Hokuto no ken (1986)

Director:

Toyoo Ashida

Writers:

Buronson (comic)
Tetsuo Hara (comic)

Release Date:

27 September 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear Holocaust | Teacher Student Relationship | Blood | Kidnapping | Cut Into Pieces

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Akira Kamiya	...	Kenshirô (voice)
Yuriko Yamamoto	...	Yuria (Julia) (voice)
Kenji Utsumi	...	Ken-Ô (Raoh) (voice)
Chikao Ôtsuka	...	Jagi (voice)
Toshio Furukawa	...	Shin (voice)
Kaneto Shiozawa	...	Rei (voice)
Tomiko Suzuki	...	Rin (Lynn) (voice)
Teiyû Ichiryûsai	...	Bat (Bart) (voice) (as Mie Suzuki)
Arisa Andô	...	Airi (voice)
Junji Chiba	...	Ryûken (voice)
Hidekatsu Shibata	...	Zeed (voice)
Junpei Takiguchi	...	Heart (voice)
Takeshi Aono	...	Fox (voice)
Hiroshi Ôtake	...	Jackal (voice)
Daisuke Gôri	...	Uighur (voice)

Also Known As:

Fist of the North Star

Runtime:

Spain:105 min | USA:110 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Spain:13 | Iceland:16 | USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Company:

Toei Doga

Trivia:

Ryûken's speech regarding the nature of life and death, which opens the English dub, is quoted verbatim by Jeru the Damaja on the intro to his classic album The Sun Rises in the East.

Quotes:

Brave Old Villager: Why? Why would the man who killed Zender and saved our village send these animals here to kill us? I can't believe the fist of the north star would do such a thing!
Abusive Bad Guy: Oh yeah? Guess again!
[Raises his big hammer to kill but gets forcely and unexpectedly hit by Rei]
Abusive Bad Guy: Who's that guy?
Rei: My name is Rei and I am looking for the man you describe. The man with the seven wounds who calls himself fist of the north star.
Abusive Bad Guy: I'll give you this much. You got gutts walking in like this. Give me that! So, with all due respect. I'll let you be the one who cut his head off.
Rei: That's quite an honor but I hate for you to miss all that fun on my account. Are you sure about this?
Abusive Bad Guy: Hey, what are friends for right?
[Rei easily and quickly uses the weapon on the bad guy]
Abusive Bad Guy: [Before dying] Wait a minute, I was talking about the other guy.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spin off Last Battle (1989) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Purple Eyes

An all out Martial Arts Fighting Fest!!

The Storyline Is pretty simple, or is it? Depends How you want to look at it. I think to this day that this anime/manga series is one of the best thought of and created.

Its set in 199X, a nuclear holocaust has struck. Everything is gone. Only vast wastelands are visible. Law is meaningless, only violence rules, and is also the key to survival. This is where our Vagabond Hero Kenshiro (Ken for short) Makes his appearance. He is 64th successor to the sacred martial arts "Hokuto Shinken" which translates to Great dipper God fist, or, Fist Of The North Star. He's the man who fights violence with more violence to uphold peace in the savage world of destruction. He, along with many other characters know a distinct sacred martial arts. Including Rei, who knows "Nanto Suichouken" (South Dipper Waterbird Fist) And Shin who knows "Nanto Seiken" (South Dipper Lone Eagle Fist). There's Also Jagi and Roah, Who are Ken's Brothers, Who Know Hokuto Shinken too. Now, On with the story. Basically, Shin Takes away Kenshiro's fiancé to be, Julia. He uses a torture technique of Nanto Seiken and Pokes seven holes into Kens chest to make the Big dipper constellation (Its a bad Omen in Japanese and Chinese Legends) And leaves him for dead, But ken manages to pull through, and will now do anything to get her back. This, Is the basic storyline for the movie (and the series), but as things develop, the storyline unfolds and progresses. And more things need to be taken care of by Kenshiro. What i love about this film is the artwork by Tetsuo Hara. It may be a cartoon, but the characters look like people and not like the usual Manga/anime we see today. And everyones involvement in the story is just as vital as anyone else's. I praise him for his work *bows down* The point of this film is to sum up the first 50 (out of 155) or so episodes (Eventhough only 36 were aired over in the UK) of the TV series and make it a 112 minute movie. It has some fillers from the series cut out, and have added extra bits which don't usually happen in the series so that it doesn't confuse newcomers. If you haven't seen ANY of the series then it doesn't matter. This film can be watched as a stand alone thing, Which is also what i like about it. I give this epic film a mighty 10/10! If you like this film make sure to read what you can of the manga! 47 volumes (Yipes!), 1-18 have been translated ^__^