Unfortinaley Hunter X Hunter is over forever. The Mangaka said it is a wrap. He was sickly & took so many breaks even when the Manga was up & running, but finally I think Shonen pulled the plug on him due to he never could deliver his Manga in a timely manner. smh Sux too because HxH is part of the big 5 along with Bleach, Naurto, Dragonball Z, One Piece. ='(  At least we still have the Final Arc of Bleach to look foward too! The Manga I think will end in the fall 2016 at chapter 700. Chapter 656 drops in a few hours. So not too much left if Kubo stays on schedule. The Manga is still doing very well for not having an anime as it sells around 3 Million copies (top 18-21) every year (also top 5-13 weekly in Japan) since the anime ended in March of 2012. I expect the 1000 Year Blood War Arc Anime to drop in 2017.

Hm, do you have a source for that? I read a blurb on /a/ a few months ago that claimed Togashi had drafted a lot of the new arc, but was still recovering from his back injury. No idea if it was legit or not. I read that he negotiated a really lenient contract with Shueisha, which is why he's able to take so many breaks, but I wouldn't be suprised if he'd finally burned out. He's kind of a control freak from what I gather, which isn't a good trait to have in such a demanding industry.

I haven't read Bleach in a while, it seems like it's really been dragging on lately. The new villains just seem so uninteresting compared to the Arrancar and Aizen. It just feels like non-stop fights with little to no real character development, which is something Kubo used to be fantastic at. I still plan to finish it, but I really hope it picks up again.

No idea if that's positive or not for volume sales, but Jump readers haven't been rating Bleach very highly lately; I'm pretty sure it was at the bottom of the last poll they ran. Not sure I'd really include it with the big 3/5 anymore...seems like Toriko and Assassination Classroom have passed it quite handily in Jump manga rankings.

1. Dragon Ball
2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
3. One Piece
4. Detective Conan
5. Kill la Kill
6. Cowboy Bebop
7. The Seven Deadly Sins
8. Madoka Magica
9. Planetes
10. Attack on Titan

The big 3 or 5 is not due to overall rankings. It's due to rankings at one-time and longevity, impact on the genre. Btw, if you have not been reading Bleach then you have been missing out. This final arc (1000 Year Blood War Arc) is so far the best even better than SS arc. Aizen is back, Ichigo's new powers are amazing which we finally found out why/what his powers are as they were not what we thought all this time. Neliel, Grimmjow, Harribel the Espada are back & even a few Fullbringers are back! The Zero Squad Division finally make thier appearance. Also the new main villain Juha Bach is ruthless & OP. Awesome bad guy! So many unaswered questions have been addressed like with Ichigo's parents backstory mom/dad. New Bankai's unvealed among countless other things that needed to be wrapped up b4 the Manga ends. I think like Naruto it will end at Chapter 700 which should be around the Fall of 2016. Chapter 657 will drop next Thursday. So the math dictates sometime around the Fall of 2016 for 700 to get here. (Japan has a lot of weird holidays no Manga comde out on & Kubo will hopefully remain healthy) Now idk for sure if 700 is the end or not, but seems about right imo. This final arc started at Ch.480 so it will end up be the longest & imo the best of all the arcs. Although Bleach actually had some decent if not down right solid fillers unlike other long running anime's ("cough Naruto", which I like Naruto. Although I heard that Kishimoto is going to start up Naruto again next year. That is disappointing as I was looking forward to Boruto/Sarada with just Naruto/Sasuke in the background)

Regardless yes, there are weekly rankings in Japanese Manga & Bleach fluctuates wildly from top 5 to 13. Bleach still stays around 3 Million sold per year every year since the anime stopped (early 2012) which is very respectable for a Manga without an Anime for 3+ years. I fully expect this final arc to be animated around 2017 when it wraps up. Money is to be made here with a lot of great content to work with. At one time Bleach was ranked #1 even in front of Naruto & One Piece in Japan 2007ish or so. That said, in the West aka USA/EU Bleach has remained #2 just behind Naruto in popularity forever it seems. There is still a massive audience in Japan, but even more-so outside of Japan to see this final arc animated.

