to the Election story arc. In April 2005, Viz Media began publishing the manga in English in North America. They market the series as part of their "Shonen Jump Advanced" line for older teens and young adults. Thirty-six volumes have been released in North America as of August 6, 2019. Viz included the Kurapika's Memories chapters in the December 17 and 24, 2012 issues of their digital English magazine Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha. On April 22, 2014, it was announced that Hunter × Hunter would be joining the digital English magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. The manga has also been licensed and translated into multiple languages throughout Europe and other parts of Asia. For instance, it was serialized between 2001 and 2005 in Banzai!, a German version of Weekly Shōnen Jump. Spin-offs , also known as "volume 0", a two-part manga Togashi wrote to act as a prequel to the first animated film, Phantom Rouge, was published in the December 3 and 10, 2012 issues of Weekly Shōnen Jump. One million copies of the volume were given to the first movie-goers. Tokyo Ghoul author Sui Ishida created a 69-page storyboard of a manga chapter depicting the past of Hunter × Hunters Hisoka. The storyboard was released digitally via Shōnen Jump+ on June 2, 2016. Anime 1999 series The first Hunter × Hunter anime adaptation was produced by the company Nippon Animation and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, who had previously directed the Rurouni Kenshin television series. A total of 62 episodes of Hunter × Hunter were broadcast on the Japanese terrestrial television network Fuji Television from October 16, 1999 to March 31, 2001 during the same Saturday evening timeslot as the anime version of Togashi's previous series YuYu Hakusho. Additionally, Hunter × Hunter has aired on the satellite television station Animax. Although it closely follows the manga, the violence in the anime version is lessened for younger audiences. Marvelous Entertainment has released all episodes of the series in Japan on DVD in 13 separate volumes between September 20, 2000 and September 19, 2001. Viz Media licensed the Hunter × Hunter anime for distribution in the Region 1 market, with English voice-work handled by the Ocean Group at Blue Water Studios in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The series was released on four DVD boxed sets from December 9, 2008, to December 1, 2009. Starting with the second set, Viz partnered with Warner Home Video