Sword in the hands of a stranger?
Well yeah, pretty much. The title actually explains more than might seem at first. But let's not discuss the title, let's explain what this show is about, or actually, what this movie is about.
Sword of the stranger, is it really worth all the ratings?
Yes, definitely. You see, this Anime doesn't cares much about other Anime's or budget for that matter. Because it is an extremely well animated movie made from a pretty high budget.
Does budget explains a lot?
Well, if it is indeed true to say "you get ware for your share", then yes, it is true. You see, there wasn't a penny/dollar/euro/yen misused in creating this movie.
The Animation is fluid, the sounds are great, the characters are exactly what you'd like them to be and the art pretty much is awesome. An Anime like this however could get it's downfall by a seriously lame plot or not enough action scenes. After all, it is still a samurai/action movie. And like most action movies, it has to involve action!
Which is quite obvious, but some just don't make it through with weak fighting and/or weak reasons as to fight. It's not about the duration of the fight, but whether the fight seems realistic enough, fluid enough and makes your blood throb by excitement.
After seeing one 'slice' of an action scene, you should be able to tell whether a movie is actually the 'bomb' or merely a time bomb waiting to explode and fuck things up.
Sword of the stranger, is the bomb. Like I said before, the animations are slick and fluid. Not just that, the story isn't hard to get and thus easy to follow; which fits 'action' just fine. Besides that, the action is well build-up with of course a nice sort of boss battle at the end.
It just does everything perfectly fine, but fine is worth a 6 or 7. Why a 9, why did I give this movie a 9?
Simply put, everything excels. If the art is better than most Anime's, same as the sounds, characters and enjoyment. What's stopping me from giving this a 9?
It deserved it, and it definitely is worth your 1 1/2 hour time.
More over, what is stopping YOU?
Grab some popcorn, a nice cool coke right beside you. Place your feet on your table. Put on your surround set with a high volume, sit back and simply relax. Turn on the movie and you are in for a great movie!
P.s: I didn't really do all the above. But hey, if you watch movies that way and enjoy doing it that way, be my guest. As long as you have fun right.
