In my humble opinion, at face value, the 1986 anime movie adaptation of _Hokuto No Ken (Fist of the North Star)_ comes off as a silly, overly- and graphically-violent fight anime, especially if you watch the English dub by the now-defunct Streamline Pictures, whom, for better or worse, dumbed down the plot and the context of the movie for North American consumption. However, if you watch the film in its original context (in Japanese with English subtitles), you'll notice a lot of things you might have not noticed before. Granted, it does help to already be familiar with the manga and/or anime TV series, as the movie takes a LOT of creative liberties to condense the key elements of the series into a feature film. From what I seen, this movie has some Christian undertones and anti-Cold War themes.
When I saw this in early '90s at a friend of a friend's house, I knew nothing of the original manga or anime series it was based on. So something about this just hit me in a way it wouldn't have otherwise. Like "Is he really doomed to seek his love and never find her, forever?" Like, damn. People can talk about how this is an ultra-violent, bloody male power fantasy, but to me, part of what makes Kenshiro a true hero is not just his humane spirit and compassion in a world of cruelty and survival of the fittest, but his unwavering loyalty to the woman he loves.
as for almost everything, there are multiple layers. violence is what ppl see first, but it's an environmental element in the story, and has a narrative purpose. it's not free violence. despite being fan-service sometimes, it's meant to tell something about human nature, and the different responses humans have in hard state of necessity. the most deep violence in hokuto no ken is not splatter, but slavery and abuse of every kind. the splatter element in that contest passes in 2nd plan. in sauzer saga we see kids enslaved and tortured. in short, hokuto no ken is about a sensible and loving young man, who went through hell and back, preserving his best part of humanity despite becoming "the god of death" on this cursed world. because cursed is human nature. it's important to remember that the world they live in, is created by men seeking for power and nuking themselves, and not by some natural disaster. a life time of despair, pain, and battle with his friends and brothers, but he's turned sorrow into anger, and tears into smiles for others. after 35 years, this story still has a lot to teach to those willing to meditate. literaly the progenitor of modern shonen and combat manga (fact Toryama was inspired by hokuto no ken in creating dragonball: the rest is history)
This ending sequence make me feel so sad for kenshiro. He fought all the vilains for nothing at the end. He was just expecting to see yuria one day and live a normal life with her but unfortunately it never happen ! For those who love someone enjoy every second of your life with her or him as long as this person is alive because if you dont do it you will regret it one day like kenshiro regret the fact that he was not able to save on time yuria.
It was not for nothing, sadly it is the fate of the bearer of the hokuto no ken, the one who is destined to lose everything and live a tragic and lonely life in order to return the light of hope to the world and guide it to the tomorrow they need.
You need to watch hokuto no ken2 it is revealed that kenshiro lived with yuria for a short moment and then she died. Kenshiro returns back to Bat and Lin
Every time, literally EVERY time I see this I can't hold my tears😢 Kenshiro deserved some happiness especially after what he went through 😣😞 The scene 2:52 😭😭😭
I always took this scene as a symbol of hope. That in time the earth will recover and everything will be ok, but it's gonna take some time and pain before we get there. Till then Kenshiro has to keep fighting, he has to keep going. I never saw this scene as a tragic moment. That shot of the skyscaraper with the ship in it is the symbol of the continued struggle.
A truly great series. The true heroes of the series were bart and lin who represented boys and girls, us the audience. We, like lin and bart in the series could not really do much against other than endure, learn and adapt. Hnk truly meant a lot to me as a kid as me and neighbours' kids would watch it together each day. As the series finished, the summer holiday finished and we feel grew up, matured just like lin and bart. Brings tears to think back to the days.
People, you should understand what Kenshiro went through didn't occur by accident. it's his DESTINY as the successor of HSK himself to carry the burden of the whole world on his back all by himself (which is also true for any successor depending on the era they live in.) It's not just a random title or position they earn. It also has everything to do with "destiny" and fate. The story also gives many clues about this throughout the events. At the start of the series he was very naive but as the story progresses he gradually matured and accepted his harsh fate. The 7 dipper shaped scars he received on his chest was the ULTIMATE trigger that 1st awakened him to the harsh reality of bearing the GREATEST responsibility of ruling this new most corrupted world that was ruined by the global nuclear holocaust, with iron fist and justice.
Yeah exactly this is the quality of kenshiro's character that people don't get, if you put him with other top tier main shounen characters he is criminally underrated because the anime is not as entertaining as Boku no hero and the others and because he is very misunderstood.
