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New Fist of the North Star (Vol. 1) Number of Items: 1 Format: Animated, Color, Dolby Studio: A.D. Vision Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2004-09-21 Buy from Amazon

From Amazon.com Twenty years after the initial program debuted, a new team is continuing the long-running series, Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken, literally Ken the Great Bear Fist, 1984). Except for the computer-generated motorcycles and special effects, the new Fist of the North Star is very close to the original. Stallone look-alike Kenshiro, the heir to the Hokuto Shinken school of martial arts, wanders the post-apocalyptic Earth, righting wrongs and making villains' heads explode. His new sidekicks are Tobi, an information dealer; Tobi's mute, amnesiac younger brother, Bista; and Sara, a woman who uses Hokuto Shinken techniques to heal the sick. Ken protects settlers from petty despots and Mad Max-style gangs of motorcycle-riding bodybuilders: The world may have been devastated by a nuclear holocaust, but there are still ample supplies of gasoline, tires, and steroids. (Rated 17 and older: graphic violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery) --Charles Solomon From Description A twist to the classic favorite that begins in the aftermath of the great apocalypse, across a barren Earth, chaos is the rule, and order the exception with bandits and enterprising overlords terrorizing the survivors of the holocaust. Will a hero rise from the ashes and cut a swath of justice across the Earth's ruined landscape? In the aftermath of Kenshiro’s attack on the citadel of Last Land, the boy known as Lord Doha falls deathly ill. Sara’s prognosis is dire: only a few days before death takes him. The serum to save his life is a two days’ drive each way. When pressed by Kenshiro, Sara admits there is a shorter path… but it runs through Cliffland, a land haunted by demons who practice a mysterious killing technique. Fates collide as Kenshiro takes up the quest and departs for Cliffland. Suddenly, another mysterious martial artist arrives in Last Land, pursued by two of the dreaded Clifflanders. The fighter gives his name as Seiji and vows to take all that Sanga has owned. The balance of power is once again thrown into chaos as fist is pitted against fist in a struggle to see whose justice will prevail. Meanwhile, Sara anxiously waits for Kenshiro to return… if he returns at all.

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.5 "Very good but too short" The New Fist of the North Star rocks! However, I was left hungry for more. If the three episodes are each 55 minutes then they should have put them all on one dvd. Being a huge fan of the original, I eagerly awaited this dvd. I knew it wouldn't be quite the same, and in some ways it's better but in others, a slight letdown. The visuals, graphics-wise, are incredible and far better than the original. It holds its' own against the modern anime such as Ghost in the Shell and Hellsing. Somehow it is much more violent and gory than the old Fist. Also the storyline is more original. But I had held a futile hope, wishfull thinking, that it would feature more of the cool characters from the first. I miss the old Kenshiro's voice, too bad they couldn't get the actor to reprise the role. But the new Kenshiro seems edgier, his english voice has a quality to it that tops the old one in some ways, it is deadlier and has more of an impact. I hope there will be some mention of Shin and Julia, as well as Bart and Lynn. If Ken had a flashback of his defeat to Shin it could be very cool to see in the incredible animation prevelant in this anime. I wish they'd come out with the remainder of the original series, too. While waiting for the new Fist I started watching the old series in subtitles to get used to reading the translations anticipating a purchase of the entire series in Japanese with english subtitles since this will probably be the only way I'll be able to see the rest of the episodes. "Not familiar but good" I bought this in Japan and am now enjoying the view. Yes I agree that it was much better in terms of it's animation than the original, but it was made in the Slam Dunk era so you really can't say that the original had terrible animation. For it's time it was cutting edge. It's a problem I've been having when I try to show the original to friends. The story however seems to have lost a little of it's appeal. I mean the making of justice while using force to stop force was kinda the point. I kinda knew from the beginning that Fist would never be popular enough in the US because the message makes no sense to many Western minds. I was raised on the original series so it's kinda steeped deep into my thinking. Two things need to be known about the voice acting. First and foremost it was a creative decision to change Ken's voice actor. The director thought that his voice needed a bit more maturity than previous. Second Gackt doing the voice of Seiji is important. He was brought into the series to increase the popularity right off the bat. If you don't know who Gackt is you can always do a google search or watch Moon Child. This was only meant to be something to chew on for now. When I say that I mean that the most popular series only continue MANY years after they have originally "died" Saint Seiya just finished recently. I think it's been 10 years. Hellsing is continuing soon but not until the comic is finished. #7 just came out here. There are supposed to be 10. So in reality it's just something small for us to use for now. In that sense I'm happy with it. It's well done for it's era and acceptable as an off path to the story. Perhaps someday Ken will become like his father Ryuken and fall victim to another chaotic time... but that's one of the things about the philosophy. The circle only continues with each step forward. Ryu will someday be the successor and maybe he will be like his father or maybe more like his uncles. In either case Hokuto Shinken will live on and so will the idea that the series can be made again and again. Just look at the blue sky series or any series on martial arts. They all borrow something from Fist. So in short this is for those who are fans of Anime only. Especially those who love the computer generation Anime Style of Ghost in the Shell and such. It's not a very good introduction to the world of Anime but pick your viewers wisely and you never know what might happen. BTW... This is not the continuation of the end of the US released original. For the rest of that you'll need to get a knockoff off of the usual sites. Watch that first and your appreciation for this one will appear. If you're willing to fork out the $150 that is. "Big let down." I took a big chance at Suncoast and used my Christmas gift certificate to buy this "$30" piece of poo. Usually I'm pretty good about researching online before making a major purchase and boy did I pay for it. First off I couldnt find any decent reviews on these new DVDs online. And, I should have known that something as big as new "Fist of North Star" DVDs to be released and not hear a word about it meant something was up. If you remember how bad the sequel to "Heavy Metal" was then this is about the same thing. A very generic drawn out fake of one of the best feature films Ive seen. The "Fist of the North Star" movie must be too violent to re-release so instead they make these boring as hell DVDs that only cost you around $90 for all three! Thank god I'm stopping at Vol.1. Todays censored market doesnt allow for ultra violence and gore in media like you had in the 80s. To make remakes or new versions of something like Fist of the North Star and not have that level of raw carnage is impossible. These movies have a little bit of the staple Fist of the North Star stuff. Like head explosions, and blood. But not to the detail and perfection that was done in the feature film. Now I'm not talking of the TV series that they're currently milking here in the States. I mean the film from the 80s that if youve never seen you wouldnt know what I'm talking about. I think these DVDs are tricky little trends that U.S. productions are coming up with to make you think your getting a quality product from Japan by sticking Japanese voice actors in it. Even the story in this first DVD is sooooo draged out. I think it could have been summarised in an open monologue in the first 5 min. of any good production. It's a completely original story from the TV series and film but who cares you'll fall asleep trust me. Whether this is original stuff from Japn or U.S. licensed material this DVD sucks so bad I don't have the grammatical skills to put my dissapointment in writing. This is the warning I didnt get. Find as much info before hand. Two thumbs way down. "I like it!!" The overall visuals and action in this film are great! I noticed also that the new series doesn't pause the action to let you know of the names of the moves that Kenshiro performs like the 80's version does. Sanga and Geese didn't impress me too much with their moves like some of the other opponents of the 80's series did. Hopefully, the following series will make some more memorable opponents for Kenshiro. The only thing I wished that they included in this volume is the outcome of Bart and Lynn in the 80's FOTNS. Maybe they will do that in volume 2.