TW: self harm, SA
Being an iconic anime from the 80s comes with positives and negatives. Fist of the North Star is engraved in pop culture inspiring shonen like Jojo's, paving a path for violence and gore in media like Berserk and Mortal Kombat. It's also cheesy, boring, repetitive, and only somewhat holds up in the modern day.
This is a classic martial arts succession story set in a post nuclear apocalypse. Kenshiro is the successor of the Divine Fist of the North Star and must defeat his brothers to seal their fists and truly be the successor. The Sacred Fist of the South Star is the opposite side of the same coin, so Kenshiro must deal with the six stars of the Sacred Fist as well. This overarching plot is rather minimal in the grand scheme of things. Every episode is Ken stumbling across a bad guy doing bad things then he blows up their head. About 80% of the episodes follow this formula and it's only broken up by major plot fights and backstories. Due to the repetitive nature of the show I grew bored of it rather quickly only starting to get into it after 45 episodes. Some plot points would be brought up and never be relevant and Yuria being the final South Star General made me roll my eyes. The final arc was like a rabbit pulled out of a hat to force a happy ending for Ken. The overarching story is interesting but got way too bogged down by the repetitive formula of each episode.
There were surprisingly few characters I cared about. Kenshiro is a unique main character. I grew bored of his stoic yet caring nature and would have preferred a more animated protagonist. He is written as the ideal man: the perfect fighter, caring towards women and children, and never showing emotion besides anger when fighting yet supposedly having deep feelings he never expresses. Kenshiro is a Mary Sue and it's boring to watch him for over 100 episodes. Yuria is the person who infuriates me the most, however. She is always ready to die at a moments notice despite saying she'll wait as long as she needs to for Ken to save her. She's just there to be saved or a prize. Yuria is supposed to be the final General of the South Star but doesn't act like it. She doesn't fight back if she's kidnapped or use any martial arts. She should be one of the strongest and most capable people in the entire show but never does a single thing besides try to kill herself. There were only four characters in the series I even liked and they were: Toki, Raoh, Juza and Fudo. Everyone else of note was annoying, did nothing, sexually assaulted women, or made a completely pointless sacrifice.
The animation did not age well. This series is hideous, even compared to other anime if the era. Coming out in the mid-1980s I can compare to Dragon Ball, Rose of Versailles, and Tomorrow's Joe all of which look better than Fist of the North Star. The messy line work, low quality, cheap animations, and dirty colors all contribute to how bad it feels to watch. Thankfully the animation improves during major fight scenes, but I can only watch a flurry of punches drawn the same way so many times before I begin snoring. This is especially egregious considering how beautiful the original manga is. Part of me wanted to drop this anime because of how bad it looked despite obvious technological limitations.
If the art made me want to quit then the music is what kept me going. From the cheesiest and most 80s opening you've ever heard to the solemn endings, I loved the score. I'm a huge fan of trumpet and saxophone and they're both plentiful in every episode. I'd argue the soundtrack is as iconic as modern shonen like Naruto and One Piece. They're instantly memorable earworms; you'll catch yourself humming along without even realizing it. My only criticism for the sound is the voices sound like they were recorded on low quality equipment. It was almost as if they weren't standing right next to the mic or didn't have the proper soundproofing when recording lines.
I can understand why Fist of the North Star is so iconic and considered a classic. However, it doesn't quite hold up in the modern day. It's watchable, but I'm not looking forward to finishing the rest of the series. I feel like I would have enjoyed this way more in high school than in my 20s. If you like muscle men and exploding heads or just want to watch an influential piece of pop culture then watch Fist of the North Star. I didn't find as much enjoyment as I wanted, but you might.
Plot: 7/10
Characters: 5.5/10
Animation: 4.5/10
Sound: 9/10
Enjoyment: 6.5/10
Overall: 6.5/10
