Quick review for a quick read. So this is my chance to kind of gush over a classic manga series that I've known about for many years because of the anime, but this is my first time revisiting the series in quite some time. When I saw the first volume on NetGalley, you all have no idea how quickly I requested this. Cue in a massive happy dance when it came through.

"Fist of the North Star" hits the right brutal blend of action, dystopian, sci-fi/fantasy, and martial arts feature that I admittedly did not know what I was getting into when I first experienced the series. Starting with this first volume made details come rushing back and I fell in love with the story (and main character) all over again. It centers around Kenshiro (Ken), a mysterious traveler with a seemingly strong and lost martial art technique known as the Hokuto Shinken. You don't know much about Ken to start with, but you realize that he's surviving in a version of the world that's a barren dystopia. Food and supplies are running low and gangs run rampant, taking everything they can get. In each of the beginning chapters, Ken helps (and some times is helped by) the people he comes across, but always seems to find trouble in brutal ways. Ken's quickly made enemies make the mistake of underestimating him, usually because of his seemingly quiet demeanor. Take one look at the scars on his torso though - and basically..."You are already dead." (That's a classic line from the series.)

Ken's a good one as far as following a strong leading character. You can tell he really cares for the people he comes across and tries to help, but he shows no mercy for those who take advantage of the weak and poor. His skill prowess is cool, calculated, and does not relent in giving those on the other end of his technique a brutal fate, as necessary. (Y'all - heads actually do roll and there's on page uber graphic violence - so expect that going in. I've marked this as mature for primarily that, and it doesn't pull punches in this first volume.)

As the story progresses, you learn of Ken's reunion with an old enemy (Shin), and the reason why Ken has the mysterious scars on his body. It's a pretty heavy experience when you realize what Ken had to go through to get his power, and what he's searching for. It also branches out into a pretty big plot turn at the end of this volume, which is probably why I'm giving this overall rating a little less because where it leaves off. I'm tap dancing around spoilers for the story, but its one that makes sense for the starting point the ongoing series, and I found it to be well illustrated, paced very well, and immersive the entire time I read it.

I definitely plan on picking this up for my personal library, and continuing to read the series from this volume onward.

Overall score: 4/5 stars.

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher.

I think I just have to accept that this art style is not for me in the slightest. Everything just felt so dated too. Overall not my cup of tea.

Wow, that was an experience! I watched an episode or two of Fist of the North Star sometime in the late '90s, but it didn't jive with me a the time. This reissue made me decide to try it again, and just, wow. The team of Buronson and Tetsuo Hara really created some tasty cheese! I promise I mean that as a compliment!
The series follows Kenshiro, a master of the Hokuto Shinken style of martial arts, on his quest to fight those that make the innocent suffer, and to find his fiancee, Yuria, who was taken by his rival Shin, who is a master of Nanto Seiken. In his travels, Ken ends up with a tag-along named Bat, a thief that was imprisoned with Ken before they broke out and escaped. As they travel looking for work to do in exchange for food and water, they keep coming across bad guys, and there is much glaring and even more fighting, usually involving exploding heads and/or other body parts. Finally, they end up in a huge city run by none other than Ken's old rival Shin, known as King now. Will Ken finally be reunited with Yuria? Will he and Shin finally settle their score? Just how much glaring can the human face handle? Read and find out!
This is some serious '80s cheesy martial arts manga, and it's so much fun! So much nostalgia here, even if I jumped on the bandwagon late. There's a lot of violence, but it's so over the top only the most sensitive of readers should be fine. This is a whirlwind of delicious post-apocalyptic fighting fun!

#FistoftheNorthStarVol1 #NetGalley

This was an excellent read that takes place in a dystopian world. The main character is driven in his desire and the reader is drawn in and wants to see where this takes him. The art and the characters are nicely done and help to build this world.

Fist of the North Star Volume 1 is published through Viz Media, written by Buronson, illustrated by Tetsuo Hara, and translated to English by Joe Yamazaki. Originally published in 1983, Viz’s Signature Edition is finally making it possible for fans old and new to be able to read this highly influential shonen manga. I personally have been very eager to read Fist of the North Star as my favorite mangaka Hirohiko Araki has stated multiple times that JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was birthed from his love of Buronson’s story of good versus evil.

