Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
AltoRoark
Sword of the Stranger is not a groundbreaking or innovative dish you would find in a five-star restaurant, but rather an average dish with all your favorite ingredients which you love to savor day after day. This film doesn’t fall into the trap of constantly trying to be what it isn’t, that being a frequent issue with many shows and movies alike. It knows its limits, explores the possibilities within the boundaries, and milks every bit of essence out of it making a simple, yet delightful experience. It is neither groundbreaking nor the pinnacle of story telling, but it was a whole damn lot of fun nonetheless.
Our two main characters, the young boy Kotarou and the lone samurai Nanashi whom he hires, are identified by their roles in the story, as well as their own personalities and morals w…
Read at the sourcegust0717
This is my first review and I am doing it in order to improve how I judge the anime I watch. Thus, I am sticking to the story/art/sound/character/enjoyment rating, because I think it is a good way to categorize rating.
Story - 9/10
First thing, the story has a great apresentation because it is not presented to the viewers from the start. During the movie, you start to understand what is going on. This is so well done that the story progresses without become complicated, to the point that, by half of the movie, you can completely understant it. This presentation makes you curious about what the plot is and unable to leave the screen.
The themes adressed by the movie are very diverse, some are very common and others, not that much. The supperficial theme of the main characters is the common…
Read at the sourceOtaku_Apologizt
Entertainment factors: Fight scenes, insane choreography, subtle social themes, Japanese culture, hand-drawn animation.
Genres: Action, historical, drama.
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Studio Bones animated Sword Of The Stranger (2007) to feature the most spectacular hand-drawn sword fighting scenes ever. With a high budget and big studio talent behind it, this movie is violently wonderful.
The main and side characters depict the social hierarchy of medieval Japan: child, bandit, peddler, soldier, priest, lord, etc. Watching their interactions, you get a good sense of who stands below the other. Some try moving upwards in class, others simply die in the crossfire. You can watch this movie as just another cool action flick. But, when a story is this tight and spans only an hour and 40 minutes, it has the side-…
Read at the sourcewalrusking14
I happened to stumble upon a little hidden gem, a couple days back by the name "Sword of the Stranger". I was surprised by how few people were talking about the film. The only threads I found about the anime were very specific and spoiler heavy; no general discussions, no recommendation topics. Naturally this lead me to suspect the worst, but I figured I'd give SOTS a shot anyway. Besides, at only an hour and a half in length I wouldn't be wasting that much time. I'm quite glad I did, because this movie is the very definition of a hidden gem.
Setting:
Sword of the Stranger takes place in Japan during its Sengoku period; I would estimate the year to be around 1550. It follows the journey of a vagabond rōnin, a young orphan and his pet dog; who are trying to reach the city of Shirato. Hot o…
Read at the sourceTokyoSanchez
Anime movies have always been a bit of a double-edged sword for me. On one hand, production quality tends to skyrocket, as the length is severly shortened. However, even if the story is interesting and the characters likeable, it is very hard to really develop the story and characters to the level that a regular series would. But even if that is the case, that's all you really need to have a positive experience with a movie since you're not putting hours upon hours to invest time into said story and characters. This is where Sword of the Stranger really shines for me.
Sword of the Stranger is, like I said in the into, ridiculously simple. We have seen this basic premise a million times over, except this time, thrown into a historical setting. A bratty character and a more personable, char…
Read at the sourceJaehaerys48
Every once and a while I come across an anime that I initially like quite a bit, but by the time I'm around three-quarters of the way through the series, I just want it to end. The 2007 Bones anime Stranger: Mukou Hadan, also known as Sword of the Stranger is a bit like that. Of course, it is a film, so the fact that it managed to disappoint me so thoroughly is a bit unusual - it's one thing for a 12-or-so episode televisions anime to taper off near its end, it's another thing for a 100 minute movie to do that.
Now, my view on this film is definitely a minority one. Sword of the Stranger has been pretty well-recieved by most anime fans and reviewers, and it's not hard to see why. It certainly has many things going for it in terms of production, after all. The animation is superb, the art…
Read at the sourceklasha
Let me start by saying this movie has great animation and great action BUT that's where the praise ends for this movie.
(I personally think this movie is hyped for those reasons only if you want a movie with any dept avoid this now)
Characters - only one word to describe the characters in this movie and its shallow! there is no character development at all I know its a movie and they don't have a major time span to work with but seriously you won't see characters as shallow and dull as this.
