Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
coolman6446
Before watching this series, I only knew Hokuto no Ken (HNK) because of the iconic "you're already dead" scene as well as it inspiring some aspects of the Yakuza series. I started watching this series on a random whim and I am thankful for doing so.
HNK felt like the anime equivalent of Yakuza: A series with a strong story and entertaining fights while still having comedy sprinkled throughout. It does a great job of starting off as a goofy, over-the-top action show and slowly transitions to a more plot heavy one that still recognizes to not take itself too seriously. That being said, there are some amazing twists and moments in the series that hit me hard in the feels.
In conclusion: I は SHOCK at how great this series is. Hands down my favorite!
Read at the sourceVasileTraian
'Fist of the North Star' is about heads and body parts exploding. That's it. There is no plot. You may be tricked into thinking there is one, but there isn't. It's just Kenshiro, the main protagonist, walking straight, as random shit happens around him.
'Fist of the North Star' has no characters. You may be tricked into thinking there are characters, but there aren't. They are just props which Kenshiro ruthlessly destroys. Never, at any time, ever, does any spark of intelligence or emotion ever ignite in these people's (inevitably exploding) heads. They exist to have their heads exploded. Sure, they are capable of speech, motion, and basic interaction with other props, which only exist to make the viewer believe there is a stake at hand. But of course there isn't, our main man Ken will ju…
Read at the sourcestingzy
Do you want to be manly?
Are you feeling tired of high school girls in miniskirts and pre-pubescent skinny high school boys that pander to every single weeaboo on both sides of the pacific? Tired of being spoonfed the same Isekai and moe shit year after year. Stop whatever you are doing, pull up your pants, close your hentai tabs, slide the chair back and stick around as Fist of the North Star teaches you the art of manliness!
I watched this anime, no this MANime and a foot-long beard popped out of my glass chin, my max bench increased by 100lbs and my testicles doubled in sheer size. Fear not as this is not caused by some kind of testicular cancer or overdose on protein shakes. The sheer amount of testosterone that oozes from this show is enough to turn any grandmother into Schwarzenegg…
Read at the sourceAiNoMukidashi
I've never seen before an anime that puts so much care into the development of its secondary characters. Tears will be shed when both ally and villain fall in battle.
The handling of censorship is done in such clever way that it's impressive on its own, I mean, when the power of our main character is to blow people into bits, there has to be some kind of sugar coating.
Bruce Lee plus Mad Max is something you've probably heard before when describing this anime, and let me tell you, as a fan of both, it does them both justice.
Sadly, it isn't without its flaws. The amount of filler is obscene early on, which is a shame since I'm sure it has kept people from enjoying and/or continuing the series.
This isn't your average shonen neither, so if you're looking for our heroes and villains to p…
Read at the sourceBlaizeV
Ken is basically Bruce Lee on steroids living in a Mad Max post apocalyptic world. I personally love the series and while fantasy martial arts is the main focus the action is rather tame, I mean this is still an 80's anime series so don't expect explosive action but more intense buildup and graphic deaths even if the blood is censored to bright white for most scenes. The series has a strong story and really strong (in every sense) characters, it is dragged out at 140+ episodes but the series doesn't outstay it's welcome though some may feel challenged by the length and general pace.
Read at the sourceggultra2764
Fist of the North Star was one of the more popular shounen anime titles that aired throughout the 1980s alongside Dragon Ball and Saint Seiya. However, the series had a good deal of controversy among Japanese audiences since it was one of the more graphically violent titles made during the decade and this comes to a good degree from the many gory ways that martial artists in the series can slay their foes, the most notable of which being Kenshiro's Hokuto Shinken fighting style where he attacks his opponent's pressure points to make their body parts explode in gory goodness. This was censored to varying degrees throughout the anime's run as the violent deaths were retained, albeit with color filters and silhouette shots in many scenes to reduce the severity of the gory deaths.
Set in a po…
Read at the sourceInkSpider
NOTE: There are going to be some spoilers in this. Yes, I know I’m not supposed to do that on this site, but I can’t critique Fist of the North Star to any satisfying degree without talking about certain specific details. If you don’t want the show spoiled, stop reading now. If you don’t care, go right ahead.
