Fist Of The North Star: Volume 1 (Akira Kamiya, 1986)

[kingconan10]

http://fuflixbulletin.net/gfx/FistOfTheNorthStar1.jpg


Sypnosis:
Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken, literally Ken the Great Bear Fist) which premiered on Japanese television in 1984, looks like a Saturday morning version of Mad Max starring a caricature of Sylvester Stallone. Searching for his lost love, Julia, Ken(shiro) wanders an Earth that was devastated by nuclear war. In each episode, he takes on a new sadistic motorcycle gang. (Food and water are scarce, but there's apparently plenty of gasoline.) In his travels, Ken acquires two sidekicks: Bart, a comic musician-thief, and Lynn, an adoring little girl. Ken is the last master of secret Chinese martial arts techniques: his specialty is making foes blow up from the inside. In every episode, several heads explode, actions that would be quite gory if they weren't so crudely animated. (Rated 13 and older, but more appropriate for 15 and older: considerable violence, profanity, grotesque imagery, alcohol use)

Cast:
Akira Kamiya, Yuriko Yamamoto, Kenji Utsumi, Chikao ?tsuka, Toshio Furukawa

Ref.:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fist-North-S...dp/B00008K78N/

[kingconan10]

Kenshiro arrives in a desert town , desperate for water. He is promptly thrown in prison , where currently resides the cunning Bart , a tiny scrounger and jack-of-all-trades. The village is then attacked by bandits. Ken busts out of the prison and saves the life of Lynn , a mute girl who becomes indebted and attached to him. With the bandits defeated , Ken leaves town. Bart sees the opportunity to exploit Ken's strength and decides to chase after him. The town elder, though , counsels Lynn to stay behind.

v16297035Krzqnkyx

[kingconan10]

The episode starts off with a flashback of Shin's betrayal. Later, Bart arrives at Ken's camp and shows off his car he's built. The pair set off but soon hear the sounds of someone being assaulted. Ken quickly rescues an old man from a group of thugs led by Spade , one of Shin's lieutenants. Spade runs off , vowing revenge (Ken ruins one of his eyes with an reflected arrow). Bart is then sent by Ken to get back rice seeds the village needs to survive. Upon getting the seeds back by deceiving Spade's gang, Bart and Ken head back to the village and drop off the seeds. They leave the town, only to see all of Spade's gang heading straight at the helpless town for retribution. They slaughter almost everyone , but Ken makes it back soon after and makes Spade and his cronies pay.

v1348656QznChSQR

[kingconan10]

Back at King(aka Shin)'s palace , Shin hears Spade has been killed. He is still confident, because he has three "jacks" left. Elsewhere, Bart is strolling in the desert looking for food when he sees Lynn in a cage aboard a truck (bound for the slave town Dorado). Bart quickly informs Kenshiro and the two set off. En route , Kenshiro spies Diamond and his thugs playing a sadistic game with a father and his son. Ken breaks up the party and gets rid of Diamond. Bart (with the help of Lynn's dog , Peru) tracks down Lynn's whereabouts and frees her. At around the same time , Ken finds Club battling malnourished slaves in his cage of death. Ken jumps in the cage and trounces him. Finally Shin hears that two more of his jacks have been killed , and that the "man with seven scars" did it. Shin surmises that Kenshiro is still alive , and orders Heart , the "Martial Arts Killer" , to hunt down Ken.

http://www.veoh.com/videodetails2.swf?player=videodetailsembedded&type=v&permalinkId=v1008712HMxWQQak&id=anonymous

[kingconan10]

Heart's men are bloodthirsty and are on a search for the man with seven scars. Meanwhile Lynn informs Ken the rest of the prisoners are being held in a compound not to far away. While they plot the breakout , we witness Heart's fury over seeing the sight of his own blood in a bar somewhere (costing the lives of several men). Ken makes it to the prison and hastily defeats the guards, while Lynn and Bart free the prisoners. Back at Shin's palace, Julia is happy that Ken is still alive. Shin attempts to please her with gifts, but she'll have none of it. Joker (Shin's spy) informs him that Heart is on his way to intercept Kenshiro. As Ken and the slaves near a mountain, a group of Heart's men assail them. While Ken takes care of business, Lynn and Bart lead the others up the mountain , right into a trap. Heart and the rest of his men quickly kill the helpless slaves, but Ken makes it back in time to save his young comrades, and defeat Heart. Ken learns that the mysterious bandit lord "King" is actually Shin and swears to continue his quest, now more certain of where to head.

http://www.veoh.com/videodetails2.swf?player=videodetailsembedded&type=v&permalinkId=v1008869mZE8rdnd&id=anonymous

[kingconan10]

With all four of Shin's "jacks" dead, Kenshiro has made it to his nemesis' castle. While thinking back to happier times with Julia, Shin is already preparing to leave the castle with Julia in tow. Ken demands that Lynn and Bart stay behind. He then infiltrates the castle , taking out the first guards. Joker appears and informs Ken that Shin has already left and that he'll never make it out alive. Joker then ignites the castle's kerosene and a huge fire engulfs the fortress. With the aid of several vultures , Joker flys away while Ken looks for a place to escape. As the flames continue to burn , Bart and Lynn drive up to retrieve Ken from the debris.

http://www.veoh.com/videodetails2.swf?player=videodetailsembedded&type=v&permalinkId=v1008975mz33H7Mp&id=anonymous (http://toxist.com/forum/redirector.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.veoh.com%2Fvid eodetails2.swf%3Fplayer%3Dvideodetailsembedded%26t ype%3Dv%26permalinkId%3Dv1008975mz33H7Mp%26id%3Dan onymous)

[kingconan10]

Shin and Julia have made it to Southern Cross , the city Shin has built for her as tribute. He is quickly informed that Ken has made it out of the trap alive. Frustrated , Shin orders a manhunt for Kenshiro. Kenshiro and Co. see a city in the middle of the desert and decide to take a look. After teaching a local bully some manners (with Ken's help), Bart is able to wrangle some food out of Johnny , a shopkeeper who gives them a warning that God's Army runs the town. Ken then meets several God Army members getting their monthly rations for "protection". After witnessing the crippling of their captain by Ken, the men run back to their fortress and inform the Major , who is supervising the ruthless training of new recruits, that the Man with Seven Scars is in town. The Major gathers some men, and while quashing a small uprising on the way to town, runs into Kenshiro. Kenshiro hastily defeats the whip-wielding sadist and his men and returns to town.

http://www.veoh.com/videodetails2.swf?player=videodetailsembedded&type=v&permalinkId=v1009084MXeW8SKN&id=anonymous

[kingconan10]

The mysterious Colonel orders his men to hunt down the man with Seven Scars. Another God Army Captain takes a group of men and goes town , bullying the populace for information. The Captain decided to lure Ken out by holding a family hostage. Bart informs Ken promptly. The Captain kills the hostages but Ken manages to avenge the family by defeating the group. Sgt Madd hears of this , and rushes out. He uses his "guerrila warfare" (a wrecking ball!) to stun Ken and drags him back to the fortress. Lynn and Bart rush to save Ken , but Johnny prevents them , as they would hinder Ken. Meanwhile , Sgt Madd and his men are using Ken as a training dummy. Ken breaks free , kills Madd's cronies , and uses his "powerpoint" skills to force Madd to reveal the location of the colonel. He then walks to the base of the Colonel's tower...

http://www.veoh.com/videodetails2.swf?player=videodetailsembedded&type=v&permalinkId=v1009227e6hSGWQ6&id=anonymous