Hokuto no Ken Episode 44
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Synopsis

Kenshiro and Rei have left Toki and Mamiya behind, as they are trying to find a vehicle to help move Toki. They talk about Raoh, and how one time he and Kenshiro were tested by Ryuken. Ryuken released a large tiger into the room -Kenshiro calmed it just by staring at it, whilst Raoh's stare made the tiger so fearful it became paralyzed, and then was killed by him. Back in the present, the two find a ruined village, and a survivor tells them it was Ken-Oh's army which attacked them. He says they were going west, which is the direction of Mamiya's village. Rei says he will go there now, whilst Ken heads back to where Toki and Mamiya are.

Toki and Mamiya are talking about Yuria, and how Mamiya resembles her. Mamiya says that she is like that small star in the stars above, the one close to the big dipper. Toki can also see this star, but it is not a good thing -it is Hosei (Star of Death) and anyone who can see it is meant to die in a year! Toki knows he is going to die due to his sickness, but he doesn't tell Mamiya about her fate. Mamiya goes on a walk, but is attacked by more of Ken-Oh's forces. She defeats all but one of them, but Kenshiro then returns to help her out.

Back at Mamiya's village, Ken-Oh's forces arrive and quickly overwhelm the villagers. Bat tries to run but is shot in the back with an arrow, whilst Lin and Airi avoid being caught and hide in a small storage room. Rei is almost at the village, and is attacked by some of Ken-Oh's men. He kills them all, and then happens to take a look at the stars above. He can see the big dipper -and he can even see that small star next to it!




In the manga...

-The scene with the tiger goes on for slightly longer in the manga, as there is a part where Raoh announces that he desires the heavens. This part was used in the previous episode of the anime.

-The scene where Mamiya fights off Ken-Oh's guys is different in the manga, as there is only one of them. He calls himself "Seeker" (he doesn't give a name in the anime) and Mamiya tries to stab him rather than use her yoyos, but she gets hit back. In the anime, she runs past him, then fights off the other guys, then tries to attack him with her yoyos.

-The attack scene at the end was never in the manga. The attack does happen, but you never get to see it. Instead, Rei first becomes aware of it when he happens to find Bat in a desert (see the next episode for more details).

-The part at the very end of the episode with Rei is slightly different in the manga, as he never fights any of Ken-Oh's forces, he just happens to see the star of death. For the anime, he fights some guys before seeing it.




Errors

-When Rei is shown running through a canyon, he has green sleeves when his outfit isn't meant to have sleeves at all.