Tetsuo Hara
Tetsuo Hara | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 September 1961 |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Manga artist |
| Known for | Fist of the North Star |
| Website | Official webpage |
Tetsuo Hara (原 哲夫, Hara Tetsuo, born September 2, 1961) is a Japanese manga artist famous for drawing the series Fist of the North Star (known as Hokuto no Ken in Japan), which he co-authored with Buronson. He is cousin to comedian Ryo Fukawa and a close acquaintance of fellow manga artist Tsukasa Hojo (of City Hunter fame).
Career
A native of Tokyo, Hara attended Hongo Senior High School and worked as an assistant to manga artist Yoshihiro Takahashi after graduating. As an amateur, he won the first prize of the 33rd Fresh Jump award for his one-shot Super Challenger. Hara's professional career began with his first published work: Mad Fighter in 1982. His first serialized work in the Weekly Shōnen Jump was the Iron Don Quixote, which lasted only ten weeks in serialization. He achieved fame after the publication of Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) in 1983, which he co-created with Buronson and ran for six years. After the completion of Fist of the North Star, he worked on shorter series and one-shots, including three different adaptations of Ryu Keiichiro's novels (Keiji, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Sakon). His current series is Fist of the Blue Sky, which has been serialized in the Weekly Comic Bunch since 2001. He suffers from keratoconus which left him blind in one eye, so all his work must be fixed by his assistants due to errors in perspective and he can no longer ink his own work.
Works
Manga
| Title | Magazine | Date | Volumes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Super Challenger (スーパーチャレンジャー) | Weekly Jump | 1982/4/10 | One-shot |
| Mad Fighter (マッドファイター) | Fresh Jump | 1982/10 | One-shot |
| Crash Hero (クラッシュヒーロー) | Weekly Jump | 1982 (No. 43) | One-shot |
| The Iron Don Quijote (鉄のドンキホーテ, Tetsu no Don Kihōte) | Weekly Jump | 1982–1983 | 2 |
| Hokuto no Ken (北斗の拳) (prototype version) | Fresh Jump | 1983 (April, June) | one-shot (2 chapters) |
| Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳, Hokuto no Ken) | Weekly Jump | 1983–1988 | 27 |
| CYBER Blue (ＣＹＢＥＲブルー) | Weekly Jump | 1988–1989 | 4 |
| Keiji (花の慶次 －雲のかなたに－, Hana no Keiji -Kumo no Kanata ni-, "Flowery Keiji: At the Other Side of the Cloud") | Weekly Jump | 1990–1993 | 18 |
| Zhí Yè Xiōng Shǒu (職業兇手, Jī Ie Shon Shō) | Weekly Jump | 1993 (No. 5-6) | One-shot |
| Kagemusha Tokugawa Ieyasu (影武者徳川家康, "Shadow Warrior Ieyasu Tokugawa") | Weekly Jump | 1994–1995 | 6 |
| Kaen no Shō (火焔の掌, "The Hands of Flames") | Weekly Jump Spring Special | 1995 | One-shot |
| Takeki Ryūsei (猛き龍星, "The Mighty Ryusei") | Weekly Jump | 1995 | 3 |
| Kiseki Moyuru Toki (輝石燃ゆる時, "The Pyroxene Burns") | Weekly Jump | 1996 (No. 43) | One-shot |
| Chase (チェイス) | Manga Allman | 1997 (No. 2) | One-shot |
| Sakon - Sengoku Fūunroku- (SAKON －戦国風雲録－, "Sakon: Chronicles of Feudal Turbulence") | Weekly Jump | 1997–2000 | 6 |
| Hydra (九頭龍, Hyudora) | Manga Allman | 1997–1998 | 1 |
| Kōkenryoku Ōryō Sōsakan Nakabō Rintarō (公権力横領捜査官 中坊林太郎, "Government Corruption Investigator Rintaro Nakabo) | Bart 3230 | 1998–2000 | 2 |
| Aterui the 2nd (阿弖流為Ⅱ世, Aterui Nisei) | Monthly Gotta | 2000 | 1 |
| Fist of the Blue Sky (蒼天の拳, Sōten no Ken) | Weekly Comic Bunch | 2001–2010 | 22 |
| Ikusa no Ko: Oda Saburo Nobunaga Den (いくさの子 織田三郎信長伝 Child of War) | Monthly Comic Zenon | 2010- |
Novels
- Kōryū no Mimi - (4 volumes, 1991–1993)
- Hokuto no Ken: Jubaku no Machi (1 volume, 1995)
Other works
- Saturday Night Slam Masters/Muscle Bomber (1993 arcade game) - illustrations.
- Ring of Destruction - Slam Masters II (1994 arcade game) - illustrations.
- Itadaki Muscle! (2006 TV series) - illustrations for the opening intro.
- Mori no Senshi Bonolon (2006 anime series) - producer, character designer
- Gifuu doudou Naoe Kanetsugu (2008 manga serie) - Co-author with Horie Nobuhiko, illustrations.