Fist of the North Star

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    The original version of the Fist of the North Star logo.

    Fist of the North Star is the official title given to the various English adaptations of the Hokuto no Ken franchise published since 1989. Despite the similar sounding title, the name Fist of the North Star itself is not a direct translation of Hokuto no Ken, as Hokuto (literally the "Northern Dipper) is the Japanese name of the Chinese Běidǒu asterism (otherwise known as the Big Dipper in the west), whereas "North Star" traditionally refers to the star of Polaris, which is part of a separate constellation. The title Fist of the North Star as a translated title for Hokuto no Ken predates any official use in commerce, as it was used by fanzines published by Fred Patton's Cartoon/Fantasy Organization throughout the 1980's.[1]

    The Fist of the North Star name has also appeared on certain Hokuto no Ken products in Japan, such as the LaserDisc cover art of the 1986 movie.

    Manga

    Angel Comics (unpublished)

    A New Jersey-based publisher known as "Angel Comics" distributed solicitations to comic book shops announcing their plans to publish an English version of manga (under the title The Fist of the North Star) as a biweekly series, with a scheduled November 3, 1987 debut. This version of the manga was ultimately never published. Little is known about Angel Comics, other than they allegedly bought the rights to the series illegally from a pirated version of the manga and were given a cease and desist order to stop its publication.[2]

    Viz

    In 1989, the San Francisco-based company Viz Communications (now know as Viz Media) started publishing their version of Fist of the North Star under their Viz Select Comics imprint as a monthly comic magazine in a softbound "prestige" format. This initial attempt to publish Fist of the North Star in English only lasted eight issues, dated from April through November 1989, which adapted the first sixteen chapters of the manga (covering the King and Golan story arcs). Viz would resume publication of the series years later, this time in a more conventional pamphlet format, which only lasted 20 issues dated from December 1995 to July 1997. Because Viz published Fist of the North Star in a monthly format, with each issue of second run roughly adapting a chapter and a half, this meant that their English edition was serialized in a much slower pace than the original Japanese weeklies. As a result, Viz only adapted the manga up to the end of the Jagi story arc (at Chapter 44) during its accumulated three years of publication.

    The translation (initially done by Fred Burke and Satoru Fujii during the first run, with Lillian Olsen replacing the latter in the second run) replaced many of the names and terms used throughout the story with anglicized equivalents. Most notably, the martial art of Hokuto Shin Ken was renamed the "Sacred Martial Art of the Great Bear", alternatively known as the "Fist of the North Star" (an attempt to reconcile the actual meaning of the Japanese title with its English counterpart), while the rival style of Nanto Sei Ken became the "Sacred Fist of the Southern Cross", sharing part of its name with Shin's city. The artwork was also mirrored to suit the standard left-to-right reading convention in the west (as translating manga with unflipped artwork was not the norm at the time), resulting in several details, most notably the scars on Kenshiro's chest, having to be redrawn to maintain consistency.

    Certain foreign language editions of Hokuto no Ken, namely the first Italian edition (published under the title of Ken il Guerriero) by Granata Press and the Spanish edition (El puño de la estrella del norte) by Planeta DeAgostini, were initially adapted from Viz's first run, but were eventually translated from the Japanese original after they reached the Chapter 16 cutoff point.

    Gutsoon

    Gutsoon! Entertainment, a short-lived U.S. subsidiary of Coamix, picked up the rights to Fist of the North Star after Viz discontinued the series, this time retranslating the manga from the beginning rather than resuming from where Viz left off. Their version, titled Fist of the North Star: Master Edition, was published in a large trade paperback format that preserved the original right-to-left orientation, but also featured digitally colorized artwork in an attempt to entice new readers. The new translation kept the original names for most of the characters, organizations and martial art techniques, although the terms "North Star" and "Southern Cross" as English names for Hokuto and Nanto were carried over from the Viz version.

    Only nine volumes (adapting the story up to Chapter 74), dated from January 2003 through May 2004, before the series was discontinued due to Gutsoon pulling out from the market as a result of their financial difficulties. A tenth volume was announced in solicitations, but was never published. The first three volumes reused cover art from previous Japanese editions, but from Volume 4 and onward they started featuring all new artwork by Tetsuo Hara drawn specifically for this edition.

    Anime

    • The 1986 Hokuto no Ken movie was dubbed by Streamline Pictures, which was first released on VHS on September 27, 1991. The English script, written by Carl Macek, was not a direct translation and thus takes several liberties with the original story.
    • The TV series was dubbed by Manga Entertainment in 1999 as Fist of the North Star: The Series, although only the first 36 episodes were translated. The first 24 episodes were released on seven monthly VHS installments (each tape containing three episodes), while the remainder of the series aired on Showtime Beyond in the US and on the Sci-Fi Channel in the UK. The entire dub was eventually released on DVD in 2003. While the script for this dub was a direct translation of the original, it featured a new opening and different background music
    • New Fist of the North Star - English dub of Shin Hokuto no Ken.
    • Legends of the Dark Kings: A Fist of the North Star - English language version of Ten no Haō

    Video games

    Live-action movie

    References

    1. ↑ "Twenty Five Years Fights Kenshiro! The All About Man Punishes Old Typewriting!".
    2. ↑ "Movies Fights Comics!! Kenshiro Strikes Three in America!!!".
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