Honestly, I believe that even if Jagi didn't goad Shin into turning on Kenshiro and kidnapping Yuria, Shin most likely would have done so anyway sooner or later. Also, Raoh didn't think that Kenshiro was truly worthy of being successor (although he thought even less of Jagi being the successor), and basically had Jagi throw Kenshiro into a seemingly-bottomless pit to his death to test him. TL; DR: In the context of this movie, Kenshiro's former best friend, his scumbag, older, adoptive brother, and villain-that-thinks-he's-doing-good, eldest, adoptive brother not only ruined Kenshiro's life, but also awakened him to his destiny as a messiah with deadly martial-arts superpowers on post-apocalyptic Earth. EDIT/ADD: In my humble opinion, it can be argued that this movie, at its basis, is a graphically-violent, post-apocalyptic, martial-arts story about a guy trying to be good and just in an even-more violent world fighting his immediate family over an inheritance as well as a fake friend that simped so hard for his girlfriend that he kidnapped her and left said guy for dead.
Often, in the series, kenshiro mentions he, as the saviour, bore the sadness of the people he meets and give them hope. This sadness he absorbs allows him to be in with the null fields, i.e. musou tensei. Raoh, is far more powerful then kenshiro in terms of ability never truly learnt how to absorb the sadness but rule through power and fear. Although he started to understand it after he took yuria but kenshiro by then had immersed in it since very early on. Hnk Zero kenshiro, he was already able to activitate his musou a bit as jukai asked why he is dying, kenshiro said something along the lines of 'musou, the sadness gives me power beyond the living'
Tell me bout it boss. This song brings tears to the virtuous man. We use these sounds to achieve the kenshiro state of mind ourselves. In his name he’s chronicled more honourable warriors. Stay cold king
1:46 El protagonista que mas admiro y respeto le tengo . Kenshiro es un buen ejemplo que se puede ser alguien rudo y serio , sin perder el lado humano y buen corazon 👍😎💥
While not in the manga, I think this scene perfectly embodies what Kenshiro is about. Komodo Band, you have my thanks for producing such bangers for the whole franchise.
La rinascita al confine dell'acido deserto. Quale grande metafora, animazione da parte del maestro Masami Suda senza precedenti. Un grande film di tecnica che incarna benissimo il manga di Tetsuo Hara e Buronson.
Se ci pensi per Ken la felicità è un’oasi nel deserto, un miraggio, può distruggere 3000 cristiani con un dito, ma non può e mai potrà raggiungere quel miraggio tanto bramato è il voto del successore della divina scuola di hokuto
Bellissimo veramente , anche poetico per certi versi nel modo di far percepire il senso di perdita. Alla fine l' indomito guerriero altro non vorrebbe che la pace di quel luogo insieme alla sua amata
Ricordo quando giungemmo - eravamo un piccolo gruppo di amici - alla sigla conclusiva del primo lungometraggio di Kenshiro, nell'ormai lontano 1993. Qualcosa si mosse dentro me, forse per la prima volta, in modo incerto ed embrionale, delle onde che correvano lungo tutta la schiena, sulle braccia, nello sguardo. Mi ritrovai commosso, e anche forse imbarazzato perché fu una reazione inaspettata, in quel pomeriggio che oggi appare sbiadito e privo di contorno, un pomeriggio estivo, in cui scoprii dentro me la tristezza del finire, del vagare alla perenne ricerca di qualcuno che sfugge tra le dita non appena crediamo di averlo raggiunto. In fondo, oggi che ho quarantadue anni, e ho scoperto la Poesia, vivo con essa nel cuore, la rispetto e percorro, devo tutto a questo film, alla serie animata, al fumetto, che introdussero la realtà - anche cruda - nella mia vita di bambino. Lasciandomi intuire quanto sia dura la lotta, per conquistare se stessi, i propri amori, la fedeltà verso un ideale; e non è scontato riuscire ad alzarsi ancora dal tappeto. Devo ringraziare questa storia, e i suoi protagonisti, se oggi sono ciò che sono. Senza saperlo imboccai un sentiero quel pomeriggio di quasi trent'anni fa, che conduce ad oggi, nel centro di quella tormenta nel deserto, con la mente fissa sul panorama lacustre, le vallate verdi, e le cime di monti lontani.
ngl I cried really hard when I watched this for the first time. him imagining the love of his life running around the beautiful greenery and river that she once dreamed of seeing and the fact that he wasn't able to show her it (in the movie atleast) hit so hard. and dude... the face at 2:27 ... it's so sad looking I cant the fate of the successor of hokuto shinken sucks.. lol actually nvm im the one crying
i weep everytime i watch this. its the best ending dude, its so good. all i ever wanted was for ken to find happiness. i never finished the anime but i gotta go back and find out someday.
It's great. There is one filler arc after Shin but that's it. Also just be aware that the movie came out in 1986 and the manga finished in 1988 so the film had to fill in some unwritten bits.
I actually cried a little at the part where Ken thought he was about to embrace Yuria only for it to be an illusion. I feel really bad for Ken, having his one true love stripped away from him by someone else and left for dead.
