Synopsis:

It started running in Japan in Weekly Shonen Jump in the 14th issue of 1998. As of volume 20 the manga has sold over 36,958,000 copies in Japan. The manga has also been translated to different languages in many countries around the world. It has spawned an anime series, whose story is continued in three OVAs.

In the last few years, there have been several long breaks in the release of the manga. Most recently, the manga was put on hiatus in mid-2006, and resumed on October 6, 2007.

In the first major story arc, Gon takes a series of bizarre tests to become a Hunter himself, which include such things as navigating a deadly jungle, hunting other applicants, killing a wild boar, an extraordinarily long underground marathon and making sushi. During the Hunter Test, Gon meets and befriends three of the other applicants, Kurapika, Killua and Leorio.

Another of the applicants in the Hunter Test is Hisoka, a complex villain who uses playing cards as weapons, and who views Gon as an "unripe fruit" that he will take great pleasure in killing once he's grown up enough to present a challenge.