Souten no Ken (2006) — Story, Release Date, Rating

Synopsis:

Set against the backdrop of 1930s Shanghai, this series explores a city fractured by foreign influence and internal conflict. The narrative follows Yan Wang, a figure shrouded in legend known as the "King of Death." He is a formidable martial artist, skilled in the deadly art of Hokuto Shinken, who once brought order to Shanghai's criminal underworld before vanishing years ago. Now rumored to be in Japan, he becomes the target of various individuals seeking his expertise or perhaps revenge. The story unfolds within a world of political intrigue and rampant violence, highlighting themes of justice, power, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. The series offers a grounded, character-driven exploration of morality and survival in a turbulent era, focusing on the legacy of a man haunted by his past.

Episodes:

Episode 1: Wanted - the King of Death (Aired: 10/05/2006)
Episode 2: The Code of Duty (Aired: 10/12/2006)
Episode 3: The Successor to Hokuto (Aired: 10/19/2006)
Episode 4: Wish Upon the Blue Sky! (Aired: 10/26/2006)
Episode 5: In Shanghai (Aired: 11/02/2006)
... and 17 more episodes

Characters:

Kasumi, Kenshirou (Main) - Voice Actors: Yamadera, Kouichi, Plinio, Giustino
de Guise, Charles (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Kusunoki, Taiten
Kitaoji, Aya (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Hisakawa, Aya, Giorgino, Ilaria
Mang, Kuangyun (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Yanada, Kiyoyuki
Pan, Yuling (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Hisakawa, Aya, Liberati, Elena
Pan, Guanglin (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Terasoma, Masaki
Ryuuken (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Kondo, Takashi
Ye, Ziying (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Satou, Yuudai
Zhang, Taiyan (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Ootsuka, Houchuu

Staff:

Nishiguchi, Naomi (Producer)
Yamaguchi, Mihiro (Director)
Honda, Yasunori (Sound Director)
Awai, Shigeki (Episode Director)
Kusumoto, Naoki (Episode Director)
Matano, Hiromichi (Episode Director)
Okao, Takahiro (Episode Director, Storyboard)
Rissen, Hirotoshi (Episode Director, Storyboard)
Shimizu, Kazunobu (Episode Director)
Watanabe, Masaki (Episode Director, Storyboard)
Imagawa, Yasuhiro (Script, Series Composition)
Aoi, Kiyotoshi (Storyboard, Animation Director)
Egami, Kiyoshi (Storyboard)
Sakata, Junichi (Storyboard)
Aiuchi, Rina (Theme Song Performance)
Buronson (Original Creator)
D'Ambrosio, Marco (Music)
Hara, Tetsuo (Original Character Design)
Hattori, Ichirou (Animation Director)
Horie, Nobuhiko (Planning, Original Creator, Executive Producer)
Ichino, Maria (Key Animation)
Iguchi, Chuuichi (Animation Director)
Kikuchi, Kazuko (Color Design)
Koyama, Tomohiro (Animation Director)
Kuwahara, Satoru (Art Director)
Noji, Kiyoshi (Animation Director)
Saitou, Kazuya (Key Animation)
Suda, Masami (Animation Director)
Taniguchi, Moriyasu (Animation Director)
Tsubata, Yoshiaki (Chief Animation Director, Animation Director, Character Design, Key Animation)
Wada, Toshiya (Sound Effects)
Yagi, Motoki (Animation Director)
Yokomine, Katsumasa (Key Animation)

Reviews:

