Sword of the Stranger (Some very light spoilers about the film, but be warned.)
So I finally got around to watching this one. Amazing action film, possibly the very best there is. BONES really are at a league of their own when it comes to exciting, thrilling action.
That said, I expected the film to be worse as a complete package, so it did surprise me that it was really enjoyable throughout.
Especially, I was pleased at the decent amount of good character acting animation. It's good that they don't disregard these aspects even if the film is clearly intended as a vehicle for fight sequences, I especially liked how they brought the character of Kotarou to life with lively and believable expressions.
The film takes a rather silly and over the top premise so seriously and presents the events in such a pompous manner that I'd normally just laugh at it, but the insane quality of the production and the tight script managed to surpass that barrier, and I ended up enjoying it a lot. It's very hard to not get sucked into a film when it opens with such an amazing action sequence set to some
epic music.
Neat establishing shot, gives the guy an aura of mysticism and lets you know he will be a main character right away.
The characters were interesting, as far as generic BUSHIDO WAY type characters can be anyway. Kotarou and the dynamic between him, his dog and Nanashi were well accomplished, enough to carry the film in between the action parts.
I especially liked this scene because it's simple and genuine, unlike most of the stuff relating to the story and side-characters. The little boy wants to learn to ride a horse, and the Byronic hero has nothing better to do, so he teaches him. It epitomizes the good aspects of the character interactions presented between our main trio, and this one felt executed with particular care.
The obvious poignant theme of the movie is about loyalty to authority against moral autonomy, but I really couldn't give a shit about this or the main plot due to two things:
-Its exploration is kind of lacking, and its take on it never goes beyond very generic samurai movie YAMATO DAMASHII stuff.
-I was too busy being awestruck by the action to care.
The clash between China and Japan was sort of just there, the differences in language being just a concern about verisimilitude rather than something serving a meaningful purpose. This, and the side-characters, were the weakest part of the film for me. Especially, fuck that monk, really. Fuck him.
But now let's get into the actual meat of the feature, the thing that makes it stand out and worthy of being watched: the production quality, more specifically the action animation.
There were some really nice backgrounds too, that helped setting the mood and give the film that super epic larger-than-life feel (along with the masterful BGM):
And finally, oh man...
the action. Oh god I can't emphasize it enough. Not only we were gifted with Yutaka Nakamura's absolute masterpiece both in technical prowess and choreography, it was also complemented by animators of the highest calibre and a direction that really knew how to bring out the best of each sequence. Props to Masahiro Ando and his outstanding ability to direct the fights. They flow, their realism is really over the top in a way that makes it super thrilling, the camerawork is minutely considered and perfectly implemented, and overall they always give this sense of greatness, of adrenaline, that makes them an immense pleasure to watch.
Besides the obvious choice of Yutapon's final scene, the opener fight that presented Rarou really stroke my fancy because it also features the strongest points of the film (and the directing), and comes at a perfect time to hook you into the ~90 minutes of runtime ahead.
According to Ben, it was animated by Hidetsugu Ito, so props to him.
All in all, this is a decent film, but a mind-boggling action flick that makes a very strong case for the power of animation as a medium that can take these sort of things
way above live-action ever could, can or will ever be able to.
