Thing is, animating proper choreography is SO SO hard and expensive. Massive beams and shouting is alot cheaper. Only premium movies and shows can afford this kind of animation.
@@abalayn22 Massive beams and shouting are mostly used by the most mainstream anime, which are watched by many people from all over the world while these kinds of animes are kind of under ground and not many people knows about it, so I am sure those mainstream animes can afford these good quality fight sequence.
When I watched this Anime back in 2012, I felt the emotion in the fight scenes and I still fill it anytime I watch it. Its well choreographed and animated. Kudos to the Studio
It was different for me when i first saw it around 2009 i was kinda annoyed by the music but today i got chills from this and think the music is amazing such a great scene and movie
Indeed. All the fights are still a bit over the top but, you expect that with a film. What works in real life doesn't look good on film, usually. But they still somehow managed to make something that is exciting to watch yet seems like moves a real fighter might use in combat.
Not true, MCs in shonen anime usually take insane damage. However, since they always end up winning via the power of friendship the damage they take is understated. In addition this fight isnt realistic at all but there's a ton of tension because both characters are grounded by their mortality. Its very well done but not realistic at all.
So much beautiful attention to detail. When the swords lock, you can see the reflection of the sword disappear as hot breath fogs it up. The animation crew didn’t have to do that, but they did anyway. Hats off.
I love the little touches in this film that catch the eye in these combat sequences. The damage to the blades, and not merely in the chips, but where the blades are imperfect when Nanashi breathes on the blade, all the way down to how he adds that last moment twist of the blade to inflict further damage to the internals. It all adds a little more weight to the combat in those moments where you see the Chinese Jian strike the Japanese Katana
@@dragonfell5078 i disagree. A Dao has a tendency to resemble a machete or falchion in that its a usually hefty blade with a noticeable curve to accent its single edge whereas the Jian is a straight double edged blade more often than not resembling a european blade (at least from what i've seen). Looking back at the final battle, the sword seems to be a double edged blade lacking the sabre curve as seen in the scabbards design. But hey, if i'm wrong and there is someone with expertise out there in this field, please feel free to correct me.
@@terryon7508 you're thinking in only one type of dao wich is the chinese sabre, there where dao sword like the one shown in the movie wich are infantry swords and there's also the type that reassembles Japanese blades
@@sobrev1viente ((Insert shrug here)) on the plus side, i'm not mistaking it for something like a Qiang or Dagger-axe. I'm just happy i'm basically on the right track in regards to the weapons in particular Nice to know i have more weapons to read up on now!
It's technically a Jian Dao hybrid sword. It's straight yet has a curve 2 to 3 inch curve I don't know but eh. But yes that nice detail where Nanashi breathes in and gets low and brings his sword almost into a quick draw kind of technique swinging up and immediately using his weight and gravity to bring the blade back down onto the enemies head but Raruo or whatever his name is has probably been training alot to catch a blade with his hands coming down on him. What I liked the most of this anime is how grounded it is for realistic fighting than most anime as this is a rare gem. The techniques and martial arts in this anime are indeed real, just not often seen. The most basic is bow, sword, the glaive also called Guan Dao, then double dao except two of them are quite short for dao.... anyhow then there's of course the whip and throwing daggers.
I like how this movie makes a point to show that feeling no pain at all is more a hindrance than an advantage in combat and never tells you that directly but shows it trough the foght scenes.
I believe he was referring to a well choreographed live action fight, as the incredibly done animation brings to life each characters every move, from swings and slashes to slipping on ice or gripping ones sword.
Animation is of course stunning, it's always left an impression on me since I saw it many years ago, but I gotta say the music is really good and really hits you too.
I hope So that’s an IMDB score. I’m referring to whether regular people who aren’t super deep into anime know this movie even exists. I turned a few people on to this who had never heard of it before and they were shocked at the quality of it
People always thought Yutaka Nakamura is excellent at ridiculous fights, slo-mos, FX, cube debris, and impact frames, when one of my favorite works of his is in this movie. Pure sword-fight choreography. I don't consider him one of the greatest animators in the anime industry just because of those stellar super-human fights all the Studio Bones anime fights, but because he can do other stuff like this one and do absolutely phenomenal with it.
This and samurai champloo!!! Greatest fights I’ve seen w/o the beams and crazy powers. I really wanted champloo to get a 2nd season and maybe this gets another part as well. But hey, I’m not mad at the classics we were given!
I prefer samurai champloo getting another season. It should have. This wasn't bad. But not impressive. Now samurai champloo had some of the baddest ass of fights I ever seen. That and ruruoni Kenshin, samurai 7 and drifters
@@JoshDlow23 it definitely was!!!! Man I was hurt when the black dude died and the woodcutter. Man the black dude was funny as always looking like he was on ecstasy running through his mind when he saw blood lol funny 🤣 shit ever and the wood cutter was just a koo ass nigga bro. Out of all of them next to the black dude. The wood cutter had one the hardest death to take to me. I was hoping he live. The blonde afro like hairstyle with mask and two dude or number 4 as the main dude of the 7 called him. He got the unfairest death killed accidentally by number 6 the whiny kid who wanted to join them in the beginning. His death sucked. So you have number1: main dude of the 7 Number 2: main dude friend Number 3: black dude Number 4: blonde head two swords Number 5: wood cutter Number 6: whiny kid Number 7: human turned robot 🤖
The last scene is an amazing play of wits. The length of the Katana was compromised because a piece went off. The last foe, a swordsman from Holland, already won that battle but the stone of the boy gave the stranger advantage and the length saved his life. TWO factors. This movie is so well written and planed that it scares me how good it is.
Imagine.....The legend of the Northern Blade getting this level of animation...by this kind i mean the kind with proper choreography not just flashy colourful animation This was flawless
Yo how have I not watched this film??? The animation and choreography in the fight scenes is straight up dope. Looks like I found me another one to add to my MAL to watch later.
While many have probably mentioned this, I love when fights show lots of practical innovation. They make smart decisions. Both clearly skilled and enough experience under their belt. It reminds me of a Jackie Chan fight. They make use of everything. The environment helps define the fight instead of a generic background that blurs and becomes less interactive. And violence isn't made unnecessarily gorey because it acknowledges it as another facet of human