Licensor: Bandai Entertainment
Studio: BONES

We’ll be the first to admit it: Anime has been in a slump for the last 10 years. Sure, there have been a few gems, but if you’ve been in the game for as long as we have, you’ll be able to see the trends, and it is disturbing.

There was once a time when adults were the main protagonists. There were stories of surprising depth, and while the super-powered kids and teen angst was always there, it wasn’t nearly as prevalent as it is today.

Some might call modern anime “acknowledging the NEW audience”, while PopCultureShock argues that it simply isolates the older, more DEVOTED crowd. Sure, blonde ninjas in orange jumpsuits are great for a change of pace, but when they become the standard? That’s when it’s time for some serious reassessment.

Consider Sword of the Stranger a renaissance of maturity. A reminder that because classics like Dagger of Kamui, Samurai X, or even Spriggan are older, that the audience who loved that stuff hasn’t been forgotten.

Sword of The Stranger is an action knockout.

BONES, the animation studio behind Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo have pretty much put the stamp on anime swordplay, and The Sword of the Stranger captures their trademark attention to fluid choreography with aplomb.

The real treat is the surprisingly simple but effective story. To be fair, it’s retread stuff: Nameless awesome samurai meets mysterious mouthy kid. Bad guys want kid, samurai defends kid, and a reluctant friendship races toward some bloody conclusion.

Summarily, that’s probably the extent of it, but the characterization, steady pacing, and sincere attention to fleshing out the large supporting cast truly makes the journey one of the most memorable Samurai fiction of the last decade.

The fight scenes are the show-stoppers, and the reason why casual fans could argue that animated choreography can give live-action wire work a run for the money. Action takes place with frenetic camera and matter-of-fact violence, and first time director Masahiro Ando guides us through the mayhem like he’s been at it for years.

Sword of the stranger is a standalone film with no accompanying manga or long-running television series, which is rare. There are themes of cultural clash between feuding Chinese and Japanese factions, and despite some social musings, The Sword of The Stranger never sacrifices depth in its brisk pacing.

Even if the pseudo-political trappings aren’t your thing, there’s more than enough visual mastery in the beautifully choreographed action scenes to make The Sword of The Stranger worth the purchase when the movie goes to retail this year.