Fist of the North Star (partially lost original uncensored version of anime film; 1986)
Still from the theatrical trailer, showing a scene that was censored in later versions of the film.
Status: Partially Lost
Hokuto no Ken (北斗の拳, "Fist of the Northern Ladle"), known to English speakers as Fist of the North Star, was a Japanese manga that ran from 1983 to 1988. Spanning 245 chapters in 27 volumes, the series told the story of Kenshiro, a martial artist who wanders a post-apocalyptic Earth while fighting those who oppress what is left of humankind. The manga became incredibly famous and is credited with pioneering the fighting genre in Japanese media, so it's no surprise that it has received numerous adaptations over the years, most notably an animated television series that ran from 1984 to 1988. However, the story also received an animated film adaptation in 1986. This release took major liberties with the manga's plot, mainly in terms of the order of events, how they unfold, and the roles of the story's characters. However, the film, unlike the 1983 TV series, retained the manga's violent content... at least in the theatrical release.
When the film was released on home media, producers Toei Animation was forced to heavily censor the film's content following large amounts of complaints surrounding its graphic imagery; many instances of gore were either blurred, heavily tinted, or (in one case) replaced with a discretion cut. They also heavily modified the outcome of the final battle, when Lin interrupts the fight before Raoh can kill Kenshiro (in the theatrical release, Kenshiro is knocked unconscious before Raoh attempts to finish him off and is interrupted; both warriors are conscious in the home media release), at the request of the film's director. The original theatrical release has never resurfaced since its 1986 screening, and it is rumored that Toei had destroyed its master prints, though this is currently unconfirmed; Toei has not yet made any official statements on the matter.
Note that despite the film's heavy censorship, a noticeable majority of its gore remains uncensored (most notably Jagi's death); aside from those that feature bloodshed only, these scenes occur very rapidly and are not entirely discernible due to their length, despite most of the film's censored scenes meeting the same criteria. Furthermore, the blur effects used for most altered scenes do not mask all of their gore, with numerous blurred scenes still containing enough visible entrails to give viewers an idea of how they were originally animated. Given that the film's censorship is identical in all re-releases of the film, it is unknown why it was altered in such a selective manner.
Meanwhile, some Italian VHS releases of the film (as well as certain trailers) contain uncensored versions of several gore scenes in the film, all of which have been uploaded to YouTube. Out of all the scenes that were censored, the currently recovered ones are as follows:
| Scene | Censorship | Uncensored source |
|---|---|---|
| Shin brands Kenshiro with his signature Ursa Major scar pattern by ramming his fingers into Kenshiro's chest. | Tinted blue. | Italian VHS |
| After a thug's head explodes from Kenshiro's Hokuto Shinken technique, he falls to the ground in front of Bat. Suddenly his neck stump suddenly starts spraying blood onto a traumatised Bat while the corpse shoots upright and violently twitches. | Tinted gray | Italian VHS |
| During Raoh's procession, Galf (the procession director) crushes the head of a man who was chanting off-tempo. | The death footage itself is replaced with a discretionary landscape shot. | Italian VHS |
| Rei cleaves a thug's head in five pieces using his Nanto Suicho Ken technique. | Blurred | Theatrical trailer |