"Fist of the North Star", originally called "Hokuto no Ken", is an Action/Fighting-Anime which aired on Japanese TV from 1984 to 1987. This anime is based on the popular Manga series with the same name, and was produced by Toei Animation and Fuji Television Network.
Basic plot: In the year 199X a nuclear war has wiped out most of the humanity, and there seems to be no life on Earth. The surviving people, fighting over the remaining amount of food and water, are either killed or becoming slaves for punk-like people and villainous giants.
The series follows our hero Kenshiro, the successor of the Hokuto Shinken, a secret martial arts style which can literally make his enemies explode from the inside. Kenshiro, who's fiancée Yuria has been taken away by Nanto Seiken master Shin, wanders around the wasteland with seven scars on his chest. And together with two kids (Bat and Lin), he goes around and saves the weak and innocent people from the gruesome acts of the said enemies, while he sets out to save Yuria from his rival Shin.
The animation style is good, even though it seems to be dated as the anime was made during the 80s. Many of the scenes with heads and bodies exploding has been toned down probably in order to avoid eventually censorship, but still this anime has loads of action scenes and some scenes of humor and dramatic to make the fans of 80s action-filled anime entertained. This is a classic fighting anime after all.
The soundtrack is also good, and fits very well with many of the dramatic and battle scenes taking place. The theme song "Ai Wo Torimodose" by Crystal King is catchy as well.
Because of all of the things I've mentioned here in this review: By all of the fighting anime I've seen, like "Bleach", "Naruto" and "Dragonball", this one has to be the best fighting anime series I've watched so far, if not the best anime TV-series of all time.
The Malay DVD box I've got as a Christmas gift, as bought through eBay before Christmas 2013, contains as follows: The original 109-episode series and it's 43-episode long sequel, and six movies which also includes the 1986 movie remake.
Worth checking out if you're into action-packed anime, regardless if it was made in 1984 or 2014. A true classic after all. My overall rating: A well deserved 10/10.
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