Amazon.com: Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken, literally Ken the Great Bear Fist) which premiered on Japanese television in 1984, looks like a Saturday morning version of Mad Max starring a caricature of Sylvester Stallone. Searching for his lost love, Julia, Ken(shiro) wanders an Earth that was devastated by nuclear war. In each episode, he takes on a new sadistic motorcycle gang. (Food and water are scarce, but there's apparently plenty of gasoline.) In his travels, Ken acquires two sidekicks: Bart, a comic musician-thief, and Lynn, an adoring little girl. Ken is the last master of secret Chinese martial arts techniques: his specialty is making foes blow up from the inside. In every episode, several heads explode, actions that would be quite gory if they weren't so crudely animated. (Rated 13 and older, but more appropriate for 15 and older: considerable violence, profanity, grotesque imagery, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon
The Anime Future-World Western! In a post-nuclear future world where water and food are scarce and nothing seems to grow from the earth, those who are strongest rule. One such man is called Kenshiro, and he is the successor of the Hokuto Shinken fighting style which uses pressure points to destroy the opponent's body from within. When Ken's woman is stolen from him by his former friend, he is left for dead and his older brothers each attempt to replace him as the new Fist of the North Star. Ken is not dead, however, and returns stronger than ever. He journeys to reclaim his lost love, fighting evil gangs along the way and picking up two young sidekicks, a boy named Bart and a special little girl named Lynn. Through his quest, he is forced to do battle with his old friend and both of his brothers in an effort to defeat those who would prevent rebirth in the radiation ravaged world.
Playing out much like a spaghetti western or grindhouse flick, "Fist of the North Star" is rather entertaining in terms of action, violence, and gore. Plenty of heads explode, and superhuman strength and size seems to abound in the future. The story is rather simple, and yet the film leaves the viewers with some questions in the end about certain key characters disappearing or having out-of-nowhere changes of heart. Overall, I'd say this is worth seeing if you like grindhouse type revenge films or martial arts focused Anime, and it's definitely an important film to see for animation fans. I'm not a big fan of this particular style of Anime (I tend to prefer the cleaner looking types with lots of cute, big-eyed girls in short skirts), but this is one of the first Anime features to be a hit in the U.S. (dubbed into English in 1991), making it historically significant to the fan of film and animation. The film was originally released in 1986, and before that it was a TV series and a manga. A live-action movie and other productions have been made since. The U.S. VHS release, by the way, contains the true original ending, though some mistakenly believe the other ending is the original.
Easily One of the Best Movies; Deep Themes, Love, & Kung-Fu You have to get the original movie version, not the new or old series. This film kicks so much ass, it's an apocalyptic kung-fu movie about fighting for good instead of wasting what is left of the earth on oppression and power over others with brute force and fear. The sons of a martial arts master have all grown powerful beyond belief, and when an old friend of Ken, the youngest and noblest son, decides to demand Ken's woman out of jealousy, The Fist of the Northstar (Ken) is defeated and all of the brothers start seizing power in their own barren lands, and starts the twisted fate of the revitalisation of the Earth.
The anime series (both of them) and the original movie remake can't possibly compare at all with the greatness of the ORION japanimation movie, the whole movie has a point and uses kung-fu and love to make an interesting story about doing what's right in a new dark age of man, eventually giving hope for the fate of a better future.
What The Hell??? The reviews for this item are about the LIVE ACTION FILM and not Volume 5 of the TV series Fist Of The North Star derived from the serialized strip and manga of the same name. This review is ACTUALLY about Fist Of The North Star Volume 5 which contains episodes 29-36 in the 1984 Toei Animation series.
The 5th DVD in this collection follows the Fang Clan/Toki storyline of the series. Ken is the Heir Of Hokuto Shinken, the LONE practioner/possessor of the power of the School Of The Great Bear. This series is an offshoot of the manga. Those of you that saw the ANIME FILM FIRST WILL BE CONFUSED AS HELL BY THE SERIES!
