Hokuto no Ken: Raoh Gaiden Ten no Haoh

In the wastelands following the great nuclear war, a legend grew of a man. “Hokuto No Ken.” The Fist of the North Star. Master of a legendary fighting technique. A man of impossible strength and endurance. Yet before Ken claimed the title of the Fist, there was another master, trained in the art of Hokuto Shinken, the King of the Fist, the Divine Fist of Heaven. Raoh: the ultimate assassin, the ultimate warrior. This is the story of the world before Fist of the North Star, and how one man took the future of a savage world into his deadly hands and reshaped its destiny. Not as a hero but as a conqueror. For in the mind of the man called Raoh, the only way to save Mankind is to grind it under his giant heel! The greatest battle is about to begin in Legends of the Dark King ~ Fist of the North Star!

(Source: Sentai Filmworks)

Raou Main

Ukaji, Takashi Japanese

Reina Main

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Souga Main

Matsukaze, Masaya Japanese

Sakuya Main

Kimura, Akiko Japanese

Toki Supporting

Touchi, Hiroki Japanese

Souther Supporting

Seki, Toshihiko Japanese

Juuza Supporting

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Ryuga Supporting

Matsubara, Daisuke Japanese

Yuda Supporting

Taniyama, Kishou Japanese

Ryuuken Supporting

Ono, Atsushi Japanese

Usui, Hisato Producer

Abe, Masashi Director

Aketagawa, Jin Sound Director

Fukushima, Kazumi Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Aug 1, 2017

DesolatePsyche

Recommended

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.

And eh.. should mention again. That my "reviews" will get their so called "true form" in a long run. Whenever I feel satisfied with the format and content. Right now I'll try to simply say what I found enjoyable and what not thus the overall opinion/feel I had of the mentioned anime/manga.

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Don't really have much to say regarding this series. I found the story, the prequel of hokuto no ken, the side-story about Raoh just before the main series quite enjoyable. It was simple yet strong. Fun ... battles, great or at least enjoyable way to present "villains" story and power freaks world. Although story had also fair enough focus on drama regarding bonds, friendship and for a women side, love. Probably mainly story suffered a bit overly-reached Raoh's mindset regarding that nothing blocks his way. And here I mean specifically first episode scene where well, he made a "path". I found this quite silly. Nevertheless I think the story was good, but just nothing too amazing.

Artstyle I did enjoy. I saw lot of people complaining that the art/animation was absolute garbage, but I beg to differ. I think in the style/art it was made it felt very satisfying. Did absolutely love the soundtrack, felt very strong and grandiose. And as well voice acting was very nice. Do love Raoh voice.


For the most part I did enjoy it. In the end I had hard time choosing giving it 7 or 8. But I think 7 is just good enough. I did enjoy the drama, the story from Raoh side and as well absolutely loved the OST.

For newcomers.. I'm not sure whenever to watch it before the Ken main series. As I personally always watch stuff in release order and try to avoid skipping. But in the end I think it's a good piece of work. Adventure of Raoh just before the series and we were given a glimpse that even Raoh cares.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jan 30, 2010

Tuskus

Recommended

Legends of the Dark King (or more literally translated, Conqueror of the Heavens: Fist of the North Star Raoh Gaiden) is a prequel to Fist of the North Star focused primarily on Raoh building his empire. You could, in theory, watch this short series before you tackle the original hundred episode long series but the story would probably make even less sense; it's just really helpful to know who the characters are. The plot isn't terrible but it is very different from what is normal with Fist of the North Star. While most Fist of the North Star anime is focused on one guy punching ... a bunch of other guys until their heads explode, while Legends of the Dark King is much more focused on Raoh building his empire. Sure, Raoh gets into fights with enemy generals who have their own unique fighting style but it has a very different feel from other shows in the franchise. The animation in this show is also subpar. I realize that the original series has pretty cheap animation but it at least had detailed character designs. With this new series, the characters are pretty basic. The animation should be much better since they're so simple. Legends of the Dark King is decent, but not astoundingly great. Considering this is a Fist of the North Star show, this is disappointing. If you're thinking about watching it, then you might as well, just don't get your hopes up.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 11, 2024

Pageplant

Mixed Feelings

"Hokuto no Ken: Raoh Giaden Ten no Haoh" is anime that tells the story of Raoh's rise as a King of Fists.

From the first episode, it is clear for who this anime was intended, because the first thing you will notice is that Raoh has a kid's face. In fact, everybody looks like a teenagers more than grown men and women. This anime was clearly made in an effort to draw younger audiences to the series and the whole thing oozes with that half-cringe, half-cool late 2000-s anime and I can easilly imagine that some kids thought this is the coolest thing they've seen since ... sliced bread.

Raoh himself is overpowered and over the top main character and though the series tries to depict him both as a tyrant and as a hero, it mostly glorifies him and some things he does are very over the top and it's clear as day that they are trying to make Raoh more likeable than he really is. I like the voice of Takashi Ukaji though.

Art style is questionable and I'm not sure if it's really my cup of tea, but it gets the job done.

Music, on the other hand, is phenomenal, from intro to outro and music during episodes themselves.

Story has some interesting moments, but they're nothing too important or crazy and it's hard to care for the fate of the characters when you know their fate if you are fan of the series. The plot twist at the end can be seen from miles away if you have a functioning brain.

Despite it's shortcomings, I think "Hokuto no Ken: Raoh Giaden Ten no Haoh" is a fine and entertaining anime. If you like the series, you can't go wrong with watching it, just be ready for something different that you maybe won't like immediately or maybe at all. I don't recommend the anime if you just stumbled upon it, prior knowledge of the series is needed to understand many things.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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