Fist of the North Star vol. 1

In the year 199X, the world was engulfed in nuclear fire.  The remnants of civilization that crawled out of its ashes were greeted with a new world where only might makes right.  If you didn’t have the brawn or the bullets to back up your threats, then you simply had to resign yourself to a life of being at the mercy of those who do.  Hope would seem to be a cruel myth in this world… if it wasn’t for one man:  Kenshiro, the master of the martial assassin art Hokuto Shinken, the Divine Fist of the North Star.  He’s not out to bring justice to the entire wasteland, but those who say that he only leaves chaos in his wake are mistaken.  Only JUSTICE follows behind him as he cleaves through a bloody swath of villains on his journey.

If you’re wondering why I’m giving you a general gist of the story behind “Fist of the North Star” rather than a proper plot summary of the events of this volume, it’s because any enjoyment you’re going to get from vol. 1 isn’t going to come from its story.  The encounters here are very black-and-white struggles of good-versus-evil as Kenshiro comes across increasingly despicable villains and gives them exactly what they deserve.  No, if you’re going to get any enjoyment out of this volume, it’ll be down to how much you’re willing to buy into the style that writer Buronson and artist Hara Tetsuo are selling, as well as this title’s status as one of the most iconic Shonen Jump series ever.

For me, that’s pretty easy.  The creators execute their “What if ‘The Road Warrior’ but with martial arts that can cause people to explode?” setup with gusto and not a single bit of irony or self-awareness.  Normally that would make for a hilarious good time, but Buronson’s straight-and-to-the-point writing and Hara’s viscerally exciting art still drew me in even if I knew how each chapter was going to end not long after they started.  If you’re wanting a version of this kind of shonen story with over-the-top violence and a better story and weirder characters, then you’d be better of checking out “Fist’s” distaff Jump descendant, “Chainsaw Man.”  Shonen storytelling may have improved a lot over the years, but there’s still excitement to be had in taking in one of the series that blazed a bloody trail that others have followed in to this day.