Fist of the North Star Confusion

T

thethinker234

New member
Fist of the North Star is an anime that I really want to check out. But several things about this anime really confuse me. I can't seem to find a straight answer anywhere as far as the licensing and DVD releases go.

From what I understand, there is a TV series. Then there is a sequel TV series. Then there is an OVA. And then there is one animated movie. Is that all of the non-comic forms of this series that exist?

Okay now I'm confused about the licensing. It seems like it's all over the place. Is there a single company in the US that handles all things Fist of the North Star? Or are the entities split up among different licensors and distributors? How can I go about getting the DVRAB for this show? And if I can't get it all, which is the most basic and accessible? Is there a dub? Is it a good dub?

I'd really appreciate some straight forward answers from somebody who knows. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
To add to firecrouch's post:

Discotek currently has the license to release the original movie and the TV series. Toei has an official stream of the TV series up on various sites.

The movie is a summary of the events of FotNS up until Roah. It contains an old english dub and the original japanese version with proper subtitles and is currently available from Discotek.

The TV series ( comprised of "Fist of the North Star" and "Fist of the North Star 2") covers the manga up until a little bit after the movie. All together there are 152 episodes.

The TV series was once licensed by Manga and had around 30+ episodes dubbed before they dropped it. Not too many people care for the dub as it replaced the original music and had unbalanced acting.

Discotek recently announced that they will be releasing the whole TV series in four boxsets, which points to this being a sub-only release. (I doubt they have the financial resources to dub a 152 episode series from the 80s.) I believe someone said they are using the subtitles from Toei's official stream of the series for this release.

The OVA ("New Fist of the North Star") is an original side-story with three episodes. This is currently available from Section23 Films.

There are other FotNS stuff out there (including another TV series, a series of movies and a US-produced live-action movie) but I'll stick to what you asked.

...I hope I got that all right. I've only seen a few episodes, read up to volume 3 of the manga and played the PS2 fighting game. *cough* I'm pretty much waiting for Discotek's release of the TV series before I continue.
 
The way the series was released in the US is confusing. To be honest, I only had two experiences with the franchise. One was seeing bits and pieces of the 1995 live-action movie when I was channel-surfing a long time ago. The other was at AWA this year, catching the end of one of the New Fist episodes while waiting for RIN. At first, I thought it was some bizarre medieval series akin to Berserk and Claymore with the art style of Fist. Then, when they showed the apocalypse, it made some sense. Still confused me. Anyway, can't wait for Discotek to release the series.

Plus, I wish the manga was re-released. With Gustoon (listed as the most recent publishers in America) out of business, it would be cool if another company could get it. It would be sweet if Viz re-licensed it and put it in the Signature line. Maybe even release the whole thing in the VIZBIG format.
 
Fotsn was one of those that just never found a real break in the US back when it could have made a dent in the 90's. There's a couple podcasts out there I could direct you to in finding out more about it from a pal of mine. But these guys do a good job...
http://animeworldorder.blogspot.com/


The Gutsoon/Raijin books were the best to pick up for having volume after volume of the story in full color.
 
If you want to watch it and aren't keen to wait around on the slim chance it might get dubbed, all 152 episodes are legally streamed on CrunchyRoll.
 
That's pretty cool, I might check it out like that. But I'll probably pick up the box sets later. I don't like watching shows on the computer much. My chair hurts my bum.
 
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