NELLA CITTÀ DEI DEMONI URLANTI. Ken, Rei e Mamiya sono entrati a Cassandra. Il loro obiettivo è trovare e liberare Toki, che si dice sia qui rinchiuso. Per riuscirci, dovranno prima superare diversi ostacoli e nemici, a partire dal temibile Capocarceriere…
Okamura Yoshiyuki (岡村善行), also known as Buronson (武論尊) or Sho Fumimura (史村翔 Fumimura Shō), is a Japanese manga writer most known by his famous work Hokuto no Ken. known in English as Fist of the North Star. He graduated from the Japanese Air Force Training School in 1967 and served as an Air Force radar mechanic. In 1969 he discharged from the Japanese Navy and was soon hired by Hiroshi Motomiya as a manga assistant. He started his manga writing career when he wrote the script of Pink Punch: Miyabi in 1972, drawn by Goro Sakai. In 1975 Buronson wrote his first big hit The Doberman Detective, drawn by Shinji Hiramatsu. The famous Hokuto no Ken made its debute as Buronson's greatest hit in 1983, drawn by Tetsuo Hara. In 1989 his story Ourou was released as a manga serialized in Animal Magazine, drawn by Kentarou Miura, and in 1990 a sequel entitled Ourou Den was released by the same manga artist. Buronson also collaborated with the manga artist Ryoichi Ikegami in many works as Strain (manga) , Human (manga) and the famous Sanctuary (manga). Among his other major works are The Phantom Gang, with art by Kaoru Shintani.
Buronson was mainly influenced by movies such as Bruce Lee's, and Mad Max.
The nickname Buronson is a tribute to the American actor Charles Bronson, whose way of growing the mustache was imitated by Yoshiyuki Okamura too.
After defeating his brother Jagi, Ken turns his attention to his other brother Toki. He's held in the prison - Cassandra, the city of Wailing Demons. It's a really awesome battle as Ken takes on the warden Uyghur. Of course... after Toki there's one more brother!
The main bad guy strikes a blood-sorrow channeling point that makes whoever's hit with it live for three days before dying so they can feel fear and despair for Raoh for those 72 hours. There's a really good shot of Kenshiro and Raoh flying in the air with their auras and Raoh is still on his horse.
I was worried this series would get dull with the same thing happening over and over again, but it's still just as much fun seeing Kenshiro explode a guy as it was the first time. Tetsuo Hara's art continues to be a joy to behold, particularly the color pages.
What if the guy on the horse from the Robert E. Howard drawing was the most powerful and evil guy of all time and he never got off the horse and did evil martial arts from on horseback. Also this is very important, the horse never moves. Buronson and Tetsuo Hara are the greatest geniuses of all time.
I Ioved volume 1-3. It did everything it set out to do tremendously well then volume 4 happened. It was super underwhelming to the point, I took a break from this series. Well.. with volume 5 I am not only back, I am officially IN LOVE with Fist Of The North Star. There's no turning back for me from this point. This was PEAK Manga 🤌. Kenshiro is that dude 🔥. Art and Writing at its best so far. I gave Vol.1-3 five stars as well but this one is on a different league for me. Glorious composition and imagery. I am hooked for life with this volume. 💪
An enjoyable continuation of the previous volume, we now find Ken seeking out his missing brother Toki. His search brings him to the City of the Wailing Demons, held by the formidable Uyghur who holds the city captive as its warden. We see another one of these mini boss battles ensue and this could have just felt like a repetition of every single previous volume of Fist of the North Star. However, Tetsuo Hara's cartooning feels even sharper this volume, with an increased use of cross-hatching to fill out the details further. The action sequences take on an even more "outlaw" quality to them, making them more enjoyable than previous fare.
What makes this volume standout more is the introduction of the character of Raoh, a character who feels like a threat with some longevity to it. Too often, the villains of Fist of the North Star have a disposable quality to them, where each one presents an immediate threat but Ken finds a way to overcome them quickly. I'm hoping Raoh serves as more of a mainstay since that has been a lacking quality to the series thus far.
Overall, this is an enjoyable continuation of the series, and does a good job planting seeds for future stories to be told.
This volume covers the rest of Cassandra, rescuing Toki, some random thugs, and Kenoh/Raoh.
There are a few more flashbacks with yuria, raoh, and toki.
Some of this material is still covered by the movie, the fight with raoh in particular. The other episodes are interesting but not essential, kind of repetitive.
I get the sense that things are moving too fast — we haven’t had enough time with Rei. Raoh just comes out of nowhere. These events could have been built up more. Even the movie over its short run time does a better job characterizing Rei and Raoh.
