This is a 3 part OVA anime series based on the original Fist of the North Star Tv Series / movie.
Kenshiro and his Hokuto Shin-ken is back in the barren wasteland that is Earth after the Nuclear war some time earlier.
Picking up sometime after the original TV series, Ken is wandering the land helping those less fortunate once again. When a group of villagers find fresh drinking water they are attacked by some men of ‘Last Land’, and Ken jumps in and destroys them with his superior ‘Fist of the North Star’.
Although most of the villagers are dead, one named Tobi survives and Ken takes him back to the village to be healed by the ‘Miracle woman’ whose name is Sara.
Tobi has a thing for Sara, Sara has a thing for everything else and is more concerned with healing the sick. But the ruler of Last Land, Sanga, gets really annoyed at his men being killed and destroys the village whilst stealing Sara during Ken and Tobi’s absence.
Ken then returns to save Sara and kill Sanga, and free the people from his exploitation and lie – that he has a god bringing fresh water to the people of his town.
Does it hold up the Legacy?
Barely. Although Ken is back defending those less fortunate, the deep personal connections are almost completely gone from his past.
In previous shows we meet Ken’s brothers, his blood brothers, and everything is extremely relevant to his life. In this series he simply fights off some bad guys, barely breaks a sweat and moves on – too easy!
It’s not too bad though, he does meet a band of men from a Hokuto martial arts style (derived from Hokuto Shin-ken some generations ago) that are guarding a site filled with weapons of mass destruction – to keep them from falling into the wrong hands.
This touches a tiny bit on the history of Hokuto Shin-ken and adds slightly to the legacy of the series, but it’s pretty superficial. Ultimately it’s just a story tacked on the end of an epic and awesome legacy.
The Animation & Martial Arts
This series does have some much improved animation and production values, being that it was made some 20 years after the original movie and TV series.
A lot of the fighting and action style is the same but is so much more fluid and full of movement. We see see Ken fight and actually move around quite quickly, dishing out blows and getting into the nitty gritty of his fights, it’s a nice upgrade from the days of old.
Even the detail of the animation is better, and the stances and movements drawn more technically.
Overall it’s a much slicker presentation, better demonstrated fights and action but lacks in the story department by comparison. Not a bad watch, especially if you’re a fan but go for the original movie first if you haven’t seen it!
On DVD –
Region 1 (US & Canada)
New Fist of the North Star: Complete Collection
Region 2 (UK, Europe, etc)
New Fist Of The North Star – Complete Collection [2007] [DVD]
