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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: Blu-ray
Brand: Bandai
EAN: 0669198200106
Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled
Label: Bandai
Languages: JapaneseOriginal LanguageEnglishSubtitledEnglishDubbed
Manufacturer: Bandai
MPN: 20010
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Bandai
Release Date: June 16, 2009
Running Time: 103 minutes
Studio: Bandai
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Studio: Infinity Resources Inc Release Date: 06/16/2009 Run time: 102 minutes
Amazon.com:
Masahiro Ando's Sword of the Stranger (2007) is a no-holds-barred samurai action film that happens to be animated. Accompanied by his faithful dog, Tobimaru, Kotaro is forced to flee when the troops of a feudal lord and their Chinese allies attack the temple where he's been living. Taking refuge in an abandoned shrine, Kotaro meets No Name, a sardonic but extremely able ronin. Kotaro needs a friend, as both Japanese and Chinese fighters are hunting him; They're planning to sacrifice the boy in an elaborate ritual and use his blood to prepare "Xian Medicine," an elixir that is supposed to guarantee the Emperor of China eternal life. Although Kotaro fusses and tries to bully No Name, a powerful bond forms between the designated victim and the warrior who bears the physical and psychological scars of his battles. Their bond proves stronger than the ties that bind lord to vassal and ally to ally. Like Kenshin Himura in Rurouni Kenshin, No Name has vowed not to use his sword in penance for the blood he shed as a warrior. But he breaks the knot that binds the blade to its sheath when he rescues Kotaro in a spectacular series of fight scenes. Voice actors Aidan Drummond (Kotaro) and Michael Adamthwaite (No Name) offer winning performances that match their Japanese counterparts, Yuri Chinen and Tomoya Nagase. Ando uses CG to give Sword of the Stranger a sense of epic scale without detracting from the drawn animation of the characters. Dynamically staged and animated, Sword of the Stranger will delight devotees of live-action samurai movies as well as anime fans. (Unrated, suitable for ages 14 and older: considerable violence, alcohol and drug use, minor toilet humor) --Charles Solomon
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
It's rare that any piece of Japanese animation has an additional language, and this is the first that I've seen where the additional language was Chinese. Apart from the beautiful animation, epic fight scenes, and fantastic voice acting, the narrative is wonderful. It helps to know that the Chinese characters are all Daoist, and that their actions are motivated by their meaning system. The interaction in between the two main characters is wonderful, and the constant banter between them is a highlight of the film.
Overall, one of the best animated films in my collection.
Rating:  -
Well, this is a pretty good anime flick... not as good as Akira or Princess Mononoke, but still a good anime nonetheless. Some scenes can get a little longer than they need to be but isn't that the case with all anime movies? :) I give this a 4 out of 5. If you are an anime fan you will enjoy this movie, but there is nothing new or mind-blowing.
Rating: -
good but it need a part two because it dont tell you much about the main characters
Rating: -
Well, as was enevitable some users have given this movie a poor rateing, it was at 5 starts for the longest time. One user said it was boring and he was too old for anime, and another gave an inpresively long review of the movie and why he didn't like it. Well for the guy who is too old for anime because he's 23, perhaps you should not watch anime? The other user said he found the movie to gory and action was too predictable, the story one giant cliche and the charcters were under developed and I can respect his opinion.
First lets get to the gory action. I love it. One thing that really impressed me was unlike other animes like samurai X, and the movie highlander search for vengance and countless others, instead of just seeing a downward sword slash, follwed by a charcter splitting in too or dying after a few seconds delay you actually get to SEE the sword play and a a few lenghty fights. The choreogrophy was amazing and the best i've seen in an anime and you can tell they put alot of work and thought into it, and yes its very bloody. But hey if u dont like blood you arent going to appreaciate this aspect of the movie.
The story, yes its is very cliche but you could say the same for ninja scroll(an evil villain wants to take over the world and one man can stop him), and vampire hunter D(girl gets catptured by evil vampire, half vampire hero saves her and falls in love with her). What really makes a story interesting is not so much the story itself but the CHARACTERS in the story. For me thats what makes movies like ninja scroll,vampire hunter D and Sword of the stranger really enjoyable. Not many people will enjoy a movie if they dont like the characters regardless of the plot. Which brings me to the next section
Characters. Well if you havent allready guessed it, I really liked the characters. Nameless, that kid(forgot his name) and tobby maru the dog. For me theyve all been developed, though subtley. Nameless is a skilled warrior with a haunted past, but he's genuinly a pretty nice guy, that kid (i should probably have gooegled his name) is sarcastic and acts tough but you can tell its just a mask, that really he is pretty damned scared. And lets not forget tobby maru, who has allot of personallity for a non person. Generous loyal and brave, he gives his fish to nameless upon meeting him.
