Question What do you love about Togashi's style?

[perroloco]

I still can't comprehend how Togashi went from a rom-com that got cancelled to a so simple tournament manga YYH (Which was verryyyyy good.. But a tourny manga nevertheless which basically involved the characters going and figthing in a tourny.. But the execution was very good) to Level E which was.. Like a prequel to some of the ideas of HXH which is a complete mind-fuck! I mean woow.. Togashi you have outdone yourself! Bravo!

BTW does anyone have the Togashi comic? The one where its kinda like Bakuman it was made in Korea IIRC, it has bad drawings but its funny lol.

 

[Uriel]

What I love mostly about Togashi style is, without doubt, how He handles expression of the characters. Art wise, the backgrounds when he describes a feeling are also incredible. And above all what I love the most is how simple (design wise) most character are and the complexity being in their personalities and techniques.

PS: Cemzoo, right? :O

 

[Phantron]

I like how his characters are complex without falling in the trap of 'everyone is actually a good guy' or 'everyone is actually a bad guy'. In the end, Hisoka is still a seriously messed up bad guy and Gon is still mostly a good person. Also, he doesn't try to apologize for his characters having flaws. For example Gon's recklessness gets his friend into some needless trouble. In most manga, for being the main character, we'd hear about how even though this is a guy who is likely to get you killed, we should all still love him for his greatness. In HXH we see his friends openly criticize Gon for being basically crazy, and he does pay the price for being reckless. It's like the 2 choose 1 scenario way back at the Hunter exam: Reality can't always let you have everything your way. Sometimes you got to make some sacrifices and lose something to protect something else, and sometimes you just end up losing them all.

 

[Sachsenhesse]

the fact that he actually follow his thoughts and rules in the manga... also the complicated things in hxh i mean come on... greed island everyone? this was an entire mmorpg-card game designed for nen training xD who the hell think about such things? then the abilities, just crazy from simple but powerful techniques like bungee gum to the damn dartboard of the ants, give him an theme and he will bring it to work

 

[perroloco]

@Uriel: yeah perroloco from CZ, I remember you too from there, actually I asked you some time ago IIRC on a HXH thread or in the WSJ thread but you must have not read the posts because you never answered LOL.
Offtopic mode Off..

On-Topic

I also like how Togashi's villians are always like crazy, but more like almost surreally too crazy, like Shinobu from YYH or Hisoka from HXH.

 

[Host Samurai]

I simply love HxH due to it not being black and white but grey. It's not your average shounen, where you can already predict an outcome (I'm looking at you *cough* Bleach *cough*). But Togashi's greatest piece of work are his characters, you can actually understand why they act like they do. Kurapica for example losing his loved ones is on a quest for revenge and our main character, who is naive in every single aspect acts out of his character, when his loved one got brutally murdered. I'm looking forward to see how Gon will perceive the world and how he will evolve from that because he has experienced the same thing Kurapica has.

 

[Phantron]

Actually being grey is a pretty cheap trick in most stuff that involves a story. I saw an interview with a director, and he says you want your heroes to have flaws and your villians to have redeeming qualities, but at the end of the day your hero is still your hero and the villian isn't someone you're supposed to sympathsize with. Too many bad stories figure if someone has two sides to the character that automatically makes him balanced or whatever.

HXH, though, does an exceptional job at giving dimensions to character while retaining their overall alignment. Kurapika, for example, has his own share of problems, but he's still a good guy who values his friend above his hatred. The notable exception would be the Ants, but the Ants are more of depiction of an alien race that's completely opposed to humanity's existence. For the most parts, most of the major Ants characters are closer to what a 'hero' is compared to their human counterpart, but then the point of the Ant arc is that the greatest hero for a race that humanity cannot possibly coexist with has to be the greatest villian to humanity regardless of what qualities he may possess.

 

[chei]

Togashi is simply a GREAT storyteller -- he can moved you with the most minimal depiction, and every chapter is packed with varieties-comedy, suspense, actions, ideas and mind-exploration. But most of all, I love that there's this cult flavor in his work that feels sinister, creepy, unsettling, crazy but also hilarious, but he also manage to reach the mainstream audience as well.

 

[chikkychappy]

what i love most about togashi's style in hxh is the unpredictability of it. it's like... he disrupts flow, you know. he throws these stuff on you, you make assumptions, and then the next chapter he overturns everything and leaves you blown away. and the thing is, he doesn't do it in a cop-out and asspull way but in a way that is so damn creative that you couldn't have seen it coming but at the same time have been foreshadowed enough.

i don't get this kick in any other manga. that's why even though i know hxh is not the "best", it remains my favorite series. ever.

