The nuclear war of 199X never happened. In a peaceful and modern Japan, the legendary martial artists of the Hokuto Shinken style find themselves unemployed and completely unequipped for daily life. Kenshiro, the successor of the secret art of pressure points, is a muscle-bound and emotionally distant warrior reduced to wandering the streets, hungry and desperate for any job that will have him. His eldest brother, Raoh, is an arrogant man who still declares himself the king of all he surveys, while their gentle but calculating brother, Toki, is not above using underhanded tricks to get ahead.

After Kenshiro is taken in by a young woman named Lin, he has a happy reunion with Raoh and Toki, who have also been adopted by her. The three learn that Lin’s father, Ryuken, is alive and owns a convenience store called Ryuryuken. The store is short on funds and has only one part-time position available, which has already been partially filled by Bat, a university student. The three brothers must compete for the single remaining spot. Their struggle to understand basic societal norms and hold down a job is complicated further by their rivalry with the South Star District, a group led by the manipulative and often naked Shin, who also harbors a crush on the beautiful Yuria.

The first season of the series focuses on the absurd misadventures of Kenshiro, Raoh, and Toki as they vie for the convenience store job. Episodes feature them attempting to run a festival booth, dealing with stalkers, getting scammed, and even building a house after being evicted. The humor is largely slapstick, derived from their inability to function in a world without violence, where techniques like the North Star Stray Cat Fist or the North Star Snuggle Fist are used for mundane tasks. Familiar characters from the original saga appear in new roles, such as the cold-blooded Souther now running an English cram school, and the noble Rei portrayed as a devoted father with a stocking on his head. This first story arc concludes with a battle between the North and South Stars at a Yokohama festival.

The second season shifts to a new setting, relocating the characters to End of the Century Academy. Kenshiro is mistaken for a transfer student and must navigate school life, with Shin seeking to become student council president. The brothers are given missions by the school’s owner, Ryuken, which include fixing a clock tower, retrieving band-aids from the nurse’s office, and writing a new school song. Their martial arts skills remain largely useless in this environment, leading to more comedic situations as they confront school stair ghosts, go on bicycle road trips to Hokkaido, and take field trips to pyramids.