Hokuto no Ken

In the year 19XX, after being betrayed and left for dead, bravehearted warrior Kenshirou wanders a post-apocalyptic wasteland on a quest to track down his rival, Shin, who has kidnapped his beloved fiancée Yuria. During his journey, Kenshirou makes use of his deadly fighting form, Hokuto Shinken, to defend the helpless from bloodthirsty ravagers. It isn't long before his exploits begin to attract the attention of greater enemies, like warlords and rival martial artists, and Kenshirou finds himself involved with more than he originally bargained for.

Faced with ever-increasing odds, the successor of Hokuto Shinken is forced to put his skills to the test in an effort to take back what he cares for most. And as these new challenges present themselves and the battle against injustice intensifies, namely his conflict with Shin and the rest of the Nanto Seiken school of martial arts, Kenshirou is gradually transformed into the savior of an irradiated and violent world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kenshirou Main

Kamiya, Akira Japanese

Raou Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio Japanese

Rei Supporting

Shiozawa, Kaneto Japanese

Toki Supporting

Horikawa, Ryo Japanese

Jagi Supporting

Totani, Kouji Japanese

Souther Supporting

Ginga, Banjou Japanese

Juuza Supporting

Yasuhara, Yoshito Japanese

Shin Supporting

Furukawa, Toshio Japanese

Shuu Supporting

Mori, Katsuji Japanese

Bat Supporting

Ichiryuusai, Teiyuu Japanese

Maseba, Yutaka Producer

Macek, Carl Producer

Ashida, Toyoo Director, Episode Director, Screenplay

Itano, Ichirou Episode Director, Animation Director

Reviews

Nov 2, 2025

ProudElitist

Recommended

The way you're going to enjoy this series depends on your tolerance for big muscled men being uberemotional and so prone to crying/showing their emotions that the 90's animated Usagi Tsukino (the one some people on the internet have problems with in regards to her crying, but not me) would look like a cloistered buddist nun in comparison to them and of abundant, sensical (for once) gore which, incredibly enough, was censored due to the same parents who watched violent Taigas with samurais violently dying in battles and seppuku innuendos with their children while this series was broadcasted in Japan. If you have problems with ... both things, move away. If you don't and, on the contrary, you love the idea, while watching this Masterpiece of the genre that here in Italy has garnered the second strongest fanbase worldwide, you will be perfectly at home and you will be rewarded with memorable characters, astounding seiyuu performances from all parts involved (particularly Kaneto Shiowaza in the pants of my favourite, both 30 years ago when this was regularly broadcasted on private TV networks in its fake, non-japanese form and now, Rei, absolutely kills it), Epic storytelling reminescent of greek and roman sagas like Virgilius' Eneide and the Odissey, soap opera like drama of the finest quality that would make the Maestro Toshiki Inoue (where are all the people who love this series when I defend him against his haters?) and his heir to the palm of best tokusatsu writer ever Akiko (check the perfect in all aspects 15th episode of No. 1 Sentai Gozyuger as a proof) proud, well coreographed fights, excellent fotorealistic landscapes due to painting-alike backgrounds that depict the most realistic and palpable post-apocalyptic landscape I've ever seen and memorable OST that reminds me of Versailles No Bara in some cases. Awesome, just awesome. The only real problem I see in this besides the skippable recaps (some with incredible background anyway) and the subjective thing of not being a life-changing experience like Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (concerning serial animation, nothing is anyway) is the constant reuse of flashbacks. I don't have problems with the original ones deepening the lore, but those repeating the same thing over and over again are boring at the end of the day.
Highly recommended. And if you're into the Golden Age Superman (of whose spirit the main character of this series is the best modern reinterpretation I can think of as of now, Ultraman is better than Superman but it's another thing entirely) like me, double recommended.
Larmès de Heros, Larmès de Heros indeed, to quote the french heavy metal band Sortilège.
P.S. this review applies ONLY to the first series, when everything the facto ended. Avoid the second, more "manga-accurate" one entirely like avoid like the black plague the announced HNK remake-ca$hgrab by the billionaires Buronson and Tetsuo "I sell sketches for prices (12.000 EUROS) not even Frank Miller would ask" Hara. Don't give them more money than the one they already own, please.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 13, 2025

anen0me

Mixed Feelings

an abysmal animation budget, sloppy execution and a backbreaking release schedule makes kenshiro a dull boy. By the standards of today, this is borderline unwatchable. By the standards of its own time, well, dragon ball Z didn't come out that long after Hokuto no Ken, and it basically copied kenshiro's formula but did it better with a higher budget.
But we wouldn't have DBZ without Hokuto no Ken. And it's birthed some really iconic scenes and a lot of tropes you'd be familiar with. I'm admitting this is really not my genre of choice and i still enjoyed it for a while, so maybe someone who ... actually likes shonen action anime and all the tropes Hokuto no Ken established would find it more tolerable. 5/10*

