When mangakas need to pick a title for their work, they inevitably go for a fully Japanese name. Although more international names have hit the market recently, it is imperative that most of the stories be translated abroad. Today we see them Fall of Hokuto no Ken - Ken the warrior.
Buronson and Tetsuo Hara decided on that in the 1980s Name Hokuto no Ken, written with the kanji 北斗 の 拳. In Italy, manga and anime were called Ken the Warrior, but it's actually not a faithful translation. Let's see the meaning of the name Hokuto no Ken together.
- 北斗: i The first two Kanji are "Hokuto". when close. By separating them we have k "Kita" which means "north" and is used in combination with other kanji to change the reading. The second is instead ts "tsu" or "to" and symbolizes an old reading unit that reads about 18 liters and that could be inspired by the capacity of the car. The combination of these two kanji is exactly Hokuto, which refers to the Big Dipper that is part of the Ursa Major constellation.
- の: This character is not a kanji, but belongs to the hiragana, an alphabet of syllables that is often used to indicate the particles between the different words. In this case the character "no" can be translated as "di".
- 拳: The last kanji is "Ken" instead, which we saw recently in the explanation of the translation of the Kaioken. Ken means punch or punch.
By combining the three parts of the name one could translate the title as "fist of the big dipper". The Italian title Ken the Warrior has instead opted for a completely different solution, while the case of the English title "Fist of the North Star", which partly retains the original title, but is still different. incorrect in part "North Star", as the North Star belongs to the Ursa Minor constellation instead. Did you know the real name of Kenshiro?