Right from the start, Fist of the North Star Volume 1 gives us a glorious, full-colored depiction of the year 199X, when the world has been left in apocalyptic ruin from nuclear fire. The colorwork features the most intriguing blends of blood-red, orange, amethyst, and sea blue. The next page is a full spread of our main protagonist Ken with lightning all around him. We are introduced to this desolate wasteland where groups with burly men have multicolored mohawks and weapons that range from axes to butcher knives. Being that this manga came out over 35 years ago, the character designs still feel wholly unique to this read. The main antagonists are these biker gangs that donned football gear, spiked gauntlets, and leather crop tops. Hara’s settings and backgrounds aren’t incredibly well-detailed, but instead, his focus is on character design and action, and it brings a lot of fun to the bloody action.

When we are introduced to Ken, he is just about one of the coolest shonen protagonists I’ve ever read. Without us really knowing anything about him, Buronson introduces us to him as a man on the verge of dehydration. He needs water and gets captured by bandits that abuse and mistreat children. As he is nurtured back to health, readers discover that Ken has supernatural powers and is found out to be marked with seven stars on his body in the shape of the big dipper. There is such a mysterious air around Ken. Buronson’s pacing is immaculate and doesn’t linger on any moments of intrigue for too long as he just throws readers into a bloody, intense fight between Ken and The Zeed bandits. What ensues proves why Fist of the North Star Volume 1 has stolen so many hearts throughout the years. With a possible beheading on the line, Ken fully attacks these bandits to deliver justice without regard to how humane or ethical he is being. The bloody battle features heads being kicked on in, brains being splattered on the floor, and bodies being punched in half. It’s fully detailed violence and gore. While it may seem gratuitous to some, it feels perfect for this dangerous and cold world that Ken lives in.

The artwork done by Hara is some of the cleanest action scenes I’ve read. Each and every single punch is accounted for and the depth and reaction of motion from kicks to hits is felt. There are pages I read twice over simply to enjoy the art. Ken’s powers are seen as an extension of his person, and that was easy to follow. Reading it made me squeal with joy because it’s so obvious how Araki took inspiration from this style of art drawn by Hara in Fist of the North Star Volume 1 and tweaked it to create his own signature action fighting sequences.



Storywise, Buronson gives us a detailed backstory on how Ken came to become a power user of a fighting style called Hokuto Shinken which allows him to tap into the extra 70% of his human abilities to give him super strength, speed, and the ability to transfer energy to and from people’s bodies. The dialogue throughout Fist of the North Star can feel a little bit like an info dump. Whether it is explaining how Ken’s powers work or describing his past life, it can feel very disconnected and cumbersome to get through. The integration of key information isn’t blended organically into the story and bogs the quality of the story down. However, the themes of good versus evil with Ken and his slew of antagonists are never lost. While the dialogue can feel like a slog, the letter down is exceptional and has lots of fun placements for onomatopoeia and action. I had no trouble keeping up with reading as smooth and concise.

I loved the romance aspect of Ken’s backstory that humanizes and makes readers understand where Ken’s heart is as a protagonist. His one and only goal is to win the woman of his dreams back from a man who stole her from him. He is motivated by trying to find a place of their own in this postapocalyptic hellscape they live in. These goals are clear and relatable and fuel the second half of Fist of the North Star Volume 1. The main antagonist is a very clear-cut depiction of evil incarnate. His name is King, and he just wants to rule over the bandits and have Ken’s girlfriend all to himself. He does not care about how he achieves his goal or whether or not Ken’s girlfriend truly loves him or not. He is vile, abusive, and misogynistic. Unfortunately, his intentions and motives as a villain aren’t more complicated than that. With a little more characterization, King would not be so one-dimensional.

With all of that being said, the interesting character designs. wonderful world setting, and bloodbath of action scenes make Fist of the North Star Volume 1 an instant classic then and now. The 35+ year gap does almost nothing to age this manga. With its zany character designs and loveable protagonist, I beg every fan of shonen to give this book a shot, because I promise that you will not be disappointed.

