The following contains spoilers for Hunter x Hunter Chapter 396, "Founding: Part 2" by Yoshihiro Togashi, translated by Lillian Olsen available in English from Viz Media.
Fans have been waiting for weekly chapters of the beloved manga Hunter x Hunter even since its return from a very long hiatus that lasted 4 years. With the release of Hunter x Hunter 396, the manga marked the start of the second half of the ongoing volume, with possibly just 1 month and 4 more chapters left until another hiatus. That is, unless the author and illustrator, Yoshihiro Togashi, has more in store for the fans.
This week's chapter, Hunter x Hunter 396, titled "The Founding: Part 2," is a direct continuation of last week's chapter 395, "The Founding: Part 1." The story went on to offer a lot of insight into the lives of the Phantom Troupe's members back when they were younger and barely surviving in Meteor City. This place has proven to be a big part of the current leader of the Spider, Chrollo Lucilfer himself. Fans have been waiting to be able to discover more about the lives of these characters for decades, and Yoshihiro Togashi is finally delivering now by dedicating a subsection of an entire arc to the Phantom Troupe.
The Grand Screening in Meteor City
In last week's chapter 395 of Hunter x Hunter, Chrollo was able to find a VHC tape on Uvo's territory and escape with it, without being dispossessed by the likes of Uvo or Phinks. As soon as he headed off with it, his destination was decided as Meteor City's church, where he planned on showing it to his dear friend, Pakunoda. Shortly after, fans saw them and two more girls, namely Sarasa and Sheila, decide that they would dub the VHC of an interesting anime called "The Power Cleaners."
In this week's chapter 396 of Hunter x Hunter, fans saw the result of their work as they screened the anime at the congregation. A large number of people attend, including future members of the Phantom Troupe, such as Uvo and Phinks. Once the screening began, everyone appeared to be in awe at the fact that the characters were speaking a language they understood, which is something they didn't get to experience as citizens of Meteor City up until this point.
During the screening, however, complications arose due to a malfunction in the tape. While the kids lament this happening in Meteor City due to its very nature, Chrollo took it upon himself to stand up and voice the characters until the tape got fixed, and while doing that, he showcased his incredible talent at voice acting not one, but four characters. This left a huge impact on everyone watching, especially Uvo, and only made them respect him more.
The Something Troupe Forms
After the very successful show Chrollo and the girls put on, they were met with other kids, specifically the future members of the Phantom Troupe. Chrollo stood to face up to Uvo, whom he stole the VHC from, and while Uvo was silent, Sarasa expressed what he really thought - that is, the show being absolutely phenomenal. In fact, Uvo was so moved that he wondered if there was more of it, and if so, he would love to voice over for the big villain. This led to the rest also requesting to be able to dub for characters, with Machi being the sole exception. The group attempted to convince her later on to play the role of a princess, which she eagerly rejected.
Chrollo's screening left a lasting impression on all the children in Meteor City, and soon after, the future members of the Troupe, as well as Sarasa and Sheila, started meeting to train and dub the rest of the episodes. This marks the beginning of the Phantom Troupe in quite an interesting manner as the group finally started to make small bonds with each other that would branch out later to become the organization that it is currently.
While dubbing, Uvo pointed out that they're just like a theater company already and that they should start recruiting, as he had massive ambitions.
Nobunaga and Pakunoda pointed out that they're more like a traveling group, or a Troupe to be specific. Uvo then went on to suggest the name "Something Troupe," which the others make fun of. While right now they're focusing on dubbing the remaining episodes of the VHC they found, they lay out plans for the future, such as making costumes and performing plays, perhaps written by the talented young Chrollo. With big ambitions of performing everywhere - the Phantom Troupe's origins were that of a theatrical group that loved to perform.
With the chapter heavily focusing on the performance of Chrollo and the gang, as well as the formation of the Phantom Troupe, it's easy to forget that in the last chapter of Hunter x Hunter 395, the readers saw a group of men kidnapping kids from Meteor City. Sarasa, the young girl who helped Chrollo and Pakunoda with the initial dubbing, wandered alone in this week's chapter. While her fellow Troupe members thought she went out because it was her turn to sort through the trash nearby, she ended up going farther as she was sure to find another video of their anime, the Clean up Rangers, near Uga forest. Unfortunately for her, however, the men on the prowl for children decided to prey nearby to pay the government and it'll be interesting to see how her kidnapping affects the Phantom Troupe moving forward.