Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star)

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Japanese: 北斗の拳

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 27

Chapters: 245

Status: Finished

Published: Sep 13, 1983 to Jul 26, 1988

Genres: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

Theme: Martial Arts

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Shounen Jump (Weekly)

Authors: Hara, Tetsuo (Art), Buronson (Story)

Statistics

Score: 8.08¹ (scored by 18,298 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #656²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #376

Members: 50,722

Favorites: 2,129

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8.08

Ranked #656Popularity #376Members 50,722

MangaShounen Jump (Weekly)Hara, Tetsuo (Art), Buronson (Story)

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Volumes: /27

Chapters: /245

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Synopsis

One day, a wanderer appears out of the wasteland to bring justice to the guilty and hope to the people—a warrior named Ken, 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!

(Source: VIZ Media)

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Background

Hokuto no Ken was published in English as Fist of the North Star by VIZ Media for 44 chapters from 1989 to 1997 in monthly comic book format, later collected into 4 graphic novels. After gaining rights to the series, Gutsoon! Entertainment later republished the series under the Raijin Comics imprint in full-color, original right-to-left format as Fist of the North Star: Master Edition from January 28, 2003 to May 19, 2004; only covering the first 9 volumes due to Gutsoon! becoming defunct in North America. The series was published by VIZ Media under the VIZ Signature imprint from June 15, 2021, to September 23, 2025.

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Reviews

Feb 26, 2015

Dokubachi

Recommended

To witness such influential work after so much time is a truly wondrous experience. Hokuto no Ken has set many standards -- as formulaic as they may be -- that are still used today. One would believe that it will be a vichyssoise of platitudes, but instead, it presents itself in a more qualitative fashion than works of today which are based on the same formula.

Hokuto no Ken tells a story about ambitious and brave men in a world where compassion and love would seem pointless. It subtly indicates necessary human values, which are easily missed underneath its excessive violence. There isn't one main plot ... which extends throughout the entire manga, but more like a series of episodes which are all loosely tied together. Often will you feel that content was abruptly thrown in, rather than initially planned. This was due to obvious money milking reasons, which prevented the possibility for fluid progression.

The artistic impression will remain memorable, especially in the later chapters when Tetsuo improves his meticulousness and utilizes wide panels as best as possible. From the very start and onward there's a steady improvement in his art, be it the post-apocalyptic scenery, facial expressions, or motion from panel to panel. However, his sense for proportions is a bit distorted, maybe those grandiose anatomical features were done with the goal of portraying magnificence or rather sheer force of certain characters, but even as such they remain off-putting at first and require getting used to them.

Side characters received excellent characterization and are easily relatable. Even villains have more profound reasons behind their atrocious actions and leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth after they are killed. However, some of the revelations (motives) felt quite asinine, far-fetched, and should have been avoided completely.

Kenshiro serves his purpose as an allegory for God. Be it certain situations in which he's depicted, how other characters perceive him, or his very personality. You could say that he merely serves to keep things in motion, for it is very difficult to feel attached to his character. He is how he is throughout the entire manga, there are no surprises regarding him, and emotional response is mostly drawn from the way he affects other characters, never from him directly. This weird approach makes him devoid of usual -- intelligence-insulting -- typicalities that main characters have, but in no way does it make him an ideal one.

Hokuto no Ken could easily be classed as a masterpiece, but, I personally like to consider it as a far from perfect -- enveloped in a peculiar charm -- timeless classic.

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Aug 24, 2023

JorgJohnson

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (122/245 eps)

As you can see I have not finished the manga and have only read up to what volume 9 of the viz releases. I hope to inform you on the shortcomings and strong points of this manga. This review does not contain any major spoilers such as deaths how ever it will reveal how the story unfolds to some extent.

Story: 5
What hooked me was the first fight with Raoh.The story has some great moments however some feel forced ranging from somewhat to very much so. Over and over again we see the most evil of evil characters which only really bothered me when they were ...

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Dec 2, 2020

ThanosCh5

Not Recommended

Preliminary (98/245 eps)

My review is up to vol. 11 ch.98

Story: 3

Even though the concept is interesting, the story is poor. After 98 chapters I can sum up for you the whole story. Thugs appear, kill some fodder, Kenshiro appears, omae wa mou shindeirou-nani, man explodes, blonde man who is the thugs' boss appears, Kenshiro does some Hokuto no ken, lots of blood, blonde man is dead. Add some family/brother issues and that's it. The only aspect which led me not to drop the anime immediately, but in the end proved to be insufficient, was the emotional deaths.

Art: 6

The art is detailed, but at some parts confusing. ...

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Poll: Hokuto no Ken Chapter 245 Discussion TuzoAnime - Mar 30, 2010	17 replies	by emperorkatto »» Sep 5, 8:57 AM
Poll: Hokuto no Ken Chapter 136 Discussion Rasco - Feb 24, 2012	5 replies	by User8492 »» Nov 27, 2024 1:53 PM
Poll: Hokuto no Ken Chapter 227 Discussion Rasco - Apr 9, 2012	1 replies	by hitoki27 »» Sep 30, 2024 6:04 PM
Poll: Hokuto no Ken Chapter 82 Discussion Rasco - Feb 22, 2012	6 replies	by User8492 »» Sep 18, 2024 12:47 PM
Poll: Hokuto no Ken Chapter 1 Discussion Sick_Bastard - Sep 2, 2009	7 replies	by User8492 »» Aug 5, 2024 11:43 AM

Hokuto no Ken
Fist of the North Star
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