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Despite his injuries, Kaioh manages to use another attack called anryu gyakugeki ha (dark style charge destruction), but Kenshiro easily counters it with a stance called touki ransou (battle aura wild layer). Kaioh realizes that he has been surpassed, but cannot bring himself to admit it. As his wounds worsen, he crawls to his mother's tomb and begs for her to give him the strength to land one last strike. A geyser of water blasts out of the ground, picking Kaioh up and sending him high up into the air. As he comes down, Kenshiro hits Kaioh in his chest and defeats him, finally bringing an end to their battle. Kenshiro announces that the 2,000 year long tragedy of the North Star is now finally over. As Kaioh lies on the ground, he says he has been defeated for the first time in his life. He has witnessed the greatest style in the world: the North Star divine fist.

Bat arrives with Hyoh and Lin, but Hyoh says that he has unfinished business with Kaioh. Kaioh tells him to kill him for all he has done, but Hyoh is unable to do it. Hyoh just says that he wished he had been stronger when he was young, that way he could have carried out the North Star clan's legacy and Kaioh wouldn't have turned out as he had. Kaioh cries at hearing his words, bringing out emotion in him once more. Hyoh dies in his arms, and Kaioh picks up his body. Knowing where he wants to die, he heads upwards and causes a flow of lava to go all over him.

Their bodies are covered in the lava, but it hasn't destroyed them. It has hardened, creating a statue. Kenshiro says goodbye to them both. Bat shows him Lin. Hyoh had told him about her condition, and he thinks that Ken should be the one she sees first, as Lin has always adored him. Kenshiro thinks about it, but decides to leave her with Bat. Ken tells Bat that Lin has endured a tough life, until today. She can now be happy. Another fight is calling him, as that is his fate. He asks Bat to take care of Lin, as he is the only one who can answer her love. He gets onto the Black King and prepares to leave, telling Bat to live on happily with Lin for the rest of his life. Kenshiro rides off on the Black King, thinking about all of his friends and enemies he has met over the course of his journey.

Manga Differences

-As mentioned previously, the North Star Army and Rihaku are not present with Bat. In the manga, only he, Hyoh and the Black King witness the outcome of the battle between Kenshiro and Kaioh.

-The final part of the final fight is much shorter in the manga. Kaioh's dark style charge destruction technique is not in the manga, nor is Kenshiro's defensive move.

-Whilst the anime ends here, the manga did not, and went on for another year before ending. For more information on the manga exclusive chapters of the series, click here.

Notes

-This episode's preview -shown at the end of the previous episode -has a few differences with the clips used, click here for more details.

-The technique Kenshiro uses to defeat Kaioh is not named, but it appears to be the same one he used to defeat Souther.

-During the very last shot of Bat, Lin, Rihaku and the North Star army, there is a guy who resembles Amiba in the background. He appears to be holding Pel, Lin's puppy who she had for a large portion of the original series.

-The intro and credits themes used throughout both the original series and Fist of the North Star 2 are played at some point in this episode, in this order: "Ai o Torimodose!!" (FotNS 1 chapters 1, 2 & 3 intro theme), "Tough Boy" (FotNS 2 intro theme), "Love Song" (FotNS 2 credits theme), Silent Survivor (FotNS 1 chapter 4 intro theme), "Dry Your Tears" (FotNS 1 chapter 4 credits theme) and "Yuria... Eien ni" (FotNS 1 Chapters 1, 2 & 3 credits theme).

-The credits sequence mainly features characters who were in the manga -many of the TV series exclusive characters are excluded, but there are three exceptions: Joker, Garou and Shion.

-As noted above, whilst the series ends here, the manga was still being published. I can't find a reason as to why it was decided to have the TV series end here instead of continuing to adapt the manga.

-As the series was now finished, something new was needed to fill its time slot. That something would be Sakigake!! Otokojuku (Charge!! Men's Private School), which had its first episode air on February 25th, 1988. The show was animated by Toei, and several production staff members and voice actors who worked on Fist of the North Star would also work on it.

Errors

-When Kenshiro uses the wild layer technique, his arm band and bandages are missing.
-When Kenshiro thinks about Shin, Shin has his purple outfit on, but when he fought Kenshiro, he was wearing a white outfit.
-When Shu and Shiva appear, Shiva has blonde hair instead of brown.
-In the credits sequence, Joker's hair color is dark green instead of light green.
-In the credits sequence, Hiruka, a fourth chapter character, is grouped with a batch of second chapter characters.
-In the credits sequence, Gill has yellow hair instead of black.
-Where is Hyoh in the credits sequence? If Kaioh got to feature on it, I don't see why Hyoh didn't.