 

[hgfdsahjkl]

first,yes what chikky said that's one of HxH strongest point

2-breaking the cliche paterrn of most manga ,for example the cliche of unloke that villian to fight his boss,etc for example kuroro was kiddnaped wow that was unexpected,let me see tobi or Aizen being kiddnaped yet maintain their badass statu

3-converstions of pure genius

example 1:,here is part of king and komugi converstion
king:what about pitting you arm
komugi: sorry,I only pit my life

wow,did the strongest creature in HxH verse just get owned by a blind fragile girl

example 2:kuroro and kurapica's converstion in the car

kuroro is kidnapped,beaten yet he is the one in control and badass

example 3:king and netero

king:you could only wish to exchange words with me
netero:words ?,smirk do you wish to know your name

those are genius level conversations stuff,you don't see those every day


4-his characterization
they are deep,complex and strong mentally
togashi gives you the feeling that the characters are moving the story not the story moving them

5-use of intelligence and the respect for the reader's mind


6-as for the art,his art isnt the best (yet I think he makes probably the best designs,Hisoka,kuroro,zoldyeks)
but his strongest point is that togashi is a master at conveying the sense of movement,he's the best at that

Togashi of the past took what toriyama started (fighting shonen manga) to the next level by YYh (where naruto and bleact ,etc are currently at) Togashi of the present took it into even more level a delicate,intelligent and mature level ,so right now,Togashi and only togashi give that level,I mean by level that different evolved thing of the preestablished fighting shonen

 

[Phantron]

I don't think there's anything too clever about Netero's using Meryem's name against him. It's more of a freak accident that Netero even knows this, and on top of that he's also lucky that Meryem actually cares enough about his name to make a deal. If Meryem's just a generic shonen villian he probably would've renamed himself something that means 'God' and call it a day so far as names go. But Meryem's 'the only thing you can exchange with me is words' is quite clever.

Sometimes there are too much words on the screen. It makes sense when Knuckles has his 'my life flashed before my eyes' moment against Yupi, but it is not universally appropriate. I know some of that stuff is necessarily since a lot of the stuff in HXH needs to be explained in mid-combat, and it makes more sense than most Shonen "Let me explain what my ability does for no reason whatsoever" but even then, it's not always needed. I prefer the earlier fights like Ubogin versus Kurapika, or Zeno + Silva versus Kuroro. It's mostly action not people talking/thinking about their strategy, though it's not just two guys punching each other to death either. You can do the explaining after everything's settled, like Kurapika did versus Ubogin.

 

[hgfdsahjkl]

it was a clever move from togashi and it shows he planned that far a head,my talking here is about togashi

yeah as far as king vs netero.king was more awesome in my eyes and I don't mean the fighting, and generally he is one of HxH best characters

personaly,I loved the narration for the invasion part

 

[Kiba]

I love Hunter X Hunter
for
the awesome Story
awesome characters
strength of the characters is good balanced
even the art i love because it haves something what reminds me still on the old times
when i beginn reading hunter x hunter first

 

[Phantron]

I think Meryem comes off as a successful all powerful all knowing entity. Sure there's a lot of such characters in fiction but usually they don't act in a convincing way. Aside from not knowing about the existence of the Rose, pretty much everything in HXH, aside from playing Gungi against Komugi, was something Meryem foresaw.

Some narration in the invasion arc is good, but I'm not convinced it's universally good. Some of it is needed, but I think some of it get in the way of the action. I guess part of the issue is that there's actually very little action in the invasion arc since most of the matches are incredibly lopsided, so there can't be much action anyway so all you can do is narrate it.

 

[Host Samurai]

I think Meryem comes off as a successful all powerful all knowing entity. Sure there's a lot of such characters in fiction but usually they don't act in a convincing way. Aside from not knowing about the existence of the Rose, pretty much everything in HXH, aside from playing Gungi against Komugi, was something Meryem foresaw.

Some narration in the invasion arc is good, but I'm not convinced it's universally good. Some of it is needed, but I think some of it get in the way of the action. I guess part of the issue is that there's actually very little action in the invasion arc since most of the matches are incredibly lopsided, so there can't be much action anyway so all you can do is narrate it.

It was thanks to the narration that the invasion arc was successful. I mean Togashi did a very good job in conveying the tension and most importantly the emotions of the characters to us readers via narration, if he had done the usual bubbles then I think the invasion arc would definetly not be much enjoyable. The bubbles would be all over the place with us readers trying to deduce their thoughts, speech and so on. The narration was well done and fitted perfectly. And don't forget that the fights, which occured during the invasion happened really fast! That was the best solution Togashi could have come up with without messing the Arc. IMO it was scene like this that made the invasion so epic!!!

http://www.tenmanga.com/chapter/HunterXHunter274/153505/

http://www.tenmanga.com/chapter/HunterXHunter277/153510-6.html

http://www.tenmanga.com/chapter/HunterXHunter281/153516-13.html

 

[Phantron]

Well, the narration is probably needed because it isn't a fight that's back and forth like most of the earlier fights. Pretty much every fight in the invasion arc involves one side being way stronger and the weaker side having no realistic shot at winning. To put it in Meryem's words, the only thing that can be exchanged is words. If there were no words involved in the Yupi sequence of fights, it'd just be a bunch of guys jump Yupi and then lost anyway, and that'd be pretty stupid.

