Riki-Oh

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Riki Oh, Violence Hero Riki-Oh, Kirinji, New York Dust

Japanese: 力王

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 12

Chapters: 77

Status: Finished

Published: 1988 to 1990

Genres: Action, Adventure

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Business Jump

Authors: Saruwatari, Tetsuya (Art), Takajou, Masahiko (Story)

Statistics

Score: 6.76¹ (scored by 1,547 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #12790²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #4456

Members: 5,001

Favorites: 57

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Wikipedia

6.76

Ranked #12790Popularity #4456Members 5,001

MangaBusiness JumpSaruwatari, Tetsuya (Art), Takajou, Masahiko (Story)

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Volumes: /12

Chapters: /77

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Synopsis

In the late 1990s, with society descending into totalitarianism and anarchy, comes Saiga Riki-Oh, a lone wolf devoted to rooting out people's evil karma. To reconnect with a long-lost brother and solve the mystery behind the separated family and its relation to the Star of David on his hand, he punches through gangsters, corrupt martial artists, and more, all while drawing an equal number of hotblooded supporters and insane enemies.

(Source: unami)

Included one-shots:
Volume 11: Kirinji
Volume 12: New York Dust

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Background

In 1991, the series was adapted into the live-action Hong Kong film Riki Oh: The Story of Ricky.

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Reviews

Apr 13, 2009

Beatnik

Recommended

Saiga Riki-Oh is 21. He is in prison for just his first offense. He received a three year sentence for assault, and was imprisoned the year previous. He possesses a robust body, superior intelligence, and a remarkably violent nature. He is marked as a particularly dangerous criminal requiring special attention.

He has five bullets stuck in his chest.

One time, Riki-Oh punches a dude so hard his arm goes elbow deep into flesh till his fist tears out the other side. Minutes later he punches another dude so hard the man's ribs burst out of his side from the impact.

He has a ...

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Nov 25, 2014

THEAnimeHERO

Recommended

The story of Riki-Oh is about a "Violence Hero" whose seeks to understand his purpose and uncover his family roots, however his journey is filled with action, sorrow and a surprising religious undertone often hinting at repentance.

At first glance, Riki-Oh just seems to be about a guy who punches people and makes them die violently; just juvenile stuff. But to those familiar with manly series, know that basic plots often leads to a more developed main character; a man who embodies the traits of a good person but is willing to become violent to protect the weak and punish evil.

It goes without saying that this ... series is a seinen but feels like a shonen most of the time. This is due to the story being heavily influenced by Fist Of The North Star aka Hokuto no Ken. Riki-Oh as a character definitely bears strong resemblance to Kenshiro but thankfully the series is vastly different from the Hokuto no Ken series, however I personally like to label Riki-Oh as an "unofficial prequel" to Fist Of The North Star.

Much of the content in Riki-Oh is action heavy as the first story arc takes place in prison which often leads to Riki-Oh to kill a villainous thug or martial artist. That alone is enough to draw a comparison to Hokuto no Ken but the series often make obvious "references" with a good example is our main character Riki-Oh Saiga whose a martial artist bearing 5 bullets in his chest and a Star of David on his fist much like Kenshiro's 7 scars shaped like the big dipper and is martial artist, etc. Furthermore, the world of Riki-Oh is on the verge of being placed in a apocalyptic setting due to the high death toll caused by radioactivity. These factors along with the story's structure of a manly hero violently killing villains with his fists makes Riki-Oh a series to cater to shonen fans, specifically those who enjoy a 1980's shonen.

That being said, you don't have to be a fan of Fist Of The North Star to enjoy this series as there's some good and bad in Riki-Oh. The basic plot is Riki-Oh searching for the whereabouts of his brother, but along the way the tone takes a turn for a more religious story involving the life of his father. Taking this a step at a time, Riki-Oh can be separated into 3 arcs the first being in prison, the 2nd involving his brother and last the tale involving his father. Out of the 3, the father story is the one that brings some questionable writing as it feels a bit out of place but is taken very seriously that it leaves me a bit flustered whether to accept or not. I'm getting ahead of myself so let me elaborate on the early chapters.

The Prison Arc begins rather simple but enjoyable as it mainly follows a bad guy of the week formula where Riki-Oh just battles random prisoners but thankfully the series manages to make this starting point quite entertaining due to its violence. Being nicknamed "Violence Hero", Riki-Oh certainly lives up to his name as every battle involves over-the-top violence such as flying jaws, flying eyes, flying brains, flying hearts- everything goes flying when hit by Riki-Oh!! Much of the fun factor in this series is the amazing yet disturbing fight scenes involving the total obliteration of the human body. The gore in this series is drawn with very realistic detail making anyone cringe at certain fight scenes. While the series does develop into more insightful material, the violence in Riki-Oh is here to stay, promising to deliver some gory mayhem.

In terms of story, the prison arc certainly helps in understanding the mindset of our hero and establishes the vulgar and gritty world that is Riki-Oh as it explores corruption and the evils of men. Once the arc finishes, it heads into more supernatural territory often involving science fiction. Basically, the series introduces cyborgs, giant elephants, mutant-like villains, and some martial arts ki energy. This shift in tone is a bit sudden but the series was already over-the-top to begin with so these additions aid its unique setting. This content is featured in the "Brother Arc" as this is arguably the best part of the Riki-Oh series. While most manly series have an emphasis on tragedy and grief, Riki-Oh is a character who is filled with regret which separates him from plenty of characters even those outside of shonen. What I never hear from people talking about this series is Riki-Oh's personal struggle with his past sin and how he is willing to repent. Riki-Oh abandoned his brother for wealth thereby establishing a hero with genuine guilt, which is something that isn't explored that often (Rurouni Kenshin being the best example). In short, Riki-Oh's character is explored in this arc as he confronts his brother along with facing his mistakes. This dilemma places Riki-Oh as a self-loathing character who seeks for punishment rather than forgiveness and that itself is very remarkable. While Riki-Oh does belittle his own life as insignificant and foul, I felt the story helped Riki-Oh discover his identity as a human being; nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes. Many events occur in this arc that it nearly felt as the series should've ended here with the battle between the two brothers but for better or worse the series continues for one more arc involving his father.

