The following contains spoilers for Hunter x Hunter Chapter 397, “Founding: Part 3” by Yoshihiro Togashi, translated by Lillian Olsen available in English fromViz Media.
Hunter x Hunterhas had fans captivated ever since its return from the long 4-year-long hiatus back in November 2018. This week’s chapter,Hunter x Hunter397, sees the focus once again on the famous criminal group, the Phantom Troupe, led by one ofthe most powerful nen users in the story, Chrollo Lucilfer.
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The past few chapters, starting with chapter 395 have taken the story into the past to explain the formation of the Phantom Troupe and add context to Chrollo Lucilfer’s past, and chapter 397 seems to conclude this backstory, with all three chapters being named “The Founding.” With each chapter that is being released forHunter x Hunter, the current batch of chapters comes closer to the end and the manga going back into a potential hiatus, with the hope ofYoshihiro Togashi bringing it back next yearat the very least.
The Search for Sarasa
The previous chapter ofHunter x Hunterleft off with Sarasa going out to look for VHC tapes to help out the other members of the Troupe. In thisHunter x Hunter397, the story starts off by showing the Troupe members preparing for a new screening of the Power Cleaners. The members of the Troupe find it weird that Sarasa out of all people is not present, after all, she is always there early. Consequently, Chrollo and Sheila head out to look for her and ask her wet nurses, who all say they haven’t seen her since the day before.
During the screening, Chrollo does a short speech to explain the current situation so more young kids from Meteor City come to watch their screening. He announces to everyone that the screening is canceled due to Sarasa’s disappearance, and tells everyone that they will be looking for her. In turn, everyone in the audience offers their help to find her, and while Chrollo didn’t agree initially to take their help, Uvo quickly intervenes and enlists as much help as possible. Uvo even affirms that the factory men will help too if Chrollo asks, as no one can seemingly refuse his requests. Assuring everyone that they will find her, the group didn’t know that they were in for a shocking revelation.
Sarasa’s Death
After a long lookout for Sarasa, the Troupe heads to the forest as Chrollo finds her necklace on the ground while looking around on a motorcycle with Uvo. When they enter the forest, a grim scene awaited them. On a tree, a black bag was seen hanging and a note was found on the tree. Only Chrollo learns what was written on the paper and he affirms that he’ll take that information to the grave and after Uvo presses him to know, he tells him to go learn how to read. The fans still don’t know what the piece of paper read.
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Chrollo asks the others to lower the bag and, not too surprisingly, Sarasa’s dead body was found inside of it - cut into many pieces. Machi then held the bag with Sarasa’s body so they can take her home with them. Once back home, Sarasa’s body is embalmed to be displayed in a casket. The person who achieved this embalming was Renko, a mysterious-looking woman who catches Machi’s attention. Uvo keeps the VHC with Sarasa, after they memorized it.
The Phantom Troupe Forms
The Phantom Troupe is now finally in its formation stages. Indeed, the embalmer, Renko, piques Machi’s interest. So, the young girl asks if she could learn from her, and while at first Renko didn’t agree, she changed her mind when she realized that Machi could see Auras. It would seem that this is with whom Machi will learn nen.
While walking outside together, Chrollo asks Uvo if he will wait 3 years, as he wanted to leave immediately to find out who did this to Sarasa. When Uvo asks what 3 years will change, Chrollo answers that theHunter x Hunterworld will soon change immensely with a communication revolution. Thanks to that, he would be able to find Sarasa’s killers, as they most likely took recordings of what happened. And once they’re able to share the videos, they won’t hesitate to showcase what they did. Chrollo’s plan at large is to build a haven for criminals so that they would come to Meteor City and then catch the culprits responsible for Sarasa’s death.
To that, the other Founding members of the Troupe agree and offer their help to see Chrollo’s plan succeed. Sheila is the only exception, as she left the group. Chrollo warns the others, however, that he will be taking lives, even when he knows this isn’t what Sarasa would’ve wanted. He asks Uvo to be the Troupe’s leader, but Uvo refuses as he believes Chrollo is the only one who could lead them. With that,Hunter x Hunter397 finishes on a cathartic note of the formation of the Spiders and the next chapters will surely be even more intriguing. Undoubtedly, these chapters added a whole new layer to the story and fans surely can’t wait for what’s next.
