Sword of the Stranger (2007)

The concept in Sword of the Stranger isn't new. A wandering samurai who killed a lot of people during the war is tormented by his past and has "Sealed" his sword and decided not to use it anymore. Without having to look far you can already find earlier animes/mangas with the exact same concept (Rurouni Kenshin is the first that comes to mind).

Still I really loved this movie and consider it a must watch, specially for people that like animated movies. The animation one of the best I've seen in recent animated movies, with great design, fluid animations and great image quality. While not many in number, the battles are masterfully handled by BONES (animation studio) with great (animated) choreography.

As I've said the concept behind the story isn't new but it's enjoyable nonetheless, I really liked the trust relationship that forms between the main character and the boy he is escorting and there is also a special connection between Nanashi and the main antagonist. In the end you will be caring for the characters.

Finally, and it should not be overlooked. The Soundtrack for this movie is truly wonderful. Composed by Naoki Sato, it's an amazing OST filled with emotion and fits the movie like ring.

Fmovies: To be really honest the movie contains a few clichés. It just has to be sad. But with that part out of the way, I can only speak of great appreciation for this movie. The story is not the most brilliant and again it might be a little cliché, but in a very adorable way. In my case it didn't bothered me for a second. This might be because I really love the traditional anime way of capturing samurai hero stories. For people who have a little more trouble with that, just looked passed it. Because the other parts of the movie have been worked out better than most of the movies I've seen so far. Let's begin with the looks of the movie. For a pretty much traditional drawn anime it is just beautiful. And it gets even better with the action scenes. They are drawn, animated and captured very well. They are fast but clear, they contain a lot of cool moves (if you can put it that way) and are supported by absolute wonderful sound effects and music. The thing that really captured me and makes me watch the final scene over and over again, is the perfect balance between action and music. This movie might not be the industries best, but contains something a lot of the other movies don't: Heart.

If you like traditional anime, samurai and hero stories, this is absolutely one to watch!!

as a anime fan i must say first that i saw these movie whit great expectations. What i saw was far beyond what i expected or could have imagined. lets start by explaining that the plot is simple but poetic at the same time and it never gets in the way of you enjoying the action, now i am a big fan of action anime and i must say that there is where these movie shines above anything that tries to stand in its way art direction is superb these movie has incredible character design the best weapon design in any movie that i can remember, each character has a unique weapon minimalistic but beautiful simple enough not to draw attention to themselves but so well designed that they give each character a different feel and a different fighting stile that ads variety to the already amazing action.these movie also has animation that makes Hollywood action cheap in comparison, music is great but it blends so well whit the rest of the movie that its hard to notice its there the background just like many other superb pieces of the puzzle, setting are like paintings and have a unique style but again they blend together and are hard to discern. Voice acting is amazing and makes the characters believable. Watching in the original language is a must. the movie isn't perfect but then again nothing is and the little flaws it has may have been sacrifices for the greater good of the movie or simply don't get in the way of the main purpose of the flick. sword of the stranger is a great movie that has a mixture of elements in the exact measurement to do one thing and that is make the incredible action stand out, never the near perfect art direction, incredible music and voice acting,the well written plot or any of the other elements of the movie take the main stage but that is how it was intended. action is the most important element and the rest is there to make the action rock but like a masterful painting it shows what you as much as want to see, it can be great action or much much more but that is for the viewer to decide. These movie is a classic in my book and must not be missed, movies these good don't come close to one another and it may take many years before another piece of these magnitude takes form.

Sword of the Stranger fmovies. For those of you familiar with Chambara (samurai) movies, Sword of the Stranger, is the anime equivalent. Story line is typical Samurai storyline, wandering samurai helps out a kid and gets caught up in a plot by foreigners and "bad" samurai. without giving the plot line away I will say that if you are familiar with chambara movies and enjoy the stories/genre you will enjoy this movie. Technically wise, this movie is very well animated. Traditional hand drawn cel work mixed with some CG. It is beautiful to look at and the fighting scenes are amongst the best I have seen in anime or in real life action. A beautifully crafted movie that needs to be seen just on the technical aspects alone.

I just got back from seeing this film locally thanks to Fathom Events. I don't normally take the time to write reviews for movies, but I felt the need to here. I don't watch a lot of Anime, so what I do watch has to be *good*. This surpassed my expectations 10fold. A truly epic take of a certain amount of eastern mysticism intermixed with a tale of redemption. I haven't walked out of a movie feeling this good about my time spent (which *flew* by) in a long long time. I certainly hope Bandai can get this out on DVD soon, as it is a must own for my collection. And hopefully whatever DVD release that comes out will have the commentary that we got to see at the end of the Fathom Events presentation as well.

I watched this movie last night with my dad and we both loved it. I'm 27 and he happens to be in his 50's. I expect everyone younger, older and in between will love it as well.

I'm sure you can imagine what an anime title like "The Sword of the Stranger" might hold in store for you. A young boy named Kotaru and his faithful companion Tobimaru. A deadly swordsman with blue eyes. A hungry samurai with a troubled past. The Sword of the Stranger doesn't re-invent the wheel but it is more than the sum of it's parts.

All in all: If you enjoy anime watch it. You can also expect to hear a great score.