The last arc is the longest of the three and at times feels a bit unnecessary as most of the content are random fights showing off the badass feats of Riki-Oh. What makes the last arc questionable are its plot twist involving a lot of religious content with both Jewish and Christian sects. I don't want to spoil things, but the remainder of the story does add a bit of humanity to Riki-Oh's soul as he now has a purpose to rid the world of evil. The problem is if these plot twists can be taken seriously or at least be found believable to some extent. While this manga does indeed have multiple outrageous elements that do require some disbelief, the story does feel a bit made up on the spot. A good example of this is Riki-Oh's sensei who seems to know everything in the story but never tells his student such important plot points till the last second. There's also some character death scenes that are abrupt and don't feel tragically emotional as the author certainly intended. I'm confused in whether to say that the final chapters had bad writing as these events help Riki-Oh develop more into a human being which also gives fourth his identity as a character. The author certainly took these turns very seriously but I never found it as shock value nor did I feel too bothered by the conclusion. I guess its one of those moments where I feel the author may not have planned everything out but somehow pulls it off with the challenges their characters' face. These extra scenarios allowed for Riki-Oh to understand himself and found his purpose in life. He also learned the importance of forgiveness to others and to himself. So I feel the last chapters may come as jarring for some readers but it doesn't ruin the story as a whole.

Riki-Oh is a great series thats pays huge tribute to Fist Of The North Star, but sadly the story never had a villain that can be considered anyone's favorite. While every enemy certainly played their part well in the story, I personally would've liked the series to had more "major" antagonists as most of them are just fodder when compared to Riki-Oh. Despite that little nitpick, Riki-Oh should be considered a manly classic to fans of manly series and should be entertaining to anyone reading this series.

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May 24, 2021

Shellshock123

Mixed Feelings

oh boi where to begin

This is the kind of series you have to shut your brain off. Any attempt to understand the story will simply backfire on you.

There are 5 main arcs in this series. Every arc feels like the last one. Everytime your like ok now this is the end. turns out there is a bigger bad waiting for you.

The story changes per arc. Mostly because the information isn't revealed then. At first its prison break. Than its underground fighting, than its something, than its something else. You think this series is crazy now? Wait till you read the next chapter. There is ... so much bullshit in this series im astounded that i thought for even a moment that this series can't get crazier.

The first 2 arcs of this series are a bit mundane but thats because the series doesn't accept itself for what it is. The series is very stupid with a lot of over the top bullshit. But it takes itself seriously. As such campy moments aren't that fun, and the emotional moments in the series have 0 impact. It kinda sucks it takes so long for the series to get together.

Though there are still crazy ass moments that are enjoyable there are just spread too thin in the first 2 arcs. Also the fact that there is supposed to be the emotional tone that doesn't really work.

I did enjoy the last 3 arcs. They weren't spectacular or anything. But it seems like the author accepted the fact that this is a stupid series and as such should go crazy. Though i do believe that he went absolute batshit in the last arc. I'd say it in more detail but that would be spoiling the ending.

As far as the action, its as crazy as you'd expect from the 80's. Its absurdly violent and there is so much blood you think everyone is holding a ketchup bottle. The main character Riki is absolutely ridiculous. He punches characters and the other side of there body explodes. The MC gets shot and is fine 5 seconds later because he missed all his vitals and only scratched his heart. His powers are also absolutely inconsistent. He can break steel and bend iron yet he can't handle a couple punches.

There is this Ki thing which is basically this manga's Ex-machina. Enemy too strong? Just use Ki. You need some sort of extremly specific power that won't be mentioned ever again? Use Ki to channel it. and so on, and so on. I mean at least it looks cool.

The story falls apart (Even more so than it already had) at the end but by then i don't care. Like who gives a shit about the story when you have a characters that chokes people by using his own intestines that he brought out from his own stomach in the heat of battle. This is one of the calmer scenes before it turns into dragon ball z.

If the art reminds you of the Fist of the North star thats because the artist was an assisstant for HARA Tetsuo. No doubt he picked up a few tricks

Despite the campy fun for the later half of the series. It just isn't good enough. I think they wasted too much time on exposition and other uncessary components for it to be enjoyable as a whole.

TLDR: The tone of the series kept changing from serious to campy ruining the flow. Amongst other issues. 5/10

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why is the score so low if the ratings are so high? Neostorm-X - Jan 25, 2020	7 replies	by Kunii »» Apr 7, 2022 8:38 PM
Included one-shots: Kirinji and N.Y. Dust EterTC - Jun 15, 2020	0 replies	by EterTC »» Jun 15, 2020 8:47 AM
Poll: Riki-oh Chapter 75 Discussion ZetaZaku - Sep 24, 2012	3 replies	by solar901 »» Sep 9, 2016 4:07 PM
Poll: Riki-oh Chapter 71 Discussion ZetaZaku - Sep 24, 2012	1 replies	by solar901 »» Sep 9, 2016 2:55 PM
Poll: Riki-oh Chapter 69 Discussion ZetaZaku - Sep 24, 2012	1 replies	by solar901 »» Sep 9, 2016 2:40 PM

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