Beyond classic. I've been a huge fan of the anime based on the manga for years. The frenetic energy of the characters, the fights jumps off the page. Kenjiro has a man-with-no-name mystique that makes for compelling reading. I tore through it. LOVE IT!

In a dystopian future, the world has become a desolate wasteland full of biker gangs jockeying for land, power, and resources (think Mad Max). Kenshiro is a warrior, the sole suriving practitioner of the Hokuto Shinken (Big Dipper God Fist), an ancient martial art that relies on power over a body's meridian points, giving him considerable strength over his enemies. Kenshiro has become determined to fight against the gangs that threaten peaceful villages. Along the way, he gains a travel companion, a young thief named Bat, and later, a little orphaned girl named Rin. Kenshiro comes up against several overly strong individuals, including his old friend Shin, a practitioner of the Nanto Koshū Ken (South Dipper Lone Eagle Fist) martial art. The men have become enemies because of their mutual love of the same girl, Yuria, and Shin's actions in getting Yuria to love him instead of Kenshiro.

This widely popular series in Japan is finally getting a localization in America, and it could be come the next Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Fist is very obviously from the 80s when many writers were exploring the possibilities of nuclear fall-out. There are some definite post-apocalyptic problems like others in the genre, like where are they getting all the fuel for their motorbikes? How is everyone so jacked when food is so scarce? But all of that really doesn't matter when you really get into the story and the action it contains. There is plenty of blood and guts for the voracious action readers and just enough of a storyline to be entertaining. The first volume ends in sort of a weird place, so readers will want the second one pretty quickly.

The art in this series capitalizes on the very thick, heavy lines that were popular in 80s manga. It is extremely reminiscent of the art in Jojo's. There are some full color pages, as well as the orange-wash pages that were also popular in 80s manga.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

For the longest time, Fist of the North Star was in a peculiar position. Despite being one of the best-selling manga of all time and having a dedicated fanbase, the series hadn’t been licensed in the US since the early 2000s. To make matters worse, previous attempts to release the manga had all been short-lived, preventing English readers from easily finishing the series. Luckily, Fist of the North Star fans can finally rejoice, as the manga has returned to print and now digital, thanks to a new release from Viz Media. At long last, this legendary manga can be experienced once again.

Fist of the North Star takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where limited resources have led to turmoil among the remaining human populace. In the midst of this chaos is Ken, a warrior who specializes in the powerful martial art known as Hokuto Shinken. As he wanders the wastelands of Earth, Ken uses his techniques to defend the weak and pursue his captive love Yuria.

What’s initially striking about Fist of the North Star is the aesthetic of its world. Buronson has previously cited the film Mad Max as a major influence on the series, and this is evident from the opening pages alone. Fist of the North Star’s world looks barren, often feeling like an endless body of dirt and sand, but you occasionally can see the remnants of traditional society. Bandits are often shown traveling on old motor vehicles, and many civilizations appear to be in the ruins of once larger cities. While this world has regressed to an archaic state, the hints of the once blissful past still remain, creating a conflicting yet fascinating setting for the manga.

One of the most memorable parts of this manga is the main character Ken. From his first battle, Ken is shown to be an unstoppable fighter with a strong sense of justice. Ken’s dialogue during his fights is also incredibly entertaining, saying memorable lines like “You are already dead” before killing his foes. It would be easy to view Ken as a stoic protagonist, but as the story develops, we see that he is heavily driven by his emotions. Ken’s strength, as well as his faith in the bonds between people, is fueled by his attachment to his lover Yuria. Ken will go out of his way to save strangers from peril, and will mourn those who are lost in violent acts. Ken uses his strength to protect what others wish to erase, making him a compelling lead for the series.

Ken’s enemies are often shown to be cruel and ruthless, blindly killing any innocents in their path. What keeps Ken’s battles with these foes interesting is that they’ll use a variety of different weapons and techniques to counter Ken’s Hokuto Shinken. That said, the most memorable among them is the volume’s main antagonist Shin, the leader of a vicious gang in the Kanto region and an old acquaintance of Ken. Shin uses his Nanto Seiken martial art for his own self-gain, forcing innocent people to become his slaves and pillaging resources from nearby civilizations. While Shin works as a great foil for Ken, I was surprised that the two’s conflict was concluded by the end of this volume. This doesn’t take away from the overall quality of Shin’s character, but it makes me curious about the longevity of future antagonists as well.