Story - Cliché, Dull and predictable a group of about 10 Ming dynasty warriors arrive in Japan looking for a kid that they have to sacrifice on top of a tower or some weird shit (I bet just from that you want work out whats going to happen and how its going to happen)
I watch anime for great sto…
Read at the sourceryuu_zer0
Some men kill in order to live. Some don't need a reason...
When I first heard of Sword of the Stranger about a year ago I'll admit I was skeptical. It seemed like every samurai anime cliche rolled into one. But I watched it the first time in absolute awe, and after four times I am compelled to write a review on this revolutionary anime.
Yes, that word was "revolutionary", and by this I am referring to the spectacular animation used in the movie. As aptly put on Anime News Network, it has "some of the most intricately staged, gorgeously animated fight sequences in anime history." Bones has raised the bar so high with Sword of the Stranger that just about every other anime fight scene you see will seem slow and uninteresting in comparison. Every swing of a sword, every step the fighters m…
Read at the sourceknockngoc
Story: 9
Off the bat, after reading the synopsis, you come to the conclusion...Wow this sounds pretty darn interesting but a little sketchy as well. You may seem inclined to feel that this may be one of those animes where the artwork looks great, but the story isn't there at all. Please, I do recommend you watching this, the story is a little out there, but considering the times and how everyone wants the "miracle or everlasting..." it was good. The idea of how they get this miracle..was a little far-fetched. However that doesn't mean the story isn't good. From beginning to end there is a good flow to story as well as the the character development.
Art: 10
What can I say, AMAZING. This has got to be one of the best artworks. I was pleased to see no fireballs of death coming from the palm…
Read at the sourceace52387
Story:
Stranger is first and foremost an action movie. Because the meat and potatoes don’t lie primarily with the plot, its straightforward and very typical “unlikely hero” premise is forgivable. A wandering swordsman reluctantly agrees to protect a child from an elite Chinese expedition. The local feudal lord joins the pursuit, stacking the odds further against the protagonists.
By no means am I implying that the story is bland. The web of tangled motives creates conflicts between the feudal government and the Chinese, and also internal conflicts within each group. There’s plenty of plot movement here to justify a feature length film even though the simple premise of “samurai protects child” remains throughout. The overall simplicity is, in fact, a benefit to this historical martial arts…
Read at the sourcelolwutwhatever
I can’t let this movie go without a review. I’ve just finished watching it and actually I’m kind of speechless. There’s so many good things about it that I don’t know what to say. “Good” isn’t enough, that for sure. The movie is exceptional, impressive, stunning, and I could put here every positive adjective I can think of.
Here we have a beautiful story about survival, friendship, hardships and will to live and protect. It isn’t presented in a cheesy way present in most of the series. A boy and his dog, living on his own since he was six years old, due to parents’ deaths, and a mysterious stranger, former soldier with intriguing past. He never draws his sword, never to protect himself. A one hour and forty minutes adventure of the two getting to know each other, fighting for priorities,…
Read at the sourceMunsuta
An epic tale of a young boy on the run for his life and a mysterious wandering samurai who coincidentially run into eachother at a abadoned temple. The rest of the story falls into place after thier meeting. Within the first 10 minutes of this anime you are engulfed in a small battle of thieves trying to rob a caravan whose guards are these mysterious samurai with red capes, giving you a taste of what kind of action and gore that is to come. Heads and limbs get cut off and arrows pierce necks and heads in a wonderful display of swordsmanship and archery. If any of you have seen Princess Monoke, this is a very similar anime when it comes to the art, sound, and battles. A must see movie, brilliantly composed. 10/10
Read at the sourcepastafiend
Andy, from AnimeNfo, wrote: "Stranger is a martial arts tale of self sacrificing heroism. This premise is far from original, as are the characters. It is nonetheless solid, and combined with all the dramatic brutality one could ask for from Samurai action, the complete package is a joy to watch."
This is about what you can say in the positive review of SotS, if you go much farther you'd be hard pressed to not mention that the plot is dull or talk about the shallow characters. SotS does its job when it needs to; providing us with pitch-perfect samurai action. Plenty of decapitations you barely see, a good helping of "hey, I'm pretty tough" followed by "oh shit you killed me without flenching", and some of that good old-fashioned unscrupulous backstabbing and grandstanding. If you want exc…
Read at the sourcemiscanime
This movie did, as someone mentioned in their review, come out of nowhere. I actually learned of it because there was a poster for the dubbed version showing in the US theatres coming in Feb.
