Fist of the North Star
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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 ...
series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The fol ...
's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that ru ...
'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 ''
tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes under the Jump Comics imprint. Set on a
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
Earth after a nuclear war, the story centers on a warrior named Kenshiro, the successor of a deadly martial art known as ''Hokuto Shinken'', which gives him the ability to kill his opponents by striking their secret vital points, which often results in an exceptionally violent and gory death. Kenshiro dedicates his life to fighting against the various gangs, bandits, and warlords who threaten the lives of the defenseless and innocent, as well as rival martial artists, including his own "brothers" from the same school. ''Fist of the North Star'' was adapted into two
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 ...
television series produced by
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...
, which together aired on Fuji TV and its affiliates from 1984 through 1988, comprising a combined total of 152 episodes. It has since expanded into a
media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program ...
, including several anime films, a live-action film, OVAs,
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
s, and a series of spin-offs centering on other characters from the original story. It also has a number of video games and pachinko machines produced by
Sega Sammy (also known as the Sega Sammy Group and generally Sega Sammy, stylized as SᴇɢᴀSammy) is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Sega and Sammy Corporation in 2004. Both companies are involved in the amusement industry (Sega wi ...
. English adaptations of the manga were published by Viz Communications as a monthly comic book, and later by
Gutsoon! Entertainment Gutsoon! Entertainment, Inc. is a now defunct publisher of English translated manga. The company, headquartered in Encino, Los Angeles,
as a series of colorized graphic novels, although neither translation was completed. In October 2020, Viz Media announced that they will publish the title as a series hardcover editions starting in summer 2021. English adaptations of other ''Fist of the North Star'' media have been licensed to other companies, including the TV series and the 1986 film. As of 2018, ''Fist of the North Star'' is among the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The manga has sold over 100 million copies, making it one of the
best-selling manga series The following is a list of the best-selling Japanese manga series to date in terms of the number of collected ''tankōbon'' volumes sold. All series in this list have at least 20 million copies in circulation. This list is limited to Japanese m ...
in history. The series is considered one of the most influential ''shōnen'' manga series of all time.


Plot

A worldwide nuclear war sometime in the 1990s has resulted in the destruction of most of civilization, turning the world into a desert wasteland. The remnants of mankind fight over whatever supply of food and uncontaminated water still remaining as the strong prey on the weak. Kenshiro is the successor to ''Hokuto Shinken'', an ancient martial art of assassination that trains its practitioners to kill from within an opponent's body through the use of hidden meridian points. Kenshiro wishes to live his life in peace, but after he is separated from his fiancée Yuria by a jealous rival, he begins his journey to become the savior of the post-apocalyptic world, defending the weak and innocent from the many gangs and organizations that threaten their survival. Along the way, Kenshiro meets a young thief named Bat and an orphaned girl named Lin, who join him as his traveling companions and bear witnesses to Ken's many battles. Kenshiro's many rivals and allies include the six grandmasters of ''Nanto Seiken'', a rival assassin's art that ended splitting into two factions after the nuclear war, as well as his own "Brothers of Hokuto" who trained alongside him for the succession of ''Hokuto Shinken''. Kenshiro's ultimate nemesis ends up becoming his eldest brother-in-training Raoh, a warrior who broke the law of ''Hokuto Shinken'' by killing his master Ryuken and refusing to surrender the succession to Kenshiro. Raoh seeks to conquer the post-apocalyptic world as a warlord under the mantle of ''Ken-oh'', the King of the Fist, by challenging every martial artist he sees as a threat. After a long series of battles, Kenshiro emerges victorious over Raoh and it seems peace has finally come to the post-apocalyptic world, concluding the first half of the story. The second half begins several years later after a tyrannical empire under the name of the Celestial Empress has risen to power, oppressing anyone who dares to oppose them. Kenshiro comes into action, joining the now-grown Bat and Lin under the banner of the Hokuto Army. As they fight their way into the Empire's capital city, they discover that the Empire has been taken over by the Viceroy Jakoh, a usurper who is keeping the real Celestial Empress captive in his dungeon. The Hokuto Army free the Empress and Jakoh is shortly vanquished afterward. However, Lin is taken captive by the remnant of Jakoh's forces and is sent off to the mysterious Kingdom of Shura, a brutal land of warriors ruled by three overlords who have all mastered the ways of ''Hokuto Ryūken'', a martial art which branched off from the same clan alongside ''Hokuto Shinken'' into the ways of darkness. Kaioh, the head of the three overlords, plans to conquer the post-apocalyptic world in the name of evil by wiping out the followers of ''Hokuto Shinken''. Kenshiro uncovers the sealed testament of the ''Hokuto Shinken'' founder, Shuken, which holds the secret to overcoming Kaioh's ultimate technique. Kenshiro emerges victorious over Kaioh and rescues Lin, leaving her under Bat's care. During the final chapters, Kenshiro goes on a journey with Raoh's orphaned son Ryu, in order to lead him on the path to become the next ''Hokuto Shinken'' successor, encountering and battling various opponents along the way, before returning to Bat and Lin to protect them from a past enemy.


