646f9e108c Peace was brought to the land by Kenshirô years ago. But now he is gone; merely a legend. Along with the peace came a distinction in classes, and soon a new era of violence began. A new tyranny arose, the fearsome fighters of the Gento Kô Ken style that fight for their Emperor of Heaven. Rin and Bat have grown up and formed a resistance called the "Hokuto Army". When times are at their worst, Kenshirô returns! Can he stop the Gento terror? And what is the secret of the mysterious Land of Shura? "Fist of the North Star 2", originally called "Hokuto no Ken 2", is an action/fighting anime which aired on Japanese TV from 1987 to 1988. Like the original series from 1984, this 43-episode long sequel was also made by Fuji TV and Toei.<br/><br/>Basic plot: Several years has gone since Hokuto Shinken successor Kenshiro defeated his rival Raoh. In the first arc Kenshiro again meets Bat and Lin (now leaders of the Hokuto Army), helping them to overthrow the corrupt governor general Jacko, who has lots of slaves to build up his Imperial Capital, and even sends the Gentou Kouken successor Falco to fight Kenshiro.<br/><br/>In the second arc, Lin gets captured and sent to the land of Asura, an extremely dangerous island where only the strongest fighters rule. So Kenshiro sets out to save Lin, and in the middle of his adventure, many secrets of this island get to be revealed.<br/><br/>This anime has lots of elements in common with the original series; It has intense fight scenes with some bloody result, with some people getting killed, and heads and bodies exploding of course. And the animation is great too as being from the late 80s.<br/><br/>The background soundtrack is basically the same as in the first series, and it fits well with many of the dramatic and the violent scenes taking place throughout the anime. But the rock theme song is, without any doubt, one the best intro tunes I've ever heard in any anime I've seen in general. To be more truthfully, this intro theme is honestly better than the one in the first series.<br/><br/>Also included in the Malay DVD box set which I wrote about in the first series and the 1986 movie; This series begins right on the same DVD as the first series takes an end.<br/><br/>I highly recommended the entire "Fist of the North Star"-franchise for any anime fans of the world, especially the ones who like watching action-filled anime and martial arts regardless if it's from the 80s or today. My overall rating: 10/10 Hokuto no Ken 2 begins from few years after the original series; Bat and Lynn have grown up and started a rebel army against a new Holy Capital Empire which has taken over after Kenshiro disappeared from limelight after Yuria's death. Slave trade and draconian laws naturally do not motivate our hero to stay out of the way for long.<br/><br/>The Holy Capital arc is probably my favorite story arc of the whole HnK series, right there with the very first (with Shin). Why? It sticks to the basics. Also, Falco is among my favorite supporting characters right after Rei. Seeming like a villain at first, his soldiers' eagerness to give up their lives for him makes Kenshiro suspicious about his true intentions. Also spicing up things is a nonchalant but skilled martial artist and bounty hunter named Ein whose loyalties lie with his mysterious "woman". Another interesting detail is that the primary villain of the arc, Jakoh, is not a fighter in the slightest and deathly afraid of the dark (Jakoh was actually voiced by the same guy who took over the narration for Banjo Ginga after the first story arc of the original HnK).<br/><br/>Unfortunately, the Land of Asura arc is where everything falls flat on it's face. At first, the concept of Kenshiro traveling over the sea to a land inhabited by nothing but warriors sounds too good to be true…and it is, because this place is filled with innocent farmers and the like to be saved from the evil people. But that's not the only bad thing. The original series' ugly habit of introducing cool supporting characters only to kill them off a few episodes later increases tenfold here; pretty much *everyone* besides Kenshiro can and WILL die, leaving me more frustrated than happy. Also, the 'history of hokuto shinken' gets even more confusing here, as if the series had been written as they went on without any actual plot outline thought out. Last and worst, the whole 'bad guys get redeemed at death' gets a very ridiculous aspect when the main bad guy, Kaioh, has absolutely no redeeming aspects whatsoever! How can you try and save someone who has absolutely no likable qualities? And the fact that Kaioh is practically a rehash of Raoh, down to the same voice actor, doesn't help things.<br/><br/>The only thing that saves this series is it's ending. Kenshiro rides off into the sunset with faces of enemies from the past, starting from the very beginning of the original series, which is a very touching and almost nostalgic experience after watching the whole series. Like, it's been a long road, but it's finally over. Also, I noticed that the character designs have improved a great deal, you can no longer tell from the face who's a bad guy and who's not. Oh, and how could I forget the music? "Tough Boy" is definitely a tough competitor for the classic "Ai o Torimodose" for sure!<br/><br/>Seriously though, I'd recommend you to only watch the Holy Capital arc and skip the Asura arc completely if the former didn't end in a cliffhanger, which creates a very annoying dilemma; so much crap just to see how Kenshiro saves Lynn.
Bausanlabooks Admin replied
321 weeks ago