The Positive Side: This is a show about a man who looks, and talks, and fights like Bruce Lee, traveling a nuclear wasteland and making comically evil people explode with his fists. For what it’s worth, Fist of the North Star embraces what it is with every fiber of its being, and never once attempts to be anything else. There’s a kind of courage in treating an absurd premise as seriously as Fist of the North Star does, a kind of charming naivete. It’s a bit like the anime equivalent o…
Read at the sourceinaji1
what can be said about one of the Greatest MANimes that hasn't been already said, probably one of the best, although some said it was ripped off by another great MANime, Ramenman, but amplified by 10 this is the Gold Standard of all MANime.
if you finish this series you will become a man if you already weren't before..even if you're a girl
as User Stingzy said if you watch this great MANime of the 80s you will indeed have all those things happen to you
and if you want a rest from all those giggle and peace sign schoolgirl BS this is the perfect remedy
Read at the sourceDeago
First of all, let's talk about the repetitive nature of the show. It seems like every other episode features the same formula: some evil guys do some evil things, Kenshiro shows up and beats them up, the evil guys inform their boss, the boss becomes enraged and sends his minions after Kenshiro, Kenshiro beats them up, then Kenshiro beats their boss, and the episode ends. Rinse and repeat. This formula is so predictable it becomes tedious after a while, and you can easily predict what's going to happen next.
The repetition doesn't stop there, the show also reuses a lot of animations, which is a common practice in anime but can get annoying when it's overdone. You'll see Kenshiro using the same moves over and over again, ripping his shirt(s) again and again, and the show will often reuse th…
Read at the sourceNervin
Currently everyone knows or heard of the three most popular anime that dominates this decade: One Piece, Naruto and Bleach. This is essentially the case for most decades, being the 80's most prevalent anime Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya and Hokuto no Ken - or Fist of the North Star. This may leave potential audiences wondering whether these are worth their time, and in the case of Hokuto no Ken, I can definitely recommend it for viewers interested in action based anime.
~Story~
The story is simple, having its setting in a post-nuclear apocalyptic world in which humanity regressed, where slavery and struggle for survival is commonplace. Martial arts are the main foundation for defense, and in the midst of it are two powerful schools, Hokuto Shinken and Nanto Seiken. There is one man, Kenshiro,…
Read at the sourceGreatWarlord
From my personal Bias I would've gave this Legendary Series overall a 10, however I have given it a 9 because I can't ignore the faults others may find in it such as it having Plotholes similar to Dragonball Z or the Animation itself etc.
But enough about the "bad" things and instead I'll focus on the good things. The memories of me watching this series the first 36 Episodes in Dubbed on Youtube and then the rest in Subbed on Megavideo back in 2011 when I was 16 are perhaps timeless; it was the greatest experience I had as an Anime fan that can never be replicated and I have also never found Anime cool again after Megavideo came to an end. The Series is emotion driven, filled with both fun & gritty action, full of manly virtues along with a range of noble, awesome, strange, silly and anno…
Read at the sourceValkata
This anime is and always will be one of the best Shounen tragedies ever made. It all starts after the world has suffered a nuclear war, and almost all life on earth is destroyed, there are no rules, no laws and the strong prey on the weak. In this era you can only rely on your will to fight and martial arts. Our main protagonist Kenshiro is the biggest bad ass in anime history. Although he bears an extreme burden and his fate is to fight, he doesn't throw his humanity like most of the characters in the story. He's the inheritor of the strongest assassination style martial art called Hokuto Shin Ken, this style has 2000 year old history and he is chosen as the successor despite of him being the youngest of four children. He has to fight his brothers in order to imply the law of Hokuto which…
Read at the sourceTHEAnimeHERO
[SPOILER WARNING]
After the nuclear apocalypse of 199X, Kenshiro begins his quest to rid the world of evil & bring hope to humanity. Initially, North Star begins as a revenge tale where Kenshiro is searching for his fiancé Yuria whose been kidnapped by his rival Shin. Afterwards the story then focuses on Kenshiro's destiny to bring back peace to this "age of power" where humanity have become savage & desensitized to love & affection.
Essentially, most humans are now primitive causing murders for the sake of resources such as food. Only those with power, ambition & a cold heart can survive this wasteland. As a savior to the masses, Kenshiro battles many tyrannical martial artists with his assassination art of "Hokuto Shinken" causing his enemies to explode. Further in the series is where…
Read at the sourceBristle
Before I start this review, I'll just note that I prefer to call the series by the Western name, 'Fist of the North Star'. I like 'Fist of the North Star' better than 'Hokuto no Ken' anyway.
Fist of the North Star is a classic, hands down. It's a fun albeit repetitive 80's Shonen gorefest. However, that's not even the best part. It's also an epic with passion and power.
