If you’ve been following the Hunter x Hunter manga lately, you know Yoshihiro Togashi isn't just back; he's basically deconstructing everything we thought we understood about the series' most iconic villains. For decades, the Phantom Troupe—the Spiders—were these cool, nihilistic mass murderers who came from a landfill and loved each other but hated the world. Then came the backstory. Specifically, then came Hunter x Hunter Sarasa.
She was the catalyst.
Honestly, it’s rare for a character who appears for such a brief flash of time to completely pivot the moral axis of a story that’s been running since the late nineties. Sarasa wasn't a fighter. She wasn't a Nen user. She was just a kid in Meteor City who wanted to make people laugh, and her fate is arguably the darkest thing Togashi has ever put to paper—which, considering this is the guy who gave us the Chimera Ant arc, is saying a lot.
The Girl Who Wanted to Voice Act
Meteor City is a dump. Literally. It’s a sovereign wasteland where the rest of the world tosses its trash and its "disposable" people. But in chapters 395 to 397, we see a side of it that felt surprisingly... domestic? Chrollo Lucilfer wasn't always a cold-blooded leader with a cross on his forehead. He was a kid who loved dubbing old VHS tapes.
Sarasa was the heart of that little group.
She was energetic and bright. While the other kids were scrounging for food or fighting over junk, Sarasa was the one pushing Chrollo to use his talent for mimicry. She helped organize the "Clean-up Power Rangers" (the Goyder troupe) dubbing performances. They weren't criminals. They were just theater nerds in a post-apocalyptic slum.
It’s a jarring contrast. Seeing Uvogin—the guy who later bites people’s heads off—acting like a protective older brother and getting excited about a DIY play is a lot to process. Sarasa was the glue. She saw a future where they could actually be "somebodies" even if the world didn't recognize them as citizens.
What Really Happened to Sarasa?
Togashi did something incredibly effective and cruel here: he didn't show the crime. He showed the aftermath.
Sarasa went out alone to find more tapes for their performances. She didn't come back. When the kids finally found her, she wasn't just dead. She was... discarded. She was left in a bag, hanging from a tree, with a note left by her killers.
The content of that note is never revealed to the reader. We only see the reaction of the children who read it. Chrollo’s face when he looks at that paper is the exact moment the Phantom Troupe was born. It wasn't born out of a desire for wealth or power. It was born out of a realization that the world looks at people from Meteor City as playthings.
The killers weren't just random thugs. They were high-end kidnappers, likely linked to the world’s elite, who treated Sarasa’s torture and death as a snuff film for their own entertainment. The sheer cruelty of what happened to Hunter x Hunter Sarasa turned Chrollo’s brilliance into a weapon. He decided that if the world viewed them as monsters, he would become the greatest monster of all to protect the rest of them.
Why the "Snuff Film" Theory Matters
There is a lot of fan speculation about the specifics, but the manga heavily implies that Sarasa’s death was recorded. Chrollo’s ultimate goal, as stated in the flashback, was to use the internet—which was just starting to become a thing in the HxH world—to track down the perpetrators.
He didn't just want revenge. He wanted to create a system where Meteor City could never be picked on again.
- He wanted to create a "trap."
- The Spiders would become famous.
- They would attract the attention of the world's worst people.
- Then, they would strike back.
It completely recontextualizes the Yorknew City arc. When the Troupe killed those thousands of people, it wasn't just "business." It was part of a decades-long performance designed to make the world fear the name of the Spiders so much that no one would ever dare touch a child from Meteor City again.
The Visual Language of Grief
Togashi’s art in the Sarasa chapters is distinct. It’s scratchy. It’s raw. You can feel the shift from the lighthearted, almost "shonen-classic" vibe of the early flashback to the oppressive, ink-heavy darkness of the discovery.
It’s worth noting that Sarasa’s design is very "pure." Big eyes, simple clothes, a wide smile. She represents the innocence that the Phantom Troupe collectively lost. When Chrollo stands over her remains, he makes a vow. He basically decides to bury his own soul so he can lead the others.
You’ve probably noticed Chrollo doesn't really have a personality of his own anymore. He’s a cipher. He’s whoever he needs to be for the mission. The Sarasa incident explains why: he died in that forest too.
Re-evaluating Chrollo Lucilfer
People used to argue about whether Chrollo was a psychopath or a sociopath. Now, thanks to the Hunter x Hunter Sarasa reveal, we see he’s actually someone who felt too much.
