Fist of the Blue Sky
Fist of the Blue Sky (蒼天の拳, Souten No Ken) is a prequel to Tetsuo Hara and Buronson manga and anime Fist of the North Star series, starring Kenshiro's predecessor (and Ryuken's older brother) Kasumi Kenshiro, 62nd inheritor of Hokuto Shinken or "God Fist of the North Star." Instead of a science fiction Mad Max landscape, the story takes places in actual historical setting in the 1935 Shanghai, China during the Second Sino-Japanese war.
Beginning publication in 2001, the series will reach its 14th volume tankōbon in publication in Japan on January 9, 2006.
Plot
The main protagonist of this story is Kasumi Kenshiro, better known as "Yan Wang" or "The King of Death" (derived from the myth Yan Luo Wang), Kasumi is a laid back and chain-smoking Tokyo professor who possesses the deadly Chinese assassin martial art Hokuto Shinken (Kasumi's personality is different from Kenshiro) who travels to Shanghai after hearing the news of his Triad friend Pan Guang-Lin and his sister Yu-Ling (Kasumi's love interest) are in trouble.
In Shanghai, Kasumi has to fight the three Hokuto families like Hokuto Sonkaken, Hokuto Sōkaken, and Hokuto Ryūkaken (based on the royal families of Romance of the Three Kingdoms). At the same time Kasumi has to help Pan's "Qing Bang" Triad gang against the immoral "Hong-Hua" Triads in gaining territory and influence of Shanghai.
Many of the plot points mentioned in the comic contain some accurate historical facts like how Shanghai was controlled with the International Settlement (the story focus mainly on the French settlement) the refugee Jews in China who escaped from the Nazi persecution in Europe and the Japanese Army invasion, Chiang Kai Shek and his Kuomingtang is mentioned as well.
Tetsuo Hara wanted the fights in the manga to look more traditional Chinese martial arts, so the action is somewhat faster and more detailed than those in Fist of the North Star. Hara went to Shanghai in person to get his inspiration.
Characters
Hokuto Shin Ken （北斗神拳）
"Big Dipper God Fist"
- Kasumi Kenshirō （霞拳志郎）
- Main character. 62nd successor to Hokuto Shin Ken. Known in Shanghai as "Yán Wáng" （閻王）. Loves smoking cigarettes, reading, and has a good smelling instinct. His fighting technique is similar to Toki, in which he fight in a fluid and smooth fighting style. In Japan, he's a university professor.
- Kasumi Ramon （霞羅門）
- Kenshiro's younger brother, destined to become Fist of the North Star's Ryūken, 63rd successor of Hokuto Shin Ken. (Whom later adopted Kenshiro, Raoh, Toki and Jagi). It was revealed that he named the baby Kenshiro (from Hokuto No Ken), as an honoring to his brother Kasumi and also he bears a similar resemblance to his late brother.
- Kasumi Tesshin （霞鉄心）
- Father of Kenshirō and Ramon; he was the 61st successor of Hokuto Shin Ken.
Hokuto Sanka Ken （北斗三家拳）
The "Three Big Dipper Clan Fists".
Hokuto Sonka Ken （北斗孫家拳）
"Big Dipper Sūn Family Fist"
- Máng Kuáng-Yún （芒狂雲）
- Also known as Líng-Wáng （靈王）. Mastered the forbidden art of "Pressure Point Displacement". He was the one that took Pan Yu-Ling's memory because he fell in love with her, but also he thinks this is a fitting punishment to Kenshiro. He got his wish granted by the Old Fortune teller, his wish was "To fight someone worthy who can take my life.". He was already dying from a slow decaying death from his self inflicted pressure points by then.
- Charles de Guise （シャルル・ド・ギーズ大佐）
- A Zionist colonel in the French army that works with the Qing-Bang. Although he knows Sonka Ken, he prefer using conventional fighting method like guns and sword. He has a sister Sophie who was suffering from trauma after escaping from Nazi Germany because her husband was a German and got sent to the camps as a traitor. When she regained her memory by Kenshiro's acupressure, she was assassinated by Zhang Tai Yan. De Guise was killed by Liú Fēi-Yàn when he was deemed unfit to take care of Erika.
Hokuto Sōka Ken （北斗曹家拳）
"Big Dipper Cáo Family Fist"
- Zhāng Tài-Yán （張太炎）
- The Hóng Huá Huì's No.2 man. Has a big sex lust, although he appeared laid back, he can be destructive when angered, his attack are based on cutting and slicing with his hands. Also he assassinated Charles de Guise's little sister by using a time bomb.
- Zhāng Dà-Yán （章大厳）
- Master of the Sōka Ken. Father of the Hong Hua Hui boss, Zhāng Liè-Shān. He killed Zhang Tai Yan's mother. Spared Zhang Tai Yan life when he tried to commit suicide, he noticed that he got the skill for learning Hokuto Soka Ken and thus adopted him.
Hokuto Ryūka Ken （北斗劉家拳）
"Big Dipper Liú Family Fist". Same style as Hokuto Ryū Ken （北斗琉拳） from Fist of the North Star.
- Liú Zōng-Wǔ （劉宗武）
- Longing for revenge for his dead family, Zōng-Wǔ turned to evil and joined the Nazis. Had the chance to kill Adolf Hitler but didn't because he felt Hitler is too pitiful a prey for him to kill.
- Jūkei （ジュウケイ）
- A young boy whose sister was killed. He will grow up to be the Hokuto Ryū Ken master from Fist of the North Star.
Kyoku Jūji Sei Ken （極十字聖拳）
"Southern Cross Holy Fist". Not related to Nanto Sei Ken from Fist of the North Star, it's actually an offshoot of Hokuto Ryūka Ken.
