The AnimeJapan 2026 stage panel for Hokuto no Ken -Fist of the North Star-, the new anime Tetsuo Hara’s landmark manga Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken), unveiled the anime’s opening sequence without onscreen credits on Saturday. The sequence features the opening theme song “Hallelujah” by Alexandros.
In addition, the panel announced that the anime’s protagonist Kenshiro will be included in Season Pass 2 of the Fatal Fury City of the Wolves fighting game as a playable character in June.
The game’s Season Pass 2 also includes Wolfgang Krauser (launching in April) and an unannounced character (launching in May). Kim Jae Hoon, the first DLC character for Season Pass 2, launched on January 22. Nightmare Geese launched on February 26. Blue Mary launched on March 26.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Japan
© Buronson&Tetsuo Hara/Coamix, HOKUTO Committee
The Hokuto no Ken -Fist of the North Star- anime will debut with its first two episodes on Tokyo MX and BS11 on April 10 at 1:00 a.m. JST (effectively, April 11). The third and fourth episodes will then premiere on April 17. Amazon Prime Video will stream the anime worldwide.
The anime will star:
Hiroshi Maeda (director of photography for Hellsing Ultimate, Aquarion) is directing the anime at TMS Entertainment, and Kazuma Ogasawara (episode director for Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These – Collision, Oshi no Ko TV 2) is the assistant director. Kazuhiko Inukai (Girlfriend, Girlfriend) is in charge of the series scripts. Naoki Hisatsune (key animator for Fist of the North Star: Legend of Kenshiro, Fist of the North Star: Legend of Toki) is designing the characters. Kōji (3D director for Medalist) is serving as animation director. Yūki Hayashi (My Hero Academia) is composing the music. NIA Animation and Kishida Studio BACU are collaborating on the production.
The new anime announcement commemorates the series’ 40th anniversary. The staff stated that the CG-based anime will be more true to the original work.
The manga’s story is set in a post-apocalyptic world. The story centers on a man named Kenshiro, a master and successor to a deadly martial art, as he wanders the nuclear wasteland protecting the weak and innocent from violent thugs. In his travels, he must contend with other master martial artists and figures from his past, including his “brother” Raoh, who has crowned himself the king of the new world.
The original manga ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1983 to 1988. Viz Media began publishing the manga in a new edition digitally and physically in June 2021.
The Fist of the North Star television anime ran for two seasons from 1984 to 1988 and had 152 episodes. The manga has inspired several other television anime, films, and spinoff anime. Hiroshi Kurao launched a new Fist of the North Star spinoff manga titled Hokuto no Ken Seikimatsu Drama Satsuei-hen (Fist of the North Star Apocalypse Drama Filming Arc) on the Comic Zenon manga website in February 2021.
Hiroshi Kurao’s Elegy for the Henchmen: Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken: Ken’ō-gun Zako-tachi no Banka) spinoff manga got a short anime that premiered on the AT-X and Tokyo MX channels on January 5. The second part of the anime will premiere in July.
Source: Press release
