Tetsuo Hara
Co-creator of the iconic manga Fist of the North Star.
Tetsuo Hara is a Japanese manga artist best known for co-creating the post-apocalyptic martial arts series Fist of the North Star with writer Buronson. The series, serialized from 1983 to 1988, has become one of the best-selling manga in history with over 100 million copies in circulation.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- 原哲夫, Hara Tetsuo
- Born
- 2 September 1961
- Birthplace
- Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
- Occupation
- Manga artist
- Years active
- 1982–present
- Known for
- Fist of the North Star
- Fist of the Blue Sky
- Keiji
Facts from the source article.
Early life
Tetsuo Hara was born in Tokyo but lived in Matsubara-danchi in Sōka, Saitama. He is a cousin of comedian Ryo Fukawa. In early grades, he drew characters from Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and Jungle Emperor Leo, as well as Tiger Mask by Ikki Kajiwara and Naoki Tsuji. By third and fourth grade he was obsessed with Shotaro Ishinomori's Kamen Rider manga, while Fujio Akatsuka's work showed him manga's diversity. He decided to become a manga artist by second and third grade, studied yonkoma in middle school, joined his high school's manga gekiga club, and submitted to magazine competitions. He also visited the workplace of Osamu Akimoto, an alumnus of his high school.
Career
When Hara approached Weekly Shōnen Jump, editor Nobuhiko Horie liked his detailed artwork but noted poor story writing skills. Hara worked as an assistant to Yoshihiro Takahashi and enrolled in Gekiga Sonjuku, a manga school founded by Kazuo Koike, in 1981. He published one-shots in 1982, including "Mad Fighter" in Fresh Jump, "Crash Hero" in Weekly Shōnen Jump, and the boxing story "Super Challenger", which won first place at the 33rd Fresh Jump Prize. His first serialized work, Iron Don Quixote, a motocross manga, lasted only ten weeks. Horie later said the senior editor would have let it continue, but Horie chose to end it, confident Hara could do better. Hara achieved fame with Fist of the North Star in 1983, co-created with Buronson, ending in 1988 and spawning a massive franchise. His next long-running serial was Keiji, a period piece from 1990 to 1993. Through Kazuhiko Torishima, Hara received an offer from Capcom to create character designs for the 1993 video game Saturday Night Slam Masters. In 1998, Hara reunited with Horie to create Kōkenryoku Ōryō Sōsakan Nakabō Rintarō. The editor-in-chief at Shueisha had warned Hara to stay away from Horie, who held "no status" at the company. Hara and Horie both left Shueisha after that series ended in 2000.
Influences
Tetsuo Hara points to Fujio Akatsuka, Shotaro Ishinomori, Tetsuya Chiba, and Ryoichi Ikegami as key influences. From Akatsuka’s comedy, he learned about manga’s potential for fun and its “power.” Ishinomori taught him to never cut corners on character designs, even for minor characters who die quickly. Chiba showed him that compelling characters can drive a story forward by themselves. Ikegami had the strongest effect on his art; Hara credits the “realism and luster” in his figures with demonstrating the “power” of gekiga. Hara has always admitted he is weak at crafting stories, so he concentrates on his artwork and character creation. He gives major credit to his first editor, Nobuhiko Horie, who worked with him throughout his career, compensating for his shortcomings and building on his strengths. Their typical process had Horie suggest a storyline, while Hara handled characters, art direction, and storyboards. Hara then directed his staff, describing the whole method as relying on each person’s strengths to make something bigger than any individual part. For Fist of the North Star, Hara and writer Buronson rarely met or discussed work directly; Horie served as the intermediary between them.
Works
Hara's works include Kōryū no Mimi (2 volumes, 1991–1993), Ichimu An Fūryū Ki (1 volume, 1992 Shueisha Bunko edition), Hokuto no Ken: Jubaku no Machi (1 volume, 1995), and Miyamoto Musashi (8 volumes, 2013 Takarashimasha Bunko edition). He created promotional illustrations for the arcade games Saturday Night Slam Masters/Muscle Bomber (1993) and Muscle Bomber Duo (1993), and promotional and in-game illustrations for Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II/Super Muscle Bomber (1994). He provided illustrations for the opening intro of Itadaki Muscle! (2006 TV series) and served as producer and character designer for Mori no Senshi Bonolon (2006 anime series). He co-authored Gifū Dōdō!! Naoe Kanetsugu -Maeda Keiji Tsuki-gatari- (2008–2010) with Nobuhiko Horie, illustrated by Yuji Takemura, and several subsequent series in that line. He also created the back cover illustration for the 2010 album Thank You for the Music! by Ryo Fukawa.
Elsewhere in Fist of the North Star
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