Fist of the North Star Vol. 6

北斗の拳 究極版 [Hokuto no Ken Kyūkyoku-ban] #6

by Tetsuo Hara, Buronson

Kenshiro dan Raoh akhirnya bertemu. pertarungan dahsyat keduanya berakhir seri karena masing-masing terluka parah. Sementara itu, akibat pukulan Raoh pada titik vitalnya, masa hidup Rei hanya tersisa beberapa hari lagi. Demi wanita yang dicintainya, dia bertekad untuk menghancurkan Yuda, Bintang Kecantikan yang menuntun kehancuran Nanto Rokusei, sebelum dia mati.

"Yuda! Pakai saja darahmu sendiri sebagai riasan!"

Genres: Manga, Comics, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Comics Manga, Action, Graphic Novels

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2013

About the author

A native of Tokyo, Hara attended Hongo Senior High School and worked as an assistant to manga artist Yoshihiro Takahashi after graduating. As an amateur, he won the first prize of the 33rd Fresh Jump award for his one-shot Super Challenger. Hara's professional career began with his first published work: Mad Fighter in 1982. His first serialized work in the Weekly Shōnen Jump was the Iron Don Quixote, which lasted only ten weeks in serialization. He achieved fame after the publication of Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) in 1983, which he co-created with Buronson and ran for six years in Weekly Shōnen Jump. After its completion, he worked on shorter series and one-shots, including three different adaptations of Ryu Keiichiro's novels (Keiji, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Sakon). One of his recent works is Sōten no Ken (Fist of the Blue Sky), a prequel to Hokuto no Ken, which was serialized in Weekly Comic Bunch from 2001 until the magazine's final issue in 2010. He suffers from keratoconus.

Reviews

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 4 out of 5]

More good, dumb, and entertaining melodramatic fun.

[Agnese Rosengren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I villain di questa serie sono sempre più incredibili, uno migliore dell'altro.
Comunque Rei si riconferma il mio personaggio preferito in assoluto e già piango per quello che succederà più avanti.

[Mizuki]

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Shazne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kenshiro is such a great character. Every shot of him in silence are brilliant. The art & composition is so great that you see what he may be feeling or thinking. It's an intern performance through pencils. This volume is filled with some great character moments. You can feel the bond between the core characters tightening. Also, they introduced a new ludicrous villain, probably the wildest one yet, simply due his motivation and it's intentionally comical.

[Omar Villafane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The soul is stronger than the flesh ♾️

[B.J. Swann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This post apocalyptic saga of dudes with weird martial arts powers beating the shit out of each other continues to be highly entertaining, and the art is consistently awesome.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be the best volume yet.

It features the conclusion of the fight against Raoh. He and Ken battle to a stalemate, each too injured to continue. They vow to meet again. This is where the 1986 movie ends.

After the battle, mamiya goes to a nearby town to get medicine for the fatally injured Rei but is captured by dog master Galf. He’s your basic FOTNS thug with the twist that he only trusts dogs, having been betrayed by humans too many times. In his city the dogs are treated as royalty and anyone who harms them is killed. He’s defeated easily.

After the battle, Rei notices a strange brand on mamiya’s back which turns out to be the mark of Yuda, a narcissistic psychopath and, along with shin and Rei, a practitioner of nanto suichoken and one of the six fists of the south star.

At first, Yuda’s look reminded me of Griffith, but his personality is similar to Dio Brando. He’s cunning, treacherous and sadistic, and motivated by an insane vanity. The reason he hates Rei reflects this obsession: long ago, when the two were training together, Rei performed an attack so beautiful that even Yuda was momentarily awestruck. For daring to outshine him, Yuda swore revenge against Rei at that moment. It’s the inspired motivation of a madman, a vendetta of which Rei isn’t even aware.

Rei, who has fallen in love with Mamiya, wants to use his last remaining days to avenge her by killing Yuda, in the hope that she will remember his sacrifice, adding a tragic poignancy to the tale.

The Rei vs Yuda arc is one of the best so far. There are a lot of clever touches and the way it is set up exemplifies the martial spirit of Fist of the North Star. Furthermore, Ken is a bit too stoic so Rei is easier to root for.

And the art is getting even better as well.

[Peter Derk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel not enough emphasis is put on the fact that Ken is fistfighting a horse. I've had a lot of terrible ideas in my time, and trying to punch a horse is one of them thanks to Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs in which the hypothetical is asked:

Let us assume a fully grown, completely healthy Clydesdale horse has his hooves shackled to the ground while he head is held in place with thick rope. He is conscious and standing upright, but he is completely immobile. And let us assume that for some reason every political prisoner on earth (as cited by Amnesty International) will be released from captivity if you can kick this horse to death in less than twenty minutes. You are allowed to wear steel-toed boots. Would you attempt to do this?

I just looked up how many people this would be, and it's estimated to be one million.

So I guess I'd try. Mostly because if I didn't, I'd always wonder, right? And I feel I owe it to the prisoners to at least give it a shot. I mean, god forbid I ever meet one of them, and I'm like, "Bro, you should've seen this horse. My man was HUGE."

It's why the question is "Would you attempt to do this?" as opposed to "Would you do it?" Because the idea isn't about your likelihood of success, it's about whether you'd rather live with the memory of trying or not trying.

I wouldn't enjoy attempting to kick a horse to death, and I don't think I could possibly succeed.

But if Ken would try punching a horse just to fight his brother, I suppose I should go ahead and give it a whirl.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't quite get into this one as much as the previous volumes, mostly because the fight between Raoh and Kenshiro felt no more unique than the previous fights leading up to it. And Toki introduces a deus ex machina that enables Rei's earlier sacrifice to be undone. Raoh and Ken's fight ends in a stalemate and sets up yet another new baddie for Ken to face, but it feels like an odd choice since Raoh eclipses Yuda significantly in terms of sheer menace.

It's still an enjoyable volume of Fist of the North Star don't get me wrong. Ken's delivery of "I got no name to give a dead man" might be the most badass moment yet. The art is gorgeously visceral and crisp with detail. The added colors in this edition even seem sharper this time around and less garish compared to previous entries. Looking forward to the resolution to the cliffhanger ending as well.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chapters 68-80

Thankfully Ken's brother Toki is an ally and joins Kenshiro, Rei, Mamiya and co. They want to track down the eldest brother Raoh, now a larger-than-life warlord named Kenoh. Roah turns out to be the baddest of the bunch.

We learn more about Mamiya's past and introduced to yet another evil warrior the vain Yuda. Rei was seriously injured in the battle with Roah but is managing to hold on long enough to help Mamiya get vengeance. I think this volume is the first time the stakes were high enough that I thought one of the protagonists could actually fail.

The names are a bit annoying in this series! I can't helped by think Mamma-mia when Mamiya is mentioned. And Yuda is just a bit too close to Yoda.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just then the clash was kind of inevitable. Kenoh/Raoh fought with Kenshiro. Raoh would’ve succeeded in delivering the killing blow had he been shot by an arrow. Rei, dying from the thrust from Raoh, told Ken he’s not ready to fight him. Even Toki himself said so. Later, after the bout between Toki and Raoh, the ex-emperor left with his horse to recuperate. They gang inevitably met up with Juda, from Mamiya’s dark past. Rei had one day to live, and was writhing in pain. However, Toki managed push back the pain. That way, Rei will finally confront Juda. The story continues… Well written, well translated, the graphics are well drawn, and intense. Looking forward to volume seven. Recommended.

[Ruz El · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

This volume wraps up the cliffhanger fight starting at the end of Volume 5, and ends midway through a fight that should wrap in Volume 7. I really wish that these were collected in proper arcs as opposed to page counts, but such is manga. Regardless, it's more of the same - which is awesome- and if anything aspects of this have gone so bananas that it almost reads like self parody. Which is also kind of awesome since it's delivering so hard. Somehow amongst all this is more world building and what not, it's impressive really.

I don't know how many more of these are coming out, but I'm still into it to see how much farther this concept can go and how/what/if it has an ending.

[Alexander Engel-Hodgkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9/5

Deus ex machinas notwithstanding, this is another solid volume with stellar art and some deeper themes hidden beneath a very thick layer of testosterone and ridiculously cheesy dialogue and martial arts. There is a welcome bit of depth applied to some character backgrounds, but not quite enough to slow down the whiplash-inducing pace. There's absolutely no time for any revelations or dramatic tension to settle before we're already diving headfirst into the next battle. It almost feels rushed this time around.

Still, this is a very enjoyable volume and I look forward to the next one.

[Ramon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, these are still five star reads because they are still Fist of the North Star.

This one pits Kenshiro against a character he can't beat, and that's fun. After that, he gets some opponents he can handily best, like a guy who loves dogs and hates people, and other characters get to be fleshed out more. It's so dumb and it's a blast.

[Andy Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It wasn't my body's strength that freed me! It was the innocent heart of a young child just trying to survive...IT WAS HER HEART THAT SET ME FREE RAOH!

And then Ken's shirt explodes with overwhelming power...again.

Over-the-top shlocky writing like this is why I enjoy this series so much. It's incredibly cheesy but also so ernest and endearing you can't help but love it!

[Leonardo Bordino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Primer enfrentamiento con Raoh y fue un empate terrible y gracias a que intervinieron justo varios aliados. Y, backstory de Rei y de las seies estrellas del Nanto y enfrentamiento contra el sorete de Yuda. Alto toro Rei. Me mata que cada 4 o 5 capítulos alguien le dice a Ken que tiene cojones por osar enfrentarse a el, y media página despues le está explotando la cara literalmente.

[Craig Schorling · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art is incredible! The level of detail is astounding. There are several great fights in this volume and the story is also really good and paced well. This is a total classic and so well worth the investment. Kenshiro is rising the ranks as one of my favorite protagonists of all time.

[Russell Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting revelation with Mamiya in this volume but I'm giving one less star than usual for dog violence.

(It wasn't excessive or anything, just my content warning for anyone else that really hates to see that)

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

urraaaa! fight! yuda the beautiful must die!

[Federico Lucifredi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great illustrations. Incredibly violent, and needlessly so (but still less than Battle Angel Alita). A classic, written by the master himself, Buronson.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Featuring Ron Jeremy the dog owner guy and Boy George the kung-fu warlord. Still a great series!

[Loz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Violence and Righteousness. A classic and entertaining enough still.

[Robert S.P.]

Ahh good comics always satisfy

I've been a fist fan for so long and to find it and enjoy the stories is still such a joy.

[Diamond Axe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love fist of the north star

[Fidia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reiiiiiiiiii 🥲

[Jaime Guzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rate this more of a 3 1/2 stars due to the confrontation between Ken and Raoh was a bit of a let down. The art is still top notch though.

[Diogo Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's not much I can say about this book, that I haven't said on my previous reviews. If anything, hokuto no Ken is very consistent, both on its strengths and weaknesses.

[Etienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very action oriented, even for this series standard. It was fun, but it lack a little something, or maybe it's the repetition from volume to volume, that made it a bit less attractive for me.

[Al Capwned · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume we get very intense situations with both Kenshiro and Rei.

[Francesco Voto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il miglior volume per adesso