New Manga Read - Fist of the North Star, Volume 12
Welcome to the apocalypse!
Volume 11 is about this man on the cover, Falco.
Falco is the inheritor of Gento Kōken (roughly translated as Original Dipper Imperial Fist). The followers of Genko Kōken were sworn to protect the Celestial Emperor (Tentei) from harm.
In this volume, Kenshiro is returning to help the Hokuto Army which is led by Lin and Bat to free those under the thumb of Jaco. Falco, who appears to be nothing but good and compassionate, is somehow the evil Jaco's second in command. Why? Jaco has kidnapped the Tentei and kept them hostage.
This volume is filled to the brim with reveals. Some about Lin. A lot of backstory about Falco, which makes him such a fascinating character. Also, the reveal about the Tentei and who they are was HUGE. Doing minimal spoilers despite this manga being as old as I am.
Falco has a prosthetic leg due to Raoh destroying his leg in the past. Raoh told him that he needed to kill Jaco or, one day, Jaco would manipulate and dominate him. Raoh was right.
While we get a brutal match between Falco and Kenshiro, the ending of the volume is well done with a cliffhanger for the next volume.
ALSO (which I say a lot), Fist of the North Star constantly reminds you that toxic masculinity is bad and that you can be masculine and have feelings / cry. Kenshiro feels, always. Kenshiro allows himself to cry over loss, cry over the suffering of others. He allows himself to feel. There is nothing un-masculine about having emotions. Kenshiro constantly reminds the reader of that...amongst all the brutal violence.
New Manga Read - Fist of the North Star, Volume 11
Volume 11 is the first volume of Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) after the time skip. This volume includes a bonus chapter that Buronson wrote and Tetsuo Hara drew from 2014 that fills in the gap between the end of Part 1 to the beginning of Part 2 where Bat and Lin are now adults leading an army of rebels called the Hokuto Army.
Ken had been isolated with Yuria until her death. Now he's returning to the world to help make things right and destroy some enemies. This volume introduced some new characters and the adult versions of both Bat and Rin are well presented.
Bat is brash and bold, trying to protect others. Rin is soft and kind, but also ready to fight if needed. They are, in many ways, the two sides to Kenshiro himself. And I love to see it.
The volume ends on such an unexpected moment that I really can't wait until Volume 12 finally drops on my lap.
New Manga Read: Fist of the North Star - Volume 10
It has finally happened. I have reached the penultimate battle of the first half of Fist of the North Star!
Kenshiro versus Raoh.
It did not disappoint. This volume (10) revealed more about the history of Yuria, Kenshiro, and Raoh that were fantastically done. The truth about Yuria an her sickness; Raoh's realization that he will never be as vulnerable as Kenshiro were huge moments.
For all the beefy dudes beating each other, which is a core component of Fist of the North Star, the masculinity of Kenshiro isn't toxic, isn't oppressive, and shows true emotion, vulnerability, and sorrow. There is emotional depth to Kenshiro that Raoh is unwilling to have. His own internalized misogyny won't allow Raoh to admit he has these feelings of love, compassion, or fear. Kenshiro allows himself to feel all these things.
As the volume concluded, I found myself far more emotional than I expected for a post-apocalyptic tale about beefy dudes fighting. It was so well done.
Now, I move onto Volume 11 and the time skip.
But here's to the story of Kenshiro and Raoh and a very satisfying ending to their tale.