Fist of the North Star

An art film of Bruce Lee in a blender full of Mad Max and chum.
if you put Bruce Lee Chuck Norris mad max and chum in a blender you might get a taste of this awesome ass anime series i mean come on it was one of the og anime series its older then i am and every time i watch it i fall in love with it again and again yeah the graphic are pixelated but what do you expect from a 26 year old anime

As a lover of retro anime and all that it entails, it's impossible for me to come at this series without some bias towards it. I had the original NES game, I saw busted up VHS fansubs as a kid, this is it folks, before Over Nine Thousand was ever uttered: one of the true originals.

The storyline is fairly simple, a wandering warrior (Ken) has the power to implode his enemies using their pressure points, and uses his special powers to bring justice and hope to a war torn post-apocalyptic landscape. This became a common trope of eighties anime, and eighties movies in general and yet, diverges dramatically from well known formulas. Don't expect the sophistication of Blade Runner; this is pure, cheeseball Kung-Fu action from start to finish and because it's animated instead of live action- you get some seriously messed up bodily explosions, extreme violence, and insane fighting moves. Bruce Lee would be proud!

This is not however, to be confused with a major work of animated art. It's cheesy, the dialogue is embarrassingly bad even in the original Japanese, and the animation is pretty crappy. With that said, what is so enjoyable about this series? The answer is simple - it's pure, unadulterated fun. You'll simultaneously laugh at the ridiculous stereotypes, bad plot, and horrendous character designs and then find yourself completely drawn in, touched by the man who struggles to do right in the world by his own hand. It rises above piles of eighties camp and has the edge to become just a little bit more; until unexpectedly you've watched forty episodes, it's 4am and there's no chance you're going to stop now. (Just one more!)

What else could I possibly say? It's Fist of the North Star - the best, worst anime you'll ever watch.

'OOOH NOOOOOO!' *explodes*

I am obsess with this anime! The storyline is interesting . It gets pretty enjoyable every time you watch it.
This is about the violence and evil taking over. There isn't a law. The weak ones gets pulverize and killed for food and water by the bad guys. But when Kenshiro is around it won't happend because he will help them no matter what. He is one man against all bad guys.

By modern standards this may not seem like a great anime but it was ahead of it's time back in its days of airing on TV and doing its paces through the fansub circuit.

For those not familiar with the series, one can watch the Fist of The North Star (FoTNS) movie for a "Cliff Notes" version of this TV show.

The show itself is 150+ episodes (not including OAVs + movie) and deals with the life Kenshiro in his travels across the wasteland ravaged by Nuclear war. If you've ever watched movies like Mad Max or Book of Eli you will feel right at home here watching this show.

One thing I can say about this particular viewing is the subtitles are clear (white lettering with black background) and video is a lot better than the old days where one dealt with blurring or color faded animation. Given the years this show has been around it holds up well for a TV series from the early 80s.

Thankfully this is also not a show like some other shows that end up taking 5+ episodes to deal with 3 minutes of actual passing time. No, FoTNS is nicely done up into simple 24 minute episodes, leaving it each episode nicely wrapped up at the end so one can come back at any time and pick up where they left off without missing a beat on the story progression.

The series also maintains its staple signature: violence. While one does not always see "blood", it is represented through black/white sprays and the death scenes are shadowed out, but you are still given a visual of what happens to each person who falls to Kenshiro's attacks.

Overall if you like violent apocolyptic shows with interesting characters and a great variety of fights then this is a show for you.

I love this anime this is one of the best OMG! The story line is so intense and it keeps your attention from point A to point Z! Kenshiro has a very sad love story to himself and his fighting is incredible! This is a drama love action pack adventure that does not quit! They really need a season 3 !!!
I love this anime this is one of the best OMG! The story line is so intense and it keeps your attention from point A to point Z! Kenshiro has a very sad love story to himself and his fighting is incredible! This is a drama love action pack adventure that does not quit! They really need a season 3 !!!

Overall, Fist of the North Star is a great anime! Not to mention a classic.. It has a great storyline and plenty of action and guts exploding chaos for the anime fanatics out there. The characters are well developed and are more bad-ass than cheesy.. while the animation is reminiscent of older day styles, it, in fact, adds even more character to the already well-created anime.

Omae wa mo shindeiru. I've seen all 152 episodes, and it's the greatest. No spending 10 episodes powering up for 1 episode of fighting then 2 more episodes of monologues and powering up again. Almost every single one of those 152 episodes is jam packed with fights and action sequences. Never a dull moment except for the frequent flashbacks, which are somewhat understandable if you were watching 1 episode a week unlike what I did watching several at a time. But I just couldn't stop watching.

I love fist of the North star!! Its an old series but a classic. The fights are great and Kenshiro is the man. This series gets better especially when he starts to fight his other brothers. Its a fun series to watch and you won't be sorry if you watch it.

Although there are a few errors in the animation of this show, it is completely forgivable, and any residual Jap-anime overdramatizes are perfectly balanced out by the show's kick ass bloody bad assness. Watch this series!!

I gave it a 5 overall because its greater than the sum of its parts... while the animation is archaic, that's because this IS archaic !

For its era it was a class A anime, it was on the shoulders of classic series like this that all the modern anime stands.

Without the kind of great anime of the past it would not be the artform it is today.