One would think that seeing this on Betamax (the ancient video format, ancestor of the much-loved VHS) would lessen the impact of the overly exaggerated blood and gore. I was barely an adolescent when I first saw this and what I saw was red horror beyond my imagination. Left and right you’d see bodies of thick red water and innards flying everywhere. It wasn’t a beautiful spectacle. It didn’t help that the land the characters were walking on was dry and barren, and that the mere sight of a white flower in bloom brought hope to desperate people. This made me wonder how come it’s so popular among my male friends. Should I blame that to the fact that we were impressionable and easily amazed back then?

The story? I dunno. I could hardly concentrate on the plot because I kept ducking and dodging away from my TV as if those dangerous fists and fingers were aiming at me! All I remember was that there were brothers Ken and Shin who took the phrase “sibling rivalry” to the extreme. They seem to fight about everything: strength, power, and heck even this girl named Julia who does nothing but look pretty! A word of advice: If you’re having a spat with your brother or sister, don’t even think of watching this anime. The psychological effects can be devastating!

One thing’s for sure about this title, though. You’re bound never to forget it.

Individual Rating: Art/Animation 6; Story 7; Characters 7; Sounds 6

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2001 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Fist of the North Star, Anime. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.