Hunter × Hunter Chapter 396: Formation 2

In a dusty open square, a boy with spiky hair stands facing a stern man wearing a striped hat. The man gestures and says, "WHY NOT JOIN US FOR SOME SOCCER?" and adds, "IF YOU SURVIVE YOUR DATE WITH UVO..." The boy looks hesitant. Nearby, another child peeks from behind a bush. A large crowd of children gathers in the square, one calling out, "WELL, WELL... IF IT AIN'T CHROLLO!" The man in the hat turns sharply, a question mark appearing as he holds a basket of round snacks. A cheerful girl with long hair and pigtails leans in close with the basket, her eyes sparkling. The man snaps, "WHY'RE YOU SHOVIN' YOUR FACE IN MY FACE?" while the girl offers the snacks. Other children react with surprise; one shouts, "HUH? WHY ME?!" as the man lifts the basket high, declaring, "IT'S YOUR TURN TO BE ON SNACK DUTY!" A short-haired boy thanks the girl, who smiles and says, "YOU CAN LEAVE LIVO TO ME TOO! HE'S A REAL SOFTIE DEEP DOWN." The man in the hat grumbles, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, CHROLLO," while the girl happily announces, "FINE! COME AND GET YOUR SNACKS!" The crowd of children cheers, "YAAAAY!" as the man raises the basket and walks away with the boy following.

Inside a large wooden auditorium, children climb stairs and fill tiered seats. An announcement rings out: "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE BE SEATED!" and "THE SHOW IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!" A boy with a shaved head stands in profile, saying, "...FRESH FLOWERS TO THE CHURCH EVERYDAY. I LIKE YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE. WE KNOW YOU ALWAYS TRY, LIKE HOW YOU BRING..." A girl with short black hair smiles and replies, "YEAH." Below, a figure in a jester-like hat operates an old film projector while children watch excitedly. The stage area shows a large blank screen on a wooden platform with rows of seated children and adults in front. In the final dark panels, the projector casts a beam of light across the floor with sound effects "ジィ" and "ヒィィ" as the screen fades to black.

A group of performers strikes dramatic poses on a brightly lit stage framed by a large arch, dressed as the Sanitization Sentai Clean-up Rangers. The audience erupts in excitement. A close-up shows a spiky-haired performer shouting, 'WE'RE ON THE SCENE!!' while a speech bubble declares 'SANITIZATION SENTAI: CLEAN-UP RANGERS!!'. Spectators react with shock and awe: 'AREN'T THEY...?', 'NO WAY!', 'WOW!'. The crowd cheers wildly as the rangers perform synchronized moves, with cries of 'AWESOME!' and 'IT'S REALLY THEM!'. In the audience, people discuss the performance: 'SOMEONE MUST'VE REDONE THE VOICES', 'NO WAY.', 'DID IT EVER AIR IN METEOR CITY?', 'THEY SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE AS US!!', and 'I HEAR THE LINES ARE KINDA LONG, BUT WANNA CHECK IT OUT ANYWAY?'. Two figures resembling Chrollo and Paku are spotted, prompting whispers: 'HEY, DON'T THOSE TWO SOUND JUST LIKE CHROLLO AND PAKU!?', 'I COULD TELL THEY WERE HIDING SOMETHING.', and 'SO THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE UP TO!'.

The audience bursts into laughter with 'AHAHAHAHA!' as a large man sweats and pleads with a woman, who points accusingly while saying she already rejected him. A child-like figure covers their ears. In a hallway, someone notes 'THE DUB'S A TOTAL HIT!' while others watch the stage from behind. Performers discuss their efforts: the spiky-haired one doubts anyone realized the male characters were voiced by one person, and others praise the unique voices and practice put in. Suddenly the sound cuts out with loud SFX, showing a malfunctioning mechanical contraption on stage. A voice asks 'WHERE'D THE SOUND GO?' as the audience stares in confusion. Four children in the front row react with shock, marked by a large '!?'.

