Sutorenjia: Mukô hadan

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.

My perception of 2D animation practically changed after seeing this movie. No doubt about it. Since today's standards mostly rely on 3D technology to capture realistic and fluid movements in animation, this movie shatters the limits I thought really existed in 2D animation. Since animation marvels like Samurai Champloo back in 2005, Chinese and Japanese sword arts never looked so good in an anime. However yes 3D technology was used in making this movie but only to a limited extent to which it only deemed necessary like cameras panning to arrows, panning fluidly on background terrain and such. All the organic character movements were hand drawn so perfectly well that even all the action was so clear which is just a marvel to see over and over again.

The story may not be the most original but at the same time it isn't bad at all. In fact the characters of this movie retain their depth throughout the entire film which makes it easy for any viewer especially who appreciates animation to look past it as the movie alone offers plenty of intriguing visuals that sincerely complement the story backed by a superb soundtrack which captures the very essences and themes of the setting.

Highly recommended for anime enthusiasts as well as anyone who appreciates cartoons. in fact they shouldn't miss this one as watching this film once simply isn't quite enough.

One of the Best samurai animation action flicks I have seen in a very long time. The story isn't drawn out into a long story about nothing. You get a good sense of the main character without them going into a long epilogue. The characters are well drawn with great attention to detail especially in the action sequences which in my opinion are drawn very well. The score goes perfectly with all the different scenes of the movie. I am pretty good on what good anime samurai flicks are out and I am surprised that I never got a heads up about this one and also why this film wasn't nominated for any type of award. Honestly from the action to the music this movie will grab you. :)

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.

For a long time, feature film anime had been lacking when it came to top-notch production. I found this title not expecting much but from the very beginning it had me. Everything that was great about the ninja/samurai animations in the 90's re-emerged onto this film and I think its safe to say that the choreography far excelled that of its predecessors. The story as vague as it may have been did enough to keep my interest ,but in the end it was the fight scenes that kept me compliant to watch further. Not often do you find a final battle to be so intense pushing the boundaries of fluid animation that your eyes are glued to every moment of the fight. I really can't say enough about this film. At a time where many anime have become primarily viewed in a TV series format, Sword of the Stranger was a breath of fresh air and nostalgic return to what I loved so much about anime feature films. For any fan of Ninja Scroll,Dagger of Kamui, Samurai X, and other great anime classics, this one is for you trust me.