This is for vols 1-14, which is all my library has, although I did request vol. 15.
My draw to the Fist of the North Star manga series was mostly that RGG/Sega made a video game of it and they made the Yakuza games.
Written in the 80s and set in the Mad Max 1990s, the story is about Kenshiro wandering the post nuclear war wasteland pouting and blowing people up. Sometimes he has allies; always he has enemies; probably he has a plot. But the plot is secondary to the amazing pressure points. Kenshiro practiced Hokuto Shinken, a martial art which employs endless pressure points that make you do something very specific (walk backwards, not close your mouth), often before you blow up. But before you die, Kenshiro makes sure you know he’s the one who killed you.
Check out more here: https://hokuto.fandom.com/wiki/Keiraku_Hiko.
The series shines when it’s at its stupidest. There was a scene where Ken rides in on a horse with an eyepatch, then kills Mr. T before moving over to whatever his mission was.
No context needed because it didn’t have anything to do with anything.One villain disemboweled himself, went on a violence spree, and died of disembowelment much later. Another villain was sentenced to death, but it didn’t take so the jail gave up and put him in a box.
The biggest problem is the characters. Kenshiro is so stoic that he has no personality. His love interest, Yuria, is a piece of toast. The kids that follow him around are forgettable during their own scenes. Every character who is developed and interesting dies. As much as I might miss some characters, it’s okay. As long as Kenshiro can hit the pressure point that makes someone’s fingers pop off, I don’t care that he’s interchangeable with a pouty beige carpet.