But sometimes I think the narration was overdone, and it's probably not the narration's fault, but that the fights themselves left no action to be exchanged. I don't really see any tension in the fight themselves, because if you know Togashi's style and evaluate the character strength's objectively, the outcome of just about every fight in the invasion arc was already predetermined. Biscuit once drew a diagram showing even if A is strongest, B, C, or D can still potentailly beat him. But E will never be able to beat A even when A is at his worst and E is at his best, and pretty much every fight in the invasion arc is an equivalent of A versus E, even Pitou versus Super Gon (Super Gon is overwhelmingly stronger).

 

[mrsticky005]

Art wise---I really like how Togashi "animates" his fights. Good example is Feitan vs Zazan.
I like how each movement is more calculated and isn't just shown as a bunch of a scribble
lines that we are somehow supposed to know is the character doing a back flip.

I like the various character designs. However I would prefer if Togashi's style was more consistent. It seems to vary a bit. Also I think Hisoka is looking a bit effeminate and
no threatening these days. I like Hisoka better when no matter what he look like a cold-blooded murderer. Though I'm sure once Hisoka fights again he will be creepy again.

I like the brutality and violence of Hunter x Hunter. I don't mean to sound like I'm a twisted
or something (maybe I am) but I like how the violence feels believable and isn't completely
censored or completely over the top.

storywise---there's a lot I like. The only thing I don't like is the wait.

 

[Phantron]

Although I find the narration in some parts to be overdone, for the most part HXH's narration makes far more sense than the usual "let me explain what my ability is and what strategy I'm using so the opponent can totally figure out how to counter it'. For the most part in Togashi's fights, the fights are relatively slient. You might see words in the page but that represents what peole are thinking, not saying. It's really hard for me to take a fight seriously if it's supposed to involve to sonic-speed characters who can kill each other in a fraction of a second but both characters have no problem talking the entire time. In fact, talking and/or listening to the other guy is usually a very bad idea in HXH. We see that in Kurapika versus Ubogin. Gensuru, Knuckles, and Hisoka also uses talking to their advantage. That said, it's not as powerful as it seems since all the powerful users of HXH generally completely ignore what the other guy is saying and won't even give them a chance to talk to begin with.

 

[Raad]

- As far as drawing goes, i like it when he draws those realistic portraits of his characters or in some scenes just people in the street. I also especially love his drawing style during York Shin's arc, it really conveyed the dark atmosphere, the assistants too did a wonderful job with the background, and it looks like they're (or he is) back for these last chapters, and I reaaally hope Togashi completely recovers his shape too!
- The story is a rainbow of pure goodness, the concept of hunter found by Togashi was a genius idea, you get to explore many facets of his world, and if he could or wanted he'd go on and on with that, and I'm sure I'm not the only one wishing for the story to continue forever.
- Finally the characters, Togashi is able to create a panoply of original characters without falling into manga stereotypes, for example the villains (Hisoka, Genei Ryodan, Meruem, Pariston and soon I hope Jailo), the psychotic characters that I especially love (Hisoka again, Palm, Kikyô Zoldik, Pufu).

HxH will always be to me that shônen that you do not only enjoy but get inspired by!
Thank you Togashi! (T_T)

 

[IamJacky]

- Art: while the art isn't the biggest attraction of this manga, at times the characters can be very beautifully drawn; the fight scenes sometimes lack fluidity, which I believe is one of Togashi's (if any) weak points. However, I enjoyed quite very much the distributions of frames and the flow of the manga as a whole.

- Characters: I'm not too sure about the the characters in HxH, for some reason I'm not very fond of Gon, albeit he's the protagonist, I enjoyed the development of Killua the most; Leorio who recently made his comeback made me realize how awesome he is, though he and Knuckle kind of mirrored in personality, it'd be great to see the two argue though. I'm not fond of Kurapica at all. Most of the Ryodans are awesome. The Z family that we recently get to see are highly entertaining. I may have missed a few here but I really liked the character of Meryem, how he is not only supreme in raw power, but also highly intelligent and prideful, as well as his personality development as a whole down to his last moments with Komugi.

- Plot: The writing, story line and overall world view is simply the best of bestest I've seen in any shounen Manga. Personally I feel that every single arc was highly enjoyable. I personally loved the Ryodan and GI Arcs. Above all, while many are very disappointed at the Ant Arc, I thought the Ant Arc was the epitome of exactly what Togashi is capable of - creating waves after waves of unpredictable, super intense, emotional and philosophical plot lines while superbly entertaining AND logical. Any mangaka can bring a supreme being like Meryem into their story and mix special abilities/strategies to take him down, but how he managed to take down 3 Royal Guards and the King and then ended the arc was simply genius and beautifully done. The only thing I'd want and I'm being very picky and totally unnecessary here, is that I wish it would have been even better if Togashi could throw in some more humor in between seriousness to ease the intensity sometimes.

Anyways, I simply salute Togashi sensei for his brilliance. Hopefully he will continue to deliver.