He loved his friends so much that he was willing to become a mass murderer to ensure their "home" was respected. It’s twisted logic. It doesn't make him a "good guy"—he’s still a monster who killed Kurapika’s entire clan—but it makes him human. It adds a layer of tragedy to his inevitable confrontation with Hisoka and Kurapika.
If Sarasa hadn't died, Chrollo might have just been a world-class actor or director. Instead, he’s a guy with a book of stolen abilities and a heart made of ice.
The Connection to the Kurta Massacre
This is where things get really complicated. For years, we assumed the Troupe killed the Kurta clan for their eyes. Simple greed. But the note left at the Kurta massacre site matched the philosophy of Meteor City: "We accept anything, so take nothing from us."
After seeing what happened to Sarasa, some readers wonder if the Kurta massacre was somehow related to Chrollo's search for her killers. Did he think the Kurta were involved? Or was he just practicing the "terror" he felt he needed to project to the world?
The nuance here is that Togashi isn't excusing the Spiders. He’s showing the cycle of trauma. Someone did something horrific to Sarasa, so Chrollo did something horrific to the world. It’s a chain of misery that Kurapika is now stuck in.
Moving Forward: What This Means for the Succession Contest
The current arc on the Black Whale is messy. Everyone is dying. But knowing about Sarasa makes the Troupe’s presence on the ship feel different. They aren't there for the loot. Well, they are, but their emotional stakes are at an all-time high.
They are hunting Hisoka, but they are also dealing with the ghosts of their past. The "found family" aspect of the Spiders is their only redeeming quality, and Sarasa was the first member of that family they lost.
Real-World Nuance: The "Innocent Victim" Trope
In literary terms, Sarasa is a "Fridged" character—a female character killed off to further the development of male protagonists. However, Togashi usually subverts these tropes. Sarasa isn't just a plot point; her memory continues to dictate the Troupe’s internal politics.
Some critics argue that her death is too graphic, even for Hunter x Hunter. But it serves a specific purpose. It justifies why a group of people would choose to live outside the law entirely. If the "law" doesn't protect a child being tortured in the woods, then the law has no authority over you. That’s the Meteor City manifesto.
Actionable Insights for Fans
If you're trying to keep up with the deep lore or preparing for the next batch of chapters, here is how you should look at the Sarasa reveal:
- Reread Chapters 395-397: Don't just skim them. Look at the background characters. Many of the kids in those scenes are the same ones currently dying on the Black Whale.
- Analyze Chrollo’s Nen: Skill Hunter isn't just a power-up. It’s a thematic reflection of Chrollo having no identity of his own after Sarasa’s death. He only exists as a collection of other people’s "performances."
- Watch for the Video Tape Motif: The concept of "recording" and "viewing" is huge in the Sarasa flashback. It’s likely that the actual "snuff film" of her death will reappear in the story as a way for Chrollo to identify the villains currently hiding among the Kakin Royal family or the Mafia.
- Observe the Spiders' Internal Morale: Notice how the current members react when things get dark. Their bond is rooted in this specific childhood trauma. If that bond breaks, the Troupe falls.
The story of Hunter x Hunter Sarasa is a reminder that in Togashi’s world, no one is born a monster. They are made. And usually, they are made by a world that refused to look at them until they started screaming.
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The tragedy of the Spiders is that they became exactly what they hated—predators who take what they want—all because they couldn't save one girl who just wanted to play pretend. It's a heavy realization that makes the upcoming chapters feel a lot more like a funeral than a heist.
To understand the current state of the manga, you have to understand that the Spiders are essentially grieving children in the bodies of world-class assassins. Every kill they’ve made since that day in the forest has been a failed attempt to get justice for a girl who’s been gone for twenty years. Knowing that doesn't make them heroes, but it definitely makes them the most interesting villains in Jump history.
Next Steps for Readers
- Review the connection between the "Message from Meteor City" and the Kurta Massacre notes to see the linguistic parallels.
- Track the movement of the Heil-Ly family on the Black Whale, as their "chaos for the sake of it" philosophy mirrors the killers who took Sarasa.
- Re-examine Chrollo’s fight with Hisoka at Heaven’s Arena; his use of "puppets" takes on a much darker meaning when you realize his first "show" was with Sarasa and the Goyder troupe.