"Ok yeah we get it, you love this movie and are obviously a fanboy who cant take people critizing his favorite movies". Oh contrair mon ami, there were a few things i didnt like about the movie. For one the colors seemed pretty bland, mostly browns(eww the color of doo doo) and yes i admit it wasnt the most original story ever told(why do all these animes villains have to aquire a child as the key to fulfilling thier evil plan? ex: metropolis, Sin the movie nad lots more).
Any way the thing that really did it for me besides the jaw dropping animation and truely loveabe(IMO)characters? The Ending, an epic sword battle follwed by what i thought was an extremly happy ending. Man i'm a sucker for happy endings. Well thats give it a shot, unless youre too old for anime that is ;)
Rating:  -
NOTE: This review has major spoilers for this movie. If you don't want to be spoiled don't read the review until after you have seen the movie.
Sword of the Stranger, which was conceived, written, produced, and animated by BONES (Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door, etc.), is largely an action anime that takes place during the period of the Ming Dynasty. It takes place in Japan itself but there is also a large Chinese influence on parts of the plot, complete with Mandarin being mixed with Japanese.
Directed by Masahiro Ando, Sword of the Stranger has garnered tons of praise in various anime communities and with professional movie critics. Does it live up to the hype? Not in the slightest. Read on.
Story
-----
There's a story? Ok, ok. To be fair, this movie does have a story, albeit a rather inconsequential, uninteresting, and cliche-ridden one.
Sword of the Stranger starts with a young boy named Kotaro, his dog Tobimaru, and his master running away from a burning temple. Kotaro and Tobimaru get separated from Kotaro's master and are forced to fend for themselves.
The two of them end up in a small town and meet a mysterious stranger with a katana. The katana has a special knot on it to prevent this stranger from drawing the sword. After trading lots of "cute" jabs with the stranger, Kotaro and Tobimaru get attacked. Tobimaru gets poisoned and Kotaro is almost captured (the reasons for this are unexplained at this point in the story).
Enter No Name, the mysterious stranger with a katana. He jumps into action to defend Kotaro and Tobimaru, all without drawing his sword. However, he still kills using other weapons. So while there's definitely symbolism to him not drawing his sword, he doesn't really adhere to what it eventually stands for. Unlike Balsa in Moribito: Guardian of The Spirit, who quite simply does not kill (ever), No Name is more than willing to cut off limbs, heads, and cut people in half whenever the script tells him its time for more bloodshed.
Anyway, after yet MORE jabs with No Name, Kotaro demands that No Name work for him to help save his dog. After some reluctance, No Name agrees (take note of this!) and they're off to a nearby town to get Tobimaru some help.
Inter-cut throughout all of this are numerous scenes of a Big Bad Unnamed Westerner(tm), who is good with a sword, killing people, acting tough, and working toward some evil agenda for the Ming Dynasty in China. All he cares about is killing others and finally meeting a worthy opponent. He has absolutely no backstory at all and is never developed beyond loving violence. I'll let others fill in the gaps when it comes to who his worthy opponent is...
Apparently, the Japanese have allowed the Chinese to build some sort of tower on their land to create some sort of superhuman drug simply known as xian. This drug is shown to drastically increase response time, a user's ability to fight, severely decrease pain sensitivity, and makes people incredibly bloodthirsty (naturally, whenever the script demands more blood). The downside is its users get addicted. The secret ingredient that makes this special drug work? The blood of a child every one hundred years. The blood is fed into some sort of time device and a ritual is performed. Kotaro is the chosen sacrifice this time around. Why they can't simply get another kid is never explained. It just has to be Kotaro because he's the protagonist that No Name needs to save. Why? Because the story says so!
In typical anime cliche fashion, both No Name and Kotaro have a Mysterious Past(tm) that doesn't get revealed until the climax of the movie. While patiently sitting through the confusing editing, unclear plot, and boring characterization, I was hoping that these backstories would at least hold up enough to justify all the senseless/random violence, Kotaro's constant bitching and whining, and No Name's almost non-existent dialog. Unfortunately, they do not.
Kotaro's story is simple: he was taken to China when he was really young. His parents both died. He was brought back to Japan and was raised in the temple that burned at the beginning of the movie. No Name's story is ripped right out of almost any samurai movie/JRPG you can think of. He was an exceptional soldier in some unnamed war at an undisclosed period of time in the past. For some reason, he needed to execute a mother and child in cold blood. So now he refuses to draw his sword. And he dyes his hair black (it's normally red). That's it. Those are the backstories that were kept under wraps for most of the movie.
The movie more or less ends with an incredibly contrived battle at the Chinese tower, while a clock ticks down to the right moment for Kotaro to be killed. This battle is interspersed with numerous scenes of No Name ... Read More
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