Hunter × Hunter
Before the first anime television series was created, a short film adaptation of "Hunter × Hunter" was shown as part of the 1998 "Jump Super Anime Tour" alongside similar adaptations of "Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi!" and "One Piece". Produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by Noriyuki Abe, it depicts the early events of the manga up to Gon's ocean voyage from Whale Island.
Hunter × Hunter
Author Yoshihiro Togashi explained that one of his hobbies was collecting objects of all sorts, so he was inspired to create a manga involving collecting titled "Hunter". He came up with the final name "Hunter × Hunter" while watching the television variety show "Downtown", in which the hosts often repeated what they said to make the audience laugh. The "×" in the title is silent. As with his previous series, "Yu Yu Hakusho", Togashi used drafting ink and "Kabura" pens for his illustrations but began using an eMac to color them. Togashi uses few or no assistants in the manga's production; however, fellow manga artist and future wife Naoko Takeuchi assisted Togashi in adding screentone to single-color pages for the first volume. With the birth of their first son early in its publication, Togashi felt that this personal aspect of his life would be a great influence on his work, particularly the manga's theme of a young boy searching for his father.