Hokuto no Ken 2

I'm so glad to be done with Fist of the North Star. A continuation of the original series it is still such a slog to get through having plot holes left and right, boring characters, and being ugly to look at. It may be a classic, but Fist of the North Star should be left in the past.

The original anime was a simple martial arts succession story. Part two makes it overly complicated by adding primogeniture elements through an entirely new country. Arc one is follows the traditions laid out for the first 100 episodes but now everyone is ten years older. Ken returned after ... Yuria's death to find Bat and Lin leading a revolution against the Celestial Emporer. I know what your thinking, "that doesnt sound too bad; the kids grew up and have agency in the story." You'd be wrong. Bat and Lin don't matter in the slightest until the plot twist at the end of the arc. Lin then becomes the prize for the next arc because of her genetics and because woman. Bat is completely written out after the arc ends making me question the point of his existence in the first place. The reveal for who the Celestial Emporer is predictable, lame, and doesn't add any extra elements to the story. The second arc is where the plot really falls apart. Ken goes to the land of Asura to save Lin also learning about his past and the origins to the Fist of the North Star. Ken liberating Asura of its rulers is fine, but they retconned established canon in easily avoidable ways. I won't get into it to avoid spoilers, but even a little critical thought or a glimpse at the Crunchyroll comment section will make you realize how poorly the story is being told. The final episode especially pissed me off with Kaioh and Ken's final words being either creepy or contradicting everything they just did. The worst part of this show is how women are treated like objects. Women exist to love men and give them something to fight for. They aren't allowed to fight for themselves or be independent; women must love man and have child. For example, Mamiya briefly came back and was told not to fight by Ken when her village was literally being destroyed without anyone there to protect it. The moment she pulls out a weapon to fight back and not be killed is when Ken comes out of nowhere telling her to keep her promise to Rei. There aren't many redeeming qualities with the themes and a plot hole filled story isn't enough to fix it.

My hope with poorly told stories is that at least the characters would be entertaining enough to rescue it. Not in Fist of the North Star. I've already talked about how women are treated as objects, but the men aren't much better. They're always stoic and unfeeling, never wanting to express their true emotions or fueled by hatred and violence. Ken especially contributes to the themes of toxic masculinity. He's both physically and mentally strong with big muscles and not letting his emotions dictate his battles. He will either kill his enemy or give them a few minutes for final words because they earned his respect from their strength. He sheds a few tears only if somebody dies, but otherwise doesn't make his emotions public. Falco, Ein, Shachi, and Hyoh were typical side characters for this show. They fell in love with Ken (subtextually but not actually because everyone wants a woman) then do what most side characters in until now have done. The villains are lame too; Jakoh is an obviously weak waste of space and Kaioh hates love like Souther before him. There is not a single new character that really stuck out to me and the only one I somewhat cared about was Hyoh.

The animation wasn't quite as bad as part one. Maybe it was because I knew what to expect, but I didn't want to rip my eyes out this time. It was still messy for the most part with important fights receiving the bulk of the budget. The fights are animated well enough for the 80s but obviously dated. Fist of the North Star, like other anime of this era, fell into the Dragon Ball style of fights where character collect their energy/fighting spirit/spiritual pressure/ etc and trade blows before talking for awhile. This anime is from the 80s, so I cut it some slack for being ugly. It's still ugly though.

The sound remains the best part about Fist of the North Star. It's an absolutely iconic soundtrack that'll get you humming along even if you aren't enjoying yourself. The opening "Tough Boy" manages to be cheesier than "We Are Shock" by singing about fighting in the 90s despite neither the anime coming out in the 90s or taking place during that period due to the time skip. The voice acting continues to be mediocre and a lot of the background voices from part one remain the same. Overall, the soundtrack carries.

I'm so ready to be done with this anime. I would often sigh when thinking about watching the next few episodes and want to watch other anime instead. However, I tend to watch one long running show at a time, so it felt like something I couldn't escape. Fist of the North Star should really be left in the past. From what I've seen it mostly revolutionized the industry in terms of how violence was depicted. It really is senseless killing and heads exploding for the majority of the 152 episodes. This anime appeals to a certain type of audience. Like I said in my review of part one, I would have really enjoyed this in high school. I've grown up since then and am no longer the target audience. If you're a young, conservative, white man I think you'll really like this and it will reinforce the beliefs you already have about the functions of men and women in society. These themes about societal roles is the primary thing not making me want to recommend this to anybody, even the target audience. Don't watch it because you recognize the meme beyond episode 1. I wouldn't quite call it a waste of time, but if you really want to experience this story then read the manga where at least the art is good and you can get through it quicker.

Plot: 4/10
Characters: 4/10
Art: 5/10
Sound: 8/10
Enjoyment: 4/10
Overall: 5.1/10