So far, the series’s supporting cast is very small, with the most notable members being Bat and Rin. Bat is a young thief who accompanies Ken on his journey. While his cunning personality is entertaining, he’s primarily relegated to being an audience surrogate during the manga’s action scenes. That said, Bat’s interactions with Ken are nice to see, and they showcase more of Ken’s casual demeanor. Meanwhile, Rin is a young girl that Ken saves at the beginning of the manga. Rin is a stark contrast to Bat, being far more timid and innocent. It’s hard to say what Rin’s larger role in the story will be, as she ends up being absent from a large chunk of this volume. Like Bat though, Rin’s character serves to show Ken’s personal values and emotional drive. Bat and Rin don’t contribute significantly to this volume, but they are pleasant additions nonetheless.

If Fist of the North Star’s characters and story don’t sell you on the series, Tetsuo Hara’s artwork surely will. Hara’s attention to detail is impeccable, from his intricate architecture and mechanical designs to the distinct appearances of Ken’s enemies. This care is also shown in the manga’s action scenes, where Hara’s panels emphasize the motion and impact of each attack. Individual fights in Fist of the North Star aren’t particularly long, but the pronounced movements of the characters makes them an immersive experience. It’s crazy to think that Fist of the North Star was Hara’s first long-running manga, as his incredible talent is already on display in these early chapters.

Unfortunately, Hara’s artwork is hindered by a problematic decision in this release: the sound effects. As with most Viz Media releases, Fist of the North Star’s original Japanese sound effects have been re-lettered into English. That said, the English sound effects have been lettered in a manner that prioritizes covering up the original Japanese, while reducing the amount of required art redraws. This leads to individual letters in sound effects often looking warped or arranged in a manner that feels unnatural. While this isn’t the only English manga release to have this issue, it’s especially apparent here because the manga’s original sound effects were heavily integrated into the artwork. The result is that the English sound effects are almost unreadable at times, and they actively distract you from the actual artwork. There’s no way of knowing why this decision was made, but If redrawing Hara’s artwork was a concern, I would have much rather had this release retain the Japanese sound effects, instead of them being re-lettered in such a haphazard manner.

It’s worth noting that this release of Fist of the North Star is based on the 18-volume “Ultimate Edition” of the series. This means that the manga has some extra additions that weren’t present in older releases, including the original color pages and an afterword from former Weekly Shonen Jump editor Nobuhiko Horie. The physical release is also a hardcover, with the opening pages having a beautiful glossy finish. This is easily the best English release of Fist of the North Star, making it a worthy purchase for even the most veteran fans of the series.

Fist of the North Star is a true classic and a must-read for lovers of action manga. Viz Media’s new release of the series is very impressive and will please both new and old fans alike. There’s no better time to check out this iconic title. Thank you Viz, for bringing back the love. You’re a shock!!

I was happy to hear that Viz would be republishing Fist of the North Star, written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. A genre classic, it was nice to revisit, and readers old and new will be treated to dynamic story and art. At times the lettering took me out of the story a bit—I think Hara's art might be better complemented with more gritty lettering and sound effects, but this edition of Fist of the North Star was fun to read, regardless.

Written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara, the volume begins with a beautifully illustrated and full-colored depiction of the year 199X when the world has been left in apocalyptic ruin from a Nuclear Blaze. A blend of blood-red, orange, amethyst, and sea blue, then shifts to where we shift to a wasteland filled with chaos, and bandits armed with weapons. A wanderer named Ken, appears out of the wasteland to bring justice to the guilty and hope to the people, a man who bears seven scars upon his chest and holds the secret of a mysterious martial art known as Hokuto Shinken, the Divine Fist of the North Star!

But with it being released 35 years ago, this still has a way to entice the reader, the character designs are still unique and clear to see that Bruce Lee’s Style of Martial Arts and Mad Max’s Chaotic world were two big influences for this story, Hara’s character designs, his focus on detail in action scenes are one of the things that made this one hell of a bloody good time.


