Movie: Fans of anime, particularly older anime with limited appeal to fans of the newer, more well drawn anime, probably know that only a few companies are willing to provide for their needs. Manga, having bought the rights to a number of such series, has decided to release dvd versions of the Fist of the North Star series on 5 discs with 7 episodes each. In the series, a male protagonist, Ken, searches the desert for his lost love while battling super powered martial artists led by his equal, Shin. The setting is after a devastating war that pretty much destroyed the Earth except for small bands of mutants. The concept is that Ken reveals a new way to kill his opponents in each episode, typically leading to them blowing up in some grotesque fashion. In short, just what junior high school boys love to watch when their mothers aren't looking. I did notice that the second volume had a few more twists and a bit better writing than the initial volume but it still suffered from the same repetitive nature of a series based on martial art combat. Here's the listing per the dvd.
Episode 8: Strike the Hidden Power Point! No requiem for the wicked!
Episode 9: Villains! Say Your Prayers before you die!
Episode 10: The Raging Flame Reverse Flow Punch! There are many who must die!
Episode 11: Villains! Listen to the blues of Hell!
Episode 12: I AM Death! I'll chase you to the ends of Hell!
Episode 13: Rakan Nioh Ken! (The Arhat Deva Fist!) Once unleashed, there's no holding it back!
Episode 14: A Miserable Age! Good people die so young!
Picture: The picture was presented in it's original full frame format. Even for a series nearly 20 years old, it wasn't the clearest looking anime but the target audience will not care much. Some of the episodes used scratchy prints and there were some compression artifacts at times but not enough to dismiss this one completely.
Sound: The audio was presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo-either English or Japanese with subtitles. Again, fairly limited but it was okay for such an older release.
Extras: There was a prologue which outlined the background of the show. A series of character biographies to bring you up to speed on who everyone was. A photogallery, Japanese credits, and the typical Manga extras of trailers and their dvd catalog filled out the list. Oh, there was also a paper insert inside the dvd case that copied the back of the dvd cover.
Final Thoughts: Retro-anime fans may find this more appealing than I did. Compared to more recent releases, this one looked pretty weak and the limited anime style employed tends to be liked best by kids but it wasn't without merit. I'd suggest this one as a rental to anyone other than dedicated fans of the series or anime in general but you do get a lot of action for your dollar.
Buy: