I just finished watching the classic Fist of the North Star anime series. If you haven’t read the manga, this show is a great adaptation. If you only saw the anime film, you’re missing a lot of the story and important lore. I highly recommend this show. Created by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara, it’s the reason we have Berserk. It also led to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Vinland Saga, Double Dragon, and many other beloved shows and games.
Kenshiro’s journey is not just about love and revenge against Shin. It is also about standing up to Raoh’s attempt to be Ruler of Century’s End. It’s not just about overcoming an enslaving tyrant like Souther and preventing Kaioh’s evil reign. If Pete Cetera’s song “The Glory of Love” were an anime, it would be this one. The twist that the fighting style is powered by love highlights a story that, while brutal, embraces masculinity. This masculinity is driven by ideals like Beauty, Freedom, Truth, and Love. These themes are similar to those in Moulin Rouge.
If you want a story that demonstrates a man void of misogyny and sexism, this is it. Kenshiro is driven to restore nature in this post-apocalyptic world. He will not allow women, children, or the elderly to be enslaved. If you seek to shackle the populace with evil, he’ll stop at nothing to destroy you. It doesn’t matter if you share his bloodline. Even if you were his brother, Kenshiro’s fists are aimed at you if you embody oppression and suffering. Behind his brutal techniques lies a deep reservoir of love. He longs for people to be free. He wants them to experience love and embrace peace as a viable truth.
As old as this anime adaptation is, it has aged deceptively well. There are techniques and attacks that Kenshiro unleashed in the story that were decades ahead of their time. Goku’s Mastered Ultra Instinct in Dragon Ball Super manga? Kenshiro did it first. The way Jonathan Joestar, Lisa Lisa, young Joseph Joestar and the stands of every Joestar member’s fighting style? It’s got Kenshiro written all over.
If the ending indicates anything, and Fist of the North Star was as influential to Kentaro Miura as it seemed, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Berserk manga might conclude with the ultimate baddie going down. This includes Falconia, Godhand, and all. However, Guts might ride into the sunset and let Isidro take the mantle the way Kenshiro did with Bat. Kenshiro knew staying around Bat and Lin would attract endless fights. So, he rode off elsewhere to liberate other lands. This is seen in The New Fist of the North Star OVA. Isidro sees Guts like a big brother and looks up to him as such. Like Bat, Isidro isn’t as proficient or as strong in combat. He makes up for it in wit. He would be entrusted to help the entourage. Kenshiro entrusted Lin with Bat’s life as well as everyone else that has survived Kenshiro’s journey.
If Guts’ story in Berserk is about a boy thrusted into manhood. He is plagued with trauma, betrayal, and abuse. Despite these, he learns to persevere and heal. Kenshiro’s story in Fist of the North Star is a legend about a man who has persevered. He has not allowed the evils of this world to tarnish him. He does all this in the name of love. One man is riddled and has to claw his way into healing. The latter somehow ran through it all untarnished. It’s raw, it’s brutal but also beautiful.
