Set announcement
Fist of the North Star Artist Tetsuo Hara Draws a Second Pokémon TCG Card for Aura Seeker
A Special Art Rare of Crasher Wake's Passion joins his Palafin ex from 2024. Hara's interview explains the afterimage hands, the water droplets, and why the two cards are meant to sit side by side.
The Pokémon Company revealed a Special Art Rare of Crasher Wake’s Passion (マキシの熱血) on Nov. 6, illustrated by Tetsuo Hara, the manga artist behind Fist of the North Star. The Supporter card is in the Japanese expansion Aura Seeker, out Nov. 27, and the official reveal comes with an interview in which Hara explains how he drew it.
It’s his second Pokémon card. The first was a Special Art Rare of Palafin ex in the Japanese high-class pack Terastal Festival ex in December 2024, later printed in English as a Special Illustration Rare in Prismatic Evolutions.
Who is Tetsuo Hara?#
Hara, born in Tokyo in 1961, started Fist of the North Star with writer Buronson in 1983, and it became his biggest hit, according to the profile on the reveal. Its hero’s signature move is the Hundred-Crack Fist, a blur of punches, and Hara has brought that look to both of his Pokémon cards. Describing Palafin ex in 2024, he said he drew its fists leaving afterimages like a Hundred-Crack Fist.
How he drew Crasher Wake#
Crasher Wake is the Pastoria City Gym Leader and a pro wrestler who battles with Water types. Hara said Palafin ex had been hard, because he wanted to keep it feeling like a Pokémon while adding his own intensity. With a wrestler as the subject and that experience behind him, he enjoyed this one.
He first planned a low-angle view of Crasher Wake standing in the ring, with the ring lights behind him looking a little like the Big Dipper, the “Hokuto” of his manga’s Japanese title, Hokuto no Ken. That made the face too small, so he switched to a forward-leaning pose with a larger face. He also started with more muscle and toned it down as he revised, to match how fans picture the character.
The afterimage hands weren’t planned. They multiplied as he drew. In his own terms, he said, it’s a “thousand-hand afterimage fist.” He drew the nearest hand very large with strong perspective, with Crasher Wake leaping toward the viewer, and worked on realistic eyes. The water droplets were a mid-drawing idea too, a nod to the Water types, and he redrew them several times to get the light reflecting right.
Side by side#
Hara said he drew the two cards to sit well together, since both are about Water types. Here’s what they share and where they differ, from his two interviews and the cards themselves.
| Palafin ex (2024) | Crasher Wake’s Passion (2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | A Water-type Pokémon | A Gym Leader who battles with Water types |
| Afterimages | Fists trailing afterimages in muted colors, the main fist tinted red | Hands multiplying behind him in bright colors |
| Water and light | Light and water reflections | Water droplets catching the light |
| Toward the viewer | Big fists filling the frame | The nearest hand drawn very large as he leaps forward |
| Paint | Much thicker paint | More highlights, a cleaner finish |
Three things carry over: the afterimages, the water and light, and fists or hands pushed at the viewer. The difference Hara points to is the paint. Palafin ex was laid on much more thickly, while Crasher Wake leans on highlights for a cleaner look, and he suggests comparing the two cards’ colors and highlights.
In our data, the English Palafin ex Special Illustration Rare sells for about $38.45 on TCGplayer (via Scrydex, Nov. 6), and the Japanese Special Art Rare for about ¥1,600, or $10.46 (Scrydex, Oct. 20).
How to get it#
Aura Seeker comes out in Japan on Nov. 27 at ¥200 for a five-card pack, before Japan’s pack price increase next May. Japanese Special Art Rares usually come to English as Special Illustration Rares, as Palafin ex did. Aura Seeker’s English version is reported as Flowing Fists for February, but The Pokémon Company hasn’t announced it or whether this card is in it.
The original painting and the card go on display at the Pokémon Card Station next to Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo from Nov. 30 to Jan. 11. Hara ended the interview with a joke: he’d like to draw a “phantom third card.”