In the future, a new MRI technology analyzes the brains of deceased crime victims and eyewitnesses within 48 hours of their death to extract images of their memories. Although this cutting-edge technology is responsible for solving various murder cases, it has raised several ethical concerns, placing Section Nine—the police division in charge of the MRI investigations led by Tsuyoshi Maki—under considerable pressure from the media and the government. The team members of Section Nine are not only forced to witness traumatic events through the eyes of both victims and murderers, but they also need to negotiate with the victims' families, whose consent is required for the post-mortem MRI scans. Freshly graduated from the police academy, Ikkou Aoki joins Section Nine to replace Maki's best friend Katsuhiro Suzuki—a former member who passed away under ambiguous circumstances after watching MRI footage from a particularly morbid criminal case. As a stream of seemingly unrelated events creeps closer to the case of Suzuki's death, Section Nine will have to face its greatest challenge to date, threatening its very existence.

In the year 19XX, after being betrayed and left for dead, bravehearted warrior Kenshirou wanders a post-apocalyptic wasteland on a quest to track down his rival, Shin, who has kidnapped his beloved fiancée Yuria. During his journey, Kenshirou makes use of his deadly fighting form, Hokuto Shinken, to defend the helpless from bloodthirsty ravagers. It isn't long before his exploits begin to attract the attention of greater enemies, like warlords and rival martial artists, and Kenshirou finds himself involved with more than he originally bargained for. Faced with ever-increasing odds, the successor of Hokuto Shinken is forced to put his skills to the test in an effort to take back what he cares for most. And as these new challenges present themselves and the battle against injustice intensifies, namely his conflict with Shin and the rest of the Nanto Seiken school of martial arts, Kenshirou is gradually transformed into the savior of an irradiated and violent world.

Following a cataclysmic nuclear war, the world teeters on the brink of complete destruction. Civilization is polarized into a degenerate society where opposing packs of marauding scavengers prey on helpless, homeless nomads. For those who are lucky enough to survive the constant brutality and danger, it is a bleak existence. Life an death blur into abstractions. The only hope left for mankind is to find a hero worthy of becoming the next Fist of the North Star - an enlightened warrior - who is capable of leading those with the will to survive out of this barrenness into a new world. But in this savage no-man's land of shifting loyalties and power-hungry demi-gods, heroes are in short supply. (Source: AniDB)