*3/10 +2 stars for historical relevance

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Mar 18, 2017

InkSpider

Not Recommended

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 of a B-movie.
Fist of the North Star hails from the bad old days of anime, the 80’s and 90’s, so the art isn’t very polished and the relative sizes get pretty wonky, but there are some beautifully painted settings, and the action feels consistently dynamic, hot-blooded and over-the-top.
Some of the music is pretty great, and the opening theme of Part 1, “Ai no Torimodose!!” (yes, that second exclamation mark is absolutely mandatory) is sure to put you in the right mood for this show, with its echoing shouts of “You hua SHOCK!” and its dramatic, fatalistic lyrics.
The story is very melodramatic and morally uncompromising, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. While the characters are exaggerated, there are still moments where we are moved by their suffering.
The simplicity of the show’s morality has a certain charm as well: when evil people do evil things, the hero shows up and punches them to death, and all is well again. Don’t you wish the real world was this simple?
If I could separate Part 1 from the rest of the series, I would give it a 7 out of 10. There’s a surprising sophistication to the irony of the plotting, and the anti-villain, Shin, is memorable and intriguing, but his sympathetic aspects never detract from his menace.
The Negative Side: This show neatly captures both everything good and bad about Shonen. The series comes to a neat close in Part 1, and then insists on dragging on for a hundred more episodes, well after the show’s artistic merit has been wrung dry.
This show is very repetitive, which is fine if you consistently enjoy watching our hero, Ken exploding bad guys, but gets boring pretty quick if you’ve grown used to more mature anime. Adding to this repetition is an abundance of animation recycling. I hope you liked that shot of Ken using the 100 Crack Fist of the North Star on Zeed in the first episode, because you’re going to see that about fifty more times before the series is done.
The character development is also lacking. While a few of the major villains are well-developed, the majority of the villains are two-dimensional, which isn’t too bad at first, but becomes truly grating as the series wears on and we are forced to trudge through one heartless, irredeemable megalomaniac after another. Kenshiro is supposed to be loved for his compassion and kindness, but that’s a bit hard to buy when you look at the sheer number of creative and sadistic deaths he inflicts on his foes. Ken’s sympathy is also hindered by how over-powered he is compared to the majority of his foes. For every villain who manages to significantly injure Ken, there are a dozen whom he effortlessly slays with a single blow.
There are a few side characters who are more interesting than Ken himself, but nearly every single hero not named “Kenshiro” dies a tragically stupid and pointless death trying to stop some over-powered villain. It’s not only predictable, but irritating to watch characters we care about strive so hard to live honorably and justly (like Kenshiro gets away with constantly), only to be effortlessly slaughtered by a villain to get the point across that the villain is a threat.
It’s a bit unsurprising that a Shonen from the 80’s would have trouble with gender, but the way Fist of the North Star’s handles women is consistently cringe-worthy. A disproportionate amount of time is built setting up Rei, a supposed hero who, to the modern audience, is more likely to come across as a sex criminal than a crusader. It is very hard to weep for Rei’s death when his first interaction with a major character (Mamiya) consists of him leering at her and ripping away her bath-towel. I was honestly amazed the scene didn’t end with Rei raping Mamiya. This isn’t the only time he forcefully strips her of her clothing, and to make matters worse, Rei and Mamiya are set up as love interests to each other later on. Insisting that a woman become romantically invested in a man who sexually harassed her the first time they met isn’t just unrealistic, it’s insulting.
Mamiya does her best to serve the role of the powerful, independent and capable woman, but gets hit very hard by what I like to call “Sakura Syndrome”, named after Naruto’s Sakura Haruno. Sakura Syndrome is when a female character in a Shonen is supposed to be a competent warrior, but never (or nearly never) wins a significant fight. Sakura Syndrome is generally the result of a Shonen that wants to make a female character a badass, either to placate feminists or for purposes of fetishism, but also wants to make sure that the male heroes stay firmly in the spotlight at all times. Mamiya mows down plenty of random mooks with her razor yo-yos, but the moment she is placed in a fight against anyone important enough to be given a name, she is doomed. Mamiya also espouses the philosophy that one cannot be a woman and a warrior at the same time. Because, you know, it’s not like there’s thousands of women enlisted in the Armed Forces at this exact moment. Eventually, Mamiya gives up on her career as a warrior and gets shoved back into the kitchen, which begs the question of why Fist of the North Star played with creating a female warrior in the first place.
Part 1 is worth watching if you like action series and don’t mind melodrama and cheesy dialogue, but if you go any further than that, you’re wasting your time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Hokuto no Ken Episode 109 Discussion Zell182 - Mar 10, 2010	40 replies	by lusianoproo2005 »» Jan 31, 6:06 AM
	Poll: Hokuto no Ken Episode 108 Discussion UnculturedWhitey - Oct 8, 2012	26 replies	by lusianoproo2005 »» Jan 31, 5:29 AM
	Poll: Hokuto no Ken Episode 93 Discussion UnculturedWhitey - Oct 7, 2012	16 replies	by lusianoproo2005 »» Jan 29, 3:48 PM
	Poll: Hokuto no Ken Episode 92 Discussion removed-user - Jun 12, 2012	15 replies	by lusianoproo2005 »» Jan 29, 11:29 AM
	Poll: Hokuto no Ken Episode 83 Discussion removed-user - May 17, 2012	13 replies	by lusianoproo2005 »» Jan 27, 4:31 PM

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