Fun fact: Barbados is named after the 8th name listed on The Lesser Key of Solomon which holds 72 names (like the 72 Gundam frames) it describes when summoned, he appears “with four nobles kings & their companions in great troops” just like how Orga,Shino, Eugene, & Biscuit ran the show (with chad replacing biscuit) with their many companions… He gives knowledge of past & future events. I just geeked out when I found this out 😂
I didnt cry at all. The movie is.. good and pretty, i liked it until the baby showed up. Its an odd story about two enteral 15 yrs having kids. Just made me oddly uncomfortable. Its sad and all but the whole "15 yr having kids" made me feel off. Maybe i was multitasking but it just didnt make me cry. If anything its in my head bc the ioph or whatever where interesting or the fact i didnt feel much.
I watched this movie with my mother just now. Unpopular opinion: this anime is best watched with somebody close to you, especially your mother. Watching this made me cry a lot the first couple of times watching this movie, especially at the very end. I loved this movie. You all need to watch it. You will not be disappointed.
As someone who has never cried during a single emotional anime scene...It was fun watching my wife turn into a puddle and I was drier than ashes. Still a great movie and glad I stumbled across it. And yes, we're parents.
I wouldn't say I hated the movie, but I can't say I loved it either. A lot of the decisions different characters made in this movie felt very awkward at times, even unjustifiable. Take for example Ariel who decided he would swear loyalty to the very same kingdom that caused the literal near extinction of his mother's kind....like wtf? Who would do that??? He was directly fighting for a corrupt king, it threw me off so bad for the rest of the movie!! Same thing with Lang. Then there's Leilia who spent 85% of the move yearning for her daughter only for her to jump off the castle and basically unalive herself when she finally saw her. Then she tells her to forget her and that she will forget her daughter too! I literally laughed at that. Ofc she's never going to forget this for the rest of her life, she is traumatized!! Halfway while watching the movie, it felt like a lot of the characters were just..disconnected, I thought I knew the characters after watching them go through their journeys for about 2 hrs but near the end it's like they're all making the complete opposite decisions from what they normally would have. And don't even get me started with the hinted incest between a literal mother and son...Overall there were a lot of elements that made this film weird and it rlly threw me off bc I truly wanted to like it. Maquia's motherhood was the only and the best part of the film and I did cry at the end when I saw old Ariel. I wish they made better choices in writing this film.
I can try to explain those decisions to the best of my understanding if that helps. Sorry if it's a wall of text (not too good with summarizing things :3) For Ariel's decision, actually he, much like most of the ppl in the nation, was simply not fully aware of what vile operations the ministers approved and which the *top* commanders carried out, such as conquering small villages. Ignorance is bliss to the masses as they say. The kingdom actually presents, to their people, Leilia as a status symbol/union between two communities and princess who 'joined willingly'. This was because she was supposed to produce an heir and thus must have royalty attached unlike how they treated Renato. Additionally, people in the kingdom likely heard of and had awe for Iophs in the very least as beings of legend and thus this was also for their (the royal family) own optics of not being seen as ruthless aggressors by their own people. Regarding Lang, while he was an informant to Maquia, he was still not among those rank to actually know what happened behind shadows. In other words, it's the classic case of the general populace not knowing the foundations on which their kingdom was built upon and probably propaganda perpetuated by the kingdom to keep things under wraps. The struggling economy (as economy was in a bit of downfall like Lang mentioned generally) also played an implicit part by keeping the common ppl focused on basic needs and survival. Thus, the people are relatively 'innocent' in this regard. For Leilia, how I see it is by first contextualizing myself on the very first words her daughter spoke to her which were "Who are you?", even though Leilia recognized her daughter right away. While this is completely understandable from her daughter's POV, at that moment it shattered Leilia's 'idea'(a facade even) of a daughter and a reunion that she had been clinging to for so long. Don't get me wrong, she did love her daughter. It's just that this sudden realization amplified the estrangement she had with this world, how she had lost everything, and perhaps how big the distance was between her and her daughter (the only thing that mattered to her) which was engendered by the world she was a captive in for so long. Thus, emotionally charged and hazed even, she jumped off / flew /soared over the castle walls reminiscent of what she used to do so in Iorph. This was her final act of defiance and bid for autonomy (like she said that "she is free") against the very world that had cooped her in even if it meant her death. While trauma, sudden pangs of emotional estrangement, isolation, defiance and impulsiveness played a part in her decision, she did later express how she could never forget, not due to the cruelty she had to endure, but rather due to the beauty of the world and this morning's meeting with her daughter which made her separation all the more hurtful for her. Her advice to Medmel to forget her was likewise an attempt to spare her daughter further pain from their fraught and estranged relationship. While I understand her decision, I believe she could have tried to talk things out with her daughter later, in a more composed state, and maybe take her with them as well I feel sad for Medmel, as she is now alone and must deal with the mess her royal family left behind, especially concerning how conquering kingdoms might treat her. In the end credits, there is a still image of a grown person with red-orange hair interacting with the Iorphs in the village. I choose to interpret this as Medmel, who eventually came to live with the Iorph.
