A rumor which had been floating around for a few weeks now was finally confirmed yesterday! Not long ago, we shared the news with you of the publishing of two new volumes, and we can now confirm that Hunter X Hunter will return from another long hiatus this August! New chapters from Yoshihiro Togashi will once again be published in Shueisha’s Jump Magazine in Japan. Though the length of the run has not been announced, we would not be surprised if it lasted for around 10 weeks, just like the others.

In other Togashi news, June’s Hetappi Manga Kenkyujo R includes a special feature from him about how storyboards are created. A teaser can be seen at Shonen Jump’s website.

Was that so bad Moonies? Sorry it’s been a dry week. I too want this Sailor Moon draught to end!

We read about this a long time ago, but we wanted to wait till there was official word before we posted it. Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter X Hunter is set to return with two new published tankobon/volumes in July and August. #28 is scheduled for release on July 4th, and #29 on August the 4th. While the series seems like it has been going on forever (since March of 1998), fans aren’t going to get anything new in these two volumes. There are 20 chapters which appeared in Jump over a year ago, and these will appear in the volumes. As of this writing, there is no word on whether the manga will finally have an ending or new chapters published in Jump. Togashi’s most recent work were a drawing and message in support of victims of the Earthquake last March.

Not too long ago, fans were concerned over the wellbeing of Sailor Moon creator Naoko Takeuchi, her husband Yoshihiro Togashi, and their family after the tsunami and earthquake disaster in Japan. We were able to confirm that they were in fact safe. However, with the many after effects of the tragedy, there continues to be worry for all people affected. In the wake of the tragedy, many mangaka have drawn their most beloved characters to bring inspiration and courage to those affected, and Togashi has finally joined them. Yesterday, Jump posted a message accompanied by a new drawing to fans on their website. Drawn on March 23, it features a brave-looking Gon clad in turquoise with the following message:

*translation note: 微力 translates to “poor ability” and is used in contexts like “I will do my best despite my limited ability”. This translation is one of those ones adapted to a concept that English readers will understand.

Fans can click here to view the message, and here to download a wallpaper with the message on it.

Many fans in Japanese have responded rudely with comments like “Get back to work!” in reference to the off-and-on publishing schedule of Hunter X Hunter. This is a pretty insensitive time to be making those comments! While to some Togashi’s efforts are never enough to make anyone happy, we are happy to see his message of support for the victims. Weekly Shonen Jump, as well as other Kodansha magazines, are currently being published for free online as it is difficult to get copies to the areas affected. We were inspired to read this story of a Sendai shop owner who went through great lengths to get one copy of a new issue of Shonen Jump, and allowed over 100 children to come to his store and read it!

The anime adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi’s Level E now has two official websites: one from Pierrot and another from TV Tokyo. The TV Tokyo site has a special treat for all you Level E fans that can’t wait to see the anime – a promotional video featuring some teasers from the anime, as well as everyone’s favorite idol, Shoko Nakagawa! Shokotan enters her dressing room over the voice of the narrator, Fumihiko Tachiki who says “Hundreds of kinds of aliens come and go to Earth and live”. Shokotan, then turns into a long-tongued alien that is “giza” scary, and we see a preview of the anime. At the end of the video, Shokotan reverts from her alien to her human form, and leaves, ready to perform. We wonder if this could be a hint for who will be singing the theme song? Shokotan shot this during the most recent Jump Super Anime Tour, and was happy to be chosen to play an alien in this short. She hopes everyone will watch the anime when it airs on TV – we are sure all of Togashi’s fans will watch it too!

(In other Shoko Nakagawa news, she was showing some of her old favorite video games on her blog, and look which one she chose for one of the entries!)

Various Japanese news outlets today are reporting that it has finally been announced in the latest issue of Shueisha’s Jump Magazine that Yoshihiro Togashi’s Level E manga is going to be adapted into a TV series (all we had known for sure before was that it was going to be an animated adaptation). As of this writing, we do not know if the 12-13 episode rumor is true. It will begin in January 2011 on TV Tokyo, and the cast and crew were also announced.

Crew:

Director: Toshiyuki Kato (Directed Full Moon O Sagashite, and also worked storyboards for 8 episodes on Hunter X Hunter)
Series Composition: Jukki Hanada (Hanaukyo Maid Team La Verite, Sola)
Character Design and Animation Direction: Itsuko Takeda (Ghost in the Shell, Serial Experiments Lain)
Visual Concept and 3-D Direction: Yasufumi Soejima (Final Fantasy: Unlimited, Last Exile)
Music: Kunihiko Ryo (Story of Saiunkoku, Emma)
Animation Production: Pierrot x David Production

Cast:

Prince: Daisuke Namikawa
Yukitaka Tsutsui: Yoshimasa Hosoya
Sado: Masaya Takatsuka
Miho Edogawa: Satomi Akesaka
Craft: Takehito Koyasu (played Kido in the Yu Yu Hakusho Movie)
Corinne: Takumi Asahina
Narration: Fumihiko Tachiki

And, as an extra special treat, readers also got to see the first images from the anime in a special 2-page spread in the magazine! We’ve featured this below.