When it comes to action anime, few come close to matching the sheer intensity of Fist Of The North Star. This 1980s’ Shonen Jump classic tells the story of hardened drifter Kenshiro, as he attempts to survive in a dog-eat-dog, barren, Mad Max-esque wasteland.
With humanity locked in a desperate struggle to survive, people have become pretty awful. Not enough there to hook you? Well, he also knows an ancient martial art that can make people internally combust with just one touch. You hear that, One Punch Man? One touch. Take notes, mate.
With the series featuring more blisteringly paced action than you can shake an organ at, Fist Of The North Star is an anime that’s been crying out for a decent video game adaptation. Now, thanks to SEGA and the Yakuza team, it looks like one’s finally arrived. To celebrate the surprisingly brilliant Fist Of The North Star: Lost Paradise, we sent our very own Zac Fox down to see if he could master the ancient art of Hokuto Shin Ken. You can see the results in the video above.
As this organ-popping martial artist doesn’t actually exist, instead, we got UK martial Arts Champion Leon Jason to teach Zac as much as he could. In the anime and manga, Kenshiro uses his skills to protect the weak and innocent against the bloodthirsty people who would prey on them. Zac Fox, however, was quite keen on learning a “cool-looking spinny kick”. Who can say who’s the more noble?
Leon Jason may have achieved a lot in his career, but after working with Zac, we knew that this would be his toughest challenge yet. So, did Zac become a fearsome martial arts master who could unleash Hokuto Shin Ken?
Well, not really, but we DID get a nice video of Zac getting beaten up a bit, and we’re pretty sure he got kicked in the shin a few times, so that’s close enough to Hokuto Shin Ken in our books.