In a dim hallway a robed figure struggles with tangled equipment and tells a small child that the sound tape is all tangled up. The child asks what is wrong. Inside the large auditorium the stage stands empty; someone notes that the video is gone too. A mustached man in the audience says it might take a while to fix and they will have to cut the tape. The crowd of children grows restless, complaining that this is junk and questioning whether this is what Meteor City is supposed to look like. A boy with short dark hair sits among them, looking concerned. He raises his hand and politely asks his father if he may have the microphone. On the stage a lone figure appears and admits he got stuck in the toilet with the runs during the intermission. From the balcony Chrollo Lucilfer leans forward with arms crossed and shouts whether that is all they have got. Someone yells at him to hurry up and play the rest while another voice hisses for silence.

The short-haired boy grabs the microphone and cheerfully announces that he made them pause the tape while it was rewound. He explains they were busy saving the pink graffiti monster from a trap. The audience erupts in laughter and cheers, calling the boy cool. Chrollo watches with a sharp expression from the balcony. On stage three small figures in colorful ranger costumes appear as the boy continues the show. He raises his arm in a peace sign, tells everyone to resume the mission without further ado, and begins a countdown from three. The crowd falls silent as the boy stands center stage with the microphone raised high.

In a vast auditorium packed with an enormous cheering crowd, a lone figure stands on an elevated platform holding a microphone. The audience erupts as three children in the front row count down in unison: "ONE!!" "TWO!!" "THREE!!" A sudden burst of motion fills the central screen as a spiky-haired boy in a crown leaps forward with a determined shout. Speech bubbles ring out across the scene: "BUT, RED! WE'VE GOTTA WAIT FOR BLUE AND YELLOW! YOU'RE NOT LISTENING, ARE YOU...?" and "THE ENEMY IS RIGHT AHEAD! LET'S DO THIS, GREEN!" Massive stylized sound effects shake the lower portion of the hall while smaller figures react below. At the bottom, two girls stand before the crowd; one declares "LET CLEAN-UP PINK GO!" while another exclaims "IT'S THE GRAFFITI MONSTER - GRAFFINO!" A third voice adds "THAT'S RICH COMING FROM A FLIRT LIKE YOU!! YOU'D HAVE GOTTEN CAPTURED TOO." The final panel shows a girl with a microphone gesturing toward the crowd: "HOW CAN SHE CALL HERSELF A CLEAN-UP RANGER? SHE'S SO DIRTY MINDED THAT ANY CUTE GUY CAN CATCH HER OFF GUARD!"

A towering one-eyed robotic figure with a massive grinning mouth and multiple spray cans looms over the scene, hissing loudly with the onomatopoeia "HISSSSSSSSSSS" stretching across the panel. Below it, a dark-haired boy grips a microphone with both hands, his eyes swirling in a dazed spiral as he shouts with a wide, manic smile: "CLEAN-UP RANGERS!" and "YOU'RE TOOOOO LAAATE..." The robotic creature's body is covered in bolts and mechanical details while its arms clutch spray cans marked with stars. At the very bottom, a narrow strip shows the distant crowd still visible through a haze of motion lines and swirling effects, emphasizing the scale of the performance unfolding on stage.

Close-up panels show a long-haired man with a hand near his chin, a boy in a striped hat glaring intensely, a short-haired figure with wide eyes, a spiky-haired child peeking over crossed arms, and other shocked or fierce faces reacting to an unseen event. On stage, a bulky robotic performer with a single large eye, toothy grin, and camera-like headpiece stands between a masked figure with wild hair and clawed gloves and a girl in a frilly dress. The masked figure points forward and shouts, "AND YOU'LL BE NEXT!" while the robot declares, "THE GANGURO MONSTER'S DARK MAKEUP WILL TURN CLEAN-UP PINK TO OUR SIDE!" In a wide splash, the three performers pose dramatically with arms raised; the robot proclaims, "WE'LL PAINT THE WHOLE WORLD BLACK!" and the girl adds, "SOON YOUR WHOLE PATHETIC SPECIES WILL SERVE THE JET BLACK KING!" Below the stage a small dark-haired child stands alone looking upward in fear as an audience member cries "SCARY!!" amid other panicked faces and motion lines.