And there’s really no explanation for Ken’s martial arts prowess, or much rationale at all to any of the fights. One combatant is simply better, it’s not a question of resourcefulness or wits.
The central conflict of Ken, Raoh, jagi, shin, and yuria that is the basis of the movie could have been explored for many volumes. It’s just a question of chaining things in a logical progression and pacing the revelations. As it is, I wonder what the plot will be for the rest of the series, which is 27 volumes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Ken's brothers just keep showing up and we learn that he has more of them! We get to see Cassandra, meet the guards (and see their epic deaths), and see Uygher, the warden. There's something I find so fascinating by attempts like this to make a work international. I still don't know where Fist of the North Star takes place, besides after the end of the world (and it doesn't really matter, because the world is over), but it probably isn't Japan, considering how much space and distance there is to the wasteland.
The lead characters have Japanese names, as the story goes on, we see more iconography that evokes Chinese martial arts, and then we get characters that are explicitly from different regions of the world, like Uygher, named after a group of people from northwestern China/Mongolia, who is explicitly Mongolian and references how his fighting style is how Mongolians conquered Europe in the distant past. It's just such a weird thing, by trying to introduce great ideas with great characters, an entire region, history, and race is reduced down to "my muscle is impenetrable".
Anyway, Toki is redeemed and we get to see Raoh on his horse and Kenshiro fight in the sky.
Uyghur, the prison warden of Cassandra, with intention of defeating and killing Kenshiro. But he has discovered to his chagrin, he’s no match for Hokuto Shinken, not even with a thousand whips. Ken just merely fitted the warden in the rectangular shaped hole already dug. Determined to prevent Kenshiro from reuniting with Toki. The royal guards tried to kill Toki, but it was futile. Toki may be sick with radiation poisoning, he’s not exactly weak as he appeared to be. Later, leaving Cassandra, the four: Mamiya, Re1, Toki, and Ken, went looking for Kenoh and army. When they did track him and found him, things are going to get nasty, and tragic. Well drawn graphics, yet the story was edited a bit much just to rush it for some reason. But it held the reader’s interest. Still recommended.
Fist of the North Star continues to confound me and break my expectations. I expected the story to be filled with a parade of ever more exotic fighting techniques and ever escalating power levels but things are staying rather stable within the established framework of the world.
Over time, as we meet more and more people from Ken's past, it starts to strain my credulity that he was ever wandering alone in the first place, and I start hoping for more stories that develop from the present. But for now I am still interested in the expanding back story and seeing more of the post-apocalyptic landscape.
Another fun volume full of ludicrous martial arts, ridiculous gore, over-the-top villains, and some of the most insanely horrific deaths I've ever seen in manga. Tetsuo Hara's artwork is consistently terrific, with lots of detail and intense lines. I can blast through one of these volumes pretty quickly--both because there isn't a whole lot of dialogue I need to read and also because it's all so damn enjoyable. Not much more I can say about this manga that I haven't already said in previous reviews. Looking forward to Vol. 6.
More of the same for the most part. Which isn't a complaint. The fights are now completely bananas but the story actually progresses. Mysteries of Kens past and the world are answered in this one, and I'm itching for Vol. 6 to come out.
Man, this is up there with Berserk for my favorite manga. The art and action are so good. It is silly but it also has just enough heart to the story that you care. Things moved at a great pace in this volume Ken finally meets someone that he can't steamroll over.
Ken in the search for his brother winds up in the prison town of Cassandra where he encounters the warden, Uyghur. Meanwhile Rei confronts Ken's older brother Kenoh. More martial arts violence expertly rendered by Tetsuo Hara!
This volume contains some of the most intense fights in the series yet. Ken’s determination and honor affect both his friends and you, the reader. You really feel for the guy as he must contend with yet another of his wayward brothers— though this one is the most evil yet.
There's a lot happening here. Toki is saved, and we're finally introduced to the last Hokuto brother, Raoh.
This volume, as the others, was full of fun action and melodramatic moments, with a kind of cheesy tone. If that's your thing, then Hokuto no Ken as a whole is probably for you.
This was the best volume so far. Ken finally meets his oldest brother Raoh, who is so powerful that he refuses to stand on equal ground with any challenger. Rei has three days to live. Ken finally isn't the most overpowered character. This one definitely ends on a cliffhanger!
Great illustrations. Incredibly violent, and needlessly so (but still less than Battle Angel Alita). A classic, written by the master himself, Buronson.
'Fist of the North Star' is living proof that simple morality tales about unquestionably good guys beating up unrepentant evil guys can be amazing if told with enough style.