Production

Tetsuo Hara was a fan of Chinese martial artist and actor
Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines th ...
as well as action
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 ...
and the Japanese
action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...
actor Yūsaku Matsuda as a teenager in the 1970s. As he did not have a
videocassette recorder A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the reco ...
at the time, he often drew manga versions of Lee and Matsuda from memory. Hara later came up with the idea of ''Fist of the North Star'' after being contacted by his editor Nobuhiko Horie, who asked him, "You want to write a manga about
Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to comm ...
, right?" According to Hara, Horie suggested to him that he should draw a manga about "a
martial artist 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 ...
who destroys his opponents by striking their acupressure points" based on Hara's aspiration to draw a manga about
martial arts 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 preser ...
and his knowledge of pressure points. At the time, Hara was having trouble breaking into the market, as his first serial, ''The Iron Don Quijote'' (a manga about motocross racing), was canceled ten weeks after its debut. For the new manga, Hara combined the appearance and character traits of Bruce Lee and Yūsaku Matsuda to create the protagonist, Kenshiro. He was also inspired by the ''
Ultraman ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman'' in 1966, the series is one ...
'' and '' Tiger Mask'' series to create interesting enemy designs. A prototype version of ''Fist of the North Star'' was published as a one shot story in the April 1983 issue of ''Fresh Jump'', which was followed by ''Fist of the North Star II'', a second one-shot published in the June 1983 issue. Both stories were originally collected in the second ''
tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volume of ''The Iron Don Quijote'', Hara's prior serial (although the expanded 1995 editions moves the first part of the ''Fist of the North Star'' pilot to the first volume, leaving the second volume with just the second pilot). The two one-shots were well received in the reader's surveys of ''Fresh Jump'' and Tetsuo Hara was commissioned to turn ''Fist of the North Star'' into a weekly series. Buronson was assigned to work with him as a writer for the serialized version. The storyline was revamped, with the 1980s present-day setting in the original version replaced by a post-apocalyptic future world, and the protagonist Kenshiro, originally a teenager framed for a crime he did not commit in Hara's prototype story, became an older and more stoic hero with a tragic past. For the new setting, Hara drew inspiration from the post-apocalyptic film ''
Mad Max 2 ''Mad Max 2'' (released as ''The Road Warrior'' in the United States) is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller. It is the second installment in the ''Mad Max'' franchise, with Mel Gibson reprising his role ...
'' (1981), the
cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and ...
film ''
Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's ...
'' (1982),
Katsuhiro Otomo is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter, animator and film director. He is best known as the creator of '' Akira'', in terms of both the original 1982 manga series and the 1988 animated film adaptation. He was decorated a ''Chevalier'' of t ...
's post-apocalyptic Japanese cyberpunk manga '' Akira'' (1982), and the illustrations of artists
Syd Mead Sydney Jay Mead (July 18, 1933 – December 30, 2019) was an American industrial designer and neo-futurist concept artist, widely known for his designs for science-fiction films such as ''Blade Runner'', ''Aliens'' and ''Tron''. Mead has been d ...
and
Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He i ...
. Buronson cited Bruce Lee and '' Mad Max'' as his two biggest influences on ''Fist of the North Star''. He stated that Kenshiro and the martial arts were inspired by the martial artist Bruce Lee and his 1970s Hong Kong action kung fu films, while the post-apocalyptic setting was inspired by the ''Mad Max'' film series (1979 debut). ''Fist of the North Star'' was also influenced by Go Nagai's manga series '' Violence Jack'' (1973 debut), which similarly had a post-apocalyptic
desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
wasteland setting with
biker gangs An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, ...
, anarchic violence, ruined buildings, innocent civilians, tribal chiefs and small abandoned villages; it has been argued that ''Mad Max'' may have also been influenced by ''Violence Jack''. Originally, Hara and Buronson were contracted to do ''Fist of the North Star'' for a three-year run, but due to its popularity and the publisher's demand, it was extended to a five-year run.


