Thirty Years Later: Fist of the North Star Anime

Akira. Dominion Tank Police. Fist of the North Star. These are the three titles that introduced me to anime. Sure, I’d watched shows like Voltron and Robotech, and understood to an extent that they were Japanese in origin, but these were the three titles that fully introduced me to the genre. And with an eclectic mix such as that, is it any wonder that much of my life has come to be defined by these strange cartoons from the East?

Based on the manga of the same name, Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken in Japan) is a Mad Max-esque movie released in Japan in 1986 that takes place in the post-apocalyptic wasteland that is left after the devastation of World War III. While Viz began publishing the manga here in the US in 1989, it was the appearance of this movie in 1991 that began the cult legend of Fist of the North Star for Western audiences.

In a world where only the strong survive, and the only rule of law is that handed down by Shin, the Fist of the South Star, and Ken, the Fist of the North Star. Best of friends, Ken and Shin have worked hard to try and build a new peaceful world. But while Ken trusts Shin implicitly, Shin harbors a secret desire for Ken’s girlfriend, Julia. Ken and Julia have been traveling the world and working hard to try and rebuild the natural environment, and in time, Shin’s desire gets the best of him. He and his men ambush Ken, leaving him for dead, and taking Julia back to Shin’s palace. The power of the Fist of the North seems broken.

In Ken’s absence, his brother Raoh begins his long-planned conquest for world domination. He crushes territories and it seems that nobody can stop him. Even Shin is eventually crushed when he gets in Raoh’s way. But Ken returns from seemingly being dead. With his powers greatly increased, Ken kills his other brother, Jagi, who had usurped the title of Fist of the North and was using it for his own selfish gain, and begins to follow the trail of Julia. But with her in Raoh’s grasp, and Raoh seemingly invincible, the question is whether Ken has enough to end Raoh’s fledgling reign.

If I had to describe Fist of the North Star in one phrase, that phrase would be ‘unrestrained masculinity.’ Fist of the North Star isn’t so much an adrenaline rush as it is a testosterone rush. Sure, the story might have you believe that Ken is on a quest to rescue his beloved Julia, but in reality, that’s just an excuse for Ken to wander the world making peoples’ heads explode. Shin might be able to poke holes in a person’s chest and Ray can use fancy lights to slice somebody’s arms off, but Ken can punch you in the stomach and make your head explode.

And really, that’s the appeal of Fist of the North Star. There’s not a ton of substance to it. Sure, there’s a vague environmentalist message, some nebulous mysticism, and a populist theme that occasionally guides Ken’s actions, but the reason to watch this movie is for the incredible violence. Its visuals are somewhat laughable from a modern perspective, but its relentlessness has never really been matched. The various TV series and spin-offs (such as Legends of the Dark King) have since made it over, and perhaps they all do certain things “better,” but none can match the charm of the first movie. I can’t really vouch for how much it holds up because it really hasn’t aged well, but if you are an anime fan, you owe it to yourself to check it out at least once.