Biscuit Krueger, a centuries-old Nen master who looks like a child, in one of the series’ most beloved mentor arcs. It is also where Gon’s Nen ability fully comes online.
Why it matters: The pacing is slower and more game-mechanic-driven than other arcs, which makes it divisive. But it is essential for Gon and Killua’s development as fighters, and Bisky’s training sequences rank among the best in the series.
Chimera Ant Arc
Manga: Chapters 186–318 | Anime: 2011 series only (episodes 76–136)
The longest arc in the series and, by most fan consensus, the best. Gon, Killua, and their friend Kite investigate a Chimera Ant Queen who is rapidly breeding monstrous offspring that absorb human traits. What starts as a creature-feature premise evolves into a sprawling, philosophical war story centered on Meruem, the Ant King, one of the most acclaimed antagonists in shonen manga, whose arc with a blind Gungi prodigy named Komugi reframes the entire conflict.
Why it matters: This arc is not covered by the 1999 anime at all. The 2011 adaptation is the only way to watch it, and many fans and critics consider it the peak of Hunter x Hunter. If you drop the series before reaching the Chimera Ant arc, you have not seen what this story is actually capable of.
13th Hunter Chairman Election Arc
Manga: Chapters 319–339 | Anime: 2011 series (episodes 137–148)
A political arc following the Hunter Association’s vote for a new Chairman after Netero’s death. Leorio becomes an unlikely top candidate. Running in parallel is a quieter, devastating storyline: Killua trying to revive a hospitalized Gon using his sister Alluka’s reality-altering Nen ability, while Illumi and Hisoka try to stop him over the danger it poses.
Why it matters: This is the last arc the 2011 anime adapted before going on indefinite hiatus. If you have only watched the anime, this is where your story currently ends. The Killua and Alluka storyline in particular lands as one of the most emotionally resonant sequences in the entire series.
Dark Continent Expedition Arc
Manga: Chapters 340–348 | Anime: Not adapted
A short, manga-only setup arc. Beyond Netero, the late Chairman’s son, launches an expedition to the forbidden Dark Continent with backing from the Kakin Empire. The international intelligence organization V5 initially tries to stop him before reversing course and endorsing the expedition, with the Hunter Association brought in as oversight.
Why it matters: Brief but essential. This arc sets up the ship, the cast, and the political stakes for the Succession Contest, and it introduces the scale of what Togashi is building toward in the final stretch of the story.
Succession Contest Arc
Manga: Chapters 349–present (60+ chapters) | Anime: Not adapted
The current, ongoing arc and the only one never covered by either anime. The Kakin Empire’s fourteen princes board the Black Whale, a massive ship bound for the Dark Continent, under the terms of a brutal succession ritual: only one prince can survive the voyage to become the next ruler.
Kurapika, hired as bodyguard to the Eighth Queen and her daughter Woble, gets pulled into the contest’s politics while still chasing his clan’s last stolen Scarlet Eyes from Prince Tserriednich. The Phantom Troupe is also on board, working their own angle.
Why it matters: This arc is Togashi at his most ambitious and most divisive. Dense political maneuvering, dozens of named guards and servants, and long stretches without traditional fights define its rhythm. It is also the reason HxH has been so unpredictable to follow lately: chapters arrive in short bursts between extended hiatuses tied to Togashi’s health. As of this writing, the contest remains unresolved, with recent chapters raising the stakes around Halkenburg’s death and Woble’s status in the contest.
So, Where Should You Start?
If you have only seen the anime, you are caught up through the 13th Hunter Chairman Election arc (chapter 339) and need to switch to the manga from chapter 340 onward. There is no animated version of anything after that.
If you are starting completely fresh, either anime adaptation works through the early arcs, but the 2011 series is the only version that includes the Chimera Ant arc, making it the stronger starting point for new viewers.
With Togashi releasing new chapters starting in June 2026 and the Succession Contest still very much in motion, there has never been a better time to get caught up before the story reaches its endgame.
You can read the manga here.