As far as the story goes, Buronson gives the reader a good, detailed story of how Kenshiro came into his power and the user of the fighting style Hokuto Shinken, which allows him to tap into the extra 70% of his human abilities to give him super strength, speed, and the ability to transfer energy to and from people’s bodies. While it may seem like an info dump but it does give new readers an explanation of what makes the Hokuto Shinken one of the most interesting fighting stances in Anime and Manga, one that has become the poster boy of memes as of late. One thing that stood out to me the most was the Romance Aspect of our protagonist, it humanizes him and helps the reader understand where his heart is, something that stood out in the second half of the manga. Overall, this was great, something that helped me understand what made Fist of the North Star one of the best Shonen Manga out there!

This manga is a MUST for all adult comic book/manga collections. "Fist of the North Star" is a classic series that many of your adult patrons/customers will be able to instantly recognize. I can't recommend this series enough!

In the mid-1980s, there were two shōnen titles that redefined our general understanding of battle manga. One was Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball, a series that started off somewhat childish and parodic towards things like martial arts cinema, but eventually paved the way for the type of modern shōnen storytelling that you see now in One Piece and My Hero Academia. However, one year before the publication of Toriyama’s creation, there was Fist of the North Star, which Viz Media has begun re-publishing in hardcover editions.

Set sometime in the 1990s where a worldwide nuclear war has destroyed most of civilization, turning the world into a desert wasteland, what’s left of humanity has led to a cycle of violence where the strong prey on the weak. Wandering the post-apocalyptic world is Kenshiro, the successor to Hokuto Shinken AKA the Fist of the North Star, 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. Along with young thief Bat, Kenshiro travels to help those in need away from the violent forces that rule this world.

Buronson has cited Bruce Lee and Mad Max as being major influences towards this manga, and Fist of the North Star wears those influences proudly. From its desert wasteland to the mohawk-wearing punk gangs, the Mad Max inspiration is perhaps tiresome by today’s standards, but Buronson does not hold back from showing the brutality that this world can unleash. Despite being marketed towards a young teen male readership, the book’s mature content is not for the faint of heart. It’s a clear influence on works like Kentaro Miura’s Berserk.

Following an archetypical western frontier movie motif, in which the lone wanderer fights from one location to another to rid of any bad people, the storytelling can be repetitive. If you are well-versed in the genre of battle manga, much of the action is basically Kenshiro fighting one big boss before moving onto a bigger boss. Later in the volume, we do see some of Kenshiro’s backstory and there is a big section where the action takes a personal turn with Ken reuniting with familiar faces old and new.

Going back to the Dragon Ball comparison, you can’t think of a greater contrast to Toriyama’s cartoonish artwork, especially when it comes to the heightened martial arts action. Tetsuo Hara’s art is more brutish — all his male characters are all about muscled anatomy, and all the female characters are drawn with a touch of innocence and elegance. There isn’t much detail in the background art that showcase the desert wasteland, as there’s more emphasis on the expressive, violent man-to-man action where certain martial arts moves have the gory impact to rival the fatalities of Mortal Kombat. Despite a few color pages that always look a bit off, it’s a good thing that the rest of the manga is black-and-white as the gory violence would be too much if colorized.

Although this is dramatically inert compared to the future works that this inspired, Fist of the North Star remains an important and well-crafted battle manga that wears its own influences proudly.

Fist of the North Star Volume One establishes Ken, the main character of the series, as well as the world that he lives in.

Fist of the North Star Volume One
Written by: Buronson
Publisher: Shueisha
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: June 15, 2021

Fist of the North Star is set in a world where a nuclear war has turned the world into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The remnants of mankind fight over whatever supply of food and uncontaminated water still remains, and the strong prey upon the weak.

Kenshiro, who goes by Ken for short, is the successor to the Hokuto Shinken, which is an ancient martial art of assassination that kills an opponent’s body from within through the use of hidden meridian points. At the beginning of the series, Ken is captured by a gang and imprisoned with a young thief named Bat. During his imprisonment, Ken befriends a young orphan girl named Lin, who he ends up saving after he escapes from his cell. After defeating the gang, Ken heads on his way… with Bat accompanying him on his travels. While Bat is his traveling companion, the young thief is usually an observer rather than an active participant in the events that take place in the volume. But considering how powerful Ken is, perhaps Bat doesn’t really need to do anything.

