Hokuto no Ken Ryuken Gaiden : The Judgement Day

Hokuto no Ken Ryuken Gaiden : The Judgement Day is a one-shot drawn by Hiromoto Sin-ichi based on an original idea by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara. It was published on December 8, 2006 in a special issue of Weekly Comic Bunch (Shinchosha) dated January 8, 2007 and dedicated to Souten no Ken. The story follows Ryuken, 63rd successor of Hokuto Shinken, on the day the world plunges into nuclear war.

Synopsis

At the end of the century, as the world slides toward nuclear war, Ryuken must resolve the dilemma of his life. Which of his four adopted sons will inherit the two-thousand-year-old assassination art? His decision will come on the very night the sky is set ablaze.

The last day of Ryuken

The one-shot depicts the daily life of the Hokuto brothers in modern-day Japan before the cataclysm. Having had no children of his own, Ryuken adopted four sons, Raoh the eldest, Toki the second, Jagi the third, and Kenshiro the youngest, devoting his life as a teacher to them, under the ruthless law of Hokuto Shinken: one successor per generation. At the dojo, training sessions reveal Kenshiro's meteoric progress as he unhesitatingly strikes Jagi's vital points, while Ryuken worries about his excessive kindness. A family meal scene mirrors the composition of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, Kenshiro lives a romance with his beloved, and the Nanto Goshasei make an appearance in school uniforms.

The intrusion of Souther, heir to the Nanto Hō-ō Ken, disrupts the dojo. The rival school has caught wind of the imminent naming of a successor, and the future Holy Emperor challenges Raoh to a duel, which Ryuken interrupts just in time, as fights between schools are forbidden. Publicly rebuked by his master, who refuses to pass on the Hokuto legacy to someone of his caliber, Jagi swears revenge and embraces his definitive philosophy: winning by any means necessary. He is later seen rifle in hand during his gang's attack on a military base, while the great powers are already arming their warheads.

The night of judgment

Under stars with a sinister gleam, Ryuken summons Raoh to a rooftop overlooking the sleeping city and announces his decision. Kenshiro possesses the qualities of a savior for these troubled times, but he is still too young, and Ryuken asks Raoh to fight him with all his power to awaken his potential. Raoh replies that he will pursue his own path, that of the law of the strongest. The duel that follows shows Ryuken in combat at the height of his art. The old master dominates his pupil, unleashes the Hokuto Senju Satsu (the Thousand Hands Death Strike) and positions himself in the Hokuto Shichisei formation, which exploits the seven blind spots of the human body. Defeated but unyielding, Raoh agrees to take up Kenshiro's challenge if their paths cross and calls his master "Father" for the first time. Mushroom clouds then rise on the horizon.

The story shifts to the foundational images of Hokuto no Ken: the dried-up seas, the torn earth, Toki giving up his place in the nuclear shelter to Kenshiro and Yuria. Jagi resurfaces from the rubble, proclaiming himself the strongest man in the world, until a familiar hand bursts from the debris. The final panel returns to Ryuken's serene face, eyes closed and a smile on his lips. "My sons! I have no regrets in this life!"

A tribute from the Comic Bunch wave

The Judgement Day belongs to the series of tribute one-shots published in the Comic Bunch special issues in 2006 and 2007, each story shedding light on a character from the canon. This one focuses on Ryuken, who died before the original manga began yet remains omnipresent in the memory of its characters, and for once gives him the leading role. The title plays on a double meaning: the nuclear judgement of humanity and the judgement of the master designating his heir.

Where the original manga has Ryuken die at the hands of Raoh, betrayed by illness in the middle of combat, the one-shot closes their confrontation on the word "Father" and stops just before the irreparable, without contradicting the canon. Hiromoto Sin-ichi employs a graphic style far removed from Tetsuo Hara's line. He returned in the Weekly Comic Bunch in 2009 with Gokuaku no Hana, a full series devoted to Jagi, whose portrait is already sketched here.