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If you just finished Hokuto no Ken and crave more then Souten no Ken is a great supplier. The action, martial arts, and manliness is still there but in a modern gangster Chinese setting.

Story wise, its similar to HnK with Kenshiro having to fight the other branches of Hokuto Shinken (who are mafia leaders) to help his friends (who just so happened to be in the mafia) or because of destiny. There's also a connecting sort of arc that introduces the Nazis and Nanto Seiken, but its just there to introduce characters for the next half. The second half focuses more on the origins ... of Hokuto Shinken and it's traditions which is a double edged sword. It adds interesting concepts and ideas, but sometimes it feels like Tetsuo Hara forgot his own lore. The end suffers due to Hara rushing and the magazine it was publishing in going under, so it just ends. There were a lot of character relationships and events that were implied, like how Shura is implied to be China or Kasumi might be Kenshiro's real father and Zong Wu is Raoh's, but were never actually clarified due to that end. There's also a noticeable increase in the comedy, as with most of Hara's independent works and with Kasumi's different personality, but it's handled naturally that it doesn't seem jarring and break the mood.

The characters are often compared to the original Hnk cast which can't be avoided with prequels/sequels. Yu-Ling is like Yuria but actually takes action and is a leader, Fei Yan like a combination of Rei and Ein becoming a foster parent and so on and so forth. The antagonists are like in North Star with a one dimensional introduction and slowly revealing a side Ken cries manly tears for. Characters such as Yasaka, Zong-Wu, and Kasumi stand out because they are obvious call backs to North Star characters yet are their own individuals. Kasumi himself may look like Kenshiro but he's far from the silent stoic. He's the heroic delinquent, having a good heart but helping the mafia, joking around with his "humble lit. professor" act but when you got a problem with Hokuto Shinken or Pan Wang tell it to him so he could beat your ass.

The art is what you'd expect from an already detailed art style North Star brought, but Hara has improved himself a lot since the eighties and it shows here. The setting itself in a World War II China brings interesting backgrounds of a Western Influenced Shanghai, Buddhist temples, and the mix of army uniforms and traditional Western and Chinese garbs makes for a unique look. The action scenes are superb as usual with the ATATATAs done beautifully.

At times the pacing could be irregular with some parts feeling a bit rushed while others seemed drawn out. It also didn't have that strong an impact or grand feeling as North Star, but I still had fun with it and if your looking for action or to quench the Hokuto thirst, Souten is always here. All that really matters is that good old Fist of the North Star feels and, despite the different setting, it's still the same to the core. Violence, action, death, and manly tears (now in Chinese).

When I first heard the synopsis of this movie, I was a bit reluctant and dismissed this as another, "oh, these are just the Japanese being weird." but then I just suddenly watched it not knowing what's in store for me. And I'm just glad I did. It's rare for anime to delve into the world of religion and seeing it in a slice of life/comedy aspect was interesting to say the least.

I immediately knew I shouldn't take this too seriously after seeing their lives in Japan. What people don't recognize is that this is slice of life and comedy so the lack of ... plot should have been expected. The animation is stylized, with pastel colors and sketchy borders, but it suited the characters and their personalities. Speaking of the characters, Jesus and Buddha's interactions with the modern world is the driving force of the movie. They have their own set of quirks that was quite unexpected and really gave them a more human feeling. Not to mention the nods towards their respective religions (i.e, Buddha attracting animals and Jesus making bread and wine) went hand in hand with their human-like personalities. I'm a stickler for character interaction/development so it was a treat for me. The sound was passable, with the voice actors portraying emotions very well, but they did add a little girly hint to their voices that I eventually grew on it. Also the soundtrack suited the atmosphere but did nothing to stand out so it slips up a bit in the sound department.

Overall, this really isn't for everyone, especially those who hate slice of life and sensitive towards religion, but if you're willing to have an open mind just give it a go. It's purely made for entertainment and I'd group it with Usagi Drop and GTO as a feel good anime. I give it an 8.43 out of 10.