Japanese manga series and its adaptation(s)
|
Cover of volume 22, featuring most of the main characters.
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Written by
| |
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Illustrated by
| Tetsuo Hara
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Published by
| Shinchosha
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English publisher
| |
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Magazine
| Weekly Comic Bunch
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English magazine
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Demographic
| Seinen
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Original run
| May 2001
?
August 2010
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Volumes
| 22
(
List of volumes
)
|
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Directed by
| - Yoshihiro Yamaguchi
- Supervision:
- Buronson
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Produced by
| - Naomi Nishiguchi
- Kazuhiko Hidano
- Masanobu Watanabe
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Written by
| Yasuhiro Imagawa
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Music by
| Marco d'Ambrosio
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Studio
| A.P.P.P.
[a]
|
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Original network
| TV Asahi
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Original run
| October 4, 2006
?
March 14, 2007
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Episodes
| 26
(
List of episodes
)
|
|
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Written by
| Hiroyuki Yatsu
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Illustrated by
| Hideki Tsuji
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Published by
| Coamix
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Magazine
| Comic Zenon
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Demographic
| Seinen
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Original run
| October 25, 2017
? present
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Volumes
| 4
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Directed by
| - Yoshio Kazumi
- Supervision:
- Buronson
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Produced by
| - Tomonari Kat?
- Ken Kawakita
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Written by
| Satoshi Ozaki
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Music by
| Masatoshi Nishimura
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Studio
| Polygon Pictures
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Original network
| Tokyo MX
,
Sun TV
,
KBS Kyoto
,
BS Fuji
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Original run
| April 2, 2018
?
December 17, 2018
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Episodes
| 24
(
List of episodes
)
|
Fist of the Blue Sky
(
Japanese
:
蒼天の拳
,
Hepburn
:
S?ten no Ken
)
is a Japanese
manga
series written and illustrated by
Tetsuo Hara
, with plot supervision by
Buronson
. It was serialized in
Weekly Comic Bunch
from 2001 to 2010, with the chapters collected into 22
tank?bon
volumes by
Shinchosha
. It is a
prequel
to the popular 1980s manga
Fist of the North Star
, which Hara originally illustrated with Buronson writing. Set primarily in
Shanghai
during the 1930s, the series centers on the 62nd successor of the
Hokuto Shinken
martial arts style, Kenshiro Kasumi, the namesake and predecessor of
Kenshiro
from
Fist of the North Star
. The manga was adapted into a 26-episode
anime
series that aired on
TV Asahi
from 2006 to 2007.
A continuation of the manga, titled
S?ten no Ken: Re:Genesis
(
蒼天の拳 RE:GENESIS
)
, began serialization in the December 2017 issue of
Comic Zenon
. It is written by Hiroyuki Yatsu and illustrated by Hideki Tsuji with the additional involvement of Tetsuo Hara. An anime series of the same name began airing from April 2 to December 17, 2018 with oversight by Tetsuo Hara.
Plot
[
edit
]
The main protagonist of this story is Kenshiro Kasumi, better known as "
Yan Wang
" or "The King of Hell". Kenshiro is a laid back and chain-smoking
Tokyo
professor who is secretly the successor of the deadly
Chinese
assassin
martial art
Hokuto Shinken
. He travels to
Shanghai
after hearing that his
Triad
friend Pan Guang-Lin and love interest Pan Yu-Ling are in trouble.
In Shanghai, Kenshiro fights the three Hokuto families, the Hokuto Sankaken (based on the royal families of
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
). At the same time he helps Pan's
Q?ng B?ng
triad against their rivals, the immoral Hong Hua Hui, in gaining territory and influence in Shanghai.
Production
[
edit
]
Many of the plot points mentioned in the comic contain real historical facts, such as how Shanghai was controlled by the
foreign concessions
(the story focus mainly on the
French settlement
) during the 1930s. Also seen are
Jewish refugees
who escaped from
Nazi
persecution in Europe, and the invasion of China by the
Japanese Army
.
Chiang Kai-shek
and some historical
Kuomintang
figures appear in the story as well.
Tetsuo Hara wanted the fights in the manga to look more like 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. Tetsuo Hara describes the protagonist Kenshiro Kasumi as a combination of the strength of Kenshiro, the good nature of
Keiji Maeda
from
Hana no Keiji
and the sarcastic attitude of the title character of
Nakabo Rintaro
.
Media
[
edit
]
Manga
[
edit
]
Illustrated by
Tetsuo Hara
with supervision from
Buronson
,
Fist of the Blue Sky
was serialized in
Weekly Comic Bunch
throughout the magazine's entire history. Beginning in its first issue with the
cover date
of May 29, 2001,
[1]
the chapters were published irregularly until the final issue in August 2010. Publisher
Shinchosha
collected the chapters into 22
tank?bon
volumes.
An English version of
Fist of the Blue Sky
was serialized in the now-defunct manga anthology
Raijin Comics
published by
Gutsoon! Entertainment
from 2002 to 2004. Four collected volumes were published by Gutsoon under their
Raijin Graphic Novels
imprint before the company went out of business and ceased publication of all their titles.
A continuation of the manga, titled
S?ten no Ken: Re:Genesis
(
蒼天の拳 RE:GENESIS
)
, began serialization in the December 2017 issue of
Comic Zenon
. It is written by Hiroyuki Yatsu and illustrated by Hideki Tsuji.
[2]
Original manga creators Buronson and Tetsuo Hara supervised the series' art and scripts.
[3]
[4]
- Volumes
Anime
[
edit
]
A weekly anime series based on
S?ten no Ken
aired on Japan's
TV Asahi
on Thursdays at 2:40am from October 4, 2006 to March 14, 2007. The series lasted only 26 episodes, but four of the episodes (16-18, and 21) did not air during the original run. The complete series has been released on DVD in
Region 2
format by
Universal Entertainment Japan
, including unaired episodes and uncensored content. The series adapts the storyline from the beginning and up to vol. 8. The Opening theme is "Bara ga Saku, Bara ga Chiru"
(
薔薇が?く 薔薇が散る
, "Roses Bloom, Roses Scatter")
by
Rina Aiuchi
while the ending themes are "Kokoro no Rhythm Tobichiru Butterfly
(
心のリズム飛び散るバタフライ
,
Kokoro no Rizumu Tobichiru Batafurai
, lit. "The Rhythm of the Heart is a Fluttering Butterfly")
by
doa
and "Kissing til i die" by
Jun Manaka
.
On October 24, 2017, a sequel to the first anime titled
S?ten no Ken: Re:Genesis
, which aired from April 2 throughout June 18, 2018 on
Tokyo MX
and other channels.
[6]
[7]
The opening is "Souten no Hate ni" by AK-69 while the ending theme is "Inori no Hoshizora" by Sumire Uesaka.
[8]
The second opening theme is "Soul Seeker" by Crossfaith while the second ending theme is "Kono Sora wo Subete Kimi ni"
(
この空をすべて君に
)
by Hiroya Ozaki. A second season premiered from October 1 to December 17, 2018.
Despite sharing the same title,
S?ten no Ken: Re:Genesis
is not a direct adaptation of the manga of the same name, but instead picks up from where the 2006 anime series left off and mixes plot elements from the unadapted latter half of the original
S?ten no Ken
manga and the ongoing
Re:Genesis
manga.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Credited as Souten Studio (蒼天スタジオ)
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
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- Monthly Comic Bunch
- Comic Bunch Kai
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Kurage Bunch
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Weekly Comic Bunch
(defunct)
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Related series
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Television series
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OVAs/ONAs
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Films
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