Hokuto no Ken(A.K.A. Fist of the Northstar) is a japanese anime and manga(
comics) series that originally ran in the early to mid eighties. It was done by artist Tetsuo Hara and Scenario writer "Buronson".
It follows the story of Kenshiro, the "
Fist of the Northstar", the inheritor of the deadliest martial art ever devised:
Hokuto Shinken(Northern(Big) Dipper Godfist). Kenshiro fights in a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with gangs of marauding Bandits and other refugees of the former world.
He is followed by
Bat and
Lynn, two parentless children who he meets on his travels.
Bat is an expert mechanic and thief while
Lynn is a shy, quiet, gentle girl. Throughout the story other allies are introduced but these are the main cast. Among other notable characters in the series are Rei, a practitioner of the Nanto seiken school, Yuria, Kenshiro's fiancee, Toki, Kenshiro's gentle elder (adopted)brother, and Raoh(A.K.A Ken'ou(King of Fists)) another elder adopted brother.
The authors kind of mixed
'Mad Max' and
'Enter the Dragon' in creating Hokuto no Ken. And what could be a better idea than mixing
'Enter the Dragon' and
'Mad Max'? You've just created the single most bad-assed character of all time!
One thing I'd like to mention is why the manga is better than the anime. Firstly the anime barely has a story. I mean come on, I like exploding heads as much as the next guy but a little continuity wouldn't hurt.
Besides, the story is SO much better in the manga. It follows the story of Kenshiro's family (adopted and real) and introduces a wide range of characters. The only real problem is that almost everyone dies...oops. Spoiler!
One thing I hated about the anime was Julia. Firstly her name in the manga is Yuria, which doesn't exactly come out as Julia since the authors could easily put a 'JU' sound instead ot a 'YU' sound in japanese.
Also sometimes in the english version Julia's voice is so damn annoying that you wish someone would just explode her head already. But unfortunately this doesn't happen... Another point is why give her red hair? I'm not saying anything against red-heads but Yuria was really good looking in the manga! In the anime Julia looks kind of Bland if I may put it that way. Oh and another thing, what happened to Toki? He's the coolset of Kenshiro's brothers! I realize there were time constraints but come on, Jesus kicking the shit out of Mad Max rejects? It sounds like a good idea to me. I could rave about this for hours so I'll just say check out the site, take what you like, check out the links, and Enjoy yourself. And if you are here to sue me for using information or images in an unauthorized fashion then stick your thumbs into each temple between the ear and the eye and for 3 seconds feel how sinful you are. Because you're already dead.
This synopsis is Copyright 1993, by Steven E. Barnes.
