Fist of the North Star (Volume 1) - A Cry From the Heart

Kenshiro wanders the post-apocalyptic wasteland determined to find those that have wronged him and protect those that need him. A master of the Hokuto Shinken, Kenshiro is not to be messed with!

Fist of the North Star (Volume 1) – A Cry From the Heart

What happened?

Kenshiro is in search of water and wanders into a town. A trap is sprung and he is caught, but all he wants is water. They lock him away until the elders have returned. While in the cell, he befriends a mute girl called Rin and a would-be thief called Bat. He wants no trouble, just water. Luckily, Rin brings him food and water and when a notorious gang arrives in town, she leaves them the keys to escape. Bat tries to open the lock, but when Kenshiro realises Rin may be in trouble, he rips open the bars.

The townsfolk are not fighters. They simply want to survive and are cautious of outsiders. Kenshiro stops the carnage and takes on the Zeed alone. They were no match for him. It wasn’t even close. Kenshiro is a master of Hokuto Shinken, an assassination martial arts that attacks pressure points and makes the body explode from the inside. Unfortunately, the Zeed were but a small part of a bigger problem and Kenshiro soon finds himself going up against King, the leader of a vicious gang.

Kenshiro is surprised to learn that King is his old friend Shin. The one that put the seven holes in his torso and left him for dead, stealing his girl. This is the stroke of luck, Kenshiro has been waiting for. Can he defeat Shin and rescue Yulia or will he taste defeat once more? This time there will be no more chances.

Fist of the North Star Volume 1 The Zeed

What did you think?

The movie version of the anime for Fist of the North Star was one of my first experiences with anime and it blew me away. So much violence. It was amazing! Of course, the movie tried to condense more than one hundred episodes into a two-hour montage and as a result, it left a lot out. It was fun, but it didn’t really have a conclusion or much of a storyline. Ironically, the first manga walks a very similar path.

Kenshiro is undoubtedly insanely strong and incredibly deadly. The fights are spectacularly brutal. It follows Kenshiro as he wanders around, bumping into people. He helps the good and needy and destroys the evil. With the help of his mastery of Hokuto Shinken, he can pretty much walk into the middle of any fight and dominate no matter what they throw at him. It is very cool and he has some amazing lines. However, it got quite repetitive.

Now, I still enjoyed it and will definitely be reading the others. I do wish it had a bigger story that pulled it all together. That may still happen, but it wasn’t really present in the first volume. So, if you enjoy over-the-top fights and insane violence then you will love this. Kenshiro is a complete badass and just watching him strut around is entertaining enough on its own. Just be aware that it is very cyclical.