Its been a bountiful time for feature anime films the past year or so, with many notable works like Tokikake, Paprika, Tekkon Kinkreet, 5 Centimeters and Rebuild of Evangelion. Its going to be quite a treat for animation lovers yet as the the list continues; let’s begin with the period anime Sword of the Stranger.
Helmed by director Ando Masahiro, Stranger tells of a nameless ronin’s charge to protect a young boy pursued by assassins for a coveted and shocking secret he holds. I was initially drawn to Stranger because of its likeness to my favourite manga Blade of the Immortal （無限の住人）, but after watching the trailer the superb animation and art direction had me convinced that this is certainly one film to look out for.
Stranger is currently screening in theatres here; Bandai Visual passed down some complimentary tickets to the studio last week but unfortunately I was away on my break and missed the opportunity to grab it. There’s a wealth of material available from the official website including the trailer, character profiles and production notes, wallpapers and merchandise information.
Official website : http://www.stranja.jp/
Production company : Bones
The Stranger artwork shown above is from a special feature in the current issue of Animation Note. For those interested in getting the dvd, check out this post on the beautiful Japanese boxset.
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Ghibli Museum Anime Shorts Part I - The Day I Bought A Star
Animation Nation 2008
kind of like lonew olf and cub meets afro samurai?
i can’t wait to see this movie! i saw the trailer a while back and it peaked my interest. plus its done by studio bones which adds on to the package.
Wow the artwork seems promising. Hopefully, I would be able to watch this soon.
And yes,there have been many great anime films released this year. Byousoku 5 cm and the Rebuild of Evangelion are just a few to name.
I like the art-style
Hope to catch it soon too, perhaps this weekend in Shinjuku.
ooo….i cannot wait for this movie to be released in DVD included english subtitle since it looks good to me.
I hope Cathay brings this one in as well…
alice - I’m pretty sure its going to get a decent release on dvd, so hang in there ! :]
Chraen - Let’s keep our fingers crossed !
I watched first 5 minutes of “Stranger” from Youtube. My jaw literally dropped on action sequences. It was literally a unstoppable slaughter.
One man wipes out whole squad of bandits with just with his sword fighting skill. No weird super powers, no ESP, no technology.
According to Anipage Daily, Director Masahiro Ando was one of three animators who animated the last fight scene between Spike and Vincent in Cowboy Bebop the movie.
Wow,that fight scene between Spike and Vincent is really wicked alright.
ehh you wen its comes out on dvd in japan will it come wit eng subs i really wanna no coz i really wanna watch it
this movie is super tight..the fighting scenes are spectacular and fast but yet so intriqite!!! i want the DVD to add to my collection! enjoy the movie everyone
one of the best so far.watched it & don’t mind watching again.