It follows Kenshiro in Post-Apocalyptic 199X, as he goes around blowing up bad guys with his almighty martial arts style, Hokuto Shin Ken. It is Kenshiro's destiny as the End of Century Savior to carry the burdens of those who still love, and to carry their hopes and dreams. He does this by blowing up generic bad guys from the inside out, and then ocassionally he has to blow up a decent bad guy.
So without further ado, I…
Read at the sourceShura-shurato
ATATATATATATATAWATHAAAAAA( you're already dead)! Those are the words from and revered anime charachter, and an EVEN MORE legendary anime show wich was at its height in japan in the 80's and very populair. I saw the HoK movie from 1986 first before i even knew about the serie's, and man am i glad that i have seen the show from biginning till the bloody end, and the whole serie is somewhat bloody! about the Animation, i din't care much cuz it was that time, what loads of kids these days cant appreciate from oldskool anime! Storywise , excellent, loads of twists and turns, disputes, personal problems and LOADS of tragic moments. But be warned, this show is NOT for the light/weakhearted!
Read at the sourceDonwun
People who usually claim to have seen FOTNS for the most part are actually referring to the 1986 feature length animated movie of the same name and not this particular 109 episode TV series……..and when they become aware of this long running TV version of that movie people may very well assume this series just to be a dragged out gore fest version of the movie.
They may think to themselves how could you make that 109 episodes!?!
Well I’m here to tell you that…yeah….there is a little bit of truth in that line of thinking HOWEVER that movie only scratches the surface of the underlying story told in this compelling TV series
Animation
The animation is pretty lacklustre and korny looking for the most part. Things like duplicated character designs, identically overused death sequences and a…
Read at the sourcelinearrush
I remember first watching Fist of the North Star in the action channel. I was but a little kid at the time and I really did not know what was going on. Unfortunately, the exploding heads and cussing was a deterrent at the time and I stopped watching it.
Fast forward almost ten years later and I decide to watch it and honestly, I am glad that I did.
The story is fairly simple. It takes place in a post apocalyptic world where the strong live and the weak die. Crime is at an all time high. Bandits and cut throats kill, pillage and rape to no end. Kenshiro is a man who was betrayed by his best friend, one who kidnapped his wife and nearly killed him, leaving him for dead. Kenshiro, who survived, is now out on a mission to find the man who betrayed him, kill him and save his wife.
While the…
Read at the sourcenicepants
When I first started Hokuto no Ken, I did not know a thing about Fist of the North Star. I had heard the name before, and I knew it was a popular franchise with bloody exploding heads. When I started watching the series, it looked so incredibly 80s.
In fact, the Shin arc made me stop watching it for a while. The endless mooks in poorly drawn 80s style really turned me off. A few weeks later, I decided to try it again. I am so absolutely glad I did. Hokuto no Ken is a post-apocolyptic epic, and I don't use that term lightly.
The story is fairly simple. Shin (Kenshiro's rival) steals Yuria (Kenshiro's love), and Ken goes to rescue her. However, in the background, darker, more dangerous forces are moving. The story is cunning in its simplicity, and quite well executed.
The art is of course…
Read at the sourceanimegorey
Having watched the movie, which is the condensed version of the series, and now actually watching the 36 episode series from Manga Entertainment, I find that this is one of the corniest/greatest animes that I've seen. I love it. I really like the opening theme that has thundering bass drums that ride you thru a monta'ge of violent clips of the anime. Kinda makes you want to fight, or at least watch one. This has alot of violence that is gorey at times and corny at times. Ken can pretty much do anything. He's a Japanese, Rambo looking, Bruce Lee sounding BAD ASS. Story is pretty good, but the little girl Lin and the boy Bart are annoying as F@*%. I laugh alot while watching this. From the goofy names they give his attacks to the cheesy narrator who reads the wierd and hilarious titles befor…
Read at the sourceyardakani
this was the anime I watched when I was only six years old and recently I watched it again from the strart to the end and I'm still trying to enjoy it.
it is about after a nuclear war that brings desaster to the earth and appearance of martial artists from long times ago.
the main character is fantastic and has become my hero till now.
I kinda feel like being in kens place when watching mostly when he is angry and tries to fight back seriously.
putting all things aways I have watched it 16 years and now and I can say I really enjoyed it every time I watched it.
It is long but worthy.
you can see the change in animation through the episodes and the astonishing picture attracts people.
Seriously go for it. it isa 10 out of 10 always for me.
Read at the source