Hokuto no Ken Nanto of Meet : Itsutsu no Hoshi ga Deaishi Koku

Nanto of Meet : Itsutsu no Hoshi ga Deaishi Koku (北斗の拳イチゴ味 サウザーGAI伝 南斗 of Meet ～五つの星が出会いし刻～) is a one-shot published in May 2014 in Monthly Comic Zenon. Written by Kawata Yushi and illustrated by Yukito, this dramatic story devoted to Souther is part of the series of end-of-volume gaiden from Ichigo Aji. Over eighteen pages, it traces the childhood of the future Holy Emperor, his relationship with his master Ōgai, and the first meeting of the five stars of Nanto.

Synopsis

An infant is the sole survivor of an attack on an isolated village. When the master who discovers him in the arms of his mother, who died protecting him, meets his gaze...

Ōgai's promise

The one-shot opens on the scene from the original manga, at the foot of the Seitei Jūjiryō, before going back to the origins. In the ruins of a village devastated by raiders, Ōgai and his men find only one survivor, an infant whose mother protected him even in death. Upon meeting the child's gaze, the master is struck by what he glimpses within it, and he takes him away.

Souther grows up in the village, cherished by his master, who even gives him a small pre-war toy car. At the bedside of the ailing Ōgai, the child learns of his destiny: to be the sole inheritor of Nanto Hōōken, the school with a single line of succession, and to one day lead the Nanto on the path to hegemony. He refuses in tears; he wants to stay by his master's side forever. Ōgai places his hand on him and speaks the promise that structures the entire story: "Become strong, stronger than anyone, stronger than this Ōgai. Then you will finally understand. Even when my body has perished, my soul will be forever with your fist." Years of training pass. Then, in the rain, Ōgai dies against his grief-stricken pupil, and his final words at last reveal his secret: he had seen in the infant's eyes the star of the Southern Cross, the seal of the successors, and his soul would henceforth accompany that fist.

The future stars of the Nanto are gathered at the palace, and the astonishment is universal: the successor of the most powerful school of the Nanto is a teenager. Shû observes; the young Rei listens as his tutor points out the one who may hold the future of the Nanto. A man named Gorai challenges the legitimacy of the chosen successor and demands a demonstration. Souther calmly accepts, even offering to face all the fighters present, and strikes Gorai down in a single exchange when the latter charges. In the silence that follows, he turns his back, and his gaze falls upon the statues of the palace. Did his master train him for this? No. His path will be to achieve the hegemony the Nanto has never achieved and, when the time comes, to bury the Hokuto with his master's fist, an ultimate tribute to Ōgai. Before the crowd, he then proclaims his name and his law: whoever stands in his way, even a brother, will be struck down. The story finally rejoins the Seitei Jūjiryō of the original manga, where Souther falls before Kenshiro. The final page shows Ōgai's face in the clouds, above the falling body, and closes the promise.

An absolute loyalty

Nanto of Meet belongs to the vein of Ichigo Aji gaiden that take a character from the original manga to reveal their dramatic background, but here it thinks bigger and tells the origins of the Nanto school. The introductory page of the volume presents it as the sequel to HEART of Meet and claims an inverse construction. It plays on the contrast: the previous one revealed everything from the opening, while this one saves everything for the last of its eighteen pages.

The figure of Ōgai acquires a genuine paternal presence, and his promise of union with Souther's fist provides a key to reading the canonical character. The hegemonic path of the Holy Emperor is no longer merely an appetite for power, but the testamentary fulfillment of a surrogate father's last wish, and his death at the Seitei Jūjiryō, long read as a tragic end, becomes the culmination of an absolute loyalty.

The first meeting of the five stars foreshadows the bonds and tensions of the original manga, in particular the fate of Shû, who will later sacrifice his eyes to spare the young Kenshiro before being executed by Souther at the Seitei Jūjiryō. Two "Secret of the Holy Emperor" inserts weave the series' humor into the drama, one listing the adult Souther's measurements in the style of an idol profile, the other dubbing the cause of his reversed organs the "Souther gene." A final insert, in the style of a treasure hunt, identifies the man at Shû's side and reveals that the toy car given by Ōgai is the one that was plunging into the curry in the first volume.