is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written and illustrated by

Tetsuo Hara is a Japanese manga artist. He is best-known for creating the post-apocalyptic martial arts series ''Fist of the North Star'' (1983–1988) with writer Buronson, which is one of the best-selling manga in history with over 100 million copies i ...

, with plot supervision by

Buronson , known by the pen names and , is a Japanese manga writer. Making his debut in 1972, he first found success with the hardboiled detective manga series ''Doberman Deka'' (1975–1979) alongside illustrator Shinji Hiramatsu. He is best-known for ...

. It was serialized in ''

Weekly Comic Bunch is a Japanese manga anthology marketed to a ''seinen'' audience that was edited by Coamix and published weekly by Shinchosha from 2001 throughout 2010 and became monthly since 2011. The collected editions of their titles are published under th ...

'' from 2001 to 2010, with the chapters collected into 22 ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes by

Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: ''Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (1985), ...

. It is a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

to the popular 1980s manga ''

Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially colle ...

'', which Hara originally illustrated with Buronson writing. Set primarily in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

during the 1930s, the series centers on the 62nd successor of the

Hokuto Shinken The following is a list of characters from the manga and anime franchise ''Fist of the North Star'' by Tetsuo Hara and Buronson. All characters are from the original manga unless otherwise noted. Hokuto Shinken Hokuto Shinken (北斗神拳, " ...

martial arts style, Kenshiro Kasumi, the namesake and predecessor of

Kenshiro is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Fist of the North Star'' manga series created by Tetsuo Hara and Buronson. According to Hara and Buronson, Kenshiro's character design was primarily based on the martial artist and actor ...

from ''Fist of the North Star''. The manga was adapted into a 26-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series that aired on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

from 2006 to 2007. A continuation of the manga, titled , began serialization in the December 2017 issue of '' Comic Zenon''. It is written by Hiroyuki Yatsu and illustrated by Hideki Tsuji with the additional involvement of Tetsuo Hara. An anime series of the same name began airing from April 2 to December 17, 2018 with oversight by Tetsuo Hara.

Plot

The main protagonist of this story is Kenshiro Kasumi, better known as " Yan Wang" or "The King of Hell". Kenshiro is a laid back and chain-smoking

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

professor who is secretly the successor of the deadly

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

assassin

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

. He travels to

after hearing that his Triad friend Pan Guang-Lin and love interest Pan Yu-Ling are in trouble. In Shanghai, Kenshiro fights the three Hokuto families, the Hokuto Sankaken (based on the royal families of ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

''). At the same time he helps Pan's

Qīng Bāng The Green Gang () was a Chinese secret society and criminal organization, which was prominent in criminal, social and political activity in Shanghai during the early to mid 20th century. History Origins As a secret society, the origins and hist ...

triad against their rivals, the immoral Hóng Huá Huì, in gaining territory and influence in Shanghai.

Production

Many of the plot points mentioned in the comic contain real historical facts, such as how Shanghai was controlled by the

foreign concession In international relations, a concession is a " synallagmatic act by which a State transfers the exercise of rights or functions proper to itself to a foreign private test which, in turn, participates in the performance of public functions and th ...

s (the story focus mainly on the French settlement) during the 1930s. Also seen are

Jewish refugees This article lists expulsions, refugee crises and other forms of displacement that have affected Jews. Timeline The following is a list of Jewish expulsions and events that prompted significant streams of Jewish refugees. Assyrian captivity ; ...

who escaped from

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

persecution in Europe, and the invasion of China by the Japanese Army.

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

and some historical

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

figures appear in the story as well. Tetsuo Hara wanted the fights in the manga to look more like traditional

Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. Th ...

, so the action is somewhat faster and more detailed than those in ''

''. Hara went to Shanghai in person to get his inspiration. Tetsuo Hara describes the protagonist Kenshiro Kasumi as a combination of the strength of Kenshiro, the good nature of Keiji Maeda from '' Hana no Keiji'' and the sarcastic attitude of the title character of ''Nakabo Rintaro''.

Media

Manga

Illustrated by

with supervision from

, ''Fist of the Blue Sky'' was serialized in ''Weekly Comic Bunch'' throughout the magazine's entire history. Beginning in its first issue with the

cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

of May 29, 2001, the chapters were published irregularly until the final issue in August 2010. Publisher

collected the chapters into 22 ''

'' volumes. An English version of ''Fist of the Blue Sky'' was serialized in the now-defunct manga anthology ''

Raijin Comics ''Raijin Comics'' is a discontinued manga anthology published from 2002 until 2004 in North America by the now-defunct Gutsoon! Entertainment and largely backed by the Sega Corporation at its inception. The collected volumes of ''Raijin Comics ...

'' published by

Gutsoon! Entertainment Gutsoon! Entertainment, Inc. is a now defunct publisher of English translated manga. The company, headquartered in Encino, Los Angeles,

from 2002 to 2004. Four collected volumes were published by Gutsoon under their ''Raijin Graphic Novels'' imprint before the company went out of business and ceased publication of all their titles. A continuation of the manga, titled , began serialization in the December 2017 issue of '' Comic Zenon''. It is written by Hiroyuki Yatsu and illustrated by Hideki Tsuji. Original manga creators Buronson and Tetsuo Hara supervised the series' art and scripts. ;Volumes

Anime

A weekly anime series based on ''Sōten no Ken'' aired on Japan's

on Thursdays at 2:40am from October 4, 2006 to March 14, 2007. The series lasted only 26 episodes, but four of the episodes (16-18, and 21) did not air during the original run. The complete series has been released on DVD in Region 2 format by Universal Entertainment Japan, including unaired episodes and uncensored content. The series adapts the storyline from the beginning and up to vol. 8. The Opening theme is by

Rina Aiuchi , professionally known by her stage name, and formerly known as R, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, businesswoman, fashion model, and YouTuber. Born in Higashiōsaka, Japan, she won the first season of the audition ''Super Starlight Contest'', ...

while the ending themes are by doa and "Kissing til i die" by Jun Manaka. On October 24, 2017, a sequel to the first anime titled ''Sōten no Ken: Re:Genesis'', which aired from April 2 throughout June 18, 2018 on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

and other channels. The opening is "Souten no Hate ni" by AK-69 while the ending theme is "Inori no Hoshizora" by Sumire Uesaka. The second opening theme is "Soul Seeker" by Crossfaith while the second ending theme is by Hiroya Ozaki. A second season premiered from October 1 to December 17, 2018. Despite sharing the same title, ''Sōten no Ken: Re:Genesis'' is not a direct adaptation of the manga of the same name, but instead picks up from where the 2006 anime series left off and mixes plot elements from the unadapted latter half of the original ''Sōten no Ken'' manga and the ongoing ''Re:Genesis'' manga.

Notes

References

External links

''Souten no Ken'' at ''Comic Bunch'' official website

''Souten no Ken'' anime official website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fist Of The Blue Sky 2001 manga Fist of the North Star Polygon Pictures Seinen manga Shinchosha manga Tokuma Shoten manga