Fist of The North Star (Hokuto No Ken)

SolidMike and I decided to put together a beginners guide to Anime for all those newbies who are just getting into it.  I figured to best start of this series would be to interview one of my personal favorites, "Fist of the North Star".

Why this anime has become my favorite is not just merely the fact that the main hero, Kenshiro (from where I get my name), can destroy enemies with a single blow, it's also a love story and family feud mixed in.  It's also where I learned that we could severely mess up our world by nuclear wars if we're not too careful.

There's been many versions of this anime created, sequels made, video games, and a horribly done live action version which has an interesting cast of characters like Malcolm McDowell, Downtown Julie Brown, Chris Penn and wrestling great Big Van Vader (watch it here while it lasts).  The one that I'm particularly fond of though is the 80's anime version.  It's such a classic with it's over the top violence, crappy dialog, and awesome 80's cartoon styling.

It's starts out with a quick lesson of Yin and Yang, Creation and Oblivion, Light and Dark.  "When the pendulum of life swings towards one, it must swing back towards it's opposite and thus balance of the universe is maintained."

A nuclear war breaks out, destroying the world and sending everyone back into the stone age of existence.  It's a dog eat dog world where only the strong survive.  Well, the strong and the guys who know how to make your head explode with one hit.  Enter
our hero, Kenshiro who is out on a lovely post-nuclear war stroll with his girl, Julia, when the Fist of the South, Shin, appears.  He tells Kenshiro aka Ken that Julia is his now because only the strong can survive and he is the strongest.  They fight, obviously, and Ken loses as he wasn't prepared to fight his ex-best friend.  Julia says she won't go willingly with Shin and Shin decides to change he mind by POKING HIS FINGERS into Ken's chest and by doing so makes a star pattern that looks like the big dipper!  Ken gets tossed into a ditch by his own brother Jagi, who has his own hidden evil plot, and left for dead.

Years later, I think, or maybe just a few days later I'm not sure.  Ken awakes when he hears a young girl crying out for help.  Now all of a sudden, Ken is like a mindless Golem destroying everything in his path and quickly disperses the evil gang that was hurting the young girl.  Ken vows revenge and to find his woman, Julia.

The story just keeps getting better by Ken fighting huge HUGE men that I'm guessing somehow have become mutated by the nuclear war.  He fights his own older brother Rao who has a huge army of his own and his own quest of world domination to complete.  SPOLIER ALERT, KINDA: They get into an awesome one on one fight at the end which is just a must see for all.

This anime started it all for me and I hope it does the same for you.  When you have about an hour and a half to kill, watch Kenshiro kill hundreds of men with his super 100 fist punch which I know is unnecessary if you can just punch a guy once and make his head explode.  "You're already dead!"

You are already dead.