Souten no Ken (Fist of the Blue Sky)

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Alternative Titles

English: Fist of the Blue Sky

Japanese: 蒼天の拳

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 22

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Oct 5, 2006 to Mar 15, 2007

Premiered: Fall 2006

Broadcast: Unknown

Producers: TV Asahi

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: APPP

Source: Manga

Genres: Action, Historical, Martial Arts

Duration: 27 min. per ep.

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Statistics

Score: 6.69¹ (scored by 2,613 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #4940²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #5011

Members: 9,549

Favorites: 20

6.69

Ranked #4940Popularity #5011Members 9,549

Fall 2006TVAPPP

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Episodes: /22

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Synopsis

A mysterious man known as "the King of Death" roams the streets of pre-war Shanghai in this action-packed prequel to Fist of the North Star.

Shanghai in the 1930s is a dangerous place. Foreign governments and Chinese factions have carved the city into different quarters, each with its own laws and government, and all rife with corruption. As the major powers vie for political control, the streets are left to local gangs. Life is cheap, and death is always near.

In days past, one man walked these mean streets battling the forces of evil. He was known only as Yan Wang, "the King of Death." Few knew who he really was, but many knew that he was a master of Hokuto Shinken - Fist of the North Star - a lethal martial art. He disappeared years ago after dispatching the city's worst gangsters, and is now rumored to be in Japan. Various people have come to Japan in search of him, but who will find him first?

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Background

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Souten no Ken
Side story:	Souten no Ken Specials
Sequel:	Souten no Ken: Regenesis

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Kasumi, Kenshirou

Main

Yamadera, Kouichi
Japanese

Ryuuken

Supporting

Kondou, Takashi
Japanese

Mang, Kuangyun

Supporting

Yanada, Kiyoyuki
Japanese

Kitaoji, Aya

Supporting

Hisakawa, Aya
Japanese

Pan, Guanglin

Supporting

Terasoma, Masaki
Japanese

Ye, Ziying

Supporting

Satou, Yuudai
Japanese

Zhang, Taiyan

Supporting

Ootsuka, Houchuu
Japanese

de Guise, Charles

Supporting

Kusunoki, Taiten
Japanese

Pan, Yuling

Supporting

Hisakawa, Aya
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Honda, Yasunori

Sound Director

Imagawa, Yasuhiro

Script

Egami, Kiyoshi

Storyboard

Aiuchi, Rina

Theme Song Performance

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Opening Theme

"Bara ga Saku Bara ga Chiru" by Rina Aiuchi

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Ending Theme

#01: "Kokoro no Rhythm Tobichiru Butterfly" by Doa (eps 1-12)
#02: "Kissing 'til I die" by Jun Manaka (eps 13-??)

More reviews

Reviews

May 9, 2012

22 of 22 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 5

Donwun (All reviews)

23 people found this review helpful

Thoughts Before Watching: Hell yeah a prequel to one of the most classic fighting Anime’s of all time hell yeah, maybe ill get to see how cool things where before the nuclear apocalypse and possibly how it all came to be…..especially with updated animation, bring it on!

Thoughts After Watching: Seriously is that it…..scratches head continuously

Animation

Well it’s definitely an improvement compared against the 80’s series but the characters and movements / motions feel painfully stiff. As usual the character designs are very templated but that itself is a common trait of this franchise. Sadly another bad thing is this anime has the look of an old read more

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Jan 14, 2018

22 of 22 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

mudkip266 (All reviews)

2 people found this review helpful

My overall thoughts on this anime: amazing ideas that were poorly executed. Having already watched the original 80's anime Hokuto no Ken, I thought I'd give this one a try. This anime had a lot of potential, as the interaction with the gang wars and the destiny of Hokuto make room for an intricate storyline with complex characterization. However, the anime suffered from a rather sluggish storyline and inconsistent animation quality. I've never read the manga for this series, so perhaps it was better able to achieve what was intended.

Story: 6/10
There were a lot of parts where the anime didn't need to dwell as long as it did. There were a lot of fights which would make up an entire episode without driving the storyline. Furthermore, plot holes, inconsistencies (with the original Hokuto no Ken), and a lot of plot threads that weren't adequately resolved. For me, its one saving grace was setting the anime in 1930's Shanghai. Again, just poor execution.

Art: 7/10
Besides an inconsistent plot, the art quality was also inconsistent, ranging from quite beautiful to abhorrent. When the art was good, it felt very much like Tetsuo Hara's style had been faithfully translated into the anime. Characters' outfits were nice and I especially enjoyed seeing Kasumi Kenshiro in a suit. Otherwise, perhaps due to lack of budget, there were too many parts that I could barely watch due to how poor the animation was (and don't get me started on the extra 4 episodes). Overall? I quite liked the animation style, and I wish the animators had the time and resources to fix a lot of it.

Sound: 7/10
Sometimes, the sound quality was palpably poor, and a lot of soundbytes were re-used throughout. Otherwise, it didn't really take away from the series.

Character: 7/10
I'm not too sure how to judge this aspect of the anime. There were some scenes in which the way the writers intended to portray Kasumi Kenshiro came out quite beautifully and the distinction between him and his namesake was clear. However, this was too often poorly executed, and Kenshiro was too similar to Kenshiro II. As well, several of the characters feel as though they were rehashed from the original Hokuto no Ken series. Other characters are unclear in what their motivations are and why they're acting as they do. However, a lot of this is at least forgiven through Kenshiro's character growth and Yu-Ling's fine characterization. So overall, characterization largely suffered from poor execution.

Enjoyment: 7/10
This was definitely not the best series I've ever watched. There were some parts at which I was only watching for the sake of completing the series. Otherwise, there were other parts I genuinely enjoyed. I think my favourite thing about Kasumi Kenshiro is that his weaknesses are made clear, and he's made out to be a very human character. So overall, my enjoyment ranged between genuine love for this series and wishing to bang my head against a wall.

Conclusion:
I gave this series an 8/10. Reason being, the worst parts of Souten no Ken were in the 4 unaired episodes. Thus, I'm trying to make a distinction between those and the series that actually aired. With that, I plan to read the manga when I have the opportunity, as there's likely a lot of story that the anime never managed to cover.

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	Poll: Souten no Ken Episode 22 Discussion Ranxomare - Feb 14, 2017	2 replies	by Reapermask »» Dec 29, 2019 1:26 AM
	Poll: Souten no Ken Episode 21 Discussion Ranxomare - Feb 14, 2017	1 replies	by Reapermask »» Dec 29, 2019 1:12 AM

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