Forum - View topicJason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Fist of the North Star
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Lolack
Posts: 25 |
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I love hokuto no ken
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Penguin_Factory
 Posts: 732 Location: Ireland |
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I only have two exposures to the Fist Of The North Star franchise; the first is that arcade game where you punch the target things, which was in a cinema I used to go to as a kid. I had no idea it was based on anything.
Later, I bought the first issue of Raijin comics and read the first issue of Fist Of The Blue Sky, which I thought was pretty fascinating because of the historical setting- at the time I had never heard of the Japanese occupation of Manchukuo, so reading about it was pretty interesting. I don't think I'll ever read Fist Of The North Star since I can't stand that grimy biker-gang post apocalypse aesthetic. I know Fist was one of the places it originated in, but it's been run into the ground so often by now that I have a mental allergic reaction to it. |
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Beatdigga
 Posts: 4611 Location: New York |
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Somehow we got both Hokuto Musou games over here.
Kenshiro is the archetypal badass. He's Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Mel Gibson put in a blender to create pure undiluted manliness. And that works great for video games and streaming media. The average NA manga fan seems to prefer their work a bit softer though. |
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victor viper
 Posts: 630 Location: The deep south |
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That's funny, because when I read the article I was thinking that how my first exposure to Fist of the North Star was the NES game that came out stateside in 1988 or so, although at the time I had no idea it was actually an established property. That's also how I was introduced to Golgo 13 (which by the way is possibly the edgiest NES game!). |
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jojothepunisher
 Posts: 799 |
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I think the Fist of Blue Sky is much funnier compared to Fist of North Star, becomes it makes a lot of references to historical events and the villains in Blue Sky are funnier than they are evil.
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GVman
 Posts: 730 |
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Fist of the North Star is probably my favorite manga, period. I started out reading it just because I loved the crazy and violent post-apocalyptic setting, but Kenshiro's tears kept me coming back. I don't think any other manga has made me cry as much as spoiler[Raoh's death]. I suppose I love it so much because it reminds me of The Iliad, which really spoke to me. I love emotional tales of manly men.
I find it interesting you didn't mention the later bits, but I can't say I blame you. Even though it's my favorite manga I disown all the bits that come after the timeskip; they're just nowhere near as good as what came before.
Women in Fist of the North Star do do some pretty impressive things, though. There's Lin, who, when she's a little girl, spoiler[goes to burn herself alive as she sees no point living in a world ruled by a man like Raoh] before Rei comes in to save her. Then there's Yuria, who spoiler[stares down Raoh as he attempts to kill her in order to master Musou Tensei]. Of course, women are almost a hindrance to everyone after the timeskip; however, like I said, those bits are forgettable.
I've always preferred characters who, deep down under a scary exterior crusted over with the blood of their foes, are truly kind, caring people. Of course, I also love the traditional shounen outcast underdog story, but you need something different every now and then. If you ask me, it's because kids nowadays want more protagonists like Eren Jaeger and Light Yagami. I don't see much of a desire for softer leads.
Have a lot of things used that beyond Violence Jack and Mad Max? Maybe I'm just underexposed, but I can't think of much else on the top of my head. Also, I'd say Fist has more similarities with things like The Iliad or Romance of the Three Kingdoms. What you said is there, but I feel like it's more of a coat of paint than anything. |
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MrTerrorist
Posts: 1348 |
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster
Posts: 357 Location: San Francisco |
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That's a really good point. You're right, it's actually much more like a classic war epic of Great Men, than it is a postapocalyptic story. |
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GVman
Posts: 730 |
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Thanks! I think Japan, and Asia in general, has more of a taste for things of that nature. That would explain FotNS's continued popularity in Japan.
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NJ_
 Posts: 3111 Location: Wallington, NJ |
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DO SURVIVE! |
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Pamachu
 Posts: 24 Location: The Lonesome Crowded Midwest |
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j Talbain
 Posts: 279 Location: Toronto, Ontario |
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We got Both of the Ken's Rage games yet still do not have a manga release here?... If Sailor Moon got a release and sold as well as it did maybe after 11 years they need to try to release it again. B&W omnibus volumes...
A manga fan can dream..... |
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mrsatan
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 915 |
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I still feel that the series got bungled both times in the US. First by VIZ, who like the article said, dropped it just as it was getting to the good stuff. Also, their individual issues also had a confusing numbering scheme and their graphic novels at the time were very expensive.
But then Raijin comes along and makes their versions even more expensive. I mean, I'm a hardcore fan and even I was thinking twice about buying the Raijin Master Editions. (Of course I did end up buying them.) The colorization wasn't necessary and only ended up jacking the prices up. If they had kept the prices down and released them in B&W like the way Lone Wolf & Cub was done, it would have panned out better. |
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clipeuh
 Posts: 117 |
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Not sure if the merit belongs to Zac or Jason but nice pun in that description.
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NJ_
Posts: 3111 Location: Wallington, NJ |
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I KILL THE FIGHT! |
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