Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) is a series primarily known in the west nowadays for over the top manliness, a few memes such as "Omae wa mou shindeiru" and it's anime movie being glorious, gory 80s action. Compared to it's peer in 80s Shonen Dragon Ball or the series it inspired, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Hokuto no Ken has become vastly underrated today, despite it easily being one of the best series to come out of the Shonen demograph.

Note: I will only be reviewing the first 136 chapters of the manga. This is because whilst the 2nd part introduces quite a few new details, the numerous retcons, plot holes and overused tropes within Part 2 make it's entirety a disservice to the series when chapter 136 already gave the manga a solid, complete ending.

The plot of the manga is somewhat simplistic, yet well executed. Whilst there is some escalation in scale of keeping the stakes high with each major enemy, it never reaches the point where past foes such as Shin ever lose their relevance due to the combat relying more on skillful techniques than raw power, making it a stark contrast to the typical Shonen. There is very little plot holes within the series as well, with the only ones standing out being the plot point of Raoh being shocked if he were to see how similar Mamiya looked to Yuria never happening and the Tenryu Kokyu Ho's effects seeming to have been retconned by the time of the Souther Arc.
Leaving aside these smaller aspects, the story with it's grim post-apocalyptic setting, fusion of 80s and medieval aspects and a well executed hero's journey lead to quite an enjoyable story.

The characters within the world are hard to judge as a whole. Though most are likeable for the sheer manliness aspect of the series, only Rei, Mamiya and maybe Raoh gained much development. However, all the main cast are fleshed out well enough and each one has a web of connections to other characters in the series to help make their interactions and goals quite interesting. For example, how Jagi links to Shin and Kenshiro as a manipulator of the plot's events, the differing goals of the Nanto Rokusei members or the conflict of the Hokuto brothers help make most of the cast engaging. The only character I found actively dislikeable was Lin having no use beyond being a plot device and damsel in distress, yet even she had her moments.
Some of the elements of it's cast seem to be particularly outstanding in their class. For example, Kenshiro's somewhat anti-hero role of being clear he doesn't consider himself a saviour/hero or Raoh having quite a few layers to his character beyond being a mere bad guy help display it as a great influence for the story telling of Shonen manga in general. The rivalry between these two characters is second only to Rikishi and Joe's within Ashita no Joe in terms of Shonen rivalries, with a clear balance between hatred and respect for each other and both growing in various ways throughout the series.
Furthermore, Mamiya is one of the most well realised female characters within the medium. Whilst never given enough prominence to seem to relevant, her past, determination and weakness helps her present the idea of a female doing what she can in a world in which her disadvantage is obvious, much akin to someone such as a less plot relevant Oscar from Rose of Versailles or Casca from Berserk.

The art is easily the series' strongest point and helps make it such an entertaining work. The very realistic, well shaded and detailed artwork that just gets constantly better throughout the series is a feast for the eyes only surpassed by a handful of manga series that help make the series so well known. With it's distinct style of characters' eyes and faces to the general testosterone fuelling muscle mass, great gore and manly tears, there's nothing not to love about the art that helps keep any lover of 80s pop culture engaged.

Overall, Hokuto no Ken is a series that whilst not the top tier in any of it's fields, performs good enough in all categories to be considered one of the best Shonen series out there, or manga series in general. Just stay away from the Part 2 material.

Overall score - 7.5/10