Anyhow, the animation is seriously like 10. It's got scenes that make me wish I were there--and not the lame super shiny Miyazaki way that everyone spazzes about. I'm talking things that seem to reach back into the Japanese past and bring scrolls to life sorta animation. It was excellent and I hope to one day own a DVD of this movie so as to see it in its true definition glory.
The sound/music was also superb. It was well made and definitely captured the mood of what was going on a lot of the time. Regardless there were also times when the music just took you away and you kinda felt like you were…
Read at the sourceStormy_77
When I decided to watch this movie it was without any expectations but I was more than pleasantly surprised! Sword of the Stranger has to be one of the best lesser-known anime out there and for how good it is, it deserves to be much, much more popular.
Story
There isn't anything ground-breaking plot wise. True to the title it is the story of a young boy running from "something" and he ends up meeting a stranger who lends his sword to help the little boy. There is a high degree of predictability and the usual anime cliches abound. That being said the plot does nothing to detract from how good this anime is. To be honest if this was a series instead of a movie the story would have ranked higher because there were a lot of sub-plots that could have been developed.
In this movie there is…
Read at the source-FlameHaze-
Introduction
This is the third time I've given an anime a straight 10. I tried for about 5 minutes even flicking back through the film, and I honestly can't find anything wrong with it. So here it goes.
Story
This to me was a pretty original story I can't think of anything that has this kind of story to it although I havn't seen every anime, this story line is far from common. At the beginning it starts like a normal adventure anime, a boy trying to find his way. Then he meets up with a Samurai (whose past I won't give away) They basically travel together for reasons I won't mention to safely take this boy to where he needs to be but theres one set of people trying to stop them. On top of this when he arrives everything isn't quite what he seemed and so it continues.
Art
The animation i…
Read at the sourcefr0z3nshad3
Story (9.1) - Well, its true that it isnt anything new...stories like this one i have already seen ...it nothing different its true. But even beeing similar to other stories, it is with no doubt still very good. Has suspense, action, misteries...its a solid story and deserves the 9.
Art (9.9) - Art is something amazing. Great design, great graphic aspects, great animations, great environment design, characters looking good, everything i could ask for. Surely 1 of the strongest points in this movie, if not the strongest.
Sound (8.9) - Fits very well with the movie, in my opinion. I liked it but definitively its not that special to get a 10.a 9 here.
Characther (9.3)- Characters look good, have some amazing abilities, are well develloped, well not much to point here. its a solid 9.
Enjoy…
Read at the sourceWashi
Sword of the Stranger is both unusual and refreshing in the way that it seemed to come out of nowhere and prove to be a remarkable anime. It seems, lately, that anything warranting a large budget and a lot of effort from a studio is either a sequel, an adaptation based on a successful manga or novel, or the next dull addition to a creatively stagnant franchise. None of these things, Sword of the Stranger is an unexpected big-budget film, which leapt instantly to the forefront of my favoured anime movies with exhilarating action sequences, captivating visuals, raw, evocative music and simple but affective characterisation. The look and sound of the show will instantly grab you, and perhaps even carries the film over the insubstantial plot backbone.
Some people have already ordained this fi…
Read at the sourcerenegade
I initially saw previews of this movie while I was in Japan last October. It was being released pretty much right after I left, and I was there for a full month. But there was an awesome display at the Manga museum in Kyoto with an original script, and other memorabilia. When I saw the previews, I knew this movie was going to rock. But I never imagined BONES would deliver such a timeless tale. This movie will become one of the classics as time progresses.
Anyways, lets get to the basis for my extreme rating.
Story: 9
Such a classic formulated tale of a boy, Kotarou, his best friend, protector and pet dog, Tobimaru, and his new found guardian, Nanashi (nameless). They integrate the archetype of the ming dynasty searching for power, and situate a conflict of interest between them and the f…
Read at the sourcearanelcharis
Wow. This movie has left me nearly speechless. There are scenes in it that are shocking, jaw-dropping, amazing...if you haven't seen this movie yet, and you like action movies, with a good plot, solid characters, and the best action sequences I've ever seen in an anime, then beg, borrow, stea---er, do whatever you can to get your hands on it. You won't regret it. Take my word for it.
I guess I could just say that and be done, but if you're not convinced yet, I'll pimp it some more.
Story - typical action stuff, set in historical Japan, but has twists enough in the plot to make me unable to predict exactly what was going to happen next--and I've watched enough action movies and anime to know that this one stands firmly within its chosen genre, yet breaks out of it from time to time. This,…
Read at the source