Il Salvatore nell’Arena, the Lucca painting (2025)

A canvas painted for Italy

Invited by Lucca Comics & Games in early 2025, Tetsuo Hara decided to paint a new work for the occasion. He spent three to four months on Il Salvatore nell’Arena (闘技場の救世主), an oil on canvas of about 70 × 60 cm. Kenshiro stands in an ancient amphitheatre, surrounded by red banners and bathed in heavenly light, picking up the helmet of a defeated opponent. For the setting, Hara drew on visual references only available in Italy. Coamix unveiled the painting on 13 September 2025 and presented it as a tribute to Italian fans.

Come un fulmine dal cielo, the Lucca exhibition

The painting was shown in Lucca in “Tetsuo Hara: Come un fulmine dal cielo”, held in the church of Santa Annunziata dei Servi from 25 October to 2 November 2025. Billed as the world’s first major solo exhibition devoted to the artist, it brought together more than a hundred original pages, paintings and three works by Bandinelli on loan from the Uffizi in Florence. The exhibition looked back at his stories, his inspirations, his rough drafts and his Italian references.

Hara in Lucca and the Yellow Kid award

Guest of honour of the festival, Hara attended from 30 October to 2 November. He received the Yellow Kid award as “Maestro del Fumetto” for his whole career, drew live while answering questions at a “Maxi Showcase” and held a conversation with Igort and John Romita Jr. At the press conference, he said he had been working with his editor Nobuhiko Horie for fifty years, and that he makes a point of thanking Horie and Buronson in every interview and public appearance. Coamix, which organised his visit with Panini Comics and Animeimport, was the first Japanese publisher to take part in Lucca.

The editions

From 25 October, the exhibition shop offered a signed and framed print with a certificate, limited to 50 copies worldwide, of which only the first was sold on site, along with a T-shirt limited to 300 pieces. Panini Comics also published an exclusive variant cover for volume 1 of Ken il Guerriero – Hokuto no Ken Extreme Edition, based on the painting. Coamix’s Gallery Zenon also offers a large-format giclée of the painting, retouched by hand to render the relief of the brushwork, signed by Hara and likewise limited to 50 copies.