Hunter x Hunter Volume 39 Is Out — First New Tankōbon in Nearly Two Years

The long wait is finally over. Hunter x Hunter Volume 39 — titled Negotiation — hit shelves in Japan today, 3 July 2026, marking the series’ first new tankōbon in nearly 22 months. Volume 38 shipped in September 2024, and in the time since, many fans wondered whether another release was coming at all. It is — and the manga is showing no signs of stopping there.

Yoshihiro Togashi, creator of Hunter x Hunter, with series protagonist Gon Freecss
Image courtesy of Shueisha

What’s Inside Volume 39

Negotiation collects chapters 401 to 410, continuing the Succession Contest Arc deep inside the Dark Continent storyline. The volume’s cover puts Hisoka front and centre — a striking close-up in Togashi’s more realistic cover style, hand obscuring half his face with the number ’39’ inscribed on it, directly mirroring Chrollo Lucilfer’s Volume 11 cover in a visual call-and-response that fans have been quick to dissect online. The ten chapters inside push several of the arc’s political and psychological threads forward — hence the title, which fits both the literal card-game negotiations depicted in the pages and the broader chess match playing out between the Succession Contest contestants.

Hunter x Hunter manga panel from Volume 39 — negotiation card game scene
Image courtesy of Shueisha

Togashi’s Health and What Comes Next

Yoshihiro Togashi’s relationship with Hunter x Hunter has always been inseparable from his ongoing health battles — a spine condition and related complications have forced repeated hiatuses since 2006, turning every new chapter into a minor news event in itself. Volume 38 took almost two years to follow Volume 37, and Volume 39 has taken the same amount of time to follow Volume 38. But the signals for the future are more encouraging than they’ve been in a long time. On his social media, Togashi confirmed completing the manuscript for Chapter 421 in late May 2026, and had already penned character layouts for Chapter 430 back in April. That means chapters 411–420 are already complete and waiting for publication, and work on the following batch is well underway — an unusual cushion for a series that once went years without a single chapter.

Gon Freecss from Hunter x Hunter 2011 anime
Image courtesy of Shueisha

Where Singapore Fans Can Read It

Volume 39 is a Japanese physical release for now. Singapore manga readers can pick up the Japanese edition at Kinokuniya (Ngee Ann City and Bugis+ branches both stock Japanese manga) — stock tends to arrive within a week or two of Japan’s release date for popular Shueisha titles, so check the shelves or call ahead. Digital readers should check MANGA Plus by Shueisha (manga.plus), the publisher’s free global simulpub platform, for digital availability. An English edition from VIZ Media has not been announced yet — Volume 38 appeared in English in January 2026, roughly 16 months after its Japanese release, so a localised Volume 39 is realistically a late-2026 or early-2027 arrival at the earliest. For more manga and anime coverage, head to our Manga Anime section.

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