Aug 15, 2013
Before I start this review, I'll just note that I prefer to call the series by the Western name, 'Fist of the North Star'. I like 'Fist of the North Star' better than 'Hokuto no Ken' anyway.
Fist of the North Star is a classic, hands down. It's a fun albeit repetitive 80's Shonen gorefest. However, that's not even the best part. It's also an epic with passion and power.
It follows Kenshiro in Post-Apocalyptic 199X, as he goes around blowing up bad guys with his almighty martial arts style, Hokuto Shin Ken. It is Kenshiro's destiny as the End of Century Savior to carry the burdens
...
of those who still love, and to carry their hopes and dreams. He does this by blowing up generic bad guys from the inside out, and then ocassionally he has to blow up a decent bad guy.
So without further ado, I'll go into more details.
Story:
The story of Fist of the North Star is utterly brilliant. It's a simple story of good prevailing over evil, and yet carries a great amount of passion. Its message is so simplistic and cliched, but its delivery carries so much power and emotion. It's the manliest thing to ever carry this level of emotion. The story ends on a perfect conclusion, bringing everything together. Story wise, Fist of the North Star is an absolute masterpiece in execution, if just for the sheer enjoyment of it.
10/10
Art:
The art style prominent in Fist of the North Star is distinctively masculine. Big muscles and highly detailed and realistic character designs galore.I can't give it 10 because there wasn't much difference in the designs of the thousands of generic goons who get blown up, but the countless number of Sex Pistols and David Bowie impersonating goons were... interesting, even if generic. As for the animation, it was a little tacky most of the time, but amusingly so.
9/10
Sound:
Awesome OPs and EDs and awesome BGM music. Whenever I heard the instrumental of the first opening song playing I knew something exciting was going to happen. Unfortunately it loses a point for the inevitable repetition of the 109 episodes. The voice actors are all great, and the narrator is absolutely crazy.
9/10
Character:
The significant characters all hold a great purpose in the story. They all feel incredibly genuine and important in the story, and I felt emotional attachment to a number of them.
10/10
Enjoyment:
It's kind of strange that enjoyment is the weakest point of Fist of the North Star when at first glance it looks like a show that's dumb fun. Sure, watching Kenshiro blow up guys is awesome... for about 50 of the 109 episodes. I tgets stale when you see the same generic scenario where a bunch of goons attack and village and Kenshiro fights them either just before they kill someone or just after. If this wasn't a Shonen, I'd be questioning Kenshiro's morals a whole lot. There's also way too many recaps. Hell, the last episode is a recap.
8/10
Overall:
Fist of the North Star has a few little issues to do with getting bland and repetitive in some ways over time, but all in all it's an absolute must watch classic. If you can get over the repetitive nature of things, you'll find somethin both cheesy and brilliant.
9/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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