Media


Manga

''Fist of the North Star'', written by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara, premiered in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The fol ...
's ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that ru ...
'' on September 13, 1983, and was serialized until August 8, 1988, lasting 245 issues. Its chapters were collected in twenty-seven ''
tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes, published under Shueisha's ''Jump Comics'' imprint. During the 1990s, Shueisha reprinted the series in a fifteen-volume hardcover ''aizōban'' edition from 1991 to 1992, as well as fifteen corresponding economy-sized ''bunko'' editions from 1997 to 1998. The ''Fist of the North Star'' copyrights would be transferred over to
Coamix Coamix Co., Ltd. is a Japanese manga and anime production company headquartered in the in Kichijōji, Musashino, Tokyo.事 ...
, a company founded in June 2000 by Nobuhiko Horie after he left Shueisha. A fourteen-volume ''Kanzenban'' edition was published by
Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the ...
in 2006, under the ''Big Comics Selection'' imprint, featuring the original water-colored artwork from the ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' serialization, as well as almost all of the original opening pages that were omitted in earlier editions, although it lacked the added artwork featured in previous collected editions that were drawn to replace ad spaces. To celebrate the series' 30th anniversary, Tokuma Shoten re-published the series in an "Ultimate Edition", comprising eighteen volumes that were published from September 20, 2013 to July 19, 2014. This edition features new cover illustrations by Hara and include an additional chapter in the 11th volume (see
below Below may refer to: *Earth * Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname *Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general *Fred Below ...
).


English translations

In 1989, Viz Communications published the first sixteen chapters of ''Fist of the North Star'' in English as an eight-issue monthly comic. These were later reprinted in a single graphic novel collection in 1995. During the same year, Viz resumed publication of the series as a monthly comic until 1997, lasting eighteen issues (adapting chapters 17–44), divided into three parts. This second run was subsequently republished in three additional graphic novel volumes titled ''Night of the Jackal'', ''Southern Cross'' and ''Blood Brothers''. Viz's version featured mirrored artwork with translated sound effects and other retouched details. In 2002, a second English adaptation was published by
Gutsoon! Entertainment Gutsoon! Entertainment, Inc. is a now defunct publisher of English translated manga. The company, headquartered in Encino, Los Angeles,
under the title of ''Fist of the North Star: Master Edition'', which retained the original right-to-left orientation but featured digitally colored artwork. Each volume from the fourth one and onward featured new cover illustrations by Hara that were made specifically for the ''Master Edition''. The ''Master Edition'' ceased publication only a year after its start in 2003, lasting only nine volumes due to Gutsoon!'s withdrawal from the North American market. These colorized editions were translated back to the Japanese market, but only four volumes were published. In 2020, Viz Media announced a print and digital publication of the manga in hardcover editions, adapted from the 2013 ultimate editions. The first volume was released on June 15, 2021.


