During Hunter X Hunter Fans around the world cheered loudly after creator Yoshihiro Togashi teased the ending of the beloved Shonen manga‘s break. But while others waited two years, one unsung fan underwent real-world training until the day the manga resumed publication.
Back in 2020, YouTubers Totsugeki Tarue began a series of videos he religiously entitled One Thousand Karate Punchs of Gratitude a Day Until Hunter X Hunter Continue serialization.” In the hour-long videos, Tarue dons a white martial arts gi while literally throwing his hands at himself on the live stream every day until the manga resumed publication.
After seeing the online hate and criticism that Togashi received for HxH‘s break, Tarue told the Japanese publication Maidona news that he started live streaming himself performing straight punches to show his gratitude for Togashi’s work.
“I wanted to address a positive topic while there was constant negative news about Mr. Togashi [HxH was on hiatus]’ Tarue said in the interview, which was translated by Google.
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Although the office worker had no martial arts experience, his straight fist punches improved over time and his Amazon-bought gis were slowly being covered in anime-esque combat damage. Tarue said the gi started to fray from the waist and especially on the side where he would stretch his fist.
“I think maybe that’s because I wash it every day. Even if I wash it every day, the collar is black. And it’s awkward.”
Tarue’s homage to Togashi requires two years and four months of emulating the lightning-fast punches of HxH12th Chairman Isaac Netero. To give his already famous hat a feather, the fan kept hitting, even as he endured the pain and fever that came with his Covid vaccination. If that isn’t a real life example Improvement Nin trainingI don’t know what is.
Now that new chapters of HxH are apparently on the horizon, Tarue said Maidon News that he still plans to smack Togashi out of gratitude.
When asked if he wished Togashi to notice his valiant training arc as a tribute to him, Tarue humbly replied that he was not interested.
“I like Hunter X Hunter too much, so I want Togashi-san to be a lord who doesn’t know me,” Tarue said.