As far as HxH, I remember reading that Shonen pulled the plug on it finally. I mean it is hard to blame them with all the massive long breaks the Mangaka took. The last I read is that it was over for good. They were gonna leave it be as it is. No further Manga's of HXH to be made. Maybe he got a new deal with promises made to keep on schedule or something, but idk and have not heard anything reliable yet to lead me to that conclusion.

Btw, here are the weekly "Japanese" manga rankings. It's an honor to even be included in the top 20 list. Bleach has been anywhere from 5-14 & anywhere in-between. The ones in color do not count towards that weeks rankings. So disregard any of the highlighted manga/color page releases. They have placed Bleach #1 recently with highlighted color page manga. It has remained steady at around 3 Million (around #18-#21 in total Manga sales. Not just Shonen Jump, but this list includes any Manga sales in Japan) sold for the year since the Anime ended 3+ years ago. Many haters try to say that Bleach has gone down the tubes & lost massive readers when it is just not true. Bleach actually sold more Manga in 2015 than 2014. They are right there around the same numbers yearly as Magi (which I also like) which has an ongoing anime for example. It is true Bleach is not a top 3 manga weekly anymore in Japan. Although in the west it is still #2 just behind Naruto. It also still does well in Japan, just not top 3 per week well which is to be expected without an anime. Top 5-13 or so is not to shabby imo.
http://weeklyjump.livejournal.com/

Well...that seems a bit subjective to me then. It's more like your personal Big 5. Nothing wrong with that...but if you're basing it off legacy or impact, I'd say Fist of the North Star, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and Yu Yu Hakusho are much more worthy of spots in that list than Bleach and Hunter x Hunter, even though I do like the latter. I personally treat the Big 3/5/whatever as a current list based on volume sales. To each their own though...

I actually decided to catch up on Bleach over this weekend, since I was bored and wanted to see what was happening. I hadn't read it since 12 chapters ago, whenever Mayuri's fight was. 12 chapters later...and I realized all I missed was...one...single...fight. Between characters I'm really not that interested in. I really don't care about the Sternritter; they have great designs...but that's about it. So far only a handful of them have even been given backstories, and I can't even remotely sympathize with any of them. This is a huge contrast for me, as I liked the villains of the SS and Arrancar arcs much more, and actually was interested in their stories. In comparison, these villains just seem flat and lifeless. It feels to me more like the villains are being used as vehicles to further develop minor characters from earlier arcs, which, with a few exceptions, isn't something I'm interested in as much.

In fact, the entire arc seems to have this problem for me; so much flash and so little substance, like Bleach: Michael Bay Edition. Chapters just drag on until someone uses a missing Bankai or a modified Bankai or a "true" Bankai (seriously what the heck)...and then good guy wins just like that. 

Though I digress, this is my own opinion...If the current manga is enough to keep you interested, I hope you enjoy it. For me though...it's fallen well behind most of my weekly manga. I haven't dropped it like Naruto yet though...so that's something I guess.

I wouldn't know how large the western fandom is, as I only follow sales in the franchise's target market. But looking at the yearly trending charts, it's not even in the top 20 currently.

I suppose I shouldn't say Bleach is selling poorly per se, it's just fallen well behind of where it used to stand. There was a point where people spoke of Bleach in the same breath as Naruto and One Piece, like you said. True it doesn't have an anime to propel it like many of the other franchises in the top 20, but it's not something to really brag about either. It'd be like if a future Call of Duty game entered the sales charts at rank 17 or something. Sure it's in the top 20...but it's also Call of Duty. 

I personally assume the status quo if I hear nothing else. Togashi has been on and off for a while now, so even though this hiatus has been longer than usual, I'll just assume he's continuing to work on it...very very slowly, as he has been. Though if you do have an actual source (outside of random /a/ or forum theories), feel free to send it my way.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-05-10/book-stores-claim-hunter-x-hunter-is-finally-finished/.87979

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-05-10/book-stores-claim-hunter-x-hunter-is-finally-finished/.87979

.