The film came TWO YEARS AFTER THE TV SERIES WAS PRODUCED. In the film Julia/Yulia/Yuria lives. In the manga/series she dies. In the film Rei dies. In the manga/series he lives. Raoh DOES NOT MAKE AN APPEARANCE IN THE SERIES...HE IS SHOWN AND MENTIONED BUT IS NEVER ENCOUNTERED. Toki appears (sort of) in the series/manga BUT NOT IN THE MOVIE...HE IS NEVER EVEN MENTIONED! Bart (or Bat as he's known in the manga) and Lynne are with Ken throughout the 36 episodes, as are a few friends that end up dead and finish with Mamiya, the warrior woman. At the end of the series, you realize that it was made so that ANOTHER 36 EPISODES WERE FORTHCOMING...IT NEVER HAPPENED. I'll fill you in on what comes next (hint: The New Fist Of The North Star and Movie explained it).
Ken hunts for Toki, he runs into Raoh's minions and beats them all with Mamiya, Rei, Bart and Lynne in tow. He never finds Toki. Mamiya dies. Rei dies. He fights Raoh and beats him. Raoh sees he was wrong and pays respect to Ryuken's grave. He comes back and Ken becomes his advisor/counselor. Raoh has a son. Ken agrees to teach Raoh's son since he is the only heir to Hokuto Shinken. Ken leaves AGAIN to find Toki....he ends up in The New Fist Of The North Star. Confused? Of course you are! If you're not a fan of the series and need closure on how the quest pans out then don't bother yourself. If you are then you better try looking on the internet for all of the Fist stories you can find. One.
Gore Galore Fist of the Northstar is one of the very first anime that I saw. And it's one of the biggest reasons I'm into anime today. This is a great start for anyone new to anime who cherishs blood and guts with a cheesy story.
It has a decent enough story but it's the over the top violence that sells this one. Nobody I know even cares to remember the story. The battles were the bloodiest I ever seen at that time and up to today there's few that can match this one. The main character Ken practices a martial art that completely obliterates his enemies and there's others like him. The fights are furious and vicious. Most action buffs will eat this up. I will admit that this movie needs to be remastered.
This anime came out at the perfect time. The old style gritty animation and soundtrack fits this movie perfectly. This is still one of the most talked about action anime ever. This isn't for the types looking for a very deep thought driven story. Don't come into this looking for Miyazaki. Expect Ninja Scroll type killin's. But not the small bit of fan service. It's non existent here.
How are there only 5 left in stock (right now)...? Fist of the North Star is so unbelievably retardation-inducing it's hilarious. In that sense, and that sense alone, it is entertaining. But...my God, I don't even know where to begin in critiquing that show. So I'll just say the first couple of things that enter my mind. That girl, Lynn, is the most absurdly high-pitched annoyance out of all the main female characters - everytime I hear her say "Ken!, my ears feel like Kenshiro himself has punctured them. She serves as a perpetual reminder of why I converted to manga in the first place (lack of painful audio). I swear, she and the other kid must have only been put in the series to mock other anime children. Julia is not beautiful, just annoying. It's as pathetically simplistic as an NES game, but without the nostalgic or warm feelings. The artwork is horrendous.
This anime makes the Mortal Kombat movies look like martial arts masterpieces and Ranma 1/2 look serious.
As for the rest of the critique, I think it would be best for me to simply transcribe the gorgeously non-cliched script: You're already dead! You're already dead! YURIAAAAA (Julia) ! YURIAAAAA (Julia) ! YURIAAAAA (Julia) ! YURIAAAAA (Julia) ! HELL HELL HELL! Pressure point attack! Pressure point attack! Pressure point attack! Love me Julia, love me! LOVE ME! Evil bad people disturb our village! Evil bad people disturb out village!
Sorry for the spam, but I figured some would enjoy it, since some enjoy the show.
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