Rei and Seiji

In the past, I compared Fetch to Hunter, and Momotaro to Kenshiro. So here's another comparison meme that I was tempted to do. This time of Rei and Seiji, both of who are from the same universe, but are from two different continuities of the franchise. Now, I know that there are some obvious differences. But I see so much of a resemblance between these two characters. For one, they both have the same narrow face design, and they both have long white hair. But that's as far as similarities go for these two because aside from the strong resemblance in design, Rei and Seiji are two completely different characters with their fair share of differences. The most obvious difference is that Rei is a good guy, and Seiji is a villain.

Rei first appeared in the manga series "Fist of the North Star" (Hokuto no Ken in Japan). And he's had many other appearances outside of the manga. He has appeared in the TV series, the 1986 movie, and in some of the newer OVAs that came out in recent years. In all of his appearances, Rei is portrayed as one of Kenshiro's close friends. Rei's fighting style is "Nanto Suicho Ken" (南斗水鳥拳, Southern Dipper Water Bird Fist), which grants him with the ability to slice his opponents to shreds with the mere swipe of his hands. In the manga and the TV series, Rei's rival is a guy named Yuda, who looks to have been inspired by Frank N Furter from the 1975 cult classic "Rocky Horror Picture Show". His style is "Nanto Kokaku Ken" (南斗紅鶴拳, Southern Dipper Crimson Crane Fist), another form of Nanto Seiken. Rei's story involves him going out on a journey to find his sister Airi after she was abducted by Jagi, one of Kenshiro's adoptive brothers. However, Rei didn't know who Jagi was at the time, and was only told that the person who kid napped Airi was a man who wore an iron mask, and had seven scars on his chest that were formed in the shape of the big dipper. In all tellings of the story, Kenshiro beats Rei t the punch by killing Jagi single handedly. In the TV series and the manga, Rei defeats Yuda. And in his last few moments, he asks his former rival Rei to allow him to die in his arms. Rei is also one of those ill-fated characters who dies later on in the story. In all continuities of the story, he meets his end at the hands of Raoh, the strongest and most powerful of Kenshiro's adoptive brothers. Rei was voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa in Japanese, and by Greg Snegoff in English.

Seiji is a character who was exclusively introduced in the three episode OVA known as "New Fist of the North Star", which came back in 2004. Seiji is one of those tragic villains who was driven mad by his hatred for his father for throwing him off a cliff, and leaving him for dead. Seiji made his first appearance in the OVA just shortly after Sanga met his end at the hands of Kenshiro. His fighting style is "Hokumon no Ken" (北門の拳, Fist of the Northern Gate), which is essentially a weaker variation of Hokuto Shinken, the martial art that Kenshiro uses. Hokumon no Ken is a 400 year-old style created by a former Hokuto Shinken student who failed to become successor. It is used by the Clifflanders; monks belonging to the Hokumon school of martial arts. Hokumon no Ken's main purpose is to serve as an art for healing, and was not originally intended as an assassination art since Hokuto Shinken can only be passed down to one heir. However, Seiji acted selfishly on his own desires for personal revenge and ambition. And so, he mastered Hokumon no Ken within a short span of time, and left his masters to wreak havoc on the city of Last Land once owned by his father Sanga. But upon discovering that his father was already dead, Seiji instead decides to take out his hatred on the whole world for his troubled past. And so he takes over the city of Last Land, enslaves its inhabitants, and kills whoever dares to oppose him. He continues to amuse himself by bringing bloodshed and suffering to the people, until he is finally confronted by Kenshiro, who gives him his justly deserved punishment by defeating him in battle. But that's when Sara and Seiji's aunt Yura come along, and get Seiji to realize the seriousness of his actions. Consumed by an overwhelming sense of regret and guilt for acting on his own selfish desires, Seiji commits suicide by striking a vital point that stops the beating of his heart. Now, the one thing I always knew is that the fight between him and Kenshiro was pretty one sided. Because as Kenshiro stated before he laid the smack down on Seiji, is that Hokumon no Ken was not originally intended as an assassination art. And because it is a weaker version of Hokuto Shinken, then that means that Seiji never had a chance to begin with. And his arrogance was his own undoing. I can imagine that if this guy went up against Souther or Raoh, he'd get his ass handed to him big time. No question about it. Seiji was voiced by Gackt in Japanese, and by Adam Dudley in English.

Rei and Seiji both belong to Tetsuo Hara and Buronson.