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W mandze przedstawiony jest świat po apokalipsie, w którym władzę sprawują genetycznie zmodyfikowane mutanty, natomiast ludzie są niewolnikami. W takim świecie rywalizację toczą dwie szkoły – Hokuto oraz Nanto. Głównym bohaterem jest Kenshiro – prawowity następca przywódcy szkoły Hokuto. Jego głównym antagonistą jest przywódca Nanto – Shin, który uprowadził także dziewczynę Kenshiro, Yurię.

(opis za Wikipedia)

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

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About the author

Buronson

455 books83 followers
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.

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5 stars
282 (47%)
4 stars
233 (39%)
3 stars
71 (11%)
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9 (1%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
249 reviews2 followers
June 9, 2023
This whole series is basically "WELCOME TO THE SALTY SPITOON HOW TOUGH ARE YA????" and I LOVE it for that
Profile Image for Paul Spence.
1,575 reviews71 followers
April 16, 2022
Kenshiro's journey through the nightmarish wasteland continues. In this volume he encounters his sinister brother Jagi and must come face to face with the legacy of Hokuto Shin Ken. Furthermore, he learns that his other brother Toki is still alive—but has somehow turned to evil. Kenshiro must investigate and find out more to see what has become of his once-noble brother.

Fist of the North Star Volume 4 is written by Buronson with art by Tetsuo Hara. The manga is published by Viz Media.

Folks, we are, unequivocally, In It ™ now.

I often use the introduction of Rei in the last volume as the first demarcation line for when things are heating up in Fist of the North Star, and now we've crossed into the real build-up of the series. In volume 4, Fist of the North Star enters what is undoubtedly one of the most iconic runs of any battle manga. Kenshiro's exploits through this post-apocalyptic hell have been full of exciting martial arts and over-the-top gore, but now the pathos at the centre of the work is starting to take shape.

For one thing, the world begins to have more established landmarks. Up until now, the setting has largely been an open canvas in service of whatever the narrative demands to happen at any time, and this is still mostly the case for volume 4. Even revisited locations like Southern Cross largely remain as single establishing shots with no real sense of place beyond their inhabitants. But at the same time, the world is starting to have a bit more of a skeleton to hang on to. Some locations have distinct looks and purposes, such as the tower prison Cassandra which (quite literally) looms large as one of the setting's more memorable set pieces. The nameless towns have slightly more heft to them too, such as the village Toki and Amiba were equal parts saving and experimenting in. We're moving further away from the “random town of the week #247” and towards more consistent locations.

Kenshiro's characterisation also becomes further defined. He remains a brooding warrior of vengeance—there is even a moment in this volume where Rei is standing on the sidelines doing all the speaking for him as Kenshiro has become a titan of wordless rage—but the underlying sense of sadness that permeates Kenshiro's character comes that much further into the limelight. Whereas the early volumes made it seem like said sadness stemmed from his loss of Yuria, here Buronson begins to establish the deep sense of personal responsibility Kenshiro feels for the lives of others.

He takes the slings and arrows of frightened children, cradles the defenceless in his arms, and weeps for the evil his inaction has allowed into the world. There's a far greater sense that Kenshiro has had to become an invincible warrior of destruction to make up for his past weakness, which puts his brooding nature in a different light.

Even Hokuto Shin Ken takes on a more meaningful sense of weight. Up until now, Hokuto Shin Ken has mostly been defined by the fact that it is… well… a super cool martial art, and definitely very special unlike the copy+paste of Nanto Sei Ken with its swiping kill fingers. But in this volume, we start to learn more of its lore and history—the infamous 1800 years lines, the struggles of the training, its inherent violence as an assassination art, etc. Most importantly, we learn that there can only be one true successor of the art, and that all other aspirants who do not achieve the title will have their fists sealed and memories wiped. Not only is the idea of a fighting style so powerful that only one person can wield it at a time incredibly evocative, it also adds a whole other layer of drama and mystery surrounding Kenshiro's development as a warrior.

Yet the true high watermark of the volume is undoubtedly the introduction of other Hokuto Shin Ken brothers Jagi and Toki. Without spoiling too much, the friction between Kenshiro and his brothers, and the drama that arises from the tangled web that is this brotherhood of martial artists, make up the bloody, beating heart of Fist of the North Star as a series.

