Hunter x Hunter: Yorknew City Arc, Explained

Key Takeaways

• Gon and Killua return home, discover Nen gift from Ging, and learn about Greed Island.
• Kurapika seeks revenge, becomes bodyguard, faces Troupe members, and captures Uvogin.
• Phantom Troupe causes chaos, Kurapika unveils true power, and Troupe members meet their match.

The Heavens Arena arc of Hunter x Hunter saw Gon and Killua push their limits and learn about the levels of power in their world. That arc explored the nature of Nen, and how Hunters can utilize it; with extremely deadly consequences. After their fights and tests in the 251 floors of the Arena, Gon and Killua finally head back to Gon’s home on Whale Island, his first time returning in over 7 months. From now on, the conflicts Gon and Killua face won’t be so straightforward. The Yorknew City Arc affirms what the stakes are for Gon and his friends in this world of Hunters, and how much they’ll have to grow in order to face them.

By expanding upon the world building, introducing new families, Hunter pursuits, antagonist groups and even more information about Gon’s father, this arc makes the world of Hunter x Hunter feel much bigger. While Gon and Killua are still a significant part of this arc, much of the action follows Kurapika and his journey for revenge for his clan. This is also where we see the major introduction of the infamous Phantom Troupe.

This article is about the 2011 Hunter x Hunter animated series. There may be some differences from the 1999 animated series.

Gon Returns Home

Gon and Killua Learn More About Ging

After 7 months, Gon finally returns home to Whale Island, and – as promised – shows Mito his new Hunter License. Gon then tours Killua around Whale Island, and they discuss what they want out of the future. When they return to Gon’s home, Mito is waiting, and she gives Gon a gift from Ging.

The gift box is seemingly impossible to open, until they figure out that you need to use Nen. There is yet another box inside which further needs a Hunter’s License to open it. With these necessary steps to open the gift, it seems that Ging anticipated that Gon would become a Hunter as well. Once every layer is opened, there are a few items inside, with the first thing they inspect being a tape that they quickly put into a tape player. There a video of Ging begins to play. When he tries to talk about Gon’s mom, Gon stops the tape before he can continue, and they continue to explore the other items.

The next thing they find is a memory card for a game console. They learn that it contains files for a game known as Greed Island, an incredibly rare and valuable game that a rich benefactor is currently offering an insane sum of money for the completion of. This leads them to Yorknew City where an auction is rumored to be held, with Greed Island being one of the items for sale.

Preparing for the Auction

Kurapika Looks for Revenge

We then join Kurapika as he looks to find a use for his Hunter’s License. His objective finds him looking for the opportunity to be a bodyguard for the wealthy. At first, he is rejected and told that he still needs to train more. A few months later he returns and is finally hired as a bodyguard. We get to see how much his abilities have improved when he fends off an intense attack from nearly a dozen attackers, before being hired by the Nostrade family.

Gon and Killua Look for the Game

The two arrive in Yorknew City and learn more about Greed Island. The game was created as a challenge for Nen users, and you don’t merely play it on the console. The game actually pulls players into the game world, where users are faced with IRL death if they die in the game.

The Auction is Interrupted

The Troupe Make Their First Move

Before the auction can begin, we are shown a gathering of the members of the Phantom Troupe. Here, Chrollo gives a shocking decree; they are to steal everything at the auction and eliminate anyone who gets in their way.

Gon and Killua run into Leorio, who helps them raise funds for the auction, while Kurapika’s role places him as a bodyguard at the auction’s front entrance. However, these safety measures prove ineffective, as Phantom Troupe members disguise themselves as the host of the auction and proceed to massacre everyone in the building, before attempting to steal the items up for auction. When attempting to loot the auction vault, it is revealed that they have already been emptied, which angers Chrollo and the Troupe, who plot their revenge.

The Troupe Meet Their Match

Or did they?

Chrollo learns that the auction heist was tipped off by someone, which caused the Mafia running the auction to empty the vaults before their loot could be stolen. Chrollo asks that they draw out the Mafia’s fearsome enforcers (the Shadow Beasts), and they are successful when the Mafia blows their hot air balloon out of the sky.

