While the shonen genre prides itself on high-testosterone battles, larger-than-life characters and unique worlds, it also is where tears pour like waterfalls from the eyes of heroes. No other series has perfected the art of 'manly tears' like the manliest of them all: Fist of the North Star.
What is Fist of the North Star?
The epitome of macho mayhem and unbridled badass-ness, Fist of the North Star takes place in post-apocalyptic world, a stage for jaw-dropping battles and martial arts that allows one guy to make another explode with a single punch.
The series stars a powerful drifter named Kenshiro, a man who has mastered the forbidden martial art of Hokuto Shinken, Kenshiro walks North Star's end-of-days landscape, dishing out justice against those who prey on its citizens. Kenshiro is the textbook-definition of tough: he can survive being shot in the chest by a crossbow, remove hollow needles from his body by flexing, and even have a skyscraper fall on his head, only for him to emerge from the dust unharmed.
Hokuto Shinken, Explained
Hokuto Shinken is a technique that targets an opponent's pressure points. While its main purpose is assassination, Hokuto Shinken also allows its wielder to focus their energy and make their body harder than steel. This defensive ability is fueled by anger, and Kenshiro's rage is enough to make the entirety of Hell check under its bed for him. By concentrating his anger (and, again, Ken has a lot of it) he can withstand being hit point-blank in the face with a concrete pole and only suffer a scratch on his brow. Protection against conventional attacks isn't its only use: Hokuto Shinken also lets protects its user from pressure-point attacks similar to the technique's own.
The martial art itself is the product of kung-fu insanity: punches and kicks shatter steel, skulls and whole buildings. Watching the enemies of Kenshiro explode in arterial sprays of blood is the most morbid yet fascinating display of manliness in the entirety of shonen. Kenshiro needs only his body and his fists to utterly obliterate his foes. Weapons are next to useless against him. Whenever he's about to throw down and square up against an opponent, he unleashes a bone-rattling yell and his shirt slowly disintegrates into nothingness, revealing seven scars across his torso.
Massive Musclemen and Tears
North Star is a series almost always associated with overwhelming manliness and masculinity, but for all the chest-hair-growing action and overwhelming testosterone, there is a level of sensitivity to back up the raw displays of toughness. North Star subverts expectations by proving that yes, men do cry, that it's normal for tough guys to shed tears and that sorrow is an emotion so powerful that not even Kenshiro himself can resist it.
Crying is often associated with weakness, but in reality, it's the exact opposite: it takes real strength to reveal vulnerability. The trope of 'manly tears' is especially present in the shonen genre, where crying and weakness help make characters more relatable, as well as toning down the adrenaline and hype of big confrontations, giving everyone a chance to really feel just how high the stakes are.
A Power Stronger than Hokuto Shinken
Before the phrase 'manly tears' entered public consciousness, tears flowed freely from the chiseled, masculine faces of North Star. Kenshiro is far from a bland, unfeeling, Gary Stu protagonist. While he can make people explode with a poke, it's his ability to give in to sadness that is the most memorable of his character's traits.
During his showdown with his adopted brother Shin, Kenshiro learns that his lover Yuria has forgotten him. For all the hell Kenshiro has trudged through, this is more than he can handle, and he whispers through the tears that it no longer matters if she remembers him or not, so long as she's happy. In another display of macho tenderness, Kenshiro stands before the grave of Ein, a bounty-hunter turned friend who once hunted down Kenshiro, only to become his companion. Asuka, the daughter of Ein, stands alongside her father's friend, not even shedding a tear. She believes that, if she were to cry, her father wouldn't be able to rest. Kenshiro responds to this by embracing her in a hug and crying enough for the both of them.
It's not just Kenshiro who can cry manly tears. His eldest brother Raoh, who is also learned in the art of Hokuto Shinken, isn't just a one-note antagonist. Known as 'Ken-0h,' a tyrannical overlord who seeks to rule of the post-apocalyptic landscape, Raoh's purpose pits him not only against Kenshiro, but against vicious bandit gangs who also want to rule the world for themselves. When he and Kenshiro finally square up, not long after Raoh's murder of one of Kenshiro's friends, the sentimental payoff is gargantuan. Kenshiro throws down against his elder adopted brother and what follows is the most titanic, blood-spurting display of machismo and mixed emotions. The fight concludes with Raoh's defeat and, in his final moments, he embraces his youngest sibling, tears rolling down his face. "I HAVE NO REGRETS!" he screams, raising his fist in the air, expelling his life-force and dissipating the fog hanging over the ruined town, leaving a beautiful sunset.