Follow-ups and spinoffs

''
Fist of the Blue Sky'' (''Sōten no Ken''), a prequel to ''Fist of the North Star'' written by Nobuhiko Horie and drawn by Hara with supervision by Buronson, began publication in the premiere issue of '' Weekly Comic Bunch'' (dated May 29, 2001), a manga anthology published by Shinchosha and edited by Coamix. The title ran during the entirety of the magazine's run, initially as a regular feature and later as a semi-regular, until it ceased publication with issue #445 (dated September 10, 2010). During this period various ''Fist of the North Star'' spinoffs by different authors were also serialized in the magazine (see '' Hokuto Gaiden''), each focusing on a different character from the original manga. The first of these, '' Ten no Haoh'' by Yowkow Osada, began publication in ''Comic Bunch'' #231 (cover dated March 24, 2006). It was followed by ''Sōkoku no Garō'' by Yasuyuki Nekoi on ''Comic Bunch'' #286 (May 11–18, 2007), ''Shirogane no Seija'' by Yuka Nagate on ''Comic Bunch'' #301 (September 7, 2007), ''Gokuaku no Hana'' by Sin-ichi Hiromoto on ''Comic Bunch'' #366 (January 16–21, 2009) and ''Hōkō no Kumo'' by Missile Kakurai on ''Comic Bunch'' #414 (January 22, 2010). ''Jibo no Hoshi'' by Akimi Kasai, a spinoff focused on Yuria was also published as a limited series on '' Big Comic Superior'' for three issues in 2006, with a second run that lasted six issues in 2007. In 2014, Buronson and Hara reunited to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the manga by producing a special two-part story for Coamix's subsequent manga anthology ''
Monthly Comic Zenon is a Japanese manga anthology. It is marketed to ''seinen'' public (young adult men), edited and published monthly by Coamix. From 2010 to 2020, it was formerly published by North Stars Pictures and Tokuma Shoten. It was produced as a replacemen ...
''. Titled ''Hokuto no Ken: Last Piece'', it is set during the timeline gap between Chapters 136 and 137 of the original manga and focuses on Kokuoh, Raoh's former steed who ends up becoming Kenshiro's. The first part was published in the May 2014 issue of ''Comic Zenon'', and the second part in the following issue. It was later included as an extra chapter in Vol. 11 of the Ultimate Edition of the original manga. Other ''Hokuto no Ken'' titles published on ''Comic Zenon'' include '' DD Hokuto no Ken'' by Kajio, which started on the magazine's premiere issue (dated December 2010), ''Kin'yoku no Garuda'', a side-story which started on ''Comic Zenon'' #29 (April 2013) and the currently ongoing ''Sōten no Ken: Regenesis'', a sequel to the original ''Sōten no Ken'' manga drawn by Hideki Tsuji and written by Hiroyuki Yatsu which began serialization in ''Comic Zenon'' #85 (December 2017). '' Hokuto no Ken: Ichigo Aji'' written by Yūshi Kawata and illustrated by Yukito the Younger, began serialization in 2013 on Coamix's online manga anthology ''Web Comic Zenyon''.


Dedicated e-reader

In 2018, a dedicated
e-reader An e-reader, also called an e-book reader or e-book device, is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals. Any device that can display text on a screen may act as an e-read ...
was sold which shipped with 18 volumes of ''Fist of the North Star'', without the option of loading anything else on to it. It has two screens that fold out like a book and sold for ¥30,000 in Japan. The read-only device is called an eOneBook and is powered by removable AAA batteries.


Anime


TV series

''Fist of the North Star'' was first adapted into an
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 ...
television series by
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...
. It aired on
Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network ...
from October 11, 1984, to March 5, 1987, lasting 109 episodes. It was immediately followed by a sequel series, titled ''Fist of the North Star 2'', which aired from March 13, 1987 to February 18, 1988, lasting for 43 additional episodes (a combined total of 152 episodes between both series). The full series was never released on VHS in Japan, although three-hour-long compilation movies were produced by Toei Video covering the first, second and fourth story arcs in that order. On July 24, 2002, Universal Music released a Region 2 DVD box set containing all 152 episodes spread across 26 discs. These discs were later released as individual volumes from May 21, 2003 through January 21, 2004. Three " best of" DVD compilations were also released in 2005, each featuring seven key episodes from the series. On March 28, 2008,
Avex is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other b ...
released a 25th-anniversary edition box set featuring new video transfers of all 152 episodes remastered in high definition, once again spread across 26 discs. This set also features two additional discs of bonus content (including the aforementioned compilation movies). This show aired with English subtitles on Nippon Golden Network in the late 1980s. The first 36 episodes of the first series were translated and dubbed by Manga Entertainment in 1999, although only 24 episodes were released on VHS (spread across eight tapes). All 36 episodes of the dub version were aired on Showtime Beyond in the United States and on
Sci-Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. ...
in the United Kingdom, and were later released on DVD in 2003 (spread across six individual volumes). In 2008, the US subsidiary of
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...
produced an official subtitle-only translation of all 152 episodes, which were released on various
paid download Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and othe ...
and
streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...
websites available only for North American customers. Discotek Media announced on October 2, 2009 that they have licensed the entire ''Fist of the North Star'' TV series. The first two boxsets were released in that year, and the latter two in 2011. The episodes use the same transfers from the 2008 DVD box set in Japan, although it did not contain any of the special features. The first set featured the first 36 episodes along with Manga Entertainment's English dub, and a Japanese audio option with English subtitles; these subtitles were adjusted from the translation of Toei's streaming episodes. Discotek later released all discs from all four boxsets (a total of 21 discs) together in one set, ''Fist of the North Star: The Series - The Complete Series Collection'', on March 25, 2014. Discotek released the complete series as a standard definition Blu-ray set on October 31, 2017. In 2009,
William Winckler William Winckler (born October 3, 1964 in California) is an American actor and independent filmmaker best known for writing, producing and directing cult movies, horror films and English dubbed animation. He is the son of child actor Robert ...
Productions produced six compilation movies voiced in English. The movies cover major story arcs from the TV series, each one centering on a specific character (Shin, Rei, Toki, Souzer, Raoh, and Kaioh). These compilation movies had not been officially released in North America and Europe yet but were distributed to video streaming websites in Japan in 2012.


