Hunter x Hunter’s Twists Have Gege Akutami Up All Night
Shonen’s biggest names don’t hide their roots. Eiichiro Oda keeps saluting the late Akira Toriyama as Dragon Ball’s DNA pulses through One Piece, while Gege Akutami—armed with every Hunter x Hunter volume—channels Yoshihiro Togashi in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Creators borrow, steal, hype each other up. It happens in every corner of manga and anime. Oda idolized Toriyama and you can see Dragon Ball fingerprints all over One Piece. Same deal with Jujutsu Kaisen and Gege Akutami, who is very publicly a Yoshihiro Togashi diehard. If you ever wondered why JJK hits with those sharp moral turns and rules-heavy powers, yeah, that lineage checks out.
Gege Akutami is all-in on Hunter x Hunter
Akutami has said they own every volume of Hunter x Hunter and obsess over its twists — the brutal shock of Kite, the unmasking of Gittarackur, the whole keep-you-up-at-night vibe. They even copped to a shelf full of volumes in a Weekly Shonen Jump author comment back in Issue 20, 2021 (surfaced via Anime Rave on X). The quote is kind of perfect:
"Someone caught me with a full shelf of 'Hunter x Hunter' volumes in my apartment. I told them it was 'research,' but really, Togashi-sensei's plot twists keep me up at night. Don't judge, it's not a crush, it's professional admiration!"
For the record, Hunter x Hunter is sitting at 38 volumes right now. Togashi is still writing — at his own pace because of health issues — so yes, Akutami might need more shelf space. And fans clearly approve. On X, people were calling Togashi the GOAT and cheering Akutami's taste: LaughNToon (Nov 24, 2025), AVG (Nov 23, 2025), EdaiPtzz (Nov 23, 2025), and Lord Anthony Blackfyre (Nov 24, 2025) all piled on with love. No surprise there; HxH is widely considered top-tier for a reason.
How Togashi's work shows up in Jujutsu Kaisen
This is where it gets fun for the nerds who notice panel echoes and character DNA. Akutami has been open about pulling from both Hunter x Hunter and Togashi's earlier YuYu Hakusho. On Fuji TV's Mando Kobayashi, they said Suguru Geto was modeled on YYH's Shinobu Sensui (translation credit goes to @soukatsu on X). And during a JJK exhibition, Akutami explained that Yuji's gut-punch reaction in the Culling Game — when he realizes Sukuna has taken Megumi's body — was drawn with a specific Hunter x Hunter moment in mind: Killua's pained face as he reaches for Gon in Chapter 333. Mimumemo on Ameblo.jp relayed that comment, and once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
- Geto's template: Sensui from YuYu Hakusho, straight from Akutami on TV
- Culling Game callback: Yuji's shock mirrors Killua's Chapter 333 expression in HxH
- Morality with teeth: JJK leans into messy, conflicting ethics the way Togashi does
- Rule-based powercraft: Curses and contracts that feel like cousins to Nen's systems
- Expect the rug pull: From Kite to Gittarackur, that twist-first storytelling rubbed off
If it feels like JJK wouldn't be JJK without Togashi's blueprint, that's kind of the point. Akutami has basically said as much: the admiration is real, and it bleeds into the work — from big character pillars down to micro-expressions in a single panel.
Where to read and what to watch for
Both Hunter x Hunter and Jujutsu Kaisen are available on VIZ Media right now. If you want to play spot-the-influence while you read, keep an eye on how JJK frames consequences for power, how it complicates its villains, and where it chooses to twist the knife. It's a respectful nod to a master — and proof that great inspiration can fuel another great story.