Sword of the Stranger - Blu-Ray

Japan, the Sengoku period. A young boy named Kotaro is being hunted — by a group of Ming Dynasty warriors sent from China on orders from a dying emperor who requires a specific ritual sacrifice to achieve immortality. Kotaro does not know why they want him. He knows only that they are relentless, that the temple that sheltered him has burned, and that he needs to reach a distant mountain. In the ruins he finds a nameless ronin — a man who has sealed his sword and refuses to draw it, traveling with no destination and carrying something in his past that he does not discuss. The ronin agrees to escort Kotaro for pay. What neither of them anticipates is Luo-Lang: a blond Chinese mercenary who fights for the pleasure of finding an opponent worth killing, and who becomes fixated on the nameless swordsman the moment he sees him move. The film builds to a confrontation between them that is among the finest animated action sequences ever produced.

Sword of the Stranger is a 103-minute theatrical film directed by Masahiro Ando — a Studio Bones veteran making his feature directorial debut — produced by Studio Bones, written by Fumihiko Takayama, and scored by Naoki Sato. Released in Japan on September 29, 2007 by Shochiku, the film premiered in North America at the Fantasia International Film Festival in 2008. The action choreography — supervised by Yutaka Nakamura, Bones' signature animator — deploys the weight and momentum of steel weapons with a specificity rarely achieved in animation. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Masahiro Ando
Screenplay: Fumihiko Takayama
Studio: Bones (Fullmetal Alchemist, My Hero Academia, Ouran High School Host Club, No Game No Life)
Music: Naoki Sato
Action Animation Supervisor: Yutaka Nakamura

Japanese Cast:
- Tomoya Nagase as Nanashi / No Name
- Yuri Chinen as Kotaro
- Koichi Yamadera as Luo-Lang
- Akio Otsuka as Bai-Luan
- Naoto Takenaka as Shouun
- Mamoru Miyano as Itadori

English Dub Cast (Ocean Productions — Vancouver):
- Michael Adamthwaite as Nanashi / No Name
- Aidan Drummond as Kotaro
- Scott McNeil as Luo-Lang
- Paul Dobson as Bai-Luan
- Hiro Kanagawa as Shouun
- Keith A. Goddard as additional cast

Blu-ray Features (Bandai Entertainment, June 16, 2009)

- Feature Film — 103 Minutes on 2 Discs
- 1080p AVC / 1.78:1 Widescreen
- English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 / Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- Cast Interview — Tomoya Nagase & Yuri Chinen (17 min)
- Production Report Featurette
- Making-of Documentary
- Original Japanese Trailers & Teasers
- Note: FUNimation BD+DVD combo (November 8, 2016) and Essentials Blu-ray (April 9, 2019) also available

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: ストレンヂア 無皇刃譚 (Sutorendjā: Mukō Hadan / Stranger: Sword of the Stranger)
Original Japanese Release: September 29, 2007 (theatrical, Shochiku)
Runtime: 103 Minutes (2 Discs)
Director: Masahiro Ando
Blu-ray Release Year: 2009 (U.S. Release, June 16 — Bandai Entertainment)
Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (original, out of print); FUNimation Entertainment (current license holder)
Rating: TV-MA
Region: Region A (North America)
Genre: Action, Drama
Themes: Historical, Samurai, Sengoku Period, Ming Dynasty, Ronin

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.

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