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I am wondering what the "x" in "Hunter x Hunter" means. To clarify: I am also
talking about what the "x" means in general as many other anime/manga also
have it in their titles.

A quick
[Google](https://www.google.com/search?q=the%20x%20in%20hunter%20x%20hunter)
search for this question returns a Yahoo answer result which claims that the
"x" is just for style and has no meaning whatsoever. Is this correct? Does
this also apply to other anime?


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anime-production anime-history hunter-x-hunter
What's with the "x" in "Hunter x Hunter" (and other anime/manga)?


I've done some searching about the names like this, and I wasn't able to find
any particular explanation. Some people say it's just for style, other argue
that the × is another form of "vs" (which kind of makes some sense), or "and"
(like &), or "with". (Not to mention that it might also mean "kisses" like in
"xoxo" = "hugs and kisses", but that's most likely irrelevant :P)

It's worth noting that it is not uncommon to find odd letters in anime/manga
titles (e.g. Lucky ☆ Star - らき☆すた has a star in the name) and even in
character names (e.g. Black☆Star from Soul Eater has a star in his name as
well). Also the 'x' in "Hunter × Hunter" is not actually the letter 'x', but
rather the symbol ×.

So, considering the above, I would personally say that it's just for style.


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It could mean "Hunter of Hunter" as x, as a multiplication symbol is often
replaced in equations with the word "of".

For example, **"5 of 12"** means **5 lots of 12** , and **5 x 12.** Thus, the
x in Hunter x Hunter could also follow the same pattern, and mean "Hunter of
Hunter", which would also line up with Gon's goal to search for his father.

He's a hunter, hunting for his father, another hunter.


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The 'X' probably means "cross." In math it can be seen as "vector X vector."
Which is to cross-multiply two vectors, the result is a vector 90 degrees to
both vectors. To "cross" someone is to challenge them. So the title is read
as, "Hunter Cross Hunter."

The 'X' has been used in other titles such as: "X Multiply" as NES game which
I think is just a clever way to say "Cross Multiply" "Street Fighter X Tekken"
a multi-platform game(PS3, Xbox360, PC, etc.) which is also said as, "Street
Fighter Cross Tekken." Because it is a crossover game.

And "XX" would be "double-cross." Also, title ending in an 'X' may not mean
anything, just to look and sound cool. Such as "Castlevania: Dracula X."


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It is so funny to watch people attempt to answer this with logic and sound so
confident!

As a branding expert, it is a stylistic choice to imply 'and' but more of a
'with' implication. So a partnership in business, either temporary or
permanent you will see this sometimes, more often than not, in fashion
cobranding partnerships. Like if Marvel partnered with JCPenny, you'd most
likely see both logos with the x between them. Some confused this with a pipe,
but that is meant more for further explanation of a division or group within
the same parent company. It isnt really logical other than simply a stylistic
choice that someone came up with and others ran with.


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A warning if you are planning to search on some of the titles listed below as
some contain NSFW content.

To add to the previously accepted answer, while the × or ×'s in anime titles
will usually not be pronounced, leading to the idea that this is just for
style or preference, _this is not always the case_.

Another reason I see as to why this is just for style or preference in some
cases is because as far as I know, there is no × or X in hiragana or katakana,
unlike in the English alphabet. I also have not yet seen an × or X in kanji or
a representation of it in kanji. Examples of where the × is not included in
the translation include (I got their translations from their respective
Wikipedia pages):

  * **Hunter × Hunter** \- ハンター×ハンター Hantā Hantā, abbreviated: HxH
  * **High School D×D** \- ハイスクールD×D Haisukūru Dī Dī
  * **×××Holic** \- ×××ホリック Horikku, pronounced as "Holic"
  * **Kiss×sis** \- キス×シス Kisu×shisu
  * **Servant × Service** \- サーバント×サービス Sābanto × Sābisu
  * **Dusk Maiden of Amnesia** \- 黄昏乙女×アムネジア Tasogare Otome × Amunejia
  * **Hybrid × Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia** \- 魔装学園Hハイブリッド×Hハート Masō Gakuen Haiburiddo Hāto

As you can see, the × is not included in the translation. If it was, it can be
translated as 'ekusu' (エクス) or 'ekkusu' (エックス) (I'm still learning Japanese so
any corrections on its katakana equivalent would be welcome). But, in some
cases, the × might represent another word. I found an example in the anime
_Romeo × Juliet_. According to its Wikipedia page, this is not pronounced as
'Romeo Juliet' but rather 'Romeo and Juliet' (ロミオ×ジュリエット or Romio to Jurietto)
where 'to' is the Japanese equivalent of 'and'.

