TOUGH BOY / LOVE SONG

Opening and ending theme of Hokuto no Ken 2, “TOUGH BOY” and “LOVE SONG” are performed by TOM★CAT, a group discovered in 1984 through the Yamaha Popcon contest grand prize. The single, the group’s sixth, was released on March 21, 1987 on Canyon Records under the AARD-VARK label, nine days after the first episode aired.

TOM, the group’s vocalist and keyboardist, wrote the lyrics and music for “TOUGH BOY,” whose hard rock guitar riff has become inseparable from Kenshiro’s march under the red sky of the opening sequence; the arrangement was co-written with Tsuyoshi Ujiki of Kodomo Band, who composed the previous theme songs, is credited for sound production, and claims to have played the guitar himself.

Little-known fact: the TV version of “TOUGH BOY” does not sing exactly the same lyrics as the record. “このイカレた時代へようこそ” becomes “このふざけた時代へ,” the “eighties” in the original lyrics are sung as “nineties,” and the two verses are mixed together. These TV versions, never released on disc, were added to the 2023 reissue, a four-track 12-inch picture disc.