Jagi is an odd case study since he gets so little screen time across all Fist of the North Star media—a few chapters in the manga, a few episodes in the anime, and maybe 15 total minutes in the 1986 film. For being one of *the* brothers, he is basically a one-hit wonder, and is mostly remembered as a gag character now, parodied extensively in the fandom and even in DD Fist of the North Star. That said, his design is outrageously good—a punk rock Zoidbergian leather daddy biker who will use every dirty trick and weapon he can get his hands on. I admire his tenacity if nothing else, exemplified in him shutting down his own arm after Kenshiro nearly gets him to shoot himself with his shotgun.

Toki is another favourite, and the mystery surrounding his introduction in these chapters is great. The sequence of him closing the vault door is iconic and one of the great tragic moments in the series. His unexplained heel turn puts Kenshiro through a real sense of confused anguish, communicating to the reader just how good a soul Toki must have really been.

Of course, volume 4 is also full of all the stuff you've come to love in prior volumes. There's ridiculous leather fashion. There's exploding meaty chunks. There's incredible one-liners like “This pain, I'll deliver it to him I promise” and “You! Choose Your Ground! That's where you'll die!”
Profile Image for Loz.
1,690 reviews22 followers
July 17, 2022
Still interesting, if a bit samey.
7,057 reviews83 followers
February 1, 2024
Excellent, getting deeper into the story with the same fun and entertaining action. I love it!
Profile Image for Shazne.
170 reviews
March 23, 2024
Weakest Volume so far. Repetitive without the same excitement of the previous volumes. Still decent enough but felt like there was so many missed opportunities for character moments. I did like the way it ends though. Next Vol could pick it back up.
Profile Image for Alex Johnston.
578 reviews4 followers
August 5, 2022
I will never get tired of new dumb assassination techniques.
Profile Image for Peter Derk.
Author 32 books409 followers
March 11, 2024
I feel like me and my brothers do not fistfight anywhere near as often as is depicted in this series. We also weren't competing to be the sole practitioner of a martial art, but still. I wonder how many times in history two brothers have engaged in hand-to-hand combat to the death? I know they say The Civil War was brother against brother, but that's not literal, right?

Well:

-There was a pair of brothers who fought, and the one brother captured the other brother and took him prisoner. Seems like that probably worked out okay, probably much better than running at a Gatling gun.

-There was a pair of brothers who both gained the position of brigadier general on opposite sides. One was relieved of duty for drunkenness. That's a rough Thanksgiving right there, you come home and your brother is not only as high a rank as you, but he fought on the winning side AND didn't get fired for drinking.

-Oof, while we're on that note: As cited in the book, "A Century of Wayne County, Kentucky", brothers Anthony and William McBeath fought on opposite sides of the Civil War, Anthony for the Confederate Army, and William for the Union Army. At the end of the war, both brothers returned home the same evening, William in a "resplendent uniform of a Major in the Federal Army", and several hours later, Anthony in "rags with a 'taterhill' hat."

It looks like the closest this came was two brothers, on opposite sides, fighting within yards of each other and not realizing it until the end of the battle.

It seems they took a lot more prisoners in those days. Maybe that was the "civil" part of The Civil War, they would take prisoners and not torture them and shit, perhaps because they were often related? Perhaps also because what would that do to help? It's not like some dude with a single shot rifle fighting in central Kentucky has any fucking idea what the Union is planning for their next big strategic move.
59 reviews
May 31, 2022
Another good addition to the series I've been reading so far. Much of the same, but I still enjoyed it. Jagi, a jealous and demented person, a Hokuto Shinken brother ( not by blood) to Kenshiro. Jagi's sole existence is fueled by his hatred for Kenshiro, that his younger brother was chosen as the Hokuto Shinken successor over him and his other brothers. I thought Jagi was going to be a very skilled fighter, but this wasn't the case, and true to his nature, his fighting skills are a joke compared to Kenshiro. A totally twisted individual devoid of any emotional qualities, other than vitriol and envy. The second half of the story takes us on a journey to find Kenshiro's other brothers - specifically Toki. However, upon meeting him, Kenshiro realizes that 'Toki' has turned into a sadistic monster just like Jagi. The plot twist was kinda of cool and I didn't expect it. The last part of the story sees Kenshiro, Mamiya, and Rei continue, but this time together, to look for Kenshiro's brothers. Finishing the volume with another villain named the 'Warden', who takes great pleasure in imprisoning hundreds of prisoners in Cassandra, City of the Wailing Demons. Arriving, it seems that some even working with the 'Warden' want Kenshiro to put an end to his pathetic existence. I look forward to Ken dispatching this b*stard. Here's to the next volume :).
Profile Image for Matthew.
568 reviews6 followers
February 26, 2023
This volume features battles against jagi and Amiba, and the breaching of Cassandra.

