Animeman73 on Anime: Fist of the North Star
All pictures used in this review are legal under the terms of the fair use agreement of 1976.
Hello everyone, it’s time for another edition of Animeman73 on Anime. The review series that looks at anime movies and series. And this time we’re going very old school. We’ll be looking at the movie Fist of the North Star from 1986.
The movie and series are set in the year 1999 or 199X. This is a rather ironic twist since at the time I’m writing this it’s 2024. The story premise is as follows. A terrible nuclear war occurred which has devastated the planet Earth. The result is Earth is now a barren wasteland.
This post-apocalyptic hellhole is not the place for the faint of heart. Rival gangs and warlords wage war for the world's limited resources. But there is hope amid the chaos and anarchy. That hope is Julia, or Yuria in the undubbed version, a brilliant scientist. She got voiced in the dub by Melodee M. Spevac.
She holds seeds that are the key to making the Earth green again. Helping is her fiancée Ken which is short for Kenshiro. He is the protagonist of the story. Ken's voice got taken on by John Vickery.
Of note this movie’s dub version got done way back in the 80’s. And it's a fact dubbing back then wasn’t the greatest, not like today. But dubbing isn’t the only thing that’s an issue with this movie as will become clear later.
Kenshiro is a master of the deadly martial art Hokuto Shuiken. It's a martial art style that relies on using pressure points on the body. This understanding is something that all martial artists get. Hence why this is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi martial arts movie.
Julia and Ken are travelling the countryside. They're looking for uncontaminated ground to plant their seeds. In their travels the two come across Shin, Ken's former friend. He is Master of the martial arts style known as Nanto Shieken. He proclaims that he is in love with Julia and challenges Ken for her.
With no law to interrupt them it’s meant to be a brutal fight. Welcome to the post-apocalyptic world, it’s fun, laughs, and good times for all. Also, the part of Ken in the dub version got played by Michael McConnohie.
The fight ends up being quick and bloody with Ken getting defeated by Shin. Shin forces Julia to go with him. He then engraves five wounds on Ken’s chest in a bloody and very painful fashion. Yeah, in this movie expect a lot of blood and gore. This is not a movie for kids or the faint of heart.
Shin then leaves Ken for dead. Ken’s eldest brother in training Roah watched the fight. Yet he doesn’t intervene but instead returns to the dojo. There he challenges his Master Ryuken’s decision to make Ken the Fist of the North Star. Well, this got complicated in a hurry.
Roah kills Ryuken and declares himself king of the new world. Wally Burr voiced the character of Roah in the 1980’s version of the movie.
A year passes following those tragic events. Ken is now a wanderer protecting the weak and innocent from the prowling gangs. Ken rescues a couple of kids Bat and Lynn (Or Linn in the Japanese version) from some bandits. The dub voice for Bat was Tony Oliver. Holly Sidell voiced Lynn in the original movie.
Ken also allies himself with a man named Rei. A man with the terrifying ability to chop off people’s limbs with his bare hands. Yikes, that’s some serious power right there. Gregory Snegoff voiced the part of Rei in the movie. Said ally to Ken is on a mission to find his sister Airi.
At one point after he rescues the kids Ken shows his power over pressure points isn't only for killing. Lynn has been a mute since the war due to traumatic events. Using the power of pressure points he gets her out of the shock and able to speak again. This was a scene that added a sense of depth and humanity to Ken’s character. Even in the most action-packed of movies there needs to be some character development.
The two learn Airi is the slave of Jagi another former brother in training of Ken. Boy Ken has a habit of former brothers in training going bad. The part of Jagi got voiced by Dan Woren. Jagi has impersonated Ken and slandered his reputation to try and draw him out. Ken goes to Jagi’s hideout in response.
Congrats Jagi you now have his full attention!
Ken defeats the masked and deformed villain. In the process Ken rescues Airi and learns a shocking truth. It was Jagi who convinced Shin that Julia loved him and not Ken. It seems Jagi has been fueling Shin’s ego, paranoia, and jealousy behind the scenes. Jagi you sneaky little so and so!