A short-haired boy stands center stage holding a microphone, one finger raised, and states, "AND THAT'S PINK'S PURE HEART!" and "THERE'S ONE THING MAKEUP CAN'T CONCEAL..." Behind him a row of smiling audience faces watches. A curly-haired person in a robe questions, "HOW DARE YOU!! IF YOU KEEP RESISTING..." while a short-haired boy with a microphone replies that red dreamy words are breaking through the pink makeup and that faith is the strongest detergent. A girl stands with her back turned. In a wide panel a slime army of small dark figures charges down a rocky slope as the boy declares, "SLIME ARMY - GO!!" and "THEN I'LL HAVE TO GET MY OWN HANDS DIRTY!" At the bottom a group of children and teens sing into microphones: "EVEN IF IT'S SOMETHING YOU CAN'T SEE ON THE SURFACE...", "AS LONG AS WE WORK TOGETHER THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN'T CLEAN-UP!", "EATING ALONE IS GREAT. BUT SHARING HOT POT IS THE BEST!!", "AND IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT, YOU CAN RELY ON YOUR FRIENDS!", "STAINS ONLY STICK... IF YOU GIVE UP!", "WE'LL SCRUB OFF WHATEVER YOU THROW AT US!!", and "DO YOUR WORST!!"

Multiple hands point dramatically downward from above as a massive starburst erupts. The bold declaration "CLEAN POWER - COMBINATION!" explodes across the upper panel. Below, a powerful group pose fills the page under the cry "CLEAN SWEEP!" A girl in a polka-dot dress swings a broom, a headband-wearing boy raises a spray bottle, a large round man sits cross-legged with a broom, a spiky-haired boy leaps with a dustpan, a bandaged girl brandishes a broom, and a curly-haired girl sweeps energetically. Sparkles, motion lines, and floating debris fill the air as the team strikes their cleaning poses. At the bottom, a small town silhouette is surrounded by large, stylized Japanese sound effects.

Excited townspeople cheer and raise their hands. In a forest clearing, Chrollo stands among children and adults. A young girl with pigtails speaks while holding a phone. Chrollo, dressed in an ornate robe and hat, shakes hands with a child. He declares that this is a game changer for Meteor City. A spiky-haired man with crossed arms says he could not have done it without the three of them. The girl with pigtails smiles and reveals she took the video afterward. Chrollo reassures everyone it is okay and that he brought it on himself. A boy tells Chrollo he does not have to do this. The girl walks away into the forest while the spiky-haired man watches with a stern expression. Small reaction panels show surprise and concern.

A massive radial burst fills the top of the page as two enormous speech bubbles explode outward. "MAYBE YOU AIN'T SO BAD AFTER ALL!" and "THAT WAS PRETTY AMAZING, YA BASTARD!" ring out while a short-haired boy stands with his back to the viewer on the right. In the center, a girl with pigtails floats excitedly with arms and legs splayed, a short boy stands with arms crossed, and a girl in a dress smiles on the left. Below, a sequence of panels shows the dress girl leaping with joy, the afro-haired muscular man looking stern then shocked, the short-haired girl wide-eyed, and the afro-haired man crossing his arms again. The dress girl points accusingly at him. The bottom half erupts into a large close-up of the pigtail girl laughing with eyes squeezed shut and mouth wide open, one hand raised, as she declares, "THAT WAS ME DUBBING YOU! :D". A row of small portrait faces lines the very bottom, showing various characters including the short-haired girl, the afro-haired man, and others reacting.

The afro-haired muscular man dominates the upper left with an intense expression, hands clasped at his chest, declaring "LET ME PLAY THE MONSTER!" and "NEXT TIME...". A small inset shows the short-haired girl and the boy from behind with speech bubbles "YEAH?" and "CHROLLO...". Another inset reveals "WE HAVEN'T CHOKED IT ALL, BUT THERE'S AT LEAST 8 EPISODES." and "HUH? OH... YEAH." followed by "THERE WERE MORE EPISODES ON THAT VIDEO, RIGHT?". A wide panel displays several characters claiming roles: Machi says "NAH.", a man claims "I'LL BE THE JET BLACK KING.", another wants "I WANNA BE THE GENIUS PROFESSOR IN THE LOVE TRIANGLE WITH PURPLE AND PINK!", while others call "DIBS ON BLUE!", "GIVE ME YELLOW.", and "I'LL BE THE GREEN RANGER." The short-haired girl stands below them. A large bubble states "WHAT YOU DID TODAY..." while a pointing hand labels "CHROLLO...". In the lower half, the short-haired girl smiles and tells the afro-haired man, "...HIT ME HARDER THAN ANY PUNCH I'VE EVER TAKEN!" as he stares back with a serious, slightly surprised face, hands still clasped.

