Another Art of Assassination!
The Source Star Imperial Fist Is the Name!!

-From RQ87's Fist of the North Star site

Hokuto no Ken 2 episode 5
Episode 114 overall
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For a detailed overview of this episode, click here.

Solia of the purple light is sent out to kill Kenshiro.
Original broadcast date: April 9th, 1987

Contents
1) Synopsis
2) Manga differences
3) Notes
4) Errors


Synopsis

Annoyed that Kenshiro is helping the North Star army, Jako puts together a plan to destroy him. He sends Solia of the purple light to Mamiya's village, where he kills the village leader. Mamiya and Airi hear the elder's screams, but only find Solia. Solia tells them that it is time for the celestial emperor's star to shine, whilst everything of the North Star and South Star must be destroyed. It is now the age of the celestial emperor and the holy style, Gento kouken (Source Star imperial fist)!



Kenshiro and the rest of the army are heading towards another empire controlled area, when they happen to be marching past Mamiya's village. They notice that there is a lot of smoke coming out of it, so Kenshiro goes to investigate. There, he finds that Solia and his troops have attacked the place, and Mamiya explains what happened to the village elder. Kenshiro challenges Solia, who uses a technique from the Source Star imperial fist style called ryurin kouzan (flowing ring light slash).



Meanwhile, the North Star army invade a village and take it over, causing the troops of the emperor to flee. Bat finds out there are some special prisoners here, called Hazu and Gill, who have been locked into a concrete restraint. Bat isn't sure what to do with them, but thinks they may be useful, so he frees them -kind of. Meanwhile, back at the battle, Kenshiro defeats Solia be destroying one of his arms.



Just before he dies, Solia says that the celestial emperor will never forgive the North Star. The other Source Star generals will now rise up to destroy him. The Source Star will slaughter the North Star, no matter what. Solia's words have given Kenshiro a lot to think about -who is this celestial emperor and why does he want the North Star destroyed so badly? At the capital fortress of the celestial emperor, news reaches of Solia's death. But in one room, four people gather together and state that whilst the purple light may have faded, they will avenge Solia by carrying out an order directly from the emperor -they will annihilate Kenshiro!



Manga Differences

-In the manga, Solia is introduced later on. He never goes to Mamiya's village, does not kill the elder, and is sent on a different mission: to delay Kenshiro from reaching Bat and Lin.

-In the manga, the character who kills the elder is Falco, and his death is told in flashback -Mamiya informs Ken of this. In the anime, his death was changed to it being in the present. The elder's death is also much more violent in the manga, as his body is split into pieces.

-The grave Mamiya and Airi pray in front of is for the elder in the manga, in the anime, it's Rei's grave.

-Mamiya's village is never attacked in the manga.

-The reason why Kenshiro goes to Mamiya's village is to drop of Asuka, as it is a safe place. The anime has yet to even introduce Asuka yet, and she does not appear for a few more episodes.

-Ein goes to an empire controlled prison with a few of his bounty hunter buddies, intending to free Hazu and Gill. But one of his friends betrays him, threatening to kill Asuka unless he stands down. This plot will be used in a future episode, but the betrayal element of it is dropped completely. Kenshiro turns up to save Asuka and Ein. Ein takes Kenshiro into the prison, saying there are two prisoners there he caught -Hazu and Gill.

When they find them, Kenshiro breaks apart the concrete block they are stuck in immediately. Hazu and Gill realize who he is from the scars on his chest. Ein explains how he caught them: they were beaten up by a man called Falco, he just brought them in afterwards. In the anime, all of this was changed so Bat is the one who finds Hazu and Gill, and there is never any mention of Ein being the one who imprisoned them.

-The reason why Solia has an eyepatch is never explained in the anime, but in the manga, he reveals it was Falco who took one of his eyes during a sparring battle.

-Kenshiro tries to kick Solia in the manga, but Solia blocks it and blasts Kenshiro back. This does not happen in the anime.

-Solia's left arm is destroyed in the manga, for the anime, it was changed to it being the right one.



Notes

-Some of the shots of the slaves turning the turbine are taken from this episode.

-Solia's voice actor, Michihiro Ikemizu, previously voiced Baruda and Gensho.

-The village elder is voiced by Kōhei Miyauchi in this episode. In his previous appearances, he was voiced by Kinpei Azusa.

-In the manga's original printing, Hazu is initially referred to as "Buzz", but then gets called "Hazu". The anime consistently calls him Hazu, whilst later re-prints of the manga consistently call the character Buzz.


-Gill's voice actor, Yu Shimaka, previously voiced Gelga.

-Hazu's voice actor, Daisuke Gori, has previously voiced several different characters, including Spade, Uighur and Daruka.



Errors

-Solia's mouth doesn't move when he says the celestial emperor is angry.
-When Ken sees Mamiya, he says that she said she had given up being a warrior. This is wrong, because in this episode, before Ken leaves, Mamiya tells him she'll continue being her village's leader. In the manga, however, she did tell him she would give up being a warrior.
-When Solia hits the ground, he has both of his arms instead of just one.


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