Films and OVAs

The first animated
feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
based on the series, simply titled '' Fist of the North Star'', was produced by
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...
, which premiered in Japan on March 8, 1986. Produced by the same staff and cast who worked on the TV series, the movie adapts the storyline of the manga from the beginning and up to Kenshiro's first fight with Raoh, taking several liberties with the order of events and how the story unfolds. An English-dubbed version produced by Streamline Pictures was first released in 1991 in North America and in 1994 in Europe and Australia by Manga Entertainment. In 2003, a three-episode
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...
(OVA) mini-series titled '' New Fist of the North Star'' was produced by OB Planning, based on a 1996 ''Fist of the North Star'' novel, ''Jubaku no Machi''. An English dub version was produced by
ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt G ...
in 2004. In 2005, North Stars Pictures and
TMS Entertainment , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as '' Lupin the Third' ...
announced the development of a five-part
film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...
titled '' Fist of the North Star: The Legends of the True Savior''. The series is composed of three theatrical films and two OVAs, which were released during a three-year period between 2006 throughout 2008, culminating with the 25th anniversary of the franchise. At the Japanese box office, '' Fist of the North Star'' (1986) grossed and '' Legend of Raoh: Chapter of Death in Love'' (2006) grossed , for a combined (). ''Chapter of Death in Love'' also grossed $1,258,568 overseas, and '' Legend of Raoh: Chapter of Fierce Fight'' (2007) grossed $1,479,911 in Japan, bringing the films' total worldwide box office gross to .


Novels

An original novel was written by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara titled ''Shōsetsu Hokuto no Ken: Jubaku no Machi'' which was published by Jump Novel in Japan on December 13, 1996. The novel was the basis of the later three-episode OVA series ''New Fist of the North Star''. A novelization of the movie ''Legend of Raoh: Chapter of Love in Death'' written by Eiichi Sakaki was published by Tokuma Novels on March 10, 2006. There have also been two cell phone novels released via the mobile site ''Hokuto no Ken DX''. ''Raoh Gaiden'', a novelization of the manga of the same name, and ''Kenshiro Gaiden'', an original novel by Jotaro Higashi.


Live-action film

An American-produced live-action movie version of ''Fist of the North Star'' was released in 1995, directed by Tony Randel based on a script by Peter Atkins and Wynne McLaughlin. The movie, loosely based on the Shin storyline of the manga, stars Gary Daniels as Kenshiro,
Costas Mandylor Costas Mandylor (born Konstantinos Theodosopoulos; 3 September 1965) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Kenny in ''Picket Fences'' and for portraying Mark Hoffman in the ''Saw'' films. Early life Mandylor was born i ...
as Shin and Japanese actress Isako Washio as Yuria, with Malcolm McDowell as Ryuken and Chris Penn as "Jackal" (actually a renamed Jagi). It also featured a cameo by professional wrestler
Big Van Vader Leon Allen White (May 14, 1955 – June 18, 2018), better known by his ring names Big Van Vader or simply Vader, was an American professional wrestler and professional football player. Throughout his career, he performed for New Japan Pro-Wrest ...
as Goliath, and Kevin Arbouet as "Rao" (unrelated to the actual Raoh from the manga). The movie was released straight-to-video in the United States and Japan (though it did receive a premiere on HBO). The Japanese dubbed version used the original voice actors from the 1980s anime series.