Nokosareta omoide wa Utsukushii mama Tozasareta kokoro ni Tsumetaku hikaru My leftover memories, while still beautiful, have been imprisoned in my heart, where they shine coldly. Kamishimeru you ni Taguri yosete mite mo Kaerenai ano hi Modorenai futari Even if we bite hard on our lips and try to pull each other closer, those days will not return, and the two of us will not get back together. PURPLE EYES Kimi wa PURPLE EYES Itsumo PURPLE EYES Yasashiku Mitsumetekureta PURPLE EYES You would PURPLE EYES always PURPLE EYES gaze at me so tenderly. Hiekitta karada wa Kizu tsuita mama Mitasarenu omoi ni Shizukani yureru My frozen body, covered in wounds, sways quietly to my fulfilled feelings. Chikai atta kotoba Sasayaku you ni Kurikaeshite mitemo Todokanai ima wa Even if I were to whisper again our words of vow, they will not reach you now. PURPLE EYES Kimi wa PURPLE EYES Itsumo PURPLE EYES Yasashiku Mitsumetekureta PURPLE EYES You would PURPLE EYES always PURPLE EYES gaze at me so tenderly. PURPLE EYES itsuka PURPLE EYES kitto PURPLE EYES kimi wa Mata meguri aeru PURPLE EYES Someday PURPLE EYES for sure PURPLE EYES you and I will be able to meet again. PURPLE EYES Itsuka Aeru hi made Kono mune de nemuri tsuzukete PURPLE EYES Someday, until the day of our reunion, please continue sleeping in my bosom. PURPLE EYES Kimi wa PURPLE EYES Itsumo PURPLE EYES Yasashiku Mitsumetekureta PURPLE EYES You would PURPLE EYES always PURPLE EYES gaze at me so tenderly. PURPLE EYES Itsuka Aeru hi made Kono mune de nemuri tsuzukete PURPLE EYES Someday, until the day of our reunion, please continue sleeping in my bosom
Guys the truth is that it is the most touching Kenshiro movie… we don’t know what really happens to Ken and Julia… Actually even in the in the canonic episode… maybe we even don’t have to know… I hope, like I do for the blacksworsdman and Casca Minute 2:50… I wanna imagine that it wasn’t just a dream
Yes … though just a mirage of something Kenshiro cherished the most, however gladdens him. What I love FNS for is its multigenrism perplexed with basic human emotions. And in the end again he walks alone hiding his sadness, unfulfilled dreams under the hood, while sand-wind is blowing all around him. But our hero is driven towards next quests where voice of justice is calling for him.
Non ho mai versato un lamento o una lacrima per i più tremendi e dolorosi atemi sui tatami di tutto il Giappone, ma...non ce la faccio a non commuovermi ogni volta che vedo questo finale 🥺💖
The story of Kenshiro resembles the story of Rambo, a good guy that wants to live a simple normal life. Unfortunately fate forces him to go through hell and back again, and at the end he is lonely, old, in a constant state of torment from his awful memories. Such heroes deserved a more beautiful end of life !
it is, no joke. i was lucky i found mine, when i was 27. now im 35, and looking back i was through harsh times back then. just be the person u think your ideal woman deserves, keep tight and dont lose sight of that image. i wont tell u it's easy to wonder in a desert for years, but u will eventually find what u seek. i love kenshiro story, i was deeply inspired since i was kid, iwatched on tv. it was back then, 30 years ago, i started to develop my sense of justice and compassion. ultimately, it pushed my to practice martial arts also ^_^ i never regret it
Reminds me of...me. Ever since I've graduated high school, everyone I know has their own lives and are too busy to stay in touch with me. I thought if I kept trying to message them or ask if they'd like to go somewhere, they'd actually give it a shot. But they all ended up the same way: I'm a stranger to them, they're too busy, or don't want to. I even found this girl who was like a big sister to me, I found her out of nowhere after 13+ years, I tried to keep in touch with her, but she gave me a fake number, so I gave up, I gave up on all of them after realizing I'm only wasting my time
Bro focus on yourself you will cross paths with the right one some day your fate is sealed anyways idk if that makes sense but with hardships come ease so why not just try to focus on yourself from now on? Something unexpected might happen during your journey with yourself
Both for the context and some odd private reasons, once this scene rolled I… cried…. A great movie indeed! Wasn’t totally to the Manga, but wasn’t awful!
its a nice way to get into fist of the north star especially since its an alternate story and it doesnt spoil much in case you do want to read the manga or watch the anime afterwards
I can picture kenshiro coming back from defeating bolge, and seeing shin,rei,toki,shu,souther,raoh,fudo, Falco, sachi hyou kaioh and yuria all moving by the tree line
