Like Clint Eastwood in FOR A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS or Yul Brynner in THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR- and dressed like Mel Gibson in THE ROAD WARRIOR-, Kenshiro comes walking out of the desert ready to take on all comers. He wanders a post-apocalyptic wasteland, doing good wherever and whenever he can. (And, in fact, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR inspired my own post-apocalyptic comic story, WASTELAND.) Hara and Buronson eschew subtlety: when Kenshiro unloads his devastating combinations, the results are invariably explosive- literally. Heads and bodies alike erupt in founts of blood and bone and brains that shower the battlefield. Not for the weak of heart. Or gorge. Ultra violence has been a mainstay of anime for as long as I've been a fan, so it doesn't faze me, but I can see how kids weened on Americanimation might blanch.
Review of Fist of the North Star
