Fist of the North Star, Vol. 3 DVD: Review By stevegibbs

The popular Japanese manga series comes to anime life as Mad Max meets Bruce Lee...

In the not-too-distant future, the world has been torn apart by war. Lingering radioactivity covers the wastelands, creating hordes of human mutants. Without structured societies, lawlessness and violence prevail, and in the midst of this chaos, two half-brothers become enemies. Ken is the sole practitioner of a deadly martial art known as 'Hokuto Shinken'; his brother, Shin, practices an opposing art. Whereas Ken uses his skill to fight for justice, Shin's greed turns him to evil. He kidnaps Ken's love - Julia - and sets himself up as a powerful warlord.

Ken begins his quest to rescue Julia, and bring down Shin's growing empire. Along the way, he picks up and protects two youngsters - Bart and Lynn - who he sees as the hope for humanity's future. The seven episodes on this disk are:

Count To Three

Ken, Bart and Lynn arrive in a city controlled by the mysterious Mr. Zaria, a powerful hypnotist. Will Mr. Zaria subdue our heroes before Ken has a chance to set the city free?

Try To Sing Villains

Our heroes find themselves in the middle of gang war between the Snakes and the Scorpions. But things really turn deadly when the two gangs join forces against Ken.

Battle Makes A Man

Shin marshals his armies to go up against Ken. The split between the half-brothers is revealed and we discover how Ken became known as 'the man with seven scars'.

Life Or Death

Shin begins to set his armies upon Ken, one at a time. Does the Hokuto Shinken master really stand a chance against so many, and can he rescue Bart and Lynn from Shin's marauders?

Villains

Ken continues his quest to find Shin and the city of Southern Cross. Meanwhile, Shin's motorcycle and helicopter armies continue to pound our hero, but end up taking quite a beating themselves.

Nightmarish Full-Scale War

Ken learns the location of Southern Cross and closes in on his nemesis. But Shin has a surprise in store - a massive, train-mounted cannon.

The Palace Of Evil In Flames

A military coup is brewing in Southern Cross. Shin's generals have turned against him. Will he keep control of his empire long enough to confront Ken?

Character Bios

A brief background of the new characters appearing in the episodes on this disk.

Photo Gallery

Prologue

A 6-minute introduction to the series. If you haven't seen North Star from the beginning, this will get you up to speed.

Japanese Credit Sequence

The original end theme song from the Japanese version.

Anime DVD Previews

An extended ad for more anime series from the Manga company, including many titles you might recognize, such as Ninja Scroll and Ghost in the Machine.

The artwork in this full screen presentation looks a little primitive by today's standards, although I'm sure it was quite impressive back in the 1980's. Done without the aid of computers, the animation is sometimes rather choppy. Nevertheless, this is a piece of anime history that shouldn't be lightly dismissed.

You can enjoy North Star in 2.0 stereo, either in the original Japanese with subtitles, or in a fairly decent English translation. Not too bad, but they do tend to overuse the old martial arts kicking and punching sound effects - Hee-ya!