He wrote one of the best-selling manga of all time, with over 100 million copies sold worldwide. Yet today, at 78 years old, Buronson, the scriptwriter of Hokuto no Ken, struggles to find a publisher for his new projects. A portrait of a creator who refuses to stop and who is investing in the next generation of mangakas.
A legendary status that is no longer enough
Yoshiyuki Okamura, known under the pseudonym Buronson, is the scriptwriter behind four titles that have become absolute landmarks in manga: Hokuto no Ken, Sanctuary, Crying Freeman, and Heat. Four works that each defined their era and influenced entire generations of creators. And yet, despite the major comeback of the Hokuto no Ken franchise with the new 2026 anime on Prime Video, Buronson’s professional situation is deeply paradoxical.
In an interview with Bunshun Online in December 2025, he candidly admitted that offers no longer come his way. He approaches publishers himself with his manuscripts, and none have accepted them so far. At 78 years old, one of the most important scriptwriters in the history of Japanese manga finds himself knocking on doors, like a beginner.
This paradox says something important about the contemporary manga industry: past fame no longer guarantees anything. Publishers are primarily looking for projects likely to find their audience on current digital platforms, with narrative and visual conventions that match today’s readership expectations. Buronson, whose style was forged in the 1980s, is confronting this reality head-on.
A bold project to pass on his knowledge
Rather than give up, Buronson chose to take action. He invested 400 million yen out of his own pocket to found the Saku Mangasha, a private manga school located in Nagano. A rare gesture in an industry where big names generally keep their methods closely guarded.
In 2025, the school had 126 enrolled students, 30 of whom had already gained their first professional experiences in the field. Famous mangakas answered Buronson’s call to teach there, notably Gosho Aoyama, the creator of Détective Conan, and Mitsuru Adachi, author of Touch and other classics of sports manga.
Buronson has even stipulated in his will that the school should continue to operate for as long as its funds allow. A total commitment, beyond his own lifetime, to ensure the transmission of his art and methods to future generations.
“I’m not ready to lose to the young ones yet”
This is the phrase that sums up the man entirely. Far from being discouraged by publishers’ rejections, Buronson says he feels stimulated and more alive than ever thanks to daily contact with his students. Teaching has given him back a creative energy he may have thought he had lost.
As he approaches 80, he continues to send manuscripts to publishers, to seek collaborators, and to categorically refuse the idea of hanging it up. This determination is reminiscent of Kenshiro, the character he created with Tetsuo Hara: moving forward no matter the cost, never letting yourself be defeated.
Who is Buronson?
Yoshiyuki Okamura, born in 1947 in Kyoto, began his career as a scriptwriter in the 1970s. It was in 1983, with the launch of Hokuto no Ken in Weekly Shonen Jump in collaboration with Tetsuo Hara, that he achieved worldwide fame. The manga, serialized until 1988, was adapted into anime, films, and numerous video games, and has today sold over 100 million copies worldwide.
His following work, Sanctuary, published from 1990 to 1995 in Big Comic Superior magazine, is considered one of the greatest political manga ever written. Crying Freeman and Heat confirmed his ability to adapt to very different genres, from thriller to pure action. His influence on action manga and crime manga of the 1980s and 1990s is immense and often cited by contemporary creators.
A symbol for the manga industry
Buronson’s story raises broader questions about the place of aging creators in the manga industry. In Japan, where the industry is dominated by magazines that primarily target young readers, scriptwriters and artists of a certain generation often struggle to maintain their editorial presence, regardless of their talent and track record. The creation of the Saku Mangasha is a personal and concrete response to this reality: if publishers no longer want him as an author, Buronson chooses to become an educator and to ensure that his knowledge does not disappear with him.
Sources: Bunshun Online, Coamix (official)
