Tetsuo Hara Writes About Friendship with Hirohiko Araki

The manga artist of Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken), Tetsuo HaraTetsuo HaraTetsuo Hara is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for being the illustrator of the manga Fist of the North Star alongside writer Buronson, its prequel Fist of the Blue Sky, and Keiji. Hara is known for influencing JoJo's Bizarre Adventure in multiple ways, most notably with the..., wrote a column about his friendship with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure‘s manga artist, Hirohiko ArakiHirohiko ArakiHirohiko Araki, born Toshiyuki Araki, is a Japanese manga artist and the author of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. He made his debut in 1980 with his one-shot Poker Under Arms, and began his professional career with the short series Cool Shock B.T., Baoh the Visitor, and Gorgeous Irene. Araki's biggest series,.... The Nikkei newspaper, also known as The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, published it today in Japanese on August 17, 2024.

“If it’s with Araki” – Tetsuo Hara

The manga artist Hirohiko Araki is one year older than me, and we both debuted in “Weekly Shonen Jump” around the same time. We first met at a manga award party shortly after our debuts, and even back then, he was a charming and handsome guy. Our respective editors were close friends during our Jump days, and many of my assistants even went to work for him after my series ended.

In Araki’s masterpiece “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure,” there are unique standing poses called “JoJo Poses.” Coincidentally, I also drew distinctive standing poses in “Fist of the North Star,” but the “JoJo Poses” were a step ahead. This led me to create even more elaborate poses as well. There’s only one “royal road.” Looking back, we might have subconsciously influenced each other in our pursuit of that.

I don’t have a wide circle of friends, but my friendship with Araki has been a rare, long-lasting one. Our wives are also close. We recently had dinner together as couples twice. We both have a knack for satire, and it’s fun to sarcastically insult each other. In 2017, we did a public talk event together. I rarely make public appearances, but I agreed to it because it was with Araki.

Since I usually work as a manga artist on stories written by others, I’ve learned a lot about storytelling from Araki’s books. When I told him this recently, he said, “Please make that widely known,” so I’m using the space on this page to do just that.

Tetsuo Hara and Buronson’s Fist of the North Star was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1983 to 1988. Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure began serialization in December 1986. Hirohisa OnikuboHirohisa OnikuboHirohisa Onikubo is a Japanese manga artist and former assistant to Hirohiko Araki. He is credited as co-author of The Lives of Eccentrics, and was a chief assistant during the publication of Battle Tendency and Stardust Crusaders. He currently assists with the TV adaptation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by David... was Tetsuo Hara’s chief assistant for Fist of the North Star before becoming Araki’s during the publication of JoJo‘s second and third parts, Battle TendencyBattle TendencyBattle Tendency is the second part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from November 1987 to March 1989 under the title of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 2 Joseph Joestar: His Proud Lineage, and was collected into eight volumes by Jump Comics. The title Battle... and Stardust CrusadersStardust CrusadersStardust Crusaders is the third part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from March 1989 to April 1992 under the title of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3 Jotaro Kujo: Heritage for the Future, and was collected into seventeen volumes by Jump Comics. The part..., respectively.

The public talk event Hara referred to took place on September 8, 2017 for Weekly Shonen Jump‘s 50th anniversary.

One of Araki’s books is Hirohiko Araki’s Manga TechniquesHirohiko Araki's Manga TechniquesHirohiko Araki's Manga Techniques is a book written by Hirohiko Araki. In the book, Araki discusses the techniques used for creating manga, along with developing stories and world-building. The book was released on April 17, 2015 in Japan. An English release for the book, titled Manga in Theory and Practice: The..., which released on April 17, 2015. In that book, Araki discusses the “royal road” to creating manga. Araki continued the book in JOJO magazine‘s 2022 WINTER and 2023 WINTER issues.

Araki also recently brought up his friendship with Hara on May 17, 2024, in his comment for The JOJOLandsThe JOJOLandsThe JOJOLands is the ninth and current part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It was announced in the September 2021 issue of Ultra Jump on August 19, 2021, and began serialization in the March 2023 issue on February 17, 2023. In contemporary Hawaii, Jodio Joestar, a 15-year-old boy living in Honolulu,... chapter 15 in the Ultra Jump June 2024 issue. “I went out to eat with Tetsuo Hara, the illustrator of Fist of the North Star. I think we’re pretty close friends. (laughs)”