This was a good plot twist for the movie. While Shin is still a tyrannical monster this revelation lends him an air of sympathy. Ken learns that Shin has Julia in his stronghold, the city of Southern Cross.
Meanwhile Ken’s former brother Roah has been very busy. He is now known as King Roah or Ken-Oh, King of Fists, in the Japanese version. He has a massive army and has been expanding his territory.
His most recent win comes after defeating one warlord who could turn his body to steel. Said warlord got voiced in the dub by the late James Avery. Many know him as Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Thus, lending Avery some otaku credit.
After defeating the warlord Roah turns his sights on Southern Cross and Shin. The other leads a large army of his own. So, it stands to reason Roah would want his biggest rival out of the way. Julia leads a life of luxury though it’s clear she’s not very happy. Isn’t that how it goes, you can have all the wealth in the world and not be happy at all.
And in Julia’s case it’s with good reason. She refuses every one of Shin’s gifts making her thoughts clear. Shin what part of no don’t you understand, poor lovesick fool! Then she hears that Ken is still alive and coming their way. She attempts to flee from the city…and in the process runs into Roah.
He wastes no time in capturing her. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire, sheesh! Roah then makes his way to Shin’s private chamber and challenges him to a fight to the death.
Meanwhile Ken arrives in Southern Cross and finds all Shin’s soldiers are dead. Talk about missing the party. If you can call a mass slaughter a party in the insane post-apocalyptic world they live in. Ken makes his way to Shin’s chamber and the two have a final showdown. But it doesn’t last long as Ken is suffering from a mortal wound from Roah earlier.
That was kind of…disappointing. I'd expected a grand scale epic showdown between the two martial artists.
Before he dies Shin lets Ken know Roah has Julia hostage and has taken her to the city of Cassandra. A city also known by the quite charming title of city of Wailing Demons. Everything about this future is super unpleasant. Good grief Charlie Brown!
Lin, Bat, and Rei arrive in Cassandra and witness the march of Roah’s army. Said ruler stops in the middle of the march as he senses Lin‘s kinetic ability then marches on. Talk about dodging a bullet for that poor little girl.
Lin and Bat break into the dungeon and find Julia. They show the seed she’d planted was growing and give it to her. But the kids flee when they hear the guards coming. Meanwhile it’s a race against time to Cassandra even as Julia knows she’s getting used as bait to draw Ken out. Can the true legendary Fist of the North Star save the woman he loves?
Will he be able to find Julia? And what of the seeds she has?
Okay, now I enjoy anime, especially good anime. But I will say…I was more than a little disappointed with this movie for several reasons. First, the final fight between Roah and Ken ended in a way that was quite…unsatisfactory. There was no resolution between the two. Second Ken and Julia, spoiler alert, never ran into each other after the events in the first part.
An ending which showed a lush forest then it being an illusion was also unsatisfactory. From a writer’s standpoint I like to have a solid beginning, middle, and end. Unfortunately, some anime has a bad habit of going the whole vague ending route. And for the viewer that can be quite unsatisfying.
In fact, this movie seemed to depend too much on visual blood, gore, and effects. And those things can only entertain for so long. To have a good movie it’s necessary to have a good strong story with good characters. While there are some good plot twists the movie seems rather rushed. That is, the movie tried to pack too much into too short a period.
Also, the dubbing is not the best. But to be fair this was the 1980’s. Dubbing only started getting good around the late 90’s early 2000’s due to better technology. Now it is true there is a game based on Fist of the North Star. But if the movie were to get remade today, I suspect the dubbing and the plot itself would be a lot better.
So sorry anime fans, but I’m going to have to give Fist of the North Star a grade of C+. It was an okay movie, but it seemed too rushed for its own good. You can watch this movie if you wish, but it's not the greatest movie in the world.
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