As Ken goes on his journey, he encounters people who are suffering and being preyed upon by gangs. Ken uses his martial arts to help these people. He’s usually rather calm, but when Ken is provoked, he gets very angry. His journeys lead him to a city called Southern Cross, which is ruled by a man calling himself “King,” It turns out King is someone that Ken knows, and the battle between these two includes some character development for Ken. While most of this volume focuses on Ken and his strength as a martial artist, I was glad to see a section of the story that provides some backstory for him. I thought this helped to “humanize” him to some degree. While Ken shows he cares for others when he uses his martial arts to help the weak, he still comes across as “something not quite human” through most of the volume. Seeing that Ken has a personal and emotional struggle helped to make me see him simply as a person who has extraordinary power.

One of the striking things to me while reading Fist of the Star Volume One was the art style. It has a very distinct look, which I think works well for a title like this one. Artist Tetsuo Hara also does a great job with the action panels, and they almost make the reader believe that the images are actually moving.

I also found Ken to be a fascinating character. Even before the backstory that helped to “humanize” him, I was interested in following him on his journey and seeing how he would use his abilities to help others.

For the most part, the first volume of Fist of the North Star is establishing the world that the story is set in, with the only real character development taking place right near the end. Some may see how much time is spent on establishing the world as a bit of overkill, but I thought it was needed to help the reader truly understand how dire the situation in this world is. By establishing just how bad it is, it makes it clear why a character like Ken is needed and why he is a hero.

I thought that Fist of the North Star Volume One showed a lot of promise, and the way it ends makes me want to come back and read more when the second volume comes out. After reading this volume, I can see why Fist of the North Star is regarded as such a classic shonen manga series.

Buronson and Tetsuo Hara's classic makes it's return to the west with Viz Media's new release of the series. The mindless action, fun, and manliness is all here in full display, but that goes without saying, doesn't it? We're all here to see Ken kick some ass. So, how does Viz's handling of the content fare? Well, it's a bit of a mixed bag.

The translation by Joe Yamazaki is great; the feeling of each line is carried over excellently, and nothing stood out as stilted or improperly worded. It especially shines compared to the 2018 eOneBook translation of the series, which was sort of all over the place in terms of quality. Yamazaki's translation is a wonderful interpretation of the series.

I wish that I could say the lettering is equally as excellent, but unfortunately I just can't. John Hunt brings his usual style, by which I mean he continues to never improve. His dialogue looks as if he just pasted in the text and made no changes to its stacking about 50% of the time, and his centering is almost always way off the mark. And that's not even touching on the sound effects, which are manipulated and placed in such ways that are frankly horrific to look at, and oftentimes hardly readable, and a lot of the time are way too big and cover up much of the art. It's a real shame, because Viz has worked with many letterers who would have been incredible picks for such a beloved series; if only the editor, Mike Montesa, didn't seem to be afraid of working with anyone who isn't John Hunt. CCChatterbox is a nice dialogue font though.

Overall, I have to give this release a mixed review. The manga itself is as great as it always has been, and the translation compliments it well. It's a shame, because one would expect a series as culturally impactful as Fist of the North Star to receive the greatest possible treatment.

I feel so lucky sometimes. This is one of the biggest manga releases to come out this summer. Holy crap, I was able to get a look at this one and it’s beautiful art work. The best part of all of this is the fact I own the anime, so I know the story and the characters already. The main difference is that the way a 1980’s shonen manga is going to look vs how a 1980’s shonen long running anime are going to function are two different things. It’s almost night and day for art work vs the story. Either way, this is a legendary work by the mangaka Buronson and art work by Tetsuo Hara. This one should be rated a bit more mature for a lot of the content.

So what is the story of Fist of the North Star? Well, this series is what happens when Bruce Lee and Mad Max merged together into something really cool and unique. It’s basically the story of a certain powerful martial artist by the name of Kenshiro walking from one town ruined by deserts and oppressive people as he destroy each regime with his own fists. Fists that are powerful martial arts style called Hokuto Shinken, the Divine First of the North Star. He’s a very lawful good guy who has no sympathy for evil, but mourns and cries the loss of innocent and the pure.


