Fist of the Northstar
(Manga U.K. PAL Region 2 DVD Boxed Set)
(1984)
review by Blackgloves

"Fist Of The North Star" was an ultra-violent, post-apocalyptic, martial-arts anime series produced in the mid-eightes by Toei Animation. Based on a popular Japanese comic strip, the first series ran for 109 episodes on Japanese television and spawned a sequel that ran for another 46 episodes; both feature-length live-action and anime versions were also produced. With the Western boom in anime showing little sign of abating, Manga Entertainment have licensed the first thirty-six episodes of the original TV series and created an English dub which replaces the rather dated eighties action music that graced the original (for the purists, the original Japanese dub track is also included for all the episodes) with a pounding drum & bass soundtrack which certainly helps in creating the illusion that this is a brand, spanking-new series rather than an anime blast from the past. The searing title music which accompanies selected scenes depicting the show's hero beating seven shades of shit out a plethora of mutant bikers and various monsters, nicely sets the tone for what is to come -- and although Japanese animation techniques have moved on since this series originally aired, it is still eminently watchable; the violence levels may be rather tame by contemporary anime standards but they still go way beyond what is considered the norm in the West -- indeed, this box set has been rated 18 because of some of the graphically violent content and several volumes have even been cut by a few seconds!

The series follows the adventures of Kenshirô: master of the two-thousand year old martial art of Hoto Shin Ken -- a technique so powerful that only one carefully selected student is allowed to study and practice it at any one time. Kenshirô is the forty-sixth practitioner of the art, but its awesome force is countered and balanced by Nanto Sei Ken -- an equally powerful martial art technique which is practised by Kenshirô's best friend, Shin. Both have been taught their opposing, ying/yang skills by the same master on the understanding that the two techniques must always be used in combination -- never against each other!

Unfortunately, upon the death of the master of the Hotushin school, Ken and Shin come into conflict over the love of a woman. Ken has pledged his heart to Julia -- and they plan to make a life together; but Shin is also in love with the same woman, even though she only has eyes for Ken. When he spys Ken and Julia together, jealousy consumes him and he engages Ken in battle. Shin's ruthlessness enables him to overcome his former friend, who is left crippled and helpless. He forces Julia to pledge undying love to him by torturing Ken -- plunging his fingers into his chest with the force of bullets which leave seven scars in the shape of the "big dipper" constellation on Ken's chest. Shin abducts Julia, leaving Ken for dead in the desert. But the desire for revenge enables Kenshirô to drag himself out of Hell, and he sets out on a lonely quest to kill Shin and be reunited with his beloved. From here-on-in, Kenshirô will always be known as "The Man With The Seven Scars" by all of his enemies!

The series is set against a post-apocalyptic backdrop populated by violent mutant biker gangs, and seems to have been inspired by the "Mad Max" franchise: the world has been ravaged by war, pollution and disease, leaving only a small ragbag band of human survivors to scratch a living in the desert wilderness as best they can. In this harsh lawless world, water is a prized commodity and the strong prosper at the expense of the weak. Kenshirô soon make himself known to one of these biker leaders when he rescues a young orphan girl called Lynn from his gang's clutches. The taciturn hero then meets up with Bart: a zany child-thief who is also an expert motor mechanic; he and Lynn become Kenshirô's constant companions as they journey from village to village in Bart's suped-up buggy.

Meanwhile, Shin has created a vast city in the wilderness for Julia called Southern Cross, and continues to hope that her feelings for him will one day change. But Julia continues to cling to the memory of Kenshirô and the hope that he will one day return to liberate her. Shin, with the help of his assistant, Joker, unleashes wave upon wave of attacks on Ken and his two friends, in the form of vast armies he has assembled under his leadership as King. Each episode Kenshirô does battle, against impossible odds, with these huge armies -- and each episode, with the help of his amazing Hoto Shin Ken martial arts technique, he manages to slay thousands of enemies single-handedly! Hoto Shin Ken allows Ken to utilise one-hundred per cent of his body's energy (the average human-being only utilises thirty per cent, we're helpfully told) giving him amazing strength and dexterity. He also has possession of secret knowledge concerning the placement of certain "power-points" in the human body. Pressing these in particular combinations (sometimes only the lightest touch with a finger is necessary) causes Ken's enemies to perish in a violent orgy of exploding heads, twisted spines and ruptured bodies. This means that Kenshirô is pretty much invulnerable: the character is a cross between Bruce Lee and the Incredible Hulk and combines a massive, muscular physique with gravity-defying gracefulness. The first twenty-two episodes of the six volumes included on the box set are exclusively concerned with the epic battle between Shin and Kenshirô. In half-hour bursts this is all rather entertaining stuff: Kenshirô smashes his way through innumerable foes every episode, with barely a pause for breath. Watching too many episodes back to back can become rather wearing though, as there is next to no character or plot development -- all of the creative energy of the series is spent on inventing the huge variety of powerful enemies Kenshirô is to come up against; building them up as indomitable foes; and then having Kenshirô wallop them into head-exploding oblivion at the end of each episode! "Fist Of The North Star" remains an anime classic though, and the story does take on the aura of tragic myth as the final Shin/Kenshirô death match approaches.

Manga bring this six volume box set -- comprising thirty-six episodes in total -- to DVD with two audio language tracks: the original Japanese version (with English subtitles) and the recently dubbed English language version. The English subs often give a different translation to the English language track although they seem to more-or-less retain the same meaning. Extras on each disc consist of character bios for just about every character in the series (mostly the never-ending assortment of enemies Kenshirô comes up against) and rather pointless art galleries. Each disc features the same two trailer promo-reels for other Manga titles and the original Japanese end titles -- which featured a rather sentimental sounding song instead of the ambient instrumental track on the English version. Each disc also contains an English language prologue. The viewer can watch each episode individually or choose a "play all" option which removes the title credits from all but the first episode, and the end credits from all but the last to make one two-hour long feature-length episode.

Japanese anime has progressed in sophistication since this series was made but fans of the genre will still find much cartoon bone-crunching enjoyment from this beat-em-up classic.