Fresh from the pages of "Jump", it’s the strongest confirmation we’ve seen of the manga’s long-term health. 

It’s time for the latest news Out Of Japan.

"Hunter x Hunter’s" return this year was met with a lot of fan celebration.

The series had been on hiatus ever since November of 2018 due to mangaka Yoshihiro Togashi’s health issues.

Ever since its return this year back in late October, fans have been ecstatic.

Still, there’s been some worry about it not sticking around too long. 

"Hunter x Hunter" has been dealing with long-term hiatus issues ever since 2008, to the point that the series has spent more time away from "Jump" than active.

It’s kept up a steady pace so far, but that can be deceptive.

Four of these chapters were apparently completed as early as May, well ahead of the manga’s return. 

Will the team be able to keep up this schedule for creating new chapters consistently once they burned through that original stockpile?

Well, we got an answer to that this week!

In the author’s comments section of the latest issue of "Jump", the staff of "Hunter x Hunter" fill us in on just how much prep work they’ve gotten done.

"Staff member Tanehana here."

"All of the chapters published and the 30 that follow were written 4 years ago; I can't wait to draw them now."

That’s an impressive amount of content ready for us.

Keep in mind, we’ve only seen 7 new chapters so far since the return of "Hunter x Hunter".

Volume 37’s chapters were all released back in 2018, but never saw tankobon compilation until this year.

Thus, the series has only ran for 8 additional chapters as of this week⏤391 to 398.

We’ve already seen the reveal of Hisoka aboard the Black Whale, and the backstory of the Phantom Troupe, what more could be coming?

We’ve got over half a year of chapters to look forward to.

For context’s sake, 30 chapters ago was when the Black Whale first launched.

With all the infighting, politics, and murder games that’ve happened since then, it’s clear we’ve got a lot of action still to come, and things are only going to get more intense.

This doesn’t address all the worries fans may have about another hiatus, though.

After all, these chapters being written four years ago suggests they were prepared at about the time Togashi last had to step away from the series.

However, staffer Tanehana dropping a hint like this is an extremely good sign. 

If the faithful assistant has taken the time to highlight so many scripted chapters, 

it’s likely that they’re already complete to rough draft status at least.

With luck, all we’re waiting on is Tanehana and the rest of the assistant team helping Togashi turn these initial storyboards into publication-ready pages.

We can’t be sure these additional 30 chapters entirely wrap up the Succession Battle arc⏤

the story has gotten extremely complex and shows no sign of stopping soon. 

However, having written so many chapters in advance suggests that there was some sort of endpoint reached.

Once we finally reach chapter 428, we’ll likely be in the closing stretches of the war between the princes. 

Perhaps we’ll even make it a touch further. 

Even if the series does ultimately go on hiatus again, if we’re finally able to reach the Dark Continent, the fandom will probably cut Togashi and his team some slack.

After so long waiting, any progress is good news indeed.

And remember, hiatus or not, we’ll be sure to keep you up to date with all the latest news Out Of Japan.