User Donwun (Score: 5/10):
Thoughts Before Watching: Hell yeah a prequel to one of the most classic fighting Anime’s of all time hell yeah, maybe ill get to see how cool things where before the nuclear apocalypse and possibly how it all came to be…..especially with updated animation, bring it on! Thoughts After Watching: Seriously is that it…..scratches head continuously Animation Well it’s definitely an improvement compared against the 80’s series but the characters and movements / motions feel painfully stiff. As usual the character designs are very templated but that itself is a common trait of this franchise. Sadly another bad thing is this anime has the look of an oldvisual novel game where everything looks extremely plain and it feels like someone just did a paint by numbers job on everything…it just looks extremely dull, stiff and bland.nnThe kill shots are as humorous as the 80’s show and the same goes for some of the bad guys facial designs but other than that the animation is disappointing…and to be honest I have seen other FOTNS OVA’s created in the 2000’s with better animation than this so yeah I am really disappointed with the overall presentation of this shownnSound nnWell nothing really stands out at all here, again it just feels bland. I guess the only thing that stood out for me was the extremely humorous moments of engrish which were intentionally there when the bad guys were scheming or celebrating their short lived victories.nnOp and Ed were forgettable….voice actors were alright and there was hardly any theme or BGM so there is not much I can add there….oh except…the dialogue.nnThe dialogue was either comical, predictable or just campy really and I guess that is due to the content of the storyline which is…erm yeah lets get to that.nnStorylinennAlright let me just clear up the need to know stuff. nnThe original 80’s series followed the protagonist Kenshiro (no last name) who was the 64th successor to the Hokuto Shinken fighting style and that story was set in 199x after a nuclear disaster.nnThis story here follows the 62nd successor to the Hokuto Shinken fighting style of which the 80’s character was named after, Kenshiro Kasumi or as they keep calling him in this show “Yan Wang”….this story is set in the 1930’s.nnSo right off the bat I was a bit disappointed that the story here wasn’t focused on our original 80’s master Ryuken and his humble beginnings but then I thought hey the ORIGINAL Kenshiro Kasumi might be even more interesting than Ryuken….well turns out not so muchnnnThe story In Souten no Ken at its core is more about gangster rivalry and territory wars than it is about Hokuto Shinken. Yep that’s right….its like if you took the gangster element of GunGrave and mixed it with FONS you will basically have this show…..so the question is does it mesh well…and my answer to that is….it probably could have if it was taken more seriously.nnThe pacing to the show is another problem….for the first 5…
User mudkip266 (Score: 8/10):
My overall thoughts on this anime: amazing ideas that were poorly executed. Having already watched the original 80's anime Hokuto no Ken, I thought I'd give this one a try. This anime had a lot of potential, as the interaction with the gang wars and the destiny of Hokuto make room for an intricate storyline with complex characterization. However, the anime suffered from a rather sluggish storyline and inconsistent animation quality. I've never read the manga for this series, so perhaps it was better able to achieve what was intended. Story: 6/10 There were a lot of parts where the anime didn't need to dwellas long as it did. There were a lot of fights which would make up an entire episode without driving the storyline. Furthermore, plot holes, inconsistencies (with the original Hokuto no Ken), and a lot of plot threads that weren't adequately resolved. For me, its one saving grace was setting the anime in 1930's Shanghai. Again, just poor execution.nnArt: 7/10nBesides an inconsistent plot, the art quality was also inconsistent, ranging from quite beautiful to abhorrent. When the art was good, it felt very much like Tetsuo Hara's style had been faithfully translated into the anime. Characters' outfits were nice and I especially enjoyed seeing Kasumi Kenshiro in a suit. Otherwise, perhaps due to lack of budget, there were too many parts that I could barely watch due to how poor the animation was (and don't get me started on the extra 4 episodes). Overall? I quite liked the animation style, and I wish the animators had the time and resources to fix a lot of it.nnSound: 7/10nSometimes, the sound quality was palpably poor, and a lot of soundbytes were re-used throughout. Otherwise, it didn't really take away from the series.nnCharacter: 7/10nI'm not too sure how to judge this aspect of the anime. There were some scenes in which the way the writers intended to portray Kasumi Kenshiro came out quite beautifully and the distinction between him and his namesake was clear. However, this was too often poorly executed, and Kenshiro was too similar to Kenshiro II. As well, several of the characters feel as though they were rehashed from the original Hokuto no Ken series. Other characters are unclear in what their motivations are and why they're acting as they do. However, a lot of this is at least forgiven through Kenshiro's character growth and Yu-Ling's fine characterization. So overall, characterization largely suffered from poor execution.nnEnjoyment: 7/10nThis was definitely not the best series I've ever watched. There were some parts at which I was only watching for the sake of completing the series. Otherwise, there were other parts I genuinely enjoyed. I think my favourite thing about Kasumi Kenshiro is that his weaknesses are made clear, and he's made out to be a very human character. So overall, my enjoyment ranged between genuine love for this series and wishing to bang my head against a wall.nnConclusion:nI gave this series an 8/10. Reason being, the worst parts…

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Related Anime/Manga:

Souten no Ken: Regenesis (anime - Sequel)
Souten no Ken (manga - Adaptation)
Souten no Ken Specials (anime - Side Story)

Genres: Action, Historical, Martial Arts
Themes: Historical, Martial Arts
Studios: APPP
Producers: Arts Pro, TV Asahi
Rating: 6.68 / 10
Rank: #6162
Popularity: #6115
Users Listed: 13,603
Users Scored: 4,155
NSFW: No
Last Updated: 10/27/2022
Aired: October 5, 2006 – March 15, 2007 (Fall)
Type: tv
Source: manga
Age Rating: R
Episodes: 22
Broadcast: Thursday at 02:40 (JST)

Souten no Ken