Warner Bros. Japan announces a reboot of Fist of the North Star anime series for the 40th anniversary of the manga
Warner Bros. Japan announces new anime series based on Fist of the North Star manga to commemorate 40th anniversary.
A new anime series based on the classic manga Fist of the North Star has been revealed by Warner Bros. Japan.
The reboot, titled Fist of the North Star: Hokuto no Ken, will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the franchise, which started as a manga in 1983.
The announcement was made on Wednesday, September 13, exactly 40 years after the first chapter of the manga was published.
The new series will feature a new array cast and staff, and a logo and a key visual have been released to tease the fans. Fist of the North Star is one of the most popular and influential manga of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide. It was created by Buronson (story) and Tetsuo Hara (art) and serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine for 27 volumes from 1983 to 1988. It spawned a spin-off series by Hiroshi Kurao called Fist of the North Star Apocalypse Drama Filming Arc, which ran for one volume on the Comic Zenon website in 2021.
ALSO READ| Netflix confirms One Piece Live-Action Season 2 with Oda’s message
VIZ Media has been releasing hardcover editions of the manga since June 2021. The anime adaptation was produced by Toei Animation and aired for 152 episodes from 1984 to 1988.
A live-action film was made in 1995, and several videogames have been developed based on the franchise, including a Fitness Boxing game for the Nintendo Switch that features Fist of the North Star characters and themes.
Fist of the North Star is set in a post-apocalyptic world devastated by nuclear war, in the mysterious year of 199X. The protagonist is Kenshiro, the heir to a deadly martial art called Hokuto Shinken, who travels the wasteland to rescue his fianceé Yuria from his rival Shin. Along the way, he encounters various enemies, allies, and people from his past, and uses his martial art to protect the weak from the tyranny of warlords and bandits.
Fist of the North Star is part of the legendary “Golden Age” of Shonen Jump magazine, and has inspired many other manga such as Berserk by Kentaro Miura and Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the franchise, an exhibition is being held in Hokuto City, Hokkaido, from August to October.
ALSO READ| Spy x Family anime announces release date for season 2
The new anime series will be a tribute to this iconic manga and its legacy.
The original Fist of the North Star anime series can be watched on Crunchyroll.
