Fist of the Blue Sky
A prequel manga set in 1930s Shanghai.
Fist of the Blue Sky is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara with plot supervision by Buronson. It is a prequel to the popular 1980s manga Fist of the North Star, set primarily in Shanghai during the 1930s. The series was serialized in Weekly Comic Bunch from 2001 to 2010 and later adapted into a 26-episode anime.
Quick Facts
- Field
- Manga
- Nationality
- Japanese
- Known for
- Prequel to Fist of the North Star
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The protagonist Kenshiro Kasumi, known as Yan Wang or The King of Hell, is a laid-back, chain-smoking Tokyo professor who secretly masters the Hokuto Shinken martial art. He travels to Shanghai after learning his Triad friend Pan Guang-Lin and love interest Pan Yu-Ling are in trouble. There he fights the three Hokuto families, the Hokuto Sankaken, while aiding the Qīng Bāng triad against the rival Hóng Huá Huì.
Production
The manga incorporates real historical facts, including Shanghai's foreign concessions, Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution, and the Japanese invasion of China, with figures like Chiang Kai-shek appearing. Tetsuo Hara aimed for fights resembling traditional Chinese martial arts, making action faster and more detailed than in Fist of the North Star. He visited Shanghai for inspiration and described Kenshiro Kasumi as combining the strength of Kenshiro, the good nature of Keiji Maeda, and the sarcasm of Nakabo Rintaro.
Media
Fist of the Blue Sky was serialized in Weekly Comic Bunch from its first issue in May 2001 to the final issue in August 2010, with chapters collected into 22 volumes by Shinchosha. An English version ran in Raijin Comics from 2002 to 2004, with four volumes published by Gutsoon! Entertainment before the company ceased operations. A continuation, Sōten no Ken: Re:Genesis, written by Hiroyuki Yatsu and illustrated by Hideki Tsuji, was serialized from December 2017 to November 2025 in Monthly Comic Zenon and compiled into six volumes, supervised by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara. A 26-episode weekly anime aired on TV Asahi from October 2006 to March 2007, with four episodes unaired during the original run; the complete series was released on DVD in Region 2 format. A sequel anime, Sōten no Ken: Re:Genesis, aired from April to June 2018 on Tokyo MX, with a second season from October to December 2018. This sequel is not a direct adaptation of the Re:Genesis manga but continues from the 2006 anime, mixing elements from the unadapted latter half of the original manga and the ongoing Re:Genesis manga.
Elsewhere in Fist of the North Star
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