One of the biggest anime and manga sensations of the 1980s, Fist of the North Star is a nonstop parade of supercharged he-man might-makes-right heroics. In the near future (in this case, the late '80s), the world has been deep-fried in a nuclear war. Out of the ashes rise savagery, motorcycle gangs, and insanely powerful mutant kung fu fighters. Sly Stallone look-alike Kenshiro, a master of the deadly North Star technique (which involves exploding one's foes by hitting their energy points), wanders the ruins in search of his lost love, Julia, who has been kidnapped by archrival Shin, master of the Southern style. That an involving and emotional story manages to come out of this premise is almost beside the point. Most anime fans should be content with Fist's real appeal. It's something of a martial arts Mad Max that makes delirious use of exclamation points and boasts a ritualistic penchant for exploding heads and limbs. The Volume One DVD begins with "God or Devil?!," in which a thirsty Kenshiro runs afoul of both roving muscle-bound bandits and villagers who accuses him of stealing water. Along the way, he makes two young friends: petty thief Bart and the traumatized Lynn. In "The Zankai Ken Death Blow," Kenshiro and Bart must rescue a bag of precious rice seeds from a hostile gang. "In a City Without Light, a Lone Fist Burns!" brings us face-to-face for the first time with Shin, and Lynn is kidnapped to be a slave. Ken faces hulking gang leader Heart and realizes that Shin is behind much of his recent woe in "Attack on the Bloody Cross!" The origins of Ken and Shin's longstanding rivalry over both martial arts and the beautiful Julia are neatly laid out via flashback in "Can the Flames of Love Burn in Hell?" In "Search Order from Satan," Ken faces the military-fascist God's Army gang in a corrupt oasis town. And fun continues as Ken faces the sadistic, super-powered Colonel in episode seven, "Villains." Volk Lindsay
