Following a two year gap, the latest 39th volume of Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter x Hunter will release in Japan on July 3. Not only will this finally bring the books back up to date with the latest chapters, it also might provide some indication that the series will be coming back very soon.

At least since the start of the Succession Contest arc in 2016, a new volume release has usually preceded or followed a new run of Hunter x Hunter chapters in Weekly Shonen Jump. Volume 38 was released on September 4, 2024 before chapter 401 kicked off a ten-week run on October 7, 2024, while volume 37 came out a week after chapter 391 launched on October 24, 2022. This is presumably because Shueisha prefers to have a certain amount of chapters on hand to use for future volume releases instead of exhausting the backlog entirely.

Thanks to Togashi's official X account, fans also have a certain amount of clarity on how work on the series is progressing during large breaks. On May 21, the author revealed that chapter 421 was complete and ready for publication. Given that previous installments are in a similar state, this implies an eleven chapter backlog: more than enough material for a ten chapter run that has been the general pattern since 2016.

In any case, Hunter x Hunter volume 39 will almost certainly collect chapters 401 through 410 as the only material that has not yet been released in volume format. This was a fairly important run that contained several revelations about Beyond Netero, a shift in the status quo aboard the Black Whale, and even some cutesy fan service. Volume readers should be fairly happy with their purchase, and fans will be even happier if the series returns at any point this year.