Quick Facts
Biography
Tetsuo Hara (Japanese: 原 哲夫, Hepburn: Hara Tetsuo, born September 2, 1961) is a Japanese manga artist, best known 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.
Career
A native of Tokyo, Hara attended Hongō Junior and 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 boxing short story 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, a motocross manga 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 in Weekly Jump. His next long-running serial was Hana no Keiji,a period tale loosely based on a novel by Keiichiro Ryu, which was published in Weekly Jump from 1990 to 1993. He would go on to produce several shorter serials and one-shots for Shueisha until departing from the company in 2000.
In 2001, he became one of the founding members of the manga editing company Coamix and would go on to illustrate Sōten no Ken (Fist of the Blue Sky), a prequel to Hokuto no Ken, which was serialized in Weekly Comic Bunch from 2001 until the magazine's final issue in 2010. Originally published as a weekly serial, Sōten no Ken was changed to a semi-regular feature after Hara was diagnosed with keratoconus. Despite previously announcing his intentions to retire after completing Sōten no Ken, he would go on to illustrate his current series Ikusa no Ko: The Legend of Nobunaga Oda, published in Monthly Comic Zenon since 2010. An English edition of Ikusa no Ko is concurrently published at the official Silent Manga Audition Community website.
Works
Manga
Serials
| Title | Magazine | Date | Volumes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Iron Don Quijote (鉄のドンキホーテ, Tetsu no Don Kihōte) | Weekly Jump | 1982–1983 | 2 |
| 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 |
| Kagemusha Tokugawa Ieyasu (影武者徳川家康, "Tokugawa Ieyasu's Shadow Warrior") | Weekly Jump | 1994–1995 | 6 |
| Takeki Ryūsei (猛き龍星, "The Mighty Ryusei") | Weekly Jump | 1995 | 3 |
| Sakon - Sengoku Fūunroku- (SAKON －戦国風雲録－, "Sakon: Chronicles of Feudal Turbulence") | Weekly Jump | 1997–2000 | 6 |
| Hydra ( | 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 Second ( | 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: The Legend of Oda Nobunaga (いくさの子 織田三郎信長伝, Ikusa no Ko: Oda Saburō Nobunaga Den) | Monthly Comic Zenon | 2010–current |
One-shots
| Title | Magazine | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Super Challenger (スーパーチャレンジャー) | Weekly Jump: Special Edition | 1982/4/10 |
| Mad Fighter (マッドファイター) | Fresh Jump | 1982/10 |
| Crash Hero (クラッシュヒーロー) | Weekly Jump | 1982 (No. 43) |
| Hokuto no Ken (北斗の拳) (prototype version) | Fresh Jump | 1983/04 |
| Hokuto no Ken II (北斗の拳Ⅱ) (prototype version) | Fresh Jump | 1983/06 |
| Zhí Yè Xiōng Shǒu ( | Weekly Jump | 1993 (No. 5-6) |
| Kaen no Shō (火焔の掌, "The Hands of Flames") | Weekly Jump Spring Special | 1995 |
| Kiseki Moyuru Toki (輝石燃ゆる時, "When The Pyroxene Burns") | Weekly Jump | 1996 (No. 43) |
| Chase ( | Manga Allman | 1997 (No. 2) |
| Hokuto no Ken: Last Piece (北斗の拳−LAST PIECE−) | Comic Zenon | May 2013 (Part 1) June 2013 (Part 2) |
Novel Illustrations
- Kōryū no Mimi - (4 volumes, 1991–1993)
- Ichimu An Fūryū Ki (1 volume, 1992 Shueisha Bunko edition)
- Hokuto no Ken: Jubaku no Machi (1 volume, 1995)
- Miyamoto Musashi (8 volumes, 2013 Takarashimasha Bunko edition)
Other works
- Saturday Night Slam Masters/Muscle Bomber (1993 arcade game) - promotional illustrations. The character portraits in the arcade version were done by another artist, but they were replaced by Hara's own renditions in the console versions for the Super NES and Sega Genesis.
- Muscle Bomber Duo (1993 arcade game) - promotional illustrations
- Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II/Super Muscle Bomber (1994 arcade game) - promotional and in-game illustrations.
- Itadaki Muscle! (2006 TV series) - illustrations for the opening intro.
- Mori no Senshi Bonolon (2006 anime series) - producer, character designer
- Gifū Dōdō Naoe Kanetsugu (2008 manga series) - Co-author with Horie Nobuhiko, cover illustrations.