Anime Rebirth

Review - Hokuto no Ken

Review by Roriconfan

Prologue
Two things I despise in anime are filler episodes and shallow heavy-dude characters. I simply see no point in watching brain-dead muscular guys beating the crap out of each other and then not even remember doing it. This series is filled with these two elements. Normally, I would have given up on it from the very first episode… But I didn’t. In fact, I liked it!

This is not just an exception to the shonen formula; it is too old to be considered genre revolutionary. It simply presented the most typical elements of fighting and character building in the best way possible. And if you take into account the time it was made, you can’t feel anything else but admiration for this title.

Animation: 7
If you happen to have read any volumes of the manga the series was based upon, you will be amazed with its graphic novel detail to body figures and fighting stance realism. The anime fails to present this feeling with the same quality but it is still very good for the time it was made. As far as body figure realism goes, I give it a 10, despite its usual detail butchering in body anatomy.

The depiction of the world the series takes place in is presented nicely but also repetitive. Everywhere you go, the world is an endless wasteland, with people being frail ones dressed in rags if they are commoners or muscular ones dressed in spikes and leather if they are fighters. It is very realistic but doesn’t have variety nor does it explain much how people survive in such a barren world, filled with radiation and without flora and animals. But that is just an overlooking; it doesn’t damage your opinion on animation much. Though, the following reasons do.

-Motion fluidity is bad. Too crude, choppy and generally fake. Most fast movements are in fact stale images with a speed line visual trick in the background.
-Visual effects are cheesy. This can be excused by the lack in digital technology at the time the series was made.
-There is plenty of gore violence in the series but it is very cartoonish and unrealistic. The depiction of human bodies blowing up usually looks more like balloons popping, fireworks exploding or cardboards cut to pieces. And this is not because of lack in digital technology. It was simply too gruesome to be shown realistically in a shonen series. Still, they are implying far more gore than most anime, where injury and death are usually not depicted with any detail.

Sound: 8
The intros and endings simply kick ass! They are blood boiling at the beginning and really sad towards the end, where the story gets more dramatic and less action-based. Thumps up for the music themes!

The voice acting feels dry most of the time but this is almost overlooked by the emotionless or imposing characters. It is almost excused by the fact that the people are a lot more cruel or uncaring because of what has happened to the world.

Story: 6
The general story is quite clichéd. In fact, it is more reminiscent of American action movies, rather than standard anime stories.

In the series, our Earth was devastated by nuclear bombing, during a fictional war in the 1990’s. Everything has become an endless wasteland, where the survivors are trying to rebuild a safe place to live in. As it usually happens in a lawless world, the cruel and the strong run the show. So, the people are simply divided into commoners who work their butts off for a plate of food and fighters who either tyrannize them or protect them. Since technology is scarce and knowledge has no means to be fruitful, it is not guns and missiles but martial arts and primitive weapons that decide the life or death of an individual. The protagonist, Kenshiro, is the heir to the most lethal martial art in history. He can literally make a human body explode or be completely manipulated by pressing hidden pressure points on it. He is on quest of vengeance, as his woman is kidnapped, the innocent people are tormented by heartless criminals and several martial artists want him dead for fame and glory. Yes, it is that kind of story. Typical, unimaginary and usually predictable from the start.

The general pace of the story is quite slow and is brimming with filler episodes. The series is over 100 episodes and yet it could easily be summed up in 1/3rd of those.

The general plot is quite predictable and repetitive. A cruel martial artist has the ambition to rule the world, raises an army of heartless criminals, torments the population, our hero appears and blows the bad guys to bits. Repeat the process a hundred times and the series is almost over.

The messages the series promotes are quite cheesy. Kenshiro always mentions to the bad guys that they deserve to be punished if they are not good-willing and compassionate. He even makes fun of them by body manipulation instead of just killing them. It felt too much like a silly educational fairy tale, where the immoral always get punished for their evil ways. Well, I too would beat the crap out of anyone I saw fit if I was THAT strong. But it is wrong to believe that violence and raw force are proper ways to punish the crooked and achieve justice; as the prevailing theme in the story implies.

The interest in the plot is a weird phenomenon. You know from the start that the protagonist is the strongest and the certain victor in all the battles. He never steps back and always pulls some weird trick in the last minute to save the day. And yet, you hardly get tired of watching it over and over. The events are presented in such a way that you always doubt Kenshiro’s certain victory. And watching bad guys tormenting and killing innocent people before blowing up or being manipulated in so many different ways, never gets old. So, we can say the ruthless villains and the gruesome martial art of the protagonist keeps you indefinitely interested for more.

Characters: 7
All the characters can easily be divided into three categories.

-The stunts. Powerless villagers who get killed and tormented by the bad guys and typical bad guy underlings. They have no backdrop stories, nor much of personality. They are, let’s say, cannon fodder. The villagers are killed so that the bad guys can show off their powers and the underlings are killed so that the good guys can show theirs. The villagers beg for help, so that the good fighters have an excuse to start killing underlings. The underlings are killed so that the story can drag on forever. You are going to hate those. They just stand in the way, without actually doing anything to affect the story. A big boo to the stunts.

-The fighters. Powerful martial artists who either torment the villagers if they are bad guys or help them if they are good guys. All of them have very imposing looks, huge muscles and lethal techniques. They are the backbone of the series and the meat in the story. They all have a backdrop story but it is pretty simple most of the time and gets easily forgotten if they are killed. The major characters, the North Star and Southern Cross martial artists, all belong to this kind of fighters. I must say that although I despise heavy-dudes, these guys were presented in a fine way and are quite likable. They interact and affect the story of one another while several flashbacks flesh them out in a decent degree. A big hooray for the fighters.

- The support cast. Kids and women that interact with the fighters. Passive and powerless, they exist to give the series a more humane nature and give excuses for some dialogue to come along. They don’t really affect the story by themselves but really help to flesh out the fighters. So, an applause to them.

In general, the characters are quite fake and there are too many stunts and unimportant characters that make the story unnecessary long and slow. But the major ones are cool enough to save some face in this section.

Value: 10
Historically speaking, it is one of the most distinctive anime titles. The story is not that great, the characters are pretty much stereotypes, but the violence and the atmosphere in it, make it memorable, no matter how many similar series you have seen.

Enjoyment: 7
Forget the story; it gets nowhere anyway. The characters and the fighting are all the enjoyment you get. If only there were less filler episodes and stunts, this section would be a 10.

I’m pretty sure that if the series weren’t so violent, the whole deal would be quite boring. For example, I disliked Saint Seiya (an also old and famous shonen) because of its childishly presented violence. The battles simply didn’t interest me and the characters became the norm of all recent series.

The backdrop stories of the Hokuto no Ken cast are also quite clichéd, but the violence make them look dramatic enough to make this scenario bearable.

Verdict
The accused is found … NOT GUILTY! … He is repetitive and shallow but in a very cool way.