New Fist of the North Star Vol. 1: The Cursed City 2003 ADV Films Official Japanese Website Buy It Now

As most of us have seen plenty of time, many anime series have most or less an infinite shelf life. As long as there is a loyal and rapid following, after a bit of time passes, there is always the need to bring something back into the spotlight once again. Over recent years we've seen the likes of Astroboy and the dreaded space pirate Captain Herlock have enjoyed new series and OVA's. There have even been rumors of a new series of some sort of Japan's beloved Yamato series. Back in the 80's, Japan was abuzz as fans tuned in weekly to see the exploits of Kenshiro in Fist of the North Star, the ultra-violent fighting anime that could be considered the precursor other fighting series such as Dragonball Z, Saint Seiya, and so on.

The popularity of Fist of the North Star though has not been exclusive to just Japan. The series has been popular with fans in North America as well as other parts of the world, and the long running anime also was seen as a full length feature film, one of the early VHS anime releases in the United States as well as a very poorly received live action film (though there was good reason behind why it's so despised.) It's been more than a decade since fans last saw an anime version of the series, but now Kenshiro is back with a brand new Fist of the North Star OVA series.

Most of us are already very familiar with the story. Mankind has finally done the unthinkable and nuclear war has laid waste to the land. Now, water is the most precious thing on Earth and humans have begun establishing their own safe havens are groups of bandits roam free, terrorizing and murdering the innocent in order to keep themselves alive. From the wasteland however has emerged a man with the skill and power to take on those that would seek to enslave those that are too weak to defend themselves. His name is Kenshiro and he is the practitioner of a deadly martial art known as Houkuto Shinken, or the Fist of the North Star.

Both my wife and I are fans of the original series, though I have to admit that she's a much bigger fan than I am, having grown up with the series and watched it every time it aired on television in Japan. She's told me stories of being so involved in watching it that she would even eat her dinner standing up in the kitchen just to watch it. When we originally saw the trailer for the OVA though, we were both a little dismayed. Her first concern was why they had used CG, and I had no answer for it save that it was more or less a sign of the times as far as anime is concerned. So, we both really feared the worst with the new series.

Though it's never directly address, the OVA seems to take place sometime after the series itself. The fact of Julia being kidnapped by Shin, and though Kenshiro does make some references to one of his brothers, it's just a brief flashback. This first volume of the OVA starts with a typical Fist of the North Star scenario, and that is people looking for clean water, and although they are successful, that lasts until bandits arrive and being to slaughter everyone. That's when Kenshiro arrives though and puts a quick end to their mayhem. Kenshiro is takes the only survivor, Tobi, to his village, but once again the bandits show up and this time abduct Sara, a member of the village that has mastered a variation of Houkuto Shinken, but for healing purposes. Thus, Kenshiro and Tobi head for Last Land, a city controlled by Sanga, a man bent on becoming an overlord, but through the use of "gods," a Sara is going to be his latest addition.

In many ways, this is the Fist of the North Star that you know, but quite a bit has changed as well, outside of the obvious changes as far as animation goes. Kenshiro has the same, almost emotionless attitude that he had in the Japanese version, but in some ways he's a bit more creative. I'm used to him generally just walking into the thieves' den as it were and then start kicking ass. While we do see that at first, Kenshiro also has the patience to bide his time and even obtain information instead of blinding jumping into the fray. But this OVA also shows how times have changed. With the original series, the moments of blood and gore were shows in various colors, white and black being the colors of choice. Now, the gore is right out in front, and there's plenty of exploding heads combined with beautiful red gore, splattering brains, and so on. It's definitely a nice change, and I for one always hated the fact although there was gore in the original series, it was more or less implied, and adding the red stuff helps quite a bit.

Another nice touch is the absence of two characters from the original series that I quickly grew to despise. Kenshiro took to hanging out with two children, Bart, a former thief, a Lynn, who was mute until healed by Ken. These two brats were really nothing but trouble and tended to be in the way more than anything. Lynn, in my opinion, whined far too much and her mere appearance on the screen nauseated me. Neither of them are to be found here, though there was a girl in the OVA that I thought would be her replacement, but that luckily didn't happen.

The overall premise isn't really that bad and in some ways is a little better than some fo the other storylines from the series itself. Sanga is your typical villain, but a little more intelligent, especially with his idea that it's gods that control the people and having Sara as a healing deity is beneficial, and he also has Tobi's younger brother, Doma, under his rule as a god that apparently create water from nothing. Doma has a case of amnesia and can't even speak, luckily for Sanga, but of course in the end, everything falls apart.

Some of the things as far as the animation itself goes it is very much like the original series. Kenshiro isn't too different in terms of his appearance, and as far as characterization, he still has his famous line of, "You're already dead." Even the Japanese seiyuu manages to keep him in the monotone approach that can be associated with the character. Most of the bandits and villains have the usual beefed up look, and overall the character designs have a more modern look about them. The computer animation however is what I'm most displeased with. While it is a little better than some that I've seen, it still sticks out quite a bit for the most part, and at times just doesn't look right. Luckily, it isn't something that is used constantly and although seeing it does tend to make me cringe, it's something that you get used to.

The name Gackt should mean something to a few people, and the former member of Malice Meizer makes his seiyuu debut here. We don't really get too much as far as what he's capable of since he only has a line or two right at the end of the series, but he does talk about it quite a bit in one of the included extras, which is a press conference for the OVA. Personally I've never cared much for Gackt and I think his music is horrible. His overall demeanor is just as annoying, and you'd think he would have learned a bit of personality, especially since he has claimed to be over 400 years old. Okay, whatever.

Aside from the press conference footage, which aside from Gackt also has the original manga-ka of Fist of the North Star, there are a few other things included as well. ADV has again included another thrilling installment of Behind the Anime, and I've mentioned before that I really don't care much for these segments as the English dubbing actors really have nothing to do with the anime itself aside from providing a new voice. It's really the Japanese cast and crew that would be the ones that have a better insight. Also included are character profiles, but nothing too lengthy. There is just enough to give you what you need to know about those involved in the series. Thankfully, ADV left out their usual clean open and closing, and I would assume that it's because neither of these are very impressive. It's just very poorly done computer animation for the most past that barely leaves any sort of impact.

What I believed was going to be an incredible let down actually isn't too bad. The New Fist of the North Star sticks true to what fans remember from the series, and embodies those things that drew fans to it in the first place. Again, the addition of blood works fantastically for the series and adds much more punch; pardon the pun, to Kenshiro's destructive martial art. Fans of the original are going to be rather pleased with this new version and for those that haven't seen the series, this could very well be the thing that gets them interested.

-mike-
 

Genre: Action   Directed by: Takashi Watanabe   Written by: Nobuhiko Horie & Hiroshi Toda   Based Upon the Manga by: Buronson & Tetsuo Hara   Original Japanese Title: Shin Hokuto No Ken   Voice Cast: Takehito Koyasu (Kenshiro) Yurika Hino (Sara) Akimitsu Takase (Tobi) Unshou Ishizuka (Sanga) Gackt (Seji)

DVD Features: Dual Language Japanese/English English Subtitles Behind the Anime - Voice Actor Interviews Interview w/ Relson Gracie Press Conference Character Bios