Stage musical

A stage musical adaptation of ''Fist of the North Star'' premiered at
Nissay Theatre The is a theatre in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is located in the Nissay Hibiya Building, designed by the architect Togo Murano. It was completed in 1963 and opened with a performance by the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Since then it has been used to s ...
in December 2021, with tours across Japan in 2022 and China in 2023. It is a co-production of Horipro, Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures, and Shanghai-based theatre performance firm Ranspace, in collaboration with
Coamix Coamix Co., Ltd. is a Japanese manga and anime production company headquartered in the in Kichijōji, Musashino, Tokyo.事 ...
. The musical is directed by Sachiko Ishimaru, with script and lyrics by Ako Takahashi, music by Frank Wildhorn, and choreography by Jasmine Chiu. It features Yūsuke Ōnuki as Kenshiro,
Ayaka Hirahara is a Japanese pop singer. She was affiliated with the Dreamusic label until 2013 when she moved to Universal Music Japan. Biography Hirahara comes from a musical family; her father, Makoto Hirahara, is a saxophone player, her grandfather, Tsut ...
and May'n as Yuria, Takuya Uehara and Kandai Ueda as Shin, Kazuki Katō, Ryūnosuke Onoda, and Ryōsei Konishi as Toki, Shōichi Fukui and Masaru Nagai as Raoh, Tatsuya Kawaguchi and Hiroaki Miyakawa as Ryuken, Rena Yamazaki and Manaka Kuwabara as Rin, Ao Watanabe as Bat, Ryōsuke Miura as Rei, Kanata Irei and Rio Uehara alternating as Rei and Juza, and Miisha Shimizu as Mamiya.


Video games

Numerous video game titles based on the ''Fist of the North Star'' have been produced since the 1986 release of the
Enix was a Japanese video game publisher that produced video games, anime and manga. Enix is known for publishing the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing video games. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975, as . Th ...
adventure game, simply titled ''Hokuto no Ken'' for the PC-88. The earlier games in the franchise were released by
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
for the Mark III and Mega Drive and by
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...
for
Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...
's
Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...
,
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
and Super Famicom. These titles included side-scrolling
action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform g ...
s,
role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
s and competitive-style
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining atta ...
s. The two Sega titles were stripped of the license and rebranded for the international market under the titles of '' Black Belt'' for the
Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 an ...
and '' Last Battle'' for the
Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...
. Two Toei titles, namely '' Fist of the North Star'' (a localized version of the Famicom's ''Hokuto no Ken 2'') for the NES released by Taxan Soft in 1989 and ''Fist of the North Star: 10 Big Brawls for the King of Universe'' for the Game Boy released by Electro Brain in 1991, had American releases with the license intact. Further games were released for the
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the su ...
,
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
,
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...
and
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in t ...
, among other platforms. In 2000, Konami released an
arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade vi ...
based on the franchise titled '' Fighting Mania''. Another arcade game, a 2D fighting game simply titled '' Fist of the North Star'', was produced by Sega and Arc System Works in 2005. Both of these games saw international distributions, although the PS2 version of the fighting game was released exclusively in Japan. Tecmo Koei produced a ''
Dynasty Warriors is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now is Koei Tecmo). The series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series, based upon the Chinese novel o ...
'' spin-off focusing on the events from the first half of the manga, titled '' Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage'', for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
. It which was released in Japan, North America, and Europe in 2010. A sequel, '' Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2'', expanded on the first game and incorporated the events from the second half of the manga. It was released in Japan in 2012 and in North America in 2013. Sega's new game, '' Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise'' was released for the
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 i ...
in 2018. It was developed by the team behind the ''
Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...
'' series, featuring similar gameplay and elements, though rather than adapting the story of the manga, it is an original story with no continuity with events in the manga, though it does feature characters from the manga, voiced by actors from the Yakuza series.


Reception and legacy

''Fist of the North Star'' was one of ''Weekly Shōnen Jumps most popular titles during the 1980s. It is one of the
best-selling manga series The following is a list of the best-selling Japanese manga series to date in terms of the number of collected ''tankōbon'' volumes sold. All series in this list have at least 20 million copies in circulation. This list is limited to Japanese m ...
in history, with over 100 million copies sold worldwide (over 60 million copies in circulation in Japan). In a poll conducted by
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 Comp ...
in 2005, the ''Fist of the North Star'' anime series ranked 26 in a list of Top 100 Anime series. In a second poll in 2006, it ranked 89. In a celebrity version of the poll, it ranked 15. In November 2014, readers of ''
Da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on h ...
'' magazine voted ''Fist of the North Star'' number 8 on a list of ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''s greatest manga series of all time. On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, ''Fist of the North Star'' ranked 22nd.