@@omeryoloBeautifully answered and saved me a lot of time. I'll add to the daughter's possible fate that I feel even if that's not her in the image, they did surprisingly portray the other kingdoms as far more rational than you'd expect. They only targeted the castle, and we see them taking prisoners, so it's likely that their goal was purely the king and prince. Making it possible that so long as the princess agrees to their terms, she likely lived comfortably afterwards.
I’m not a parent however idk why but a tonight popped up in my head that if I lost my child in a miscarriage or any other way I’d be so heartbroken I’d probably feel like I’d die
the Imperial Japanese Army mobilized 1,780 schoolboys aged 14-17 years into front line service as an Iron and Blood Imperial Corps. during the battle of Okinawa. feel like there’s some kind a ties to that.
Man.. I just watched this because it was on RU-vid Premium, and you right. Movie is a shot straight to the feels. I was not expecting nor ready for it.
I would join the faction that says Nanachi dies in the end. Just before the picture fades to black, you can see the drops of blood on the ground next to the horse tracks. So the wound has opened up and is bleeding quite a bit, but you can tell this from the size in relation to the hoofprints (a horse like this has hoofprints at least 15 cm in diameter). This, together with the heavy ride, is guaranteed to have killed him.
This show was my first dive into Gundam and god damn it had me absolutely hooked. I just rewatched it last week after not watching it for 3 years and god damn I forgot how savage this show was. Probably one of the best Finales too, bitter sweet but wholesome too and part of me hopes that there could possibly be a sequel series of some sorts
The story in Sword of the Stranger really isn’t that great, and the characters are very poorly developed unfortunately, the art, choreography and animation were its highlights. I wish it did have a more fleshed out story though, i would have liked to have seen more backgrounds and personalities of the characters because they had had a lot of potential, this would have been a better short series than a movie imo. Pretty sure dude bled to death at the end of the movie too lol Also, of course Luo Lang’s Chinese is horrible, it was well established that he was a foreigner, Chinese would be his second language
Seeing this for the first time in theaters was one hell of an experience. I consider my self fortunate to have been able to. Also, as Nanashi and Kotoro raced off on horseback, and the camera started to pan out, it showed Nanashi was losing a hell of a lot more blood than they were initially showing us. He had just been through a hell of a battles, taken some good hits, and had to exhausted himself between the fighting at the temple, riding the horse into the ground, and afterwards he proceeded to push himself to run to the fortress as fast as he could without a break, where he was temporarily knocked unconscious and immediately resumed the fighting right after recovering. The jewel may have prevented him from dying within moments like Luo Long, but he had to have been exhausted by the end and running on an adrenaline rush. With all that adding up, I seriously doubt Nanashi made it to the next town by the time he lost the adrenaline rush, all of his injuries catching up to him afterwards, running on fumes at that point, and with the amount of blood it showed he was quickly losing by the end it. He went out like a champ.
