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Sword of the Stranger

Sword of the Stranger (2009)

February. 05,2009
|
7.7
|
PG
| Animation Action History

Pursued by formidable Chinese assassins, young Kotaro and his dog run into No Name, a mysterious stranger who gets pulled into the chase. The unlikely companions form a bond over saving the dog from a poison attack, but chaos erupts when the assassins find Kotaro, and No Name must face his past before a horrible fate is met again.

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Reviews

Ehirerapp
2009/02/05

Waste of time

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Afouotos
2009/02/06

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

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Glucedee
2009/02/07

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

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Fatma Suarez
2009/02/08

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

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tenshi_ippikiookami
2009/02/09

Young Kotaro lives with his dog when he is attacked by some mysterious swordsmen. Luckily for him, in the old temple where he was hiding a nameless ronin was just chilling out. The nameless ronin helps Kotaro, but the dog gets hurt and they leave the temple to try to find someone to save the dog's life. Why do this people want to get Kotaro? Will they get to him? And what hidden past does this nameless ronin have?"Sword of the Stranger" is a very basic action movie, that follows all the: a wandering samurai saves someone and decides to stuck with them because of some memory of the past while hordes of enemies keep coming and thousands of battles ensue. The plot is a little bit silly, but it really doesn't matter because anyone can follow it. It is a little bit slow paced and some editing to take out around 10 minutes would have improved it.The strongest point is the character development and the relationship between Kotaro, No Name and the dog (and the horse). It feels real, and the movie does a great job in making us care for all of them. The uninteresting bad guys fare worse, even if Rarou has an acceptable well developed personality, but in the I-am-bad-but-respect-my-enemies category."Sword of the Stranger" will be enjoyed by fans of the chanbara genre or action movies and anime, but it could have been so much better it's a pity it settles for just average.

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siderite
2009/02/10

Chinese agents come to Japan hunting a boy. They are well prepared, have a lot of money and seem to be indomitable in battle, especially one of them, who is a blue eyed blonde. The boy is clueless, rude and his only companion and friend is a dog. When they meet a mysterious samurai, he reluctantly agrees to help them escape pursuit.Well drawn, cool action scenes reminiscent of Ninja Scroll, credible characters, doing things for reasons that one can believe, rather than the classic "I will protect something, hear me roar!", and an interesting story with roots in a real event.It lasts for one hour forty minutes and I warmly recommend it. It has some issues at the end when some of the characters are just ridiculously overpowered, but overall it was really cool.

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p-stepien
2009/02/11

Through the dense landscape of anime "Sword of a Stranger" is an exceptional piece or art. Mixing static imagery with seamlessly flowing animations (just slightly dabbled with and enhanced by CGI) brings out an masterful artistry to the moving tapestry of sword fights and interaction between the cast. Even in a world occupied by Miyazaki and his animation art-house, this is truly a work of brilliance for all eyes to behold.Within the confines of this animated painting lies a bloody, at times gruesome, but well scripted characters dancing to some story and astounding soundtrack music complimenting the overall effort. The story of a ronin reluctantly helping an orphaned child in dire need of assistance does falter as somewhat generic, while the unnecessarily convoluted plotting of the Mings and the local overlords distracts a bit of attention from the overall greatness of the movie. Crafted by débutant director Masahiro Ando this stylish artwork may not tread new ground - neither dramatically nor aesthetically - but the story and character captivate with this dedicated effort.Definitely a recommended watch and easily non-anime-fan friendly for those wanting to experience something from the genre of anime.

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brandon_lee420
2009/02/12

Sword of the Stranger is highly unnoticed film here on IMDb and only has around 4 thousand people who have voted for it. This Anime deserves to be recognized for its beautiful animation, its characters, for its music and soundtrack, and for the good film that is. It is just the perfect length, around 1 hr and 40 mins, and it is fun the whole way throughout. The director Masahiro Ando has previously worked on Animes such as Cowboy Bepop and Ghost in the Shell and this time he has crafted an impressive and stylish anime with lots of dedication.A young boy and his dog find themselves the target of the Ming: a foreign dynasty that will stop at nothing. One day, a quiet and solemn warrior crosses their path, and becomes irrevocably connected with the two. A deal is struck and the warrior agrees to take the boy to a remote, Buddhist temple, where a kind monk is waiting to care for him and the dog. Unfortunately, the Ming have sent their elite, and they will test their strength, courage, and quality every step of the way.First off I want to say is that one of the things that really struck me about this anime was the amazing soundtrack. The music really comes to life during the battle scenes and the incorporation of drums, like in the beginning sequence, just alleviates the action even more and gives it that awesome feeling. Whoever composed the music should be proud of themselves. The story isn't really original and is kind-of stereotypical but its numerous characters really make this a different kind of anime to watch. The characters are really well done and they also look great as well. One of the main faults is that the story could've been a bit more original but it didn't really affect the viewing experience for me.To all those who call themselves Anime freaks, they should be ashamed if they haven't already watched this. It doesn't matter if you like anime or not because this film breaks those boundaries and offers a marvelous anime with lots of heart. A really good film! 8/10 'Over and out.' 16 April 2012

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