To the surprise of no one, not long term fans at least, the Hunter X Hunter manga will be going back on hiatus on September 4. While not completely unexpected, the move is a bit sad for fans of the manga, since it just returned to serialization on June 26. Yoshihiro Tagashi, the author of the popular series, promises to come back to the comic this year.

Buzz News made the hiatus announcement, but also had Tagashi’s promise of a return this year. It might be a good sign from Tagashi, but fans shouldn’t hold their breath, since the author has been quite infamous for his numerous breaks over the years. Tagashi does suffer from severe back problems, though his ailment wasn’t mentioned in the report, so it might be unrelated.

Hunter X Hunter has been delayed numerous times, so this is no surprise to fans of the author or the series. A less popular series would have been cancelled by now, but this particular manga is known for it’s genuine quality. The 2011 anime adaptation was also heavily praised, since it held nothing back when it came to the manga’s darker material, particularly the Chimera Ant arc.

The Hunter x Hunter hiatus chart stands at

Will we really see Hunter X Hunter return this year? Only time will tell, but fans might not want to get too excited about that.