Impact

''Fist of the North Star'' is considered one of the most influential ''shōnen'' manga series of all time. ''
Geek.com Geek.com is a technology news weblog about hardware, mobile computing, technology, movies, TV, video games, comic books, and all manner of geek culture subjects. It was founded in 1996 and was run independently until 2007 when it was sold to ...
'' called it "an epochal, generation-defining work that introduced madcap ultraviolence to the page and inspired tons of other ''
mangaka A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist bef ...
''." '' Berserk'' creator Kentaro Miura named ''Fist of the North Star'' as the work that had the biggest impact on his own. '' Vinland Saga'' author Makoto Yukimura was first inspired to become a manga artist after reading the series as a boy. It also had an influence on video games.
Technōs Japan was a Japanese video game developer, best known for the ''Double Dragon'' and ''Kunio-kun'' franchises (the latter including '' Renegade'', ''Super Dodge Ball'' and ''River City Ransom'') as well as ''Karate Champ'', '' The Combatribes'' and ''V ...
game designer Yoshihisa Kishimoto cited it as an influence on the setting and art style of arcade
beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) leve ...
game '' Double Dragon'' (1987), which had a disaster-ridden city inspired by both ''Mad Max'' and ''Fist of the North Star''. It has also been credited with originating the fatality finishing move concept which later appeared in the ''
Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The development of the first game was originally based on an idea that Ed Boon and John Tobias had of making a ...
'' series of fighting games.


Internet memes

In the 2010s, Kenshiro's catchphrase " Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru" ("You Are Already Dead") became one of the most popular anime-based Internet memes. In September 2017, music producer deadman 死人 (Noah Ryan Murphy) released the song "Omae Wa Mou" which references the meme and samples the Japanese song "Tiny Little Adiantum" (2013) from the ''
Touhou Project The , also known simply as , is a bullet hell shoot 'em up video game series created by one-man independent Japanese ''doujin'' soft developer Team Shanghai Alice. Since 1995, the team's member, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has independently developed ...
''
video game music Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led t ...
album ''Toho Bossa Nova 2''. The rapper Lil Boom produced his own version of the song called "Already Dead" three months later. In 2019, "Omae Wa Mou" went viral on
TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...
and topped
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active use ...
's
Viral 50 The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
chart, before being taken off the chart after being struck with a copyright claim.


Pachinko

A number of pachinko and pachislot machines based on the franchise have been produced, mainly by
Sega Sammy Holdings (also known as the Sega Sammy Group and generally Sega Sammy, stylized as SᴇɢᴀSammy) is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Sega and Sammy Corporation in 2004. Both companies are involved in the amusement industry (Seg ...
since the launch of the ''CR Hokuto No Ken'' pachinko machine in 2002. ''Pachislot Hokuto No Ken'', launched in 2004, sold 620,000 units by March 2005, becoming the best-selling pachislot machine. ''Pachinko CR Hokuto No Ken 3'' became Sega Sammy's best-selling pachinko machine when it launched in 2009. By March 2017, Sega Sammy had sold 3.18million ''Hokuto no Ken'' pachinko, pachislot and arcade machines, including 2.71million ''Hokuto no Ken'' pachinko and pachislot machines, 30,000 ''Hokuto no Ken''
arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade vi ...
machines, and 440,000 ''
Souten no Ken is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara, with plot supervision by Buronson. It was serialized in ''Weekly Comic Bunch'' from 2001 to 2010, with the chapters collected into 22 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shinchosha. I ...
'' pachinko and pachislot machines. These pachinko machines can be seen and played in the
Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...
video game series.


See also

*
Bruceploitation Bruceploitation (a portmanteau of "Bruce Lee" and "exploitation") is an exploitation film subgenre that emerged after the death of martial arts film star Bruce Lee in 1973, where filmmakers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea cast Bruce Lee l ...


Explanatory notes


Citations


General bibliography

* * * * * * *


External links


''Shin Kyuseishu Densetsu - Hokuto no Ken'' official website

Toei Animation's official ''Seikimatsu Kyūseishu Densetsu: Hokuto no Ken'' website
* {{Authority control Fist of the North Star 1983 manga 1984 anime television series debuts 1987 anime television series debuts ADV Films Adventure anime and manga Anime series based on manga Bruceploitation Discotek Media Fiction set in the 1990s Fuji TV original programming Funimation Manga adapted into films Martial arts anime and manga Post-apocalyptic anime and manga Sega Sammy Holdings Shōnen manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Toei Animation television Viz Media manga