I watched "Sword of the Stranger" many times and I've just come across your video, great analysis man. I think you missed one point - scene where Nanashi uses previously stolen coins to throw it at enemy, for me it also means that he had is no longer a sword for hire but samurai.
ONe rare aspects, Nanashi has red hair. Although the MC1R gene for red hair exists in Asians, it's 1 in 100,000 children active. during the 16th century, Portuguese sailors were shipwrecked on the island of Tanegashima. The locals recovered the ship’s cargo, which included matchlock rifles. On other hand, Nanashi physically looks asian...........there fore likely a mixed race
Great video, I watched this movie for the first time a couple years ago and that ending fight and the soundtrack has been living rent free in my head ever since. I'm about ready to give this a second viewing and going back in with this info will definitely enhance that and give me something new to watch out for. As for Nanashi dying at the end - I take it as a symbolic death which I think is why it was left ambiguous. The old Nanashi died, but I think he lives and becomes a new man.
This movie didn't strike the same chords with me that it did with other people, but I still think it is a really good movie (8/10 imo) and not well understood by many of the people who watched. Other than the things you mentioned, there is also criticism over humanities obsession with extending our lives even if it means giving up our dignity, pride, and "humanity." This is told directly with Nanashi's struggle in executing the kid as he didn't want to face the consequences from his lord and fellow soldiers if he refused. This is one of more obvious messages as I also remember Nanashi literally telling someone "haven't you lived long enough?" in response to them trying to sacrifice Kotaro to desperately extend their life, but it is still something I feel that a lot of people gloss over.
Nanashi was always a conscious man unlike Rarou (Luo-Lang), you must understand that refusing to comply with your lords order is not only punishable by death but also deemed as heavily stigma behavior, for short it is a dishonorable act. What is more, a young soldier/samurai would not even dream or think of refusing his any superior let alone his lord. So, Nanashi being frozen while the lord shouting for execution is quite a huge refusal and a serious transgression by standards of that ages and place. Nobody should think they would fare better. Nanashi should have come terms with reality and have an understanding only after a serious trauma and thought process about what happened, and concept of having free will or not. On the other hand, Rarou would not give a shit about killing a child and mother. I am sure he would not enjoy it since it is not good sport and pointless, but he would not particularly feel uncomfortable about it as well, in the end what must be done simply must be done. He would most likely to be indifferent to the idea of child slaughter and would definitely abide by the orders without a flinch. So, I believe they are quite different characters from the start. Obviously, Nanashi enjoy swordplay before trauma happened, but who would not when one is so excelled in something. And I did not even consider once that Nanashi has died, I did not even understand where this idea came from. He is exhausted heavily but none of his injuries was deadly and he was trying to converse with the boy as much as his exhaustion let him. He found his piece even in life, now Nanashi has something to hold on to, such as fatherly or brotherly love. Most importantly, he is not alone any more.
watching IBO reminded me really heavily of red dead redemption 2, strangely enough. this toxic relationship where a bunch of dissatisfied people followed the violent cult of personality of one self centered leader always gunning for more, and i suppose the differences between the two is that tekkadans voice of reason (biscuit) died far sooner that the van der linde gang's (arthur) did, and orga also fully, wholeheartedly believed in what he said and did, even if he only did it out of compulsion (fear?) for someone else
Doubt youll see this. I think nanashi is alive. Simple put i feel like the jade was meant to be taken 2 ways. 1. The debt had been repayed and 2. Nanishi saved the boy and on the end the jade the boy gave him sabed nanishi's life. Also the prayer might be a prayer to never kill someone for no reason ever again. Him cutting the ribbon is him drawing his sword for a reason for a real purpose to protect kotaro.
I DID SEE THIS. Apparently, there was supposed to be a sequel? I forgot where I saw this but there were rumors flying around a while ago so maybe Nanashi was supposed to be alive. Who knows if Nanashi would have been the main character. I really don't have strong beliefs either way about whether Nanashi lived or died, but just the general feeling I got was death. Could be wrong though.
