Episode 9 of the Hokuto no Ken – Fist of the North Star 2026 anime, titled “Rabid Dogs Must Die” (狂犬ども死すべし), marks the climax of the Jackal arc with the attack on Toyo’s village. On the agenda: the brutal confrontation between Kenshiro and Jackal’s men, the spotlight on Fox and Hawk, and an emotional turning point for Bat. Here is our verdict.
Episode 9 Summary
Here is the official summary of episode 9, translated from the hokuto-anime.com website:
Toyo, a compassionate old woman, has taken in countless orphaned children and showers them with unconditional love. Kenshiro has deep respect for her kindness, especially toward Bat and Rin, whom she treats the same as all the others. But after Kenshiro and his companions leave the village late, a terrible danger draws near. The vile outlaw Jackal and his gang seize the opportunity of Kenshiro’s absence to launch a brutal attack on Toyo’s village.
The Staff
Episode 9 brings back the exact same creative team as episode 8, “A Messenger from the Homeland.” Direction is once again entrusted to Itō Hiroki, who also handles one of the episode’s storyboards. The screenplay goes to Miyazawa Kōsuke, and the storyboard is shared among four artists. This absolute staff continuity across two consecutive episodes reflects a unified vision for the Jackal arc, conceived as a cohesive narrative block by the production.
- Screenplay: Miyazawa Kōsuke (宮澤浩介)
- Storyboard: Maeda Hiroshi (前田洋志), Ogasawara Kazuma (小笠原一馬), Itō Hiroki (伊藤弘樹), Kanayama Yoshinari (金山慶成)
- Direction: Itō Hiroki (伊藤弘樹)
Itō Hiroki thus establishes himself as the visual architect of the Jackal arc, wearing both the storyboard and direction hats, which allows him to impose a consistent style across these episodes.
The Arrival of Fox and Hawk in the Jackal Arc
Episode 9 marks the effective debut of Fox, Jackal’s calculating right-hand man, voiced by Nara Tetsu, and Hawk, one of the gang leader’s subordinates, voiced by Dōsaka Kōzō. Both voice actors had been officially announced by the official website on the Wednesday before the broadcast.
For the complete seiyuu profiles and their translated official comments, see our dedicated article: Hokuto no Ken 2026: The Episode 9 Cast.
Our Review
We won’t dwell on the technical side, because we’re in continuity with the latest episodes. The CGI and animation are more than adequate. Three-quarters of the time, you can no longer tell the difference between CGI and 2D, and that’s a good sign. The integration work is starting to pay off, and the eye is now accustomed to the series’ visual style.
The character design is generally good, with far fewer odd-looking shots than in the early episodes. We love Jackal’s character design. The character truly exudes an aura of a real villain, the expressions on his face are perfectly crafted, a truly great job on that front. Even Jackal’s henchmen benefit from particular care, and we appreciate the effort put into these secondary antagonists who could easily have been thrown together carelessly.
For Kenshiro, we still have a slight issue with his massive neck, but the rest of the silhouette is much better proportioned than in the early episodes, and his face is, in our opinion, perfectly rendered. A real evolution since the start of the series; the final shot is simply magnificent, I’ve rarely seen Kenshiro looking this good in anime.
The faithfulness to the manga is clearly present. We’re far from the Jackal arc in the 1984 anime, which had taken significant liberties. This respect for the original work is the promise the production had made, and on that front, the series delivers on its commitments. A real satisfaction for longtime fans.
In terms of story and character development, we see Bat in a less humorous light, with Toyo’s death being one of the most moving passages in the manga. And the good news is that the CGI no longer ruins these moments. The emotions on the faces are better conveyed, less robotic, and the music perfectly supports these dramatic scenes. The sequence works, we’re moved, and that was far from guaranteed given the early episodes’ difficulties in conveying emotion.
Throughout the episode, we follow Kenshiro as he kills Jackal’s men one by one to avenge Toyo. We particularly enjoy the scene with Fox, who takes a serious beating from the successor of Hokuto Shinken. Here again, the music used hits the mark and perfectly accompanies the hero’s retaliation.
We’re not yet at an epic battle episode; patience, we’re getting there slowly. The episode relies on tension and methodical vengeance rather than dense fights, and that’s consistent with the tone of the Jackal arc in the manga.
The voice acting, particularly for Jackal, is top-notch. We loved the performance of Matsuyama Takashi, who brings a perfectly sarcastic tone to this legendary coward of the franchise. The voice acting has truly been one of the great highlights of this series since it started, and episode 9 confirms that trend. We’re slowly moving forward in the story, and the next episode should bring Devil Rebirth onto the scene.
We might end up raising our rating. Our initial pessimism toward this new adaptation fades a little more after each episode. Sure, it’s still far from perfect, but honestly we’re enjoying watching it, and we can’t wait for next week!
Watch Hokuto no Ken on Prime Video
The first 9 episodes are available now on Prime Video with subtitles and dubbed. One episode every Friday. An Amazon Prime subscription is required; the free 30-day trial lets you watch all available episodes with no commitment.
