Note to reader: This is a review of the dvd of the 1986 animated film, not the manga or animated tv series.

The movie:
I first saw this movie in the early 90's when I was a little kid and, up until watching this particular film, all I knew of animation was what I was getting from Disney and Saturday morning cartoons. Kids stuff. Fist of the North Star was an awaking. You might even say it was a rude awakening, or even a bloody awakening. I didn't know that they made cartoons with cursing and gore and violence. But these so called "adult" elements only made me want to continue watching it even more. I thought the movie was awesome from the start.
This movie is ridiculous. And I mean that in the best possible way. It's action entertainment at its best. This film even claims, at least on the cover, to be "the most violent, action packed animated film of all time". I don't know if this claim is entirely true but the movie is pretty damn violent. It has a lot of obscenely muscular dudes beating the crap out of bad guys with only their fists, causing the heads, chests, and limbs of said bad guys to explode in an orgy of blood, guts and bone. Its even got men stabbing people not with knives or swords, but with their fingers. That's right, with their fingers. This kind of stuff appeals to my id.
Another way of describing The Fist of the North Star is that it falls under the category of being so bad it's good. I like this category, personally. It's got bad voice acting, bad dialogue, bad drawings, very limited animation in some (most) parts, and it's very 80's. The 80's, as some of you might know, is now regarded as a sort of social stigma from which many are trying to ignore and forget. I don't have that obligation because I didn't grow up in the 80's.
I don't feel it really necessary to go into specifics about the plot because I don't really remember this movie for its story. Just know that it touches on many themes and plot devices that we're all familiar with: "good vs. evil", "love", "betrayal", "lust for power", and "the children are our future". Nothing new under the sun. Although, I will mention this, this film does have somewhat of an atypical and surprising ending which possesses a bit of an emotional punch for me. It's very touching in a way.
So if you like exaggerated, unrealistic, obscene, bloody violence, if you love the ridiculous, if you adore crap, good crap, check out Fist of the North Star. In stores on dvd, finally, now!

The dvd/ blu-ray:
This won't take long to write about because there really isn't a lot to write about in regards to special features. It's got character profiles, image gallery, and some trailers. That's it. Nothing really intriguing to me personally, but I didn't buy the dvd for the special features.
The image quality looked surprisingly good for a 23 year old animated film that probably, at least in the western part of the world, not a lot of people know or care about. I wonder how many final prints of the film survived the last nearly three decades? I didn't notice any signs of age, there's no dust or scratches to be found. The audio itself sounds a little dated but that's because it is dated. Overall, though, a solid and pleasing aesthetic experience.