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Fist Of The North Star Anime Watch Order

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Getting Started with Fist Of The North Star

The Fist of the North Star franchise has existed for over 4 decades, and through that time, we have seen multiple Anime adaptations of the multiple source materials. It might be kinda confusing to know how to get started with the series, so I am going to break down the chronological anime watch order.

Pay in mind that in order to fully experience the whole series, you have to read some manga too, since as of right now, not everything has been 100% fully adapted into an anime like Kenshiro Gaiden, Souten No Ken, or the last arcs of the original manga.

EDIT #1 – A New reboot has been announced for the anime, but how many of the arcs it will cover remains to be seen.

1) Souten No Ken / Fist of the Blue Sky (蒼天の拳)

Souten no Ken (Fist of the Blue Sky) is a prequel series set in 1930s Shanghai, a city teetering on the edge of chaos during the rise of Japanese imperialism and looming global war. The story follows Kenshiro Kasumi, a quiet university professor and the 62nd successor of Hokuto Shinken and uncle of Kenshiro from the main series. This is a series that was created after the original manga, and it serves as a prequel – so it’s not exactly a must-watch, and from an enjoyment point of view, you could watch it after the original Hokuto No Ken series.
  • Episodes: 22
  • Studio: APPP
  • Original Air Date: 2006-2007
  • Must Watch? Semi-Optional  

2) Souten no Ken Regenesis / Fist of the Blue Sky (蒼天の拳)

This is the second season of Souten No Ken, which is broken down into two different seasons that aired within the same year. The plot here picks up shortly after the events of the first Souten no Ken series. The 2nd season doesn’t adapt every single arc from the manga, so if you want to continue the story, you have to continue from the manga or wait till they might decide to do more seasons for this prequel series.
  • Episodes: 24
  • Studio: Polygon Pictures
  • Original Air Date: 2018
  • Must Watch? Semi-Optional 

 3) Hokuto no Ken Zero: Kenshirou Den Movie (真救世主伝説 北斗の拳 ZERO)

Legend of Kenshiro delves into the untold story of how Kenshiro transformed from a wounded man into the unshakable savior of the post-apocalyptic world. Set after his defeat by Shin and the abduction of Yuria, the film follows Kenshiro’s descent into despair and his violent awakening to the harsh realities of survival. Takes place very shortly before the main events of the main Hokuto No Ken series.
  • Episodes: Movie
  • Studio: TMS Entertainment
  • Original Air Date: 2008
  • Must Watch? Optional 

4) Hokuto no Ken: Raoh Gaiden Ten no Haoh (北斗の拳 ラオウ外伝 天の覇王)

Set during the rise of Raoh’s conquests, Raoh Gaiden: Ten no Haoh explores the brutal path of the man who would become known as Ken-oh (Fist King). As the eldest of the Hokuto brothers, Raoh sets out to dominate the ruined world with his fists, believing that strength alone can bring order to chaos. The story follows his battles against rival martial artists and his growing reputation as a fearsome warlord. This series serves more as a prequel backstory to the largest antagonist of the original Hokuto No Ken series – Raoh, and might let you appreciate him more as a villain.
  • Episodes: 12
  • Studio: Satelight
  • Original Air Date: 2008
  • Must Watch? Optional 

5) Fist Of The North Star / Hokuto no Ken Season 1 (北斗の拳)

The Original series that started everything, which is the longest series in the franchise, and if you want, you can follow the filler list here to save time if you find it too big an ordeal to go through the full series over. Please note that the English version of this series might have fewer episodes and contains a lot of censorship in terms of blood and other things, so I highly advise checking out the Japanese version if you get your hands on that.

  • Episodes: 109
  • Studio: Toei Animation
  • Original Air Date: 1984
  • Must Watch? Must Watch

6) Fist Of The North Star / Hokuto no Ken 2 (北斗の拳2)

The second season continues the story approximately 1 year after the events of the first season. This anime doesn’t adapt, however, the very remaining arcs which include Koketsu arc (chapters 211-217), Sava arc (chapters 218-227), Blanca arc (chapters 228-236) & Bolge arc (chapters 237-245), so if you want a complete experience, finish the manga.