There is a story with all of Kenshiro’s wandering. Part of that is him gaining some followers as he walks around. On the first village in the manga, he picks up the plucky and scrappy boy by the name of Bat who wants to use Kenshiro for a money ticket as Kenshiro saves more and more towns. There is another character, a little girl named Rin, who shows up at the beginning and the end of the volume to eventually join Bat and Ken.There is also the reason why Kenshiro is wandering from place to place, to seek revenge for his wife. There is an emotional encounter between Ken and this guy that only leaves Kenshiro to move forward. At this moment Kenshiro still hasn’t found someone who rivals his power.

As this is Volume 1, this volume is about establishing who Kenshiro is, the world that he runs around, the duty he has by wielding the Hokuto Shinken, the Divine First of the North Star, establishing some feeling between Ken, Bat, and Rin, and so many other things. It’s very good, yet simple and addictive shonen battle story telling in which you can tell why this story is important. The way anime is told is so different because the anime opens with the reason why Kenshiro is wandering upon the reason he is doing what he is doing. Is there a better story telling method? I don’t know. I do think knowing who Kenshiro is up front allows for him to feeling a bit more endearing, but the manga following the story and unraveling the mystery of Kenshiro might be a bit better for a manga.


As you can tell by the two pages that I’ve shown from it, First of the North Star is gorgeous and this was when the manga was starting out. Can you imagine what it will be like over time as Hara got better with his art work? Incredible. I can’t wait to see it in the future. Right now, the character designs are so crazily detailed and so innovative and different. One goon does not look like another goon for example. Also, Kenshiro himself is one of the most innovative and memorable character designs in anime history. The action scenes themselves are incredible with tons of impact and explosive in nature. There is a lot of gore in this manga. Not blood, just gore with exploding body parts and such. Not for everyone.

In the end, I am so glad that Viz Media allowed me to read this manga way ahead of time. It’s so good. If you are a shonen battle fan or an anime fan that wants to where a lot of shonen battle manga came from. Especially things like JoJo because Part 1 really does look so much like Fist of the North Star that it’s not even funny. This manga is really fun and just a great read. A very solid beginning to a long running shonen battle manga. That’s it. That’s all that I have to say here. It comes out in June.

This is a classic 80s manga and it *shows* - think Mad Max but starring peak 80s action movie Stallone, Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, or Schwarzenegger. The hero is manly and silent, the villains are weird and larger than life, the kung fu is over the top action, the moral code is absolute. There's not much depth here, but it's a fun way to spend an afternoon.

All caught up in <i>Jojo's Bizarre Adventure</i> and hankering for something manly to hold you in its buff, beefy arms? Fear not! <i>Fist of the North Star</i> is here in all its bloody, muscley glory. The series that birthed a million memes (okay, one, really) returns in hardcover with color pages, and my, is it ever something. Protagonist Kenshiro is the sort of sensitive soul who can weep over a lost friend one panel and explode a guy's head the next, and somehow the manga makes this feel less ridiculous than it sounds. It's not a story for everyone, but it's one manga historians should know and fans of intense action with a side of melodrama should pick up.

Are We Already Dead? – Fist of the North Star Vol. 1 [Manga]

Author: Buronson (Story), Tetsuo Hara (Art)
Publisher: VIZ Media
Genres: Action-Adventure Martial Arts
Published: June 15, 2021

Fist of the North Star is one of those legendary series that has created a deep mark in our hearts. The series takes the limelight every now and then as Kenshiro’s catchphrase, “Omae wa mou shindeiru”, is memefied. There are, however, some who might be familiar with the meme and may even know that it came from Fist of the North Star without reading the series. We don’t blame nor discriminate against them. After all, we’ve all been in that position and it’s an old series. However, VIZ Media gives those people an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the series with its official English release of the series.

