The Spring 2021 Manga Guide

Fist of the North Star

What's It About? 

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the story centers on a man named Kenshiro, a master and successor to a deadly martial art, as he wanders the nuclear wasteland protecting the weak and innocent from violent thugs. In his travels, he must contend with other master martial artists and figures from his past, including his "brother" Raoh, who has crowned himself the king of the new world.

Fist of the North Star is scripted by Buronson and drawn by Tetsuo Hara and Viz released its first volume in hardcover on June 15

---

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Are you all caught up with the latest releases of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure but are still hankering for some ultra-manly fighting manga featuring burly leads with unfathomable powers? Then step right up and meet Viz's re-release of Fist of the North Star, now in hardcover with color pages!

If you've been reading manga for a while, there's a good chance that you're already familiar with this title, or at least know of it due to its far-reaching influence on other fighting-based action series. The story follows Kenshiro as he wanders the wasteland that the world has become, dealing justice with his special techniques as he protects the weak and punishes the evil strong while spouting cool one-liners with an expressionless face, things like, “You're already dead,” as he walks away from his writhing or exploding opponent. It fills a lot of the same niches as the aforementioned Jojo, although on the whole it feels a bit more serious in tone, or at least more consistently serious. That doesn't mean it's always possible to take it seriously, but that's actually part of the appeal of this genre, particularly when it dates to the 1970s and 80s.

This three-hundred-page volume introduces us to Ken, gives us his requisite tragic past, and sets up his relationships for the next little while. Primarily these are with two kids, Bat and Rin, whom he meets in a desert village where he and Bat are imprisoned and Rin is their jailor. Ken helps heal Rin's trauma-induced muteness before he and Bat take off (not that Kenshiro invites Bat, but he's not the kind of guy to turn a kid away), and later we learn that Rin has been following them only to get caught by yet more villains. It's clear that Ken's fond of both kids, but he feels especially protective of Rin, possibly because he's just learned that his fiancée, Yuria, committed suicide rather than stay with their mutual enemy Shin. The whole Yuria and Shin plotline is the most coherent in the volume, but everything does feed organically into the next step in the journey; it's just that we spend more time on Yuria and Shin than on anything else thus far.

Part of the draw here is, of course, the juxtaposition between Kenshiro's intense need to protect those weaker than him (so, everyone), which is based in his essentially kind nature, and the astounding acts of violence he performs upon his enemies. Heads explode, eyeballs fly off, chests rupture in gouts of blood and bone, and faces get cut in half – it can be a lot to take. But it's also obviously meant to be over-the-top and strictly for entertainment purposes, and it does succeed. Even if ultra-violent fare or stories about people with more muscles than exist on the human body aren't your thing, this is one of those series you almost have to know about. It's fun, too – albeit in a very specific and gruesome way.

---

Lynzee Loveridge

Rating:

Honestly, 'judging' Fist of the North Star is practically a moot point. The series was and still remains highly influential to creatives inside and outside of the comic world. It's a high-testosterone bloodsport of Mad Max-style proportions following a quintessential warrior as he pummels his way through his enemies' fleshy bit. It's iconic, campy, and something anime fans should at the very least have some familiarity with if only to know the story that blazed the trail for action comics to come.

Yet, despite the 1980s series influence, notoriety for over-the-top violence, and immense financial success in Japan, it has never been fully translated and released stateside. There were attempts, initially by Viz, and later as “Master Editions” by Gutsoon!, for a total of nine volumes released out of the series' 27 total books. This latest attempt by Viz includes color illustrations and originally oriented artwork. The first volume already looks stunning.

Re-releases of manga from the 80s or even earlier sometimes requires buyers to adjust their expectations. Clean-up can be hit or miss depending on how the original artwork was saved and pages can look, for lack of a better word, smudgy. I wouldn't use that word to describe this release. Hara's line work is crisp from the detailed facial expressions and motorbikes to all the gory bits. I feel lucky that this is the way I was able to be introduced to the series, honestly.

Now, given what Fist of the North Star is, a no-holds-barred bloodfest starring a stoic martial arts hero, its worth noting in big capital letters that it is a product of its time. Kenishiro is prone to cheesy bravado including but not limited to slow-motion flips, shirt-bursting fits of rage, ax-throwing decapitations, and armored bikini babes. However, for anyone worried that this is cut from the same cloth as the ultra-violent OAVs of the same time period, I can assure you that the violence here stops at the physical.

One of the biggest highlights of Fist of the North Star is Ken himself. They don't quite make Shonen Jump heroes like him anymore. He's a man of few words, forthright in his intentions, and always battling on the side of justice. Ken is here to save little girls, old men, and families fraught by apocalypse punks and nothing will stand in his way. Even as someone with little interest in pure action spectacle, Fist of the North Star is a fun ride and I found myself getting caught up in the “NO WAY” moments like a new fan. A series that truly transcends its time period to continue delivering a good time.