Thus, **this varies depending on the anime or the manga title**. I suggest you
check the Wikipedia pages or something similar of works with the symbol '×' if
you want to verify whether or not they are pronounced or if they are read as
other words, like in the case of _Romeo × Juliet_ , or if they represent
something else.

In the case of Hunter × Hunter, [it is not
pronounced](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_%C3%97_Hunter#Production) and
has no meaning whatsoever. The image below is from **Volume 6** of the VIZ
translations. [![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2JC9X.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2JC9X.jpg)

Togashi was only focusing on naming a manga that has the format '(something)
Hunter' and after seeing a joke about repetition, decides to repeat the word
Hunter as a title. He did not mention anything relevant about including × so
in my assumption, this has no meaning whatsoever, unless of course he only did
that to prevent spoilers about something in his story that has yet to be
revealed.


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With crossover fighting games it appears to be used as something of a blend
between versus and and/with, as the two companies (as well as their
characters) are both collaborating and competing at the same time. With anime,
where meaning is present at all, I suspect it's a similar blending of usages.
I supposed in some, where it's not pronounced orally, the reasoning is there's
no equivalent single word. Less, in this case, stylistic use and more a
practical use (much like a contraction), albeit with notable inconveniences
when trying to discuss it verbally.


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Some shows such as Highschool DxD have the title in their intro song in which
you can hear what it stands for; **by**. So Kiss x Sis will be read as Kiss by
Sis ( _it was either the opening or ending or throughout the show, but it was
pronounced as kiss by sis, not sure where to find it_ ). Highschool DxD will
become Highschool D by D (in the song you can hear D by D). However this isn't
final, based on other shows x can hold multiple meanings which become for
example **and** or **versus** or just the multiplication. Some examples to
illustrate what I am talking about:

  * Romeo x Juliet -> Romeo and Juliet
  * C³ Cube × Cursed × Curious -> C³ Cube and Cursed as well as Curious
  * Hidamari Sketch × 365 -> Hidamari Sketch times 365
  * Servant × Service -> Servant and Service
  * Street Fighter x Tekken -> Street Fighter versus Tekken

With Hunter × Hunter for example the × is never pronounced but can be seen as
a symbol indicating Hunter versus (or and) Hunter which is extremely fitting
to the show itself.

Plenty of shows also use different symbols in their title for example
Steins;Gate, Choukadou Girl ⅙, .hack//Sign, Tokyo Ghoul √A, Saiki Kusuo no Ψ
Nan. Based on that the symbols pretty much always have a meaning related to
the show itself. So in conclusion whether x (or ×) is pronounced or not it
always has a meaning that fits the show. It however doesn't have a solid
standard meaning. Sometimes the meaning is a lot easier to decipher and in
other occasions it becomes quite a journey to discover what it means. The
titles I picked as examples all have meanings in which you can see that some
are extremely straightforward (if you watched the shows) while others aren't.


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Others have offered valuable insights. I believe that this is common notation
in matrices. In most cases it is like a 2d space, X axis then Y axis. `A
matrix of dimension 5 x 10.` `Pursuit × And × Analysis` (Episode 59), Pursuit
is contrasting to Analysis as is `Aggressive x Passive`. So imagine `Passive
is X axis`, `Aggressive is Y axis`. They are somewhat disjoint, yet are
important factors in victories. `Chasing × And × Waiting`, `Restraint × And ×
Vow`, `Defend × And × Attack`, all from Episode 40s and so on, the first is
either passive, then there is aggressive. Other instances like `A × Shocking ×
Tragedy` (Episode 43) are a mere continuation of this style, they can be seen
as exceptions.


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High School DxD was, I think, obviously about "double D's", because all of the
girls were so well endowed bra size wise. Maybe Hunter x Hunter means "Double
Hunter". I'm just speculating here. It could just be stylistic, like others
have already said. But the Japanese people are well known for their love of
wordplay. And because of that maybe several of the answers here are actually
right. Only the Author knows for sure, and he's unlikely to spoil the fun by
telling us.


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