Animation Block: Fist of the North Star

It's been a while, but I finally finished all 152 episodes of Fist of the North Star. Quite a bit to unpack here, but right now I'll focus on the first series.



Based on the 1983 manga and created by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara, Fist of the North Star tells the story of Kenshiro, the titular fist. In 199X, nuclear war breaks out and plunges the world into chaos. Amid the fire and death a new world is born. Kenshiro is the fist of the North Star, a deadly martial art; which basically means he punch out all your blood.

The first part of the series focuses on Ken as he searches the wasteland for his lover Yuria. Sometime ago she was kidnapped (and Ken gifted with scars in the shape of the Big Dipper) by Shin, of the South Star school of marital arts. Along with the way Ken picks up sidekicks in the form of smart mouth Bat and formerly mute girl Lin.

On the first story arc alone, it's a great series. Violent and melancholy in equal measures, happy endings aren't guaranteed. And if the series had ended with that, I would have more positive things to say.

Story 2 introduces Rei, another South Star martial artist on a quest to find his sister. Rei is also the first in white haired sidekicks for Ken who die tragically. We also get more background in Ken and the bulk of the story is focused on him finding his lost older brother Toki. We also get to meet his oldest brother Raoh, who has plans to be the ruler of the century's end. There's also Jagi, but he gets his head exploded pretty soon after being introduced.

Story 3 has Ken tracking down the rest of the Southern Star, ending with the fight between Ken and Souther, the self proclaimed Holy Emperor. We also have a tone of recap episodes.

Story 4 has some issues. It seems Yuria isn't dead, but rather destined to be the mother of the new century. She's also the last general of the South Star. She's guarded by the 5 Chariot Stars, most of whom get killed rather quickly.

Which begs the question, if these guys are supposed to guard her, then how did Shin slip away with her in the first place? Raoh wants be the ruler of the world, so he prepares for a showdown with Ken.

Decent, but honestly could be have been trimmed by a few episodes. The animation by Toei is top notch; for all the good and bad this series was a landmark in animation.