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.

A title that lives up to its classic status. Beautiful as it is brutal, this duo - writer Buronson and artist Tetsuro Hara - captures the desperation, suffering, and oppression done and inflicted upon many of its characters; desert punks torturing innocent citizens, Kenshiro - the iconic protagonist - pummeling aforementioned punks to either a disembodied mess or a bloody pulp and the world in its utterly vast former glory. The writing is tight and to the point with little to no expository fluff, just righteous carnage. As a result, making this simultaneously one of the most breezy - albeit bloody - and engaging reading experiences I have had in a while. Kenshiro is a more morally driven John Wick of sorts in this volume, driven to do what is right while holding a grudge against his enemy. It may be a bit morally corny for a machismo series, yet given how fraught the world of "Fist of the North Star" is, it is refreshing to see such humility displayed on a deadly beefcake like Kenshiro.

As a first-time reader aware of its legacy, significance, and memery (apologies for talking so high up to something relatively jokey), I can see why the work has retained such cultural stamina. Through this volume, I can see its lineages amongst many well-known titles, most notably Jojo's Bizarre Adventure given its heavy design aesthetic.

This is an entertaining must-read for shounen fans and even manga as an art form. It may be an older series with a distinct look, yet I cannot imagine what shounen would be like without it.

My husband got to this one before I did. His thoughts: it's a good, crisp reprinting. As a long time fan of the anime, he found all the content immediately familiar. It shows there's a reason why the series is a cultural touchstone. Excellent for fans of Mad Max and martial arts.

For some reason I always thought the original Fist of the North Star manga was released here in the west, seeing as how it influenced such juggernauts like Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. However, we haven’t gotten a complete manga release of the series since its debut in the 80s, but that’s bound to change thanks to VIZ Media’s new releases of the series. This brutal and nostalgic action series might not be for everyone, but after reading this, you can definitely see how it earns its place in the hall of manga legends.

Kenshiro is a practitioner of the Hokuto Shinken, a fictional Chinese martial arts technique that aims to literally kill its opponents from the inside. This huge dude is a serious yet kindhearted man living in a strange post-apocalyptic world ala Mad Max, with dang near everyone killing each other for power. This first volume introduces readers to just how powerful Kenshiro is, with this hardcover edition covering the first couple manga arcs. It’s a great introduction as it leads to recurring characters Bat and Lin, as well as giving Kenshiro a long-lost love interest and rival in the form of Yuria and Shin respectively.

I’m going to preface this with the fact that I’m confused at its Teen Plus rating; it’s one of the most influential shonen manga out there, but I didn’t realize how gory and visceral the action is. Chapter upon chapter comes with multiple character deaths (mostly throwaway characters used to show a villain’s power), and there’s no shying away from dismembered and vivisected bodies. That said, the gore included here is relevant to the cynical setting Fist of the North Star is set in, and only highlights how unique Kenshiro and his friends’ pureness contrasts with the rest of the world. The action is still some of the best I’ve seen in a shonen manga, or any manga for that matter.

As someone who’s still catching up on the Jojo manga and wanting something similar, I can’t wait to read more of this one in the future!

oh man, this was incredible. I am so excited to put this classic into my library. The color pages were awesome!

This is a not for me type of situation.

This is an old manga, so I can’t speak about the originality of the story. There are definite Mad Max comparisons, in terms of setting and characters, but I personally wasn’t a fan of the story. It’s very action packed, fight oriented, testosterone fuelled dystopian, but everything else felt surface level. I didn’t care for the characters, nor was the story gripping enough to keep me entertained.

I can see why people might like it. The setting is different and the martial arts fighting is well illustrated, and this could’ve been fresh and new when it was first released decades ago. I definitely heard of the title before reading it, and I think people would like it for the nostalgic factor. Even the character designs gave me JoJo vibes.

It’s not bad. It just wasn’t for me.