Contains Spoilers

Discussion Time

For those unfamiliar, Fist of the North Star is set in a post-apocalyptic world wherein food and water are scarce. Like most post-apocalyptic series, Fist of the North Star has a lot of hooligans using their strength to get their way. Kenshiro, the master of Hokuto Shinken, can’t look away as innocents’ lives were being toyed by those who had a bit of strength. As a master of the legendary assassination martial arts, he dives into danger and slaughter every evildoer his finger touches.

Why You Should Read Fist of the North Star Vol. 1

1. A Blast From the Past

Fist of the North Star was first published in Weekly Shounen Jump in 1983. Yes, it’s that old. It’s from the same era as Dragon Ball and has garnered, if not more, similar popularity with it as well. Seeing the series getting another chance at the limelight gives us a sense of youth. We’re reminded of those days when Kenshiro is deemed as the peak of manliness. It may sound a bit stupid now, but that’s the facts back then. Reading this series again also reminds us just how much the times have changed.

2. Original Face Slapping Action

During the era when Fist of the North Star was first published, stories are usually not that focused with long plots. It’s usually about beating the bad guy and whatnot. Fist of the North Star is of no exception. It follows the typical face slapping formula, which is introducing a hateful villain to elicit anger from the readers, then murder said villain to satisfy the readers. Even though the plot and characters may not develop much in these kinds of stories, this kind of series provides a different kind of elation.

Why You Should Skip Fist of the North Star Vol. 1

1. Old Style Storytelling

If you haven’t caught our drift yet, this series is really old. That means that the art, plot, storytelling, and even characterization are from the olden age. With that said, the story is more about Kenshiro whooping one bad guy after another. It’s just that there’s a lot of blood and gore. Even though we kind of dig that kind of thing, we understand that there are others who are not into these kinds of stories.

Final Thoughts

Reading Fist of the North Star after all these years gives us a blast of nostalgia. We are kindly reminded of the good old days as everybody tries, albeit slightly afraid, of pressing the pressure points featured in the series. It’s those sweet memories that make reading old series like this a tad more delightful. Given that we’ve enjoyed it back in the day, we sure are happy to see it see the light of day again, and perhaps attract more younger readers.

By: Christian Markle

I'm a fan of the Mad Max movies and this is that with martial arts. A man who must travel, never lingering around good people because chaos follows him wherever he goes. His brand of defense is rare, channel energy into precise hits that destroy people from the inside. This creates explosive scenes of gore as pinpoint punches burst hearts, brains, and guts from their mortal shells. It's a classic of the genre that I am just now visiting. I think this is a fun time.

Fist of the North Star is a classic manga that Viz will be publishing starting in June. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where there’s not enough food or water, but for some reason motorcycles (but not cars) still exist, and the men who ride them are able to outfit themselves in elaborate metal-studded leather gear. Priorities! There are basically two groups in this world, motorcycle gangs and everyone else, and the gangs prey on the innocent townspeople with greed that is exceeded only by their cruelty. Into this desolate landscape strides Kenshiro, the chief practitioner of the martial art of Hokuto Shinken, to hand out some rough justice. A towering fellow with 80s hair and seven scars on his chest in the shape of the Big Dipper, Ken sympathizes with the most downtrodden and brings evildoers to violent (but satisfying) ends. This manga reads like it was meant to be an anime – there’s a lot of action, and the pacing is good. It’s also ultra-violent, the sort of manga where someone realizes in mid-sentence that his head has just been sliced in half as neatly as a melon. It’s like when Wile E. Coyote runs off the cliff, then looks down and falls, only with real death. Anyway, the fights are pretty epic, with antagonists who are ridiculously large compared to everyone else and equipped with an array of imaginatively nasty weapons. Hokuto Shinken is basically weaponized acupressure: Ken knows the exact locations of all the 708 vital points of the body, so he can kill in a variety of creative ways with just his thumbs, or even without touching his victim. He often builds in a time delay, too, telling the bad guy “You will die in exactly one minute” or “You’re already dead,” then having a brief conversation with him before his head explodes. Nonetheless, as Jason Thompson explains in an excellent 2013 column at ANN, Fist of the North Star is really about friendship, and as the creator Buronsen (whose nom de plume honors legendary tough guy Charles Bronson) put it, “Love and compassion are more powerful than violence!” The violence does tend to dominate in this first volume, but the series evolves, and I’m here for it.