DD Fist of the North Star: Complete Collection

Fist of the North Star, as even casual Japanimaniacs are aware, is a famous 1980s comic-book saga turned into a classic (and notoriously violent) anime about solemn, muscle-bound martial-arts brothers battling both each other and monster mutants in a post-apocalyptic future at the end of the 20th century. This new franchise installment revises the material, presenting it as pure goofball sitcom. Since the world obviously did not end in the 1990s, the brooding, iconic warlord-barbarian characters—here reduced to imp-like "super-deformed" caricatures—have no alternative but to work recession-era trainee jobs in an urban Japanese convenience store. The constant death-duelings and epic mayhem between siblings Kenshiro, Raoh, and Toki still occurs, but only in the mundane context of karaoke bars, marauding shoplifters, a trip to the beach, competition with a rival chain of convenience stores, and a Martian cephalopod planning to blow up Earth (okay, maybe that last one isn't mundane). Fans of the original will howl at the rich insider gags and parodies; for others, the mischievous South Park-esque vibe might hold the attention. Compiling all 26 episodes from 2013 in separate DVD and Blu-ray editions, rated TV-14, and presented in Japanese with English subtitles, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)