A pair of large hands clasp together against a backdrop of floating bubbles. Below, a packed theater stage holds a line of small performers facing a roaring crowd that waves flags and cheers wildly. To the right, a massive ornate creature looms over several children who stand ready in front of it. Scattered papers labeled "Morena Figueroa" lie beside broken weapons and a script page. A young girl with a bob cut beams with excitement while a tall man with spiky hair smiles beside her. In a cluttered warehouse filled with stacked boxes and old furniture, a group of children strike dramatic poses with wooden swords and sticks, some raising their arms triumphantly while others watch or sit on crates. The final wide panel shows only rubble and distant birds flying over collapsed ruins.

A girl with messy hair tied in a topknot stares forward with wide eyes and shouts "NO WAY." In the panels below, the children continue their discussion. A dark-haired man says, "But since she's Purple's younger twin, we thought Sheila should play her." The curly-haired boy replies, "Well, the jet black queen is the villain next time..." and adds, "I only wanna do this if I get to be a baddie!" Another child asks, "Then you play her!" while the curly-haired boy wonders, "How come? People love a good princess!" The group debates recruiting more members, whether they need an official name, and who should play the princess. One boy insists each of them is worth a hundred men. They settle on calling themselves the Something Troupe, with lines such as "Recruiting for the Something Troupe that works!!" and "Coming up next... the Something Troupe!" The final panel shows everyone agreeing, "Okay, let's go with Troupe then."

In a cluttered room, several young people discuss their performance plans. A girl with pigtails asks, 'WHAT DO YOU THINK?' A woman with dark hair responds thoughtfully about the crowd's attention and Chrollo's script. A boy with a striped hat climbs a ladder while saying, 'BUT FINDING A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK AIN'T EASY. I'M LOOKIN'.' Another voice wonders if there are any more episodes out there. A girl with short dark hair suggests they would need costumes and choreography for fight scenes. The striped-hat boy adds, 'HMM... WE DON'T HAVE THE TIME OR RESOURCES TO MAKE IT WORK WITHOUT A VIDEO.' A long-haired girl in a ponytail smiles and says, 'YOU REALLY TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY, DON'T YOU, UVO?!' A curly-haired man in a vest gestures energetically, replying, 'YEAH, LET'S PLAN OUT OUR FUTURE PERFORMANCES AFTER WE'RE DONE REHEARSIN'.' He continues, 'WE'VE GOT THREE MORE EPISODES IN THE CAN, SO THAT BUYS US SOME TIME.' In a close-up, a boy with short hair asks, 'WHAT ARE YOU AIMING FOR, UVO?' The curly-haired man grins and answers, 'BUT NOW I WANNA KEEP AIMING FOR SOMETHIN', Y'KNOW?' He recalls, 'WHEN WE STARTED, I WAS GOOD DOIN' THE BARE MINIMUM,' then declares with arms spread, '...SO I CAN BECOME THE WORLD'S GREATEST VILLAIN!' and 'I WANT US TO PERFORM EVERYWHERE...' The small child sits quietly on the floor amid scattered papers.

Outside a large warehouse-like building, someone calls out, 'WHERE'S SARASA' and 'SAY...' In a rocky tunnel, a figure walks away as narration notes the Troupe continues its charge into the unknown. A girl with long hair speaks on the phone about Orange answering with her catchphrase. Nearby, the striped-hat boy holds a paper while the ponytail girl stands by a cleaning cart, commenting on her sorting duty. The long-haired girl adds she has memorized the Clean-Up Rangers titles. In a forest path, the same figure walks as someone mentions a corporate dump near USA Forest. The ponytail girl excitedly anticipates finding a new video. In a ruined area, the curly-haired man laughs, 'HEHE HEHE!' while suggesting they cut loose for a Meteor City hunt. A close-up shows a slicked-back haired man noting security is getting tighter. The page ends with the Hunter x Hunter logo and '...NO. 396 /END'.