Another film picked at random, got this on offer from United Publications and I heard this was very well received by many anime folks, giving it a range from 8 to 10 out of 10.
Note that this post has been updated on 20th December 2017 to reflect the current blog format.
Sword of the Stranger (Stranger: Mukou Hadan) is a 2007 original anime movie from studio Bones, director Masahiro Ando, writer Fumihiko Takayama, and published by Bandai Visual. The film was released with great reception among fans throughout the community and it is definitely worth checking out.
This release is the now out of print version distributed by Beez Entertainment. It's one of the few titles released on Blu-ray by the distributor. Much like Manga UK's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, this release was authored by Spanish distributor Selecta Vision which adds Spanish & Catalan audio & subtitle language support for the film. There's also French audio & language support as Beez also distributed the film for France. And of course there's English & Japanese audio with English subtitles with the option to turn them all off.
The Blu-ray set is a standard 'US-style' release with a slim case and oddly enough no BBFC logos on the spine (which at the time was required by law). I acquired this film around the time when I started getting into purchasing anime and I had no idea that the set was actually quite rare (and the fact that the distributor Beez went out of business). The disc is surprisingly regions A & B compatible.
Also worth noting that there is a defect with this release tied to the English dub. Basically the English subs for the Japanese audio appear during the last scene in the dub which is quite random.
Note that this post has been updated on 20th December 2017 to reflect the current blog format.
Sword of the Stranger (Stranger: Mukou Hadan) is a 2007 original anime movie from studio Bones, director Masahiro Ando, writer Fumihiko Takayama, and published by Bandai Visual. The film was released with great reception among fans throughout the community and it is definitely worth checking out.
This release is the now out of print version distributed by Beez Entertainment. It's one of the few titles released on Blu-ray by the distributor. Much like Manga UK's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, this release was authored by Spanish distributor Selecta Vision which adds Spanish & Catalan audio & subtitle language support for the film. There's also French audio & language support as Beez also distributed the film for France. And of course there's English & Japanese audio with English subtitles with the option to turn them all off.
The Blu-ray set is a standard 'US-style' release with a slim case and oddly enough no BBFC logos on the spine (which at the time was required by law). I acquired this film around the time when I started getting into purchasing anime and I had no idea that the set was actually quite rare (and the fact that the distributor Beez went out of business). The disc is surprisingly regions A & B compatible.
Also worth noting that there is a defect with this release tied to the English dub. Basically the English subs for the Japanese audio appear during the last scene in the dub which is quite random.
Blu-ray Specs:
Languages: Japanese, English, French, Spanish, Catalan
Audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1 (for all five languages)
Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9
Region: A B
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Catalan
Subtitles Locked: No
Discs: 1
Plot Synopsis (via Beez):
Set in the turbulent period of Japanese history known as the Sengoku period - or the era of warring states - this story features Kotaro, a young orphan on the run with his dog, Tobimaru. He is pursued by a Chinese army hell-bent on capturing him for the glory of their emperor. A chance meeting leads the orphan to entreat a nameless samurai, scarred by previous conflicts, to be his bodyguard. This marks the beginning of a journey that pits the nameless samurai head-to-head against an army of bloodthirsty Chinese swordsmen who will kill anything that gets in their way!
On-Disc Extra Content:
Animated Storyboards (3m 5s)
Staff Interviews (49m 9s)
Cast Interviews (17m 17s)
Theatrical Trailer (3m 57s)
TV Spots (1m 19s)
Pilot Film (3m 46s)
Languages: Japanese, English, French, Spanish, Catalan
Audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1 (for all five languages)
Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9
Region: A B
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Catalan
Subtitles Locked: No
Discs: 1
Plot Synopsis (via Beez):
Set in the turbulent period of Japanese history known as the Sengoku period - or the era of warring states - this story features Kotaro, a young orphan on the run with his dog, Tobimaru. He is pursued by a Chinese army hell-bent on capturing him for the glory of their emperor. A chance meeting leads the orphan to entreat a nameless samurai, scarred by previous conflicts, to be his bodyguard. This marks the beginning of a journey that pits the nameless samurai head-to-head against an army of bloodthirsty Chinese swordsmen who will kill anything that gets in their way!
On-Disc Extra Content:
Animated Storyboards (3m 5s)
Staff Interviews (49m 9s)
Cast Interviews (17m 17s)
Theatrical Trailer (3m 57s)
TV Spots (1m 19s)
Pilot Film (3m 46s)
Sword of the Stranger is no longer in print for UK and North America, but Australia should still have their hands on a copy for Blu-ray and DVD.
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