Fist of the North Star (1986)

A practitioner of the deadly martial art "Hokuto Shinken" allies with two children and an expert in "Nanto Suicho-Ken" to fight against the rivals who kidnapped his lover and threaten the prosperity of mankind.

Director:

Toyoo Ashida

Writers:

Buronson (comic), Tetsuo Hara (comic)

Stars:

Akira Kamiya, Yuriko Yamamoto, Kenji Utsumi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Akira Kamiya	...	Kenshiro (voice)
Yuriko Yamamoto	...	Yuria (voice)
Kenji Utsumi	...	Raoh (voice)
Chikao Ohtsuka	...	Jagi (voice)
Toshio Furukawa	...	Shin (voice)
Kaneto Shiozawa	...	Rei (voice)
Tomiko Suzuki	...	Lin (voice)
Teiyû Ichiryûsai	...	Bat (voice) (as Mie Suzuki)
Arisa Andô	...	Airi (voice)
Junji Chiba	...	Ryuken (voice)
Hidekatsu Shibata	...	Zeed (voice)
Junpei Takiguchi	...	Heart (voice)
Takeshi Aono	...	Fox (voice)
Hiroshi Ôtake	...	Jackal (voice)
Daisuke Gôri	...	Uyghur (voice)

Storyline

After a nuclear holocaust tears the world apart, mankind is forced to the harshness of not only the oppression of others who are much more powerful, but the dead earth which seems to be getting worse with every passing moment. But a savior has risen from the ashes, a man who will defeat those who would torment the weak and make the world a livable place once more. A man named Kenshiro.....

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Plot Keywords:

anger | antihero | blindness | blood on hand | fool | 

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Taglines:

You're already dead!

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vampire Hunter D of the 1985 anime movie of the same name makes a cameo appearance as a villager in the scene where Raoh's second-in-command, Uighur, reveals the pot of flowers to the people. Toyoo Ashida, the director of the film, directed Vampire Hunter D one year prior to directing the anime Hokuto No Ken movie.

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Goofs

At one point during his fight with Raoh, Kenshiro's arm bands are back on even though moments earlier they ripped off when he activates his Hokuto Shinken, a moment later they vanish again.

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Quotes

Yuria: Shin. At one time you were Ken's closest friend. He trusted and respected you. When your were chosen as fist of the south star, he was glad for you, glad for his friend's success but you were never really his friend were you?
Shin: Yes I was, but then he left and when he came back he brought you. First time I saw you I knew you would be mine someday and that day has come!

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Alternate Versions

The English Streamline Pictures dub (released in the UK by Manga Video) features a drastically altered script from the Japanese original. The exact nature of the Hokuto Shinken and Nanto Seiken schools (North Star and South Star in the English dub) are never fully explained and Yuria's Nanto heritage is never mentioned. The English dub also features an instrumental version of the ending theme, Purple Eyes, instead of the vocal version by Kodomo Band in the Japanese original.

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Connections

Remade as Fist of the North Star (1995)

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Soundtracks

Heart of Madness
Written by Tsuyoshi Ujiki
Performed by Kodomo Band

User Reviews

The best Fist Of The North Star there is

I've just got through watching the first 36 episodes of the TV series of Fist Of The North Star on DVD and until a couple of days ago i thought the TV series came after the movie. The movie comes after the TV series. I have to admit that even though the series has more info and detail about the fighting styles etc i think that the movie is slightly better. It has better animation, better voice acting (in English) and is less repetitive. I watched the movie just over ten years ago and was quite literally blown away by it. It has action, adventure, comedy, gore, thrills, spills and for those people disgusted by the sex scenes in Urotsukidoji you'll be happy to know that FOTNS is sex free.

FOTNS is obviously to some extent based on Mad Max but a heck of a lot better. Only thing that bugs me (just like the series) is that the gore scenes are usually blurred or we see peoples shadows exploding. Kind of annoying. Also there seems that there are a few gaps in it which makes me wonder if there has been a scene or two edited out or cut down (atleast in the UK version).

I'll quickly give a brief summary of the story. It's about a guy called Ken who must get his girlfriend back from his former best friend Shin who beat up Ken, kidnapped his girlfriend and left him for dead. Ken walks through the barren wasteland (it's set after a nuclear war) and kills bad guys with his style of fighting. If he punches anybody they explode shortly after. In the meantime his eldest brother Raoh has amassed an army and is trying to conquer the world. There are also a couple of sub plots. One has this guy called Rei (or Ray?) looking for his sister and is also looking for the guy responsible for kidnapping her.

All this leads to an explosive finale. Fist Of The North Star along with Urotsukidoji is my favourite Japanese anime movie of all time. A definite must see but avoid the American live action film. That sucked the big one for sure. This great anime gets a perfect 10/10 from me.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

27 September 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fist of the North Star

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shueisha, Toei Animation, Toei Company

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White (some footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1