- Wèi Ruì-Yīng （魏瑞鷹）
- The grubby founder of Kyoku Jūji Sei Ken.
- Biāo Bái-Fèng （彪白鳳）
- Wèi Ruì-Yīng's elder pupil. Prepared for death, he challenged Kenshiro, but was shot to death by the Nazis before their actual duel.
- Liú Fēi-Yàn （流飛燕）
- Nicknamed the Death Bird Demon, he befriended Erika and risked his life to protect her. He killed Charles de Guise because he thought de Guise cannot bear the responsibility of protecting Erika.
Qīng Bāng（青幫）
The Shanghai "Green Gang".
- Pān Guāng-Lín （潘光琳）
- Leader of the Qīng Bāng, also close friend of Kenshiro. While Kenshiro was away from Shanghai, his Triad gang members were killed one by one. He was tortured for a period of time by the Hong Hua, thus losing his feet from flesh eating rats. Kenshiro saved his life by amputating his already poisoned feets. He now walks with two prosthetic iron shoes.
- Pān Yù-Líng （潘玉玲）
- Pān Guāng-Lín's sister and Kenshirō's girlfriend. She had her memory erased by Máng Kuáng-Yún for a time period, got adopted by a nomad warlord in Northern China and thus became a horse bandit leader. She regained her memories in Shanghai, and after Guāng-Lín is crippled in a failed assasination attempt, she begins to run the Qīng Bāng.
- Yáng Měi-Yù （楊美玉）
- Pān Guāng-Lín's actress girlfriend.
- Yè （葉）
- Nicknamed "Two-Pistol Yè". He was horribly burned by the Hóng Huá Huì and disfigured. He was probably modelled after the character Darkman (Tetsuo Hara is known to use pop icons in his comics).
- Yè Zi-Yīng （葉子英)
- Son of Yè, a streetwise kid (around 12-14 year old) also a sidekick of Kenshiro, he is similar to Batto from Fist of the North Star.
- Lǐ Yǒng-Jiàn （李永健）
- Worked as an assassin for the secret society Qīng-Bāng under the name "Shuì-Lóng" (The Sleeping Dragon). A good friend of Kenshirō Kasumi . Years later, the old man worked as a food taster for Emperor Pu-Yi and traveled with him to Japan. He was captured by the Hóng-Huá Society and was interrogated as to the whereabouts of Yán-Wáng . Even when they cut off his toes, he refused to tell them anything. Died in the first issue from illness.
Hóng Huá Huì （紅華會）
Shanghai's evil "Red Gang". Most of them are maimed in some way by Kenshiro.
- Zhāng Liè-Shān （章烈山）
- The gigantic leader of the Hóng Huá Society. He is the son of the Hokuto Sōka Ken master, Zhāng Dà-Yán. He is also a general in the Kuomingtang party (in history Kuomingtang was allied and supported by various Triad gangs).
- Huáng Xī-Fēi （黄西飛）
- The Number Three Boss. Due to injuries he suffered at the fists of Kasumi Kenshiro, he must wear a metal contraption on the left side of his head and body. Whenever he moves he alwyas shouts, "A-I-TA!" in pain.
- Wú Dōng-Lái （吳東來）
- The Number Four Boss comes from the province of Canton. Due to injuries he suffered at the fists of Yán Wáng, he is wheelchair-bound and must wear a metal contraption with a crank to raise and lower his head. Jumpy and triggerhappy, he'll shoot anything that bothers him. A slovenly womanizer, Wu desires Pān Guāng-Lín's actress girlfriend Yáng Měi-Yù. The insanely jealous Wu holds Pan in his dungeon, intending to use him as the "tiger-meat" in his "Dragon-Tiger Stew". Wu never got the chance, because Yan-Wang knocked Wu into his own boiling cauldron, killing him.
- Chén Jùan-Mín （陳狷民）
- Nicknamed "Weasel" Chén, he has a metal hand.
- Tián Xué-Fāng （田學芳）
- Once nicknamed Shuǐ Hǔ Tian for the bald patch atop his head, he now wears a heavy iron toupee. Died from drowning in a bath house after Kenshiro disabled his arms and legs.
Others
- Aisin-Gioro Puyi （愛新覺羅溥儀）
- Former emperor of China, then emperor of Manchukuo. Purely a puppet of the Japanese Empire, the neurotic Puyi becomes terrified of being assassinated. On April 6 1935, Puyi came to Japan under the cover of a "Japan-Manchuria Friendship Envoy" to employ the legendary Hokuto Shin Ken successor Yan-Wang as his bodyguard.
- "The Taoist" （道士）
- A mystical old fortune teller, who appears time to time out of nowhere to talk to (or sometimes taunt) Kenshiro. Other people seem not notice his appearance or existence. He gave a "fate medallion" to Kenshiro if he need to make a serious decision. He also grants worthy people (whom are connected to the Hokuto clan) a wish about their fate. His identity and agenda have yet to be revealed.
- Horse Bandits （馬賊）
- A group of lawless non-Han Chinese bandits roaming in the countryside whom later hired by the Hong Hua Triads to cause chaos in Shanghai. They adopted Yu-Ling when her memory was erased, thus she became a bandit leader fighting small guerilla war on the Imperial Japanese Army in countryside. To make matter worse, she developed a deep hatred towards the Japanese when Kasumi finally found her in Shanghai.
Various Look-a-likes
Tetsuo Hara's has a habit of using real life famous pop icons in his artworks, here is a rough list of famous character that he borrowed from.
- A barman that looks like Rowan Atkinson.
- A kickboxer that resemble Mike Tyson.
- Ye's bandaged face and his clothing look similar to Darkman.
- The horse bandits looks like bandits from any Spaghetti Western movies.