fist of the north star

Fist of the North Star (Japanese: 北斗の拳; Hokuto no Ken) was a manga series that was originally serialized between 1983 and 1988 in the Weekly Japanese version of Shonen Jump, originally created by Tetsuo Hara. It spawned two TV anime series (based on different story arcs of the comic), two films (one of them a live-action version) and a recently-released trilogy of OVA films titled "Shin Hokuto no Ken" (The New Fist of the North Star). A manga prequel has since been made titled "Souten no Ken" (Fist of the Blue Sky), starring the original protagonist's uncle, which is currently being serialized (as of 2004) in the Weekly Comic Bunch in Japan. It was serialized in Raijin Comics in North America until June 2004.

The Series

The original pilot version of "Hokuto no Ken" was published in the April 1983 edition of Weekly Shonen Jump: Special Edition, was set in a contemporary setting and told the story of a teenager by the name of Kenshiro Kasumi, the succesor of the "Hokuto Shinken" style (God-given Skill of the North Star) a deadly martial arts style which kills opponent internally by striking pressure points. Kenshiro fought against a rival martial arts clan known as the Taizanji Kenpo (Mt. Taishan Temple Martial Arts), which secretly controlled the Japanese government and were also responsible for the death of Kenshiro's girlfriend. The second pilot, titled "Hokuto no Ken II", published in the June 1983 edition of Weekly Shonen Jump: Special Edition, had Kenshiro aiding a young couple who deserted the Taizanji. The second pilot presented the first and only appearance of the Taizanji's supreme commander, whose face was never shown. When Hokuto no Ken was picked up to become a weekly series, manga writer Yoshiyuki Okamura (under the pen name of Buronson) was assigned by the editors of Shonen Jump to work with Hara as a scenarionist for the series. Buronson decided to ditch the original premise of the two pilot chapters in favor of the Hokuto no Ken that is known today. The series told the story of a now grown-up and scarred Kenshiro (who never used his surname and always had his given name spelled in kana) who swears to protect the helpless populace of a post-apocalypse world populated from the wild gangs of bikers and bandits who prey on them. Its style of dramatic, shocking, and literally explosive battle sequences caused much heated arguments over its content. Human bodies are chopped, exploded, diced, and smashed in fist to fist battles as though they had been struck with highly destructive objects. As Kenshiro blasts his opponents, he makes sounds similiar to those of Bruce Lee's animalistic wails.