Fist of the North Star is one of the most influential anime and manga of the 80s, and it’s just been announced that it will be returning with a new reboot. Fist of the North Star ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1983 to 1988, and with its amazing art, intense, gore-filled martial arts action, and surprisingly emotional and mature storytelling, it quickly became a massive success. With over 100 million copies sold, the manga stands as one of the best-selling manga of all time, and the series has received numerous anime adaptations and spinoffs, making it one of the biggest and most recognizable anime franchises there is.
There are very few anime and manga that have left as much of an impact as Fist of the North Star, and that’s set to continue with a brand-new anime. In celebration of the series’ 40th anniversary, Warner Bros. Japan announced that a new anime adaptation was in development; nothing else was stated beyond it featuring a new cast and that it will use new animation techniques, but further details are expected to be revealed soon. While the original anime and various other adaptations still hold up today, seeing Fist of the North Star rendered with more modern technology would be great, especially as it provides a chance to rectify various elements of the manga’s final story.
Fist Of The North Star Returns With a New Anime Adaptation
Fist of the North Star is one of the most influential anime and manga franchises of all time, and that can easily be seen in its effect on pop culture and the styles of other creators. In anime, most often gag anime, it’s very common for someone to spontaneously gain the same detailed art style that defined Fist of the North Star, usually to show off how serious they’re trying to be in an otherwise mundane scenario. Not only that, but Kenshiro’s famous “You’re already dead” line has been referenced countless times in both Eastern and Western works, and to this day, it’s one of the most recognizable memes in all of anime.
Even more important than that, however, is how much Fist of the North Star influenced various creators. Berserk’s Kentaro Miura, for example, claimed that it was the work that had the greatest impact on him, and while Hirohiko Araki has never made any specific statements about the series, it had a clear influence on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure with how similar JoJo’s art and action used to be and how Jotaro and Dio resemble Kenshiro and Shin in Araki’s old art style. Fist of the North Star has had a clear impact on countless stories, and it will be interesting to see if the new anime can have the same effect.
Fist Of The North Star’s New Anime Needs To Fix & Finish Its Final Story
There are currently no notable details about the new Fist of the North Star anime, but something that would set it apart from previous adaptations would be if it both fixed and finished the final story of the manga. As iconic as the first half of Fist of the North Star is, the second half is divisive for, among other reasons, blatantly retconning pre-established elements of the series. With that in mind, the new anime should try and rework the story to be more consistent, as that would make the story more cohesive, and it would help to make the second half of the series easier to accept.
Another thing that the new Fist of the North Star anime will hopefully do is finish adapting the series. The original anime only adapted up to the Land of Shura arc, despite there still being 3 volumes left, and they’ve never received a full adaptation in any other media, so with a new anime in the works, this would be the perfect chance for the story to be adapted in its entirety. Naturally, all of this is hypothetical, but regardless, whatever direction the new Fist of the North Star anime goes in, it’s bound to be an incredible experience that will give the series a much-needed modern depiction.
Sources: Anime News Network, Crunchyroll.