Uvogin, one of the strongest Troupe members, then faces down multiple Shadow Beast members on his own, before finally being apprehended when Kurapika notices his Spider tattoo and captures him. This victory is not long-lasting, however, as Uvogin is quickly freed when troupe members enter the hideout where he is being held and free him. Uvogin then vows to find and eliminate the chain-user (Kurapika) who captured him.

Kurapika eventually seeks him out, and they agree to a one-on-one duel. Kurapika attempts to get Uvogin to reveal where the rest of the Phantom Troupe members are, but Uvogin resists even Kurapika’s truth telling ability, which was thought to be irresistible. Ultimately, Kurapika kills Uvogin, striking his heart directly before burying him at their battle site.

Meanwhile, Gon and Killua are still attempting to gather the funds to purchase Greed Island at a newly established auction. This leads to Gon even pawning his Hunter license to get closer to their goal.

(
To Uvogin
)
“makes me sick… the sensation left on my hand… the grating sound of each strike… the smell of blood! It all throws my senses into disarray… How can you do these things, yet think and feel nothing at all!? Answer me!
“

The Phantom Troupe Make Their Mark

The Troupe Ensures that the Mafia are no longer a threat

With a new auction scheduled, the Mafia Dons have made new plans to ensure a safe event. Assassins have been hired to eliminate the Phantom Troupe, and Kurapika is even asked to join their ranks. Gon and Killua are momentarily captured while trailing the troupe, and with a memory manipulator being in their ranks, there is a heightened threat of their identities being revealed. Fortunately, they make an escape before their ties to Kurapika can be uncovered.

Meanwhile, one of the Mafia family members needing protection slips away, and Chrollo takes this opportunity to talk with her. She has fortune-telling powers, and he asks her to tell his fortune. Without knowing who he is or his intentions, she tells his fortune, and he learns that Uvogin has died. He then knocks her out, and when Mafia members come to rescue her, him and the phantom troupe wreak havoc, with 1,000s of mafia members and police ultimately meeting their demise.

However, in the midst of the battle, Chrollo is cornered by assassins from the Zoldyck family, who are about to eliminate him, before receiving a call that the Ten Dons of the Mafia have been killed. Since the assassins were hired by the Dons, they leave Chrollo alone, as their employers are now deceased.

Later, the Troupe held the new underground auction themselves, fooling people into thinking they were dead by creating fake corpses of the Troupe members. They then posed as the original Mafia hosts and make fake copies of all the auction items to further defraud the participants.

“I thought you were just cold-blooded killers. But I see that you can shed tears for your friend. SO WHY COULDN’T YOU SPARE SOME OF THAT EMPATHY FOR THE PEOPLE YOU KILLED?!
“

Kurapika’s True Power is Revealed

The Troupe Are Finally Tested

Kurapika begins to lament the fact that the Troupe members are dead, but Hisoka contacts him and reveals that the bodies he saw were actually fake. This leads to Kurapika having to stay behind and guard the Nostrade family, as Chrollo and the Spiders learn where they are hiding out. Gon and Killua attempt to tail the phantom troupe but are ultimately discovered again and captured by the Troupe.

However, in a shocking twist, while attempting to uncover Gon and Killua’s memories using the memory manipulator’s (Pakunoda’s) power, Chrollo turns up missing. A message left by Kurapika threatens her life if she reveals who Gon and Killua really are to the rest of the troupe. Chrollo is then revealed to have been captured by Kurapika, who proceeds to negotiate a hostage exchange with the Troupe. Finally, Kurapika makes a deal with Pakunoda, and tells her to return with Gon and Killua by midnight that day. The exchange is successful, and Kurapika leaves with Gon and Killua.

However, Kurapika has put the Troupe in a difficult position. Using one of his abilities, he has rendered Chrollo and Pakunoda incapable of revealing the truth of his powers to the Troupe members, or they will die. However, Pakunoda, loyal to the very end, makes an ultimate sacrifice to circumvent these rules. She uses her memory abilities to imbue bullets with her knowledge of Kurapika, and fires them into the heads of all the troupe leaders. When the memories begin to flood the other members’ heads, Kurapika’s power takes effect, and she is killed.

”
Please. Let me… be the last…
“

— Pakunoda’s silent prayer to the Spiders before dying

Yorknew City is an intense arc, showcasing the power of the Phantom Troupe alongside the length that Kurapika is willing to go to avenge his clan.

Hunter x Hunter is now available to stream on Crunchyroll, Netflix and Hulu.