Hokuto no ken (1986)

Director:

Toyoo Ashida

Writers:

Buronson (comic)
Tetsuo Hara (comic)

Release Date:

27 September 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

After a nuclear holocaust tears the world apart, mankind is forced to the harshness of not only the oppression of others who are much more powerful...

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear Holocaust | Teacher Student Relationship | Blood | Kidnapping | Cut Into Pieces

Cast

Akira Kamiya	...	Kenshirô (voice)
Yuriko Yamamoto	...	Yuria (Julia) (voice)
Kenji Utsumi	...	Ken-Ô (Raoh) (voice)
Chikao Ôtsuka	...	Jagi (voice)
Toshio Furukawa	...	Shin (voice)
Kaneto Shiozawa	...	Rei (voice)
Tomiko Suzuki	...	Rin (Lynn) (voice)
Teiyû Ichiryûsai	...	Bat (Bart) (voice) (as Mie Suzuki)
Arisa Andô	...	Airi (voice)
Junji Chiba	...	Ryûken (voice)
Hidekatsu Shibata	...	Zeed (voice)
Junpei Takiguchi	...	Heart (voice)
Takeshi Aono	...	Fox (voice)
Hiroshi Ôtake	...	Jackal (voice)
Daisuke Gôri	...	Uighur (voice)

Also Known As:

Fist of the North Star

Runtime:

Spain:105 min | USA:110 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Spain:13 | Iceland:16 | USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Company:

Toei Doga

Trivia:

Ryûken's speech regarding the nature of life and death, which opens the English dub, is quoted verbatim by Jeru the Damaja on the intro to his classic album The Sun Rises in the East.

Quotes:

Brave Old Villager: Why? Why would the man who killed Zender and saved our village send these animals here to kill us? I can't believe the fist of the north star would do such a thing!
Abusive Bad Guy: Oh yeah? Guess again!
[Raises his big hammer to kill but gets forcely and unexpectedly hit by Rei]
Abusive Bad Guy: Who's that guy?
Rei: My name is Rei and I am looking for the man you describe. The man with the seven wounds who calls himself fist of the north star.
Abusive Bad Guy: I'll give you this much. You got gutts walking in like this. Give me that! So, with all due respect. I'll let you be the one who cut his head off.
[Hands over a big saw to Rei]
Rei: That's quite an honor but I hate for you to miss all that fun on my account. Are you sure about this?
Abusive Bad Guy: Hey, what are friends for right?
[Rei easily and quickly uses the saw on the skull of the badguy]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spin off Last Battle (1989) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Purple Eyes

Kickass anime movie!

In the post-apocalyptic future, the Earth went through a nuclear holocaust that devastated nearly all the cities and towns in the world and a few people want to bring it back to life and some mutants that oppose against them, A warrior named Kenshiro has been murdered by his former friend Shin who has stolen his girlfriend Julia but brought back to life as Ken possesses special martial arts powers to make enemies explode. He seeks revenge on Shin especially his two brothers Jagi and Raoh to make them pay and get Julia back so he can help heal the world.

Bone-crunching and ultra-violent Sci-fi action martial arts epic from Toyoo Ashida ("Vampire Hunter D") is a big assault on the senses in stylish animation. There is a ton of extreme violence throughout the movie like exploding heads, people shredded apart and that kind of thing. This isn't for the weak stomached or for kids, it's a battering ram of a movie that hits you to the core and is one anime's best movies.

Listen for James Avery (The guy from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Shredder from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles") as the voice of barbarian Fang Also recommended: "Ninja Scroll", "Wizards", "Akira", "Ghost in The Shell 1 & 2", "The Professional: Golgo 13", "Mad Max Trilogy", "Day of the Dead", "Total Recall", "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", "Starship Troopers", "300", "Braveheart", "The Toxic Avenger", "Battle Royale", "Street Trash", "Escape 2000", "Terminator Trilogy", "Robocop", "Fire & Ice", "Rock & Rule", "Heavy Metal", "Dead Alive (a.k.a. Braindead)", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "The Running Man", "Rats: The Night of Terror", "1990: The Bronx Warriors", "2019: After the Fall of New York", "Ichi The Killer", "Versus", "Rock & Rule", "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend", "Vampire Hunter D", "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust", "Commando", "Saving Private Ryan", "Doom", "Barefoot Gen", "Kill Bill Vol. 1", "Grindhouse", "Sin City".