Hokuto no Ken – True Saviour Legend part 4 – Legend of Toki

The 4th part of True Saviour Legend is an OVA that focuses on Toki. The main focus is on the fight between Raoh and Toki, but there are also various scenes from times prior to the apocalypse and scenes of what Toki was doing after it.

It’s a little confusing how all the events of this OVA take place before Legend of Raoh II, but this OVA was released after it. Mayby it’s because they wanted every other part of True Saviour Legend to be a movie and the others to be OVAs.

While the fight between Toki and Raoh is pretty good, it’s not quite as awesome as Kenshiro’s fights against Raoh and Souther. Then again, those were movies with obviously bigger budget for animation and such. Also, it was night when Toki and Raoh fought, so a lot of details were simply ignored, because it was too dark to see them.

Since the Legend of Toki is only about 57 minutes long a lot of things have been slightly rushed or omitted completely. For example, the reunion of Hokuto brothers where Toki and Kenshiro fight Raoh was completely omitted. I would’ve liked to see it.

While Legend of Toki is a good OVA, it’s not quite as good as the previous parts of True Saviour Legend. Still, it’s worth seeing for the fight between Toki and Raoh.

Hokuto no Ken – True Saviour Legend part 3 (spoilers)

This is it, one of the greatest battles ever seen in anime, the final battle between Kenshiro and Raoh. Even though I’ve seen this fight many times, I was still moved to tears. Hokuto no Ken is truly magnificent!

After defeating Souther, Kenshiro is summoned to meet the Last General. Both Kenshiro and Raoh learn that Yuria is the Last General. Raoh fights Kenshiro only to be defeated by Kenshiro’s Musou Tensei. Their fight is interrupted as the building begins to collapse separating them. Raoh finds Yuria and captures her. Raoh figures that he needs to learn how to feel sadness in order to use Musou Tensei against Kenshiro. To do this, he intends to kill Yuria, but Raoh discovers that she is dying because of radiation poisoning. For the first time in his life, Raoh admits that he does love Yuria and knowing that the woman he loves is about to die is enough to enable him to use Musou Tensei. Raoh puts Yuria in coma-like state to make Kenshiro believe she’s dead.

Raoh sends his horse, Koku-Oh, to bring Kenshiro to him. Kenshiro fights Raoh and realizes that he can also use Musou Tensei. Now they are finally fighting each other with equal strenght. The fight goes on until they’re covered in blood. Kenshiro sheds tears telling Raoh that his next attack will kill him. Raoh decides to show him his strongest technique, Gou Ken. However Kenshiro is able dodge it and punch his fist through Raoh’s chest.

Raoh still forces himself up, but he knows that he can no longer defeat Kenshiro. Having accepted his defeat Raoh wishes to see the face of the man who defeated him and he is truly proud of his younger borther. Yuria wakes up and Raoh tells Kenshiro to live peacefully with her. Raoh is now able return to Heaven claiming that he has not a single regret. After cremation of his body, Raoh’s ashes are sent to Reina who spreads them to the wind.

The third part of True Saviour Legend – The Legend of Raoh II: Fierce Fighting Arc is one of the best anime movies I’ve ever seen. Raoh is truly one of the greatest villains I know. What makes him such a great villain is accepting defeat. He doesn’t whine or cry because he can’t defeat Kenshiro, instead he dies proudly saying that he has no regrets. Now is there a manlier way to be defeated? Heck no!

The Legend of Raoh II is a splendid adaption of Kenshiro’s final battle with Raoh and the events that led them to this battle. Unlike the first Legend of Raoh, this time there is a lot more focus on Raoh. Definitely a movie worthy of the title “The Legend of Raoh II: Fierce Fighting Arc”. If you like Hokuto no Ken even a little you should definitely see this movie. Fans of manly action and heroic bloodshed should not miss this movie either!

And guess who makes a cameo appearance in this movie? I give a hint: “Foohhhh!”

Hokuto no Ken – True Saviour Legend part 2 (spoilers)

It’s kind of late to review True Saviour Legend part 2 now as it already came out two months ago and the next part is supposed premiere next week, but I’ll write my opinions about it anyway.

The Legend of Yuria is exactly what the name says, the legend of Yuria. It tells the early events of Hokuto no Ken timeline from Yuria’s perspective. We see a scene from Yuria’s childhood when she meets Kenshiro and his brothers for the first time, witness how Shin tortures Kenshiro to force Yuria to say she loves Shin, Yuria’s suicide attempt which leads her to be saved by Nanto Gosha-sei and becoming the Last General. Yuria also witnesses the battle between Kenshiro and Souther.

The Legend of Yuria certainly gives one a different view of the events of Hokuto no Ken. Yuria is not a martial artist and thus there was only a handful of short fighting scenes in this episode including battle between Kenshiro and Shin, the one where Kenshiro loses not their final battle, and a scene where Ray fights with some members of Nanto Gosha-sei. There was no amazing battles like the last battle between Kenshiro and Souther we saw in the first episode, though there was some re-used scenes from that battle.

While it wasn’t all the exciting and manly, The Legend of Yuria suucceds in what it tries to do: To give depht to Yuria’s part in the events of Hokuto no Ken. It sets the stage for the next part, The Legend of Raoh II, which I’m looking forward to with much anticipation.

Hokuto no Ken – True Saviour Legend part 1 (spoilers)

I watched the first part of True Savior Legend today. While it had lots of great moments I was still a little bit disappointed. For something called “Legend of Raoh: Martyred Love Arc”, there was quite a lot of Kenshiro. Not that I mind, the name just doesn’t sound very fitting.

The animation was mostly nice though there were plenty of scenes that could’ve been animated better. I’m not very familiar with the original story of Hokuto no Ken but I think this OVA does follow it. The movie (or OVA) is surprisingly emotional as well.

The very best part was when Shuu cried out for Kenshiro as Souther cuts his legs. Then Kenshiro awakes, “Ai wo Torimodose!!” is played and Kenshiro returns to beat the crap out of the bad guys. That’s something I call a great scene! The final battle between Kenshiro and Souther was not a bad scene either.

The Legend of Yuria will be released at the end of February. After seeing this one, I’m looking forward to it.

More information of the upcoming OVAs can be found on the official Hokuto no Ken website.