Warner Bros. Japan LLC has announced that production is currently underway on Fist of the North Star: Hakuto no Ken, an all-new anime adaptation of the action manga series which has sold over 100 million copies. The news was announced on September 13 in Japan, where it is an official Fist of the North Star Day, in celebration of the post-apocalyptic property’s 40th anniversary.
This new anime series will faithfully realize on screen the world created by writer Buronson and artist Tetsuo Hara, with all-new casts and creative leads using latest animation technology. A release date and broadcast/streaming partners are to be announced.
Kenshiro’s martial arts mastery of Hokuto Shinken will destroy the thugs that dominate a world filled with violence!
“A work from 40 years ago will be reborn as an animated work. I took a step back from animation at the time, since it is a little different from manga. Now, animation and movie technology has evolved tremendously. How will that cook-up Fist of the North Star: Hokuto no Ken?” Buronson observed. “Moreover, the principle of new anime production is to depict the original work with great care. I am so looking forward to it. My work, which has been loved by many fans over the past 40 years will make a comeback as an anime. I look forward to enjoy it with everyone.”
“I am grateful for a new anime project. While serializing the manga series, I would never have dreamed of Fist of the North Star: Hokuto no Ken to have its 40th anniversary and also to be recreated as an anime,” said Hara. “Time has passed! I was happy to hear that voice actors are reading the original manga as if to listen to characters’ voices and to visualize how they will act them out. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the manga that I put my heart and soul into 40 years ago will be reincarnated by the production staff, who are full of love for the original work, and how they will be brought to life!”
Logline: In 199x, world was engulfed in the blaze of nuclear war. With the Ocean drying up and Earth torn asunder, all life seems to be lost but humans survived stubbornly.
However, what dominated the post-apocalyptic world was a seer violence. The remaining humanity was split in two groups: those who kill and take whatever they can and those who are exploited.
When all hope seemed lost for the weak, a man in ragged cloth appears. He is Kenshiro, the rightful successor of the Hokuto Shinken martial arts with seven studs-like scars in a shape of the Big Dipper. His journey to becoming a legendary savior begins!
A prior anime adaptation of Fist of the North Star, produced by Toei Animation and directed by Toyoo Ashida, aired from 1984 to 1988 in two parts (109 episodes + 43 episodes) — both available to stream on Crunchyroll or buy on digital via Prime Video. A loosely adapted live-action film of the same name was released in Japan and the U.S. in 1995/1996, directed by Tony Randel and starring English actor/champion kickboxer Gary Daniels.
