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6View all imagesShin Kyuseishu Densetsu Hokuto no Ken ZERO Kenshiro Den, released in France under the title Hokuto no Ken : La Légende de Kenshiro, is a 90-minute Japanese animated film directed by Hirano Toshiki, produced by North Stars Pictures and animated by TMS Entertainment. Previewed on October 4, 2008 at Cinema Sunshine before its nationwide release on October 11, distributed by Go Cinema, it concludes the Shin Kyuseishu Densetsu (Legend of the True Savior) pentalogy by going back to year zero of the story, the period separating Kenshiro's defeat at the hands of Shin from his rebirth as the savior of the end of the century.
Defeated by Shin, bearing the seven scars and stripped of Yuria, Kenshiro lies in the desert when two children, Dan and his little sister Amo, discover him and try to save him along with their family. Captured by the slave trader Gulma's raiders, they are all taken to Gesso City, a prosperous and corrupt city ruled with an iron fist by "General" Shisuka, master of water and electricity in a world deprived of both. Forced to fight in the arena, Kenshiro meets Fugen, a fallen old master of Nanto Koshuken, who sees in him the savior the people have been waiting for. When the army of Jugai, a fallen rival of Shin, descends upon the city, Kenshiro must choose: remain the man broken by defeat, or rise again for those who have no one left but him.
The final installment of the pentalogy produced for Hokuto no Ken's 25th anniversary, the Kenshiro Den is also its most original episode. Indeed, with the exception of its prologue and epilogue, the film unfolds an almost entirely new story, written by Nobuhiko Horie, the historic editor of the manga at Weekly Shonen Jump. The narrative fills a gap in the original work, the year separating Kenshiro's defeat at the hands of Shin from his reappearance at the beginning of the manga.
For this return to origins, the production expressed its desire to bring back as many voices from the 1980s television series as possible. Chiba Shigeru, the historic narrator of the 1984 anime, plays the merchant Jinia, surrounded by veterans such as Genda Tessho, Iizuka Shozo and Aono Takeshi. Another nod to the original cast, Namba Keiichi and Tominaga Mina, voices of the adult Bat and Lin in Hokuto no Ken 2, lend their voices to the couple Yaman and Saya.
On September 13, 2008, the anniversary of the 25th year since the publication of the first chapter of Hokuto no Ken in Weekly Shonen Jump, North Stars Pictures celebrated the fictitious marriage of Kenshiro and Yuria in the grand hall of the Nippon Seinenkan, in Tokyo. The ceremony, dubbed Soul Wedding, gathered 777 hand-picked guests, among whom numerous artists and key contributors to the franchise's success. The event was part of the 25th Anniversary Project, a program of seven projects spanning over a year, and served as a counterpart to the fictitious funeral of Raoh organized the previous year for the release of the Gekito no Sho.
The evening served as a showcase for the presentation of the Kenshiro Den, followed by performances from Kajiura Yuki, Crystal King, and the groups Jealkb and Mina☆muse, performers of the opening and ending themes of the Ten no Haoh series which debuted on television the following month, then closing remarks by Tetsuo Hara and Buronson. Like the Raoh Shokonshiki, the ceremony was broadcast as video on the GyaO portal, and its recording was included in the Japanese and French collector's editions of the film.
Hirano Toshiki returns to direct after the Gekito no Sho and also handles the storyboard, based on a screenplay by Nobuhiko Horie alone. Tetsuo Hara is credited for the original character designs, adapted by Sato Masaki, who serves as both character designer and animation director, with Yoshihara Shunichiro as art director and Nakano Toru as sound director. Narration duties are entrusted to actor Fujioka Hiroshi, the iconic performer of Kamen Rider, marking his very first narration work for an anime.
The original soundtrack is composed by Kajiura Yuki, thus closing the musical cycle begun in 2006. The ending theme, "Hyakunen no Kodoku," is performed by GARNET CROW, whose single was released on October 22, 2008.
| Kenshiro | Abe Hiroshi (阿部寛) |
|---|---|
| Yuria | Ishida Yuriko (石田ゆり子) |
| Shin | Kirimoto Takuya (桐本琢也) |
| Ryuken | Otsuka Chikao (大塚周夫) |
| Dan | Paku Romi (朴璐美) |
| Amo | Konno Hiromi (今野宏美) |
| Fugen | Aono Takeshi (青野武) |
| Jugai | Koyama Rikiya (小山力也) |
| Gulma | Genda Tessho (玄田哲章) |
| Shisuka | Iizuka Shozo (飯塚昭三) |
| Jinia | Chiba Shigeru (千葉繁) |
| Gades | Inada Tetsu (稲田徹) |
| Yaman | Namba Keiichi (難波圭一) |
| Saya | Tominaga Mina (冨永みーな) |
| Narration | Fujioka Hiroshi (藤岡弘、) |
| Direction, storyboard | Hirano Toshiki (平野俊貴) |
|---|---|
| Screenplay | Nobuhiko Horie |
| Executive production | Nobuhiko Horie |
| Original design | Tetsuo Hara |
| Character design, animation dir. | Sato Masaki (佐藤正樹) |
| Art direction | Yoshihara Shunichiro (吉原俊一郎) |
| Sound direction | Nakano Toru (中野徹) |
| Photography | Sato Masato (佐藤正人) |
| Editing | Takuma Jun (田熊純) |
| Music | Kajiura Yuki (梶浦由記) |
| Production | North Stars Pictures |
| Animation | TMS Entertainment |
| Distribution | Go Cinema |
In Japan, the film was released on DVD on February 27, 2009 by Amuse Soft Entertainment. The collector's edition (6,090 yen) included the film, its trailer, a feature on the Soul Wedding, the fictional marriage of Kenshiro and Yuria celebrated before the film's release, as well as five postcards. A standard edition offered the film alone. The film was remastered in high definition (1080p) as part of the Blu-ray BOX Shin Kyuseishu Densetsu Hokuto no Ken set, released on February 26, 2021 under the KINEMATICS label (reference KTCS-001, 23,000 yen before tax), a limited print run collecting all five installments of the pentalogy with an acrylic plate and a 32-page color booklet.
In France, Kazé released the film directly on DVD on September 29, 2010 under the title Hokuto no Ken : La Légende de Kenshiro, in two editions: a two-DVD collector's edition (29.95 euros), whose second disc contains a 65-minute feature on the fictional marriage of Kenshiro and Yuria, and a standard edition (25.95 euros) with the film alone, in French and subtitled Japanese versions. A standalone Blu-ray was released on May 18, 2011 (29.95 euros). The film is also included in the complete box set of the three films released by Kazé, on both DVD and Blu-ray.
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