Stranger: Mukô hadan (2007)

A swordsman from a strange land is caught in a struggle between morality, righteousness, and devotion as he reluctantly agrees to take a raggedy boy and his dog to a remote, Buddhist temple.

Director:

Masahiro Andô

Writer:

Fumihiko Takayama

Stars:

Tomoya Nagase, Yuri Chinen, Kôichi Yamadera

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tomoya Nagase	...	Nanashi (No Name) (voice)
Yuri Chinen	...	Kotaro (voice)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Rarou (voice)
Akio Ôtsuka	...	Shogen Itadori (voice)
Unshô Ishizuka	...	Lord Akaike (voice)
Mamoru Miyano	...	Jyuurouta Inui (voice)
Maaya Sakamoto	...	Hagihime (voice)
Jun Hazumi	...	Zekkai (voice)
Tomoyuki Shimura	...	Isogai (voice)
Takurô Kitagawa	...	Fuchinobe (voice)
Atsushi Ii	...	Byakuran (Bai-Luan) (voice)
Hirofumi Nojima	...	Feng-Wu (voice)
Masaki Aizawa	...	Yue-Shen (voice)
Fumie Mizusawa	...	Mu-Mao (voice)
Junko Minagawa	...	Mu-You (voice)

Storyline

A young boy and his dog find themselves the target of the Ming: a foreign dynasty that will stop at nothing. One day, a quiet and solemn warrior crosses their path, and becomes irrevocably connected with the two. A deal is struck and the warrior agrees to take the boy to a remote, Buddhist temple, where a kind monk is waiting to care for him and the dog. Unfortunately, the Ming have sent their elite, and they will test their strength, courage, and quality every step of the way.

---

Plot Keywords:

little boy | straw hat | rope | sword | ambush | 

---

Taglines:

Some men kill in order to live. Some don't need a reason...

---

Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure

---

Certificate:

14A

Did You Know?

Trivia

Submitted for consideration as a potential nominee for Best Animated Feature to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It failed to be selected.

---

Quotes

Luo-Lang: You've lived too long, old man.

---

Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Anime Movies (Redux) (2017)

User Reviews

like a minimalistic piece of art it shines without blinding

as a anime fan i must say first that i saw these movie whit great expectations. What i saw was far beyond what i expected or could have imagined. lets start by explaining that the plot is simple but poetic at the same time and it never gets in the way of you enjoying the action, now i am a big fan of action anime and i must say that there is where these movie shines above anything that tries to stand in its way art direction is superb these movie has incredible character design the best weapon design in any movie that i can remember, each character has a unique weapon minimalistic but beautiful simple enough not to draw attention to themselves but so well designed that they give each character a different feel and a different fighting stile that ads variety to the already amazing action.these movie also has animation that makes Hollywood action cheap in comparison, music is great but it blends so well whit the rest of the movie that its hard to notice its there the background just like many other superb pieces of the puzzle, setting are like paintings and have a unique style but again they blend together and are hard to discern. Voice acting is amazing and makes the characters believable. Watching in the original language is a must. the movie isn't perfect but then again nothing is and the little flaws it has may have been sacrifices for the greater good of the movie or simply don't get in the way of the main purpose of the flick. sword of the stranger is a great movie that has a mixture of elements in the exact measurement to do one thing and that is make the incredible action stand out, never the near perfect art direction, incredible music and voice acting,the well written plot or any of the other elements of the movie take the main stage but that is how it was intended. action is the most important element and the rest is there to make the action rock but like a masterful painting it shows what you as much as want to see, it can be great action or much much more but that is for the viewer to decide. These movie is a classic in my book and must not be missed, movies these good don't come close to one another and it may take many years before another piece of these magnitude takes form.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese Mandarin

Release Date:

2007 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Sword of the Stranger

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$258,490

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bones

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1