  • Episodes: 43
  • Studio: Toei Animation
  • Original Air Date: 1987-1988
  • Must Watch? Must Watch

7) New Fist of the North Star / Shin Hokuto no Ken (新・北斗の拳)

Shin Hokuto no Ken (also known as New Fist of the North Star) is a 3-episode OVA released between 2003–2004, based on the novel “Fist of the North Star: The Cursed City” by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara. It can be watched technically between Hokuto No Ken 1 & 2, or you can just watch it after the 2nd season as well.

  • Episodes: 3 (OVA)
  • Studio: A.C.G.T
  • Original Air Date: 2003
  • Must Watch? Optional

The Spin-off Series Options

If you aren’t interested in the canonical original universe, there are multiple spin-off titles and movies that are either adapting the same source material in an anthology setting or just giving an alternative universe take on the franchise in a gag setting or akin to the original.

 Fist of the North Star (Live Action Film)

Maybe not the greatest Live action adaption of an anime in the west, but if you are open to experiencing this IP from a different lens you can give this 90s action film a shot as well. The film, which loosely adapts the first story arc of the original manga, centers on Ken, the lone master of the “North Star” martial art school, who wanders the post-apocalyptic Earth in search of his nemesis, Lord Shin, the man who killed his master and kidnapped his fiancée.

  • Episodes: Movie
  • Studio: First Look Pictures
  • Original Air Date: 1995
  • Runtime: 103 minutes

DD Hokuto No Ken (DD北斗之拳)

DD Hokuto no Ken is a comedy spin-off of the original Fist of the North Star series, turning the intense, post-apocalyptic martial arts saga into a light-hearted parody with very short 3-minute episodes. It’s based on a manga series by Tetsuo Hara and Buronson, by Kaijo (Writer), which ran from 2010 to 2016 in Monthly Comic Zenon.

  • Episodes: 12
  • Studio: North Star Pictures
  • Original Air Date: 2011

DD Hokuto No Ken 2013 version (DD北斗之拳)

Another newer version of DD Hokuto No Ken, with a different type of art style and a different animation studio, with this time around normal-length anime episodes (23 minutes). In this universe, the apocalypse never happened, and the characters of Hokuto no Ken have to survive in modern-day Japan by working together. To my understanding, this is also serving as a sequel of sorts to the original anime season? Let me know inthe  comments if this is correct

  • Episodes: 13
  • Studio: North Star Pictures
  • Original Air Date: 2013

Hokuto no Ken: Raoh Gaiden Trilogy (真救世主伝説 北斗の拳 ラオウ伝 殉愛の章)

These films and OVAs basically cover the story from Raoh’s perspective, starting a bit before the main events of the original Hokuto No Ken series and then ending on the final battle between Raoh and Kenshiro. The story is slightly different as it has a couple of new characters, but it also emphasizes telling the story from Raoh’s point of view rather than Kenshiro’s. While the Toki-den OVA obviously tells the story from his perspective.

  • Episodes: 1 Movie + 3 OVA
  • Studio: TMS Entertainment
  • Original Air Date: 2006, 2007 & 2008

Hokuto no Ken: Yuria-den

This film is done by the same people who did the Raoh Gaiden film, and it begins with Yuria’s childhood and her destined bond with Kenshiro. It continues through her kidnapping by Shin and her rise to become the “Last Nanto General” — directly covering events from Yuria’s early life up to the final battle between Kenshiro and Shin, which occurs shortly before the start of the original Hokuto No Ken TV series.

  • Episodes: Movie (OVA)
  • Studio: TMS Entertainment
  • Original Air Date: 2007
  • Runtime: 1h 4min

There are, of course, some novels, games, and manga on top of all of this stuff, so you aren’t exactly running out of different adaptations of Fist of the North Star, and who knows, we might be seeing a new live-action coming from Japan shortly.

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