Hokuto no ken (Fist of the North Star) (1986)

Possibly the most head-explody film I've ever seen (and that's saying something), Fist of the North Star is what my co-viewer quite appropriately termed "grindhouse anime". Drawing from the manga and anime series of the same name, the film takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland with warring fighters that take to the "North Star" or "South Star" styles. There's no East or West in the future, I guess. There is, however, a lot of 80's hair.

Kenshirô has been named the master of the North Star power, much to his elder brothers' chagrin, but soon his girlfriend Yuria is stolen away by the South Star master and he's dropped into a canyon and left for dead by his brothers. Kenshirô then rises from the ashes with the help of an inexplicably magic little girl and goes about fighting tons of evil people so he can fix the world or whatever. Rei (the best character), a dude who slices people up with neon blue lines resembling a Windows 95 screensaver, is unfortunately relegated to partially saving his blind sister and hanging out with some kids. Sigh.

Oh jeez. Well let's start with my first impressions of this film: Really bad animation, with some nice painterly backgrounds but just god-awful character designs. Drawn by dudes who aren't comfortable drawing women, and possibly have never seen a woman naked. Lots of head explosions. Blood spurts out of bodies without any care for the laws of gravity. The story makes absolutely no. damn. sense. Who the hell are these characters? Why is the little girl magic? What are these kids doing here in the first place? Why does everyone keep changing size all willy-nilly? Why does Ken make those high-pitched "Aii-yaii-yaii-yaii!" noises when he fights? And what is the deal with his eyebrows? How many villains does this movie have? Why did this become a tragic love story five minutes before the film ends?

There are many questions, as you can see. It's a weird story with little context, transition, pacing, explanation, or character development. This is the kind of movie during which one should really just sit back and enjoy the incredible amounts of gratuitous violence and hilariously convoluted dialogue. So that's basically what we did. Like any great b-movie, Fist of the North Star is loaded with illogical sci-fi tropes, confusing plot twists, poorly scripted conversations, and a heck of a lot of blood and gore. The shoddy animation just makes it that much funnier.

I haven't read the manga or seen the show but it seems that the film doesn't encompass the entire story of the series, making for a really anticlimactic battle that I guess would be the set-up for a bigger showdown in the nonexistent sequel. I have little intention of watching the anime since I've read that it isn't half as awesomely violent as the film or comic version. I'll probably just continue living in ignorant bliss of any possible explanations or better-written takes on the story, preferring this completely crazy movie. All I need are the exploding heads, really.

As a movie: 1.5/5
As entertainment: 4/5

PS There is a live-action American remake of this. I can only imagine it is completely rad. Anyone seen it?

PPS Dudes. Check out the trailer. There's less head exploding than I would have liked, but it's got this awesome song from the movie.


Further Reading:
Badmovies.org review