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I have always had a fondness for anime that explored the Bushido period; powerful hits such as the anime series “Basilisk” and the anime film “Ninja Scroll” have garnered a great following. Most recently the almost Okamoto/Kobayashi inspired “Shigurui Death Frenzy” has left me in apprehension. Director Masahiro Ando with screenplay by Fumihiko Takayama has adapted a legend from the recent anecdote by “Bones”. “SWORD OF THE STRANGER” (aka. Sutorenjia Muko Hadan) is an intelligent film with amazing action that uses the Sengoku period (a period of warring states) as its backdrop. It is a legend of faith, ambition and survival.
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The film was a nominee for Best racy Feature at the 81st Academy of film awards.
A young boy named Kotaro (voiced by Yuri Chinen) and his dog are wandering the lands of Japan; fleeing the Ming forces led by Lord Bai-Luan. They near across a nameless Ronin (Nanashi, voiced by Tomoya Nagase) who is worried by the memories of his past and who has vowed to preserve his blade sheathed. Chinese mercenaries are dispatched to claim the slight boy for a zigzag ritual for immortality. Seeing the remnants of his past within the boy, the nameless samurai chooses to act as his protector but does he have the critical skills to maintain him from the clutches of the Ming and their blood thirsty, gold-haired swordsman named Luo-Lang (Kouichi Yamadera)?
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The film uses this chaotic period in feudal Japan; the Sengoku period or the era of the Warring States is a period after the decline of the second shogun. The film ponders the question: What makes a man obedient or spoiled? Is it the corruption of the amount of political power or the ambition to rise to such powers? Is it the skill of swordsmanship or the manner he serves his Lord? “Sword of the Stranger” does flesh out these questions in the spirit of its characters. Itadori is a general whose skills as a swordsman allowed him to rise above the ranks. He is ambitious and power hungry and he serves a ghastly feudal lord in the persona of Akaike; who in turn is driven by greed and lust for more power. Bai-Luan is an aide to the Emperor and seeks immortality to prolong his dwindling life. Luo-Lang is a warrior who serves the Ming Emperor but he is flawed in a design that he is longing for a estimable opponent. He is dependable, but only as that loyalty serves him. The nameless swordsman is a man exhausted, he has killed and served his Lord in the past–such actions have made his soul empty. He has tied a knot on his sword to retain him from drawing his blade, but his skills are ample enough to fell highly trained opponents.
The film captures positive interpretations of the evils that men would do, for ambition, greed and loyalty. Kotaro represents the innocence and purity of youth, and as such he is the key to the Xian drug, believed to be the key to immortality. Kotaro’s dog, Tobimaru also plays a famous role in the film, as he proves to be the catalyst for Nanashi and Kotaro’s allegiance. The film has some touching and silly moments, as we explore the dog practice generosity and sacrifice. After all, if an animal can learn compassion, why can’t us human beings? The nameless swordsman’s past in shown in the compose of dreams and flashbacks. (Also, there is a short film in the DVD’s features that further develops his character)
It is easy to ignore the film’s subtle meanings, as the film does have improbable action sequences that rival Ryuhei Kitamura’s “AZUMI”. The action scenes beget a ample amount of gore and loads of blood. But not too bloody that the film should be rated `R’. I loved the plot Nanashi defends himself without even drawing his sword, it is a factual testament to his skills which provokes Luo-Lang’s obsession in facing him in single combat. The fights are long, stylish and brutally violent at times. Chinese Wuxia meets Japanese swordsmanship in the encounters. I liked the manner in which Luo-Lang and Nanashi were developed through their separate fights, it allows them to be further developed and allows for build-up in the inevitable final encounter. One flaw the film has is that Kotaro’s past wasn’t fully fleshed out and the reasons for him being special weren’t really fully explored.
The action is well interesting and the moves are fluid and soft. The situation designs have that minor touch of CGI, and the backgrounds almost see very photo-realistic. The mood is cleverly expressed through its effects in the get of blowing wind, ominous snowfall and the darkening of clouds. The character designs may sight simple and may not be as define as other anime films of this kind, but it was peaceful fair safe. The music track perfectly complements the film’s mood and attitude; I found the music quite rousing in its occupy true.
“Sword of the Stranger” is one great fraction of attractive feature. I am smooth rather impressed how the Japanese can withhold adult themes in the compose of animation, whereas here in the U.S. animation is often associated with “kiddie-flicks”. The film is fleshy of very frigid action, violence that pushes the PG-13 envelope with a strong humanity that can let the film stand on its contain. The viewer has to sight beyond the action otherwise; he may lose some of the subtle details and may accomplish him mediate the set is a itsy-bitsy contrived. It may not arrive the classic station of other acclaimed anime hits but it is absorbing enough to retain the experienced anime fan enthralled and to attract those weird with Japanimation.
Highly Recommended! [4- Stars]
Video/Audio: 1.78 ratio anamorphic widescreen. Nice, shapely transfer with some muted colors on some scenes. The 5.1 Japanese Language track is noteworthy and definite with estimable Subtitles. There is also the option of an English Language 5.1 track.
Extras: Magnificent bare bones, there are trailers and commercials but the pilot film called “Muko Hadan” is worth a seek. There are also character interviews.
This movie made a one day appearance at the theaters and thanks to a killer trailer I made a point of not missing it. Despite the movie being relatively fresh, there’s a outlandish nostalgia I felt while watching it. For one, most or all of the art is hand drawn. On the spacious conceal, the line quality is very noticeable, especially since the past decade most animation has been exempt from any line quality at all en lieu of 3D. So seeing the hand of the artist in motion was a feeling I had missed from the traditional days of watching Charlie Brown 
How I manage to build Charlie Brown and a Master Samurai in the same sentence…I don’t know.
But anyway…
The other thing that grabbed me was that this movie actually spends time developing both tale and its characters, and it does an fantastic job at that. Granted, the region itself is a bit cliche: The terrible guys are after an immortality potion that requires a young boy, Kotaro, to be sacrificed in order for the potion to work. But the cliche is padded with a strong historical succor descend that gives the tale a surprising gritty realism. While so many movies carve away at a pleasurable tale and evolving character elements, this one slows down fair enough to build you actually care about the fate of the Nameless Samurai, Kotaro and even his dog.
The exact pacing was a obliging plot to obtain up to an ending so loaded with tension that I could actually feel my muscles locked up. As the Nameless character does battle with his enemies, you can’t back but to feel that he may be in plot over his head. In a lot of diagram, the movie reminded me of “Ninja Scroll”: there are a host of foes that the Nameless Saurai must confront and you’ll have your doubts about his skills being matched to each one. Such doubts are the hallmark of a piquant fable.