We learn more about the succession of hokuto shinken and ken’s three brothers. This begins a longer, more cohesive storyline than in previous volumes as the brothers are tracked down one by one.

Ken once again easily defeats all opponents while remaining stoic and cold. I had to laugh when he rejected mamiya but she follows him anyway. Rei is a lot more likeable so it’s nice when he joins the action late in this volume.

Most action manga put their heroes in dire situations and try to get readers to worry over their fate, but that really isn’t the case here. It’s obvious most of the jokers Ken faces have no hope of scratching him. So instead of creating suspense with danger, it’s more about wish fulfillment. The author is careful to establish antipathy toward the villains by showing them committing random atrocities. The audience wants to see these scoundrels punished and Ken delivers the beat down.

More nuanced villains like Shin are generally better, although he was still a pushover. In this volume Jagi is the stand out. Even though he has no redeeming qualities, we understand the hatred and jealousy he feels for his superior younger brother.

Fist continues to deliver no holds barred action and martial spirit with style.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
697 reviews
April 22, 2022
One this I appreciate about First of the North Star is it doesn't drag out its mysteries. In the last volume we found out that someone else with the star pattern scars was also wandering the area, but, unlike Ken, was harming people instead of helping them.

In this volume we have the resolution to that, and are introduced to a new quest of sorts for our hero. In short order, Ken again finds the person he is looking for and a confrontation follows. Both of these .

One thing that stretches my disbelief is that so many powerful (and hence, in a post-apocalyptic society, noteworthy or famous) men could be in close proximity and yet "lost" to each other over what can't have been a long stretch of time.
Profile Image for Rick Ray.
3,548 reviews38 followers
February 22, 2023
This was the strongest individual volume of Fist of the North Star yet. The last volume teased the revelation of Ken's three older brothers, all of whom were considered worthy recipients of the knowledge of Hokuto Shinken. Jagi, the third eldest brother, has been framing Ken for crimes across the wasteland, causing Ken to take action. The Ken/Jagi fight was interesting enough, but the character drama was compelling. It does get melodramatic to be fair, but perhaps three volumes of this kind of '80s styled mindless action romps with have worn me down enough to really begin enjoying this more. The second half of this volume has Ken looking into potential crimes being committed by the second eldest brother, Toki. This was even stronger in execution and was riveting from start to finish.
554 reviews
April 16, 2022
Finally met his “brother”, Jagi. Kenshiro had decided he made a mistake in sparing in the past. So he showed up to correct it. Jagi’s fatal mistake is thinking he could take him on with whatever: gun, nanto seiken he’d just picked up from somewhere, fire he started at the top of the building, and lots of concrete to throw around. Top of that, he gives out a shocking revelation to piss off Ken. Spoiler alert: bad idea. After that, Jagi’s done gone. Next, Kenshiro meets up with Toki, his next brother, or what appears to be Toki. Afterwards, he and his two friends went to Cassandra, a prison/city of demons with Alcatraz only a second fiddle in terms of anybody trying to escape. Once again, classic Fist of the North Star as always. Definitely recommended.
205 reviews1 follower
October 15, 2023
We finally got to the guy whose head was kept from exploding by a metal frame! Fuck yeah! And it ended up being Ken's goddamned brother a detail I either forgot from the game and movies or was altered for those tellings (the one I remember the strongest is poor Chris Penn from the live action mess).

So we're still getting more of the same, with entire chapters being lead ups to fights or mini-boss fights before the final boss fights, characters show up to be partners or hostages or threats, but in all of this, the weird, 1950s Chinese serial kung fu story world keeps iterating on itself, ever evolving and revealing new branches and mirrors of Hokuto Shinken, and it keeps being just so satisfying to me.
Profile Image for Diogo Muller.
794 reviews9 followers
September 26, 2023
Sadness, pain, fear, love. This is a manga about being human in the end of the world, and all the feelings that come with it. This is also a manga about buff dudes doing incredible attacks that kill the others. But now, with the expanded world, it's also a history about human connection, jealousy and sacrifice.

If I'm very critical about this, then I could say some of the writing is very cheesy, and the plot feels a bit forced and sudden at times, but... somehow, it all works here.
Profile Image for Ruz El.
865 reviews20 followers
March 23, 2022
Another solid volume. Which is frankly surprising since plot wise it's pretty much a rinse and repeat gimmick with endlessly badassed bad guys for our hero to go up against. This one fleshes out our heroes back story in-between and during the near endless fights which is kind of a miracle really. It still plays like a 14 year old headbanger from the '80s fever dream, but it's a heck of a thing.
Profile Image for Craig Schorling.
2,505 reviews11 followers
April 15, 2022
Kenshiro is on the same level of bad-ass protagonist as Guts. He is so much fun to watch. The action is over the top but in a good way. This was such a fun volume. The story, as silly as it is at times, has some heart in this volume. This is such a great way to read this classic series. Cannot get enough.
Profile Image for Alexander Engel-Hodgkinson.
Author 21 books39 followers
November 15, 2022
3.9/5

Kenshiro actually breaks a sweat in this volume for the first time ever, and one of my favourite scenes from the anime (the buzzsaw arm-wrestling competition--yes, you read that right) is in this. Pretty fun stuff. The artwork is stellar and the dialogue is consistently corny and over-the-top, just the way I like it!
Profile Image for Eric Gallagher.
125 reviews
February 28, 2023
Same bias with the other 3 volumes. I'm just a fan of the series and can't review it objectively. That being said, I really enjoy the story here, the twist regarding one character still works even though I already know the story... so, yeah. Enjoyable.
Profile Image for Alex Eastin.
67 reviews
June 10, 2023
Sticks relatively to the same formula as the other volumes (I love that, however other don't) but ups the wildness. Case and point: the arm wrestling scene. I mean come on. Impeccable. This shit is classic for a reason.
Profile Image for Leonardo.
189 reviews1 follower
August 17, 2023
We get more Ken lore in this one, and I love it for that. Context is granted to earlier chapters, but the flashbacks are given only when needed and not in an info dump that takes away the impact of the scene at hand.
Profile Image for sadgirlscrytoo.
77 reviews
August 4, 2024
This was my favorite volume out of the series so far.Ken vs Amiba is so memorable.THE RED TEARS THOUGH.And don’t even get me started on Jagi because that is a man!!😮‍💨😮‍💨

“Your eyes are filled with sadness”
Profile Image for Anatoliy West.
76 reviews
November 11, 2025
A solid, action packed volume with Ken fighting his brother. A villain that’s calls himself the Genius and a city known as Cassandra.

Notable quotes

“ANGER ARMORS THE BODY LIKE STEEL!”

“I DIDN’T CHANGE! THE TIMES HAVE! THE WORLD NEEDS VIOLENCE MORE THAN MEDICINE!”
Profile Image for Leonardo Bordino.
40 reviews1 follower
December 26, 2025
Mas muertes truculentas, el enfrentamiento con su primer hermano Yagi y las falsas cicatrices y la máscara escondiendo la pelada), "Toki" asesinando niños porque si, Rei al rescate, un poco de lore muy interesante, Mamiya y el amor imposible, hijaputadas varias. Sigue bien esto.
37 reviews1 follower
March 28, 2022
I’m back in the groove of this. This shit rules
Profile Image for Jack.
705 reviews3 followers
May 10, 2022
This series is great because they keep finding new ways for Kenshiro to explode people and it has yet to get boring.
195 reviews3 followers
May 17, 2022
Brothers face off and then Brothers face off again good to see Kenshiros past
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews

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