Reviews

SWORD OF THE STRANGER made by Bandi and BONES starts off rather slow, but builds up to a very satisfying ending if you like gruesome battles. We follow a young boy named Kotaro and his trusty dog in fudel era Japan as they are being chased by the Chinese Ming empire for unknown reasons. Upon almost being captured, Kotaro meets a ronin with no name who saves him. Kotaro doesn't trust him, like he doesn't trust many people, but no name is here to stay as he saves the kids dog and keeps him out of the hands of the Chinese. But as a feuding empire tries to take out the Ming, all hell will break loose as Kotaro and No Names pasts are finally revealed.

This film started out pretty slow, sort of like the falling snow around it, the film takes its time to reach its climax. Which sucks, cause the opening is exciting with some beautiful sword play during a rain storm, mixed with a huge, bloody battle at the Ming stronghold. Where the blanket white snow blends with the blood in a nice way when you look at it from an animation stand point. But the middle part is really just No Name and Kotaro getting to know one another while the two other empires prepare to attack each other.

But I did enjoy the film a whole lot. It's bloody, with great sword action, an epic soundtrack and stylistic animation. The character of No Name was a lazy badass, reminiscent of Spike Spegial or Mu from Samurai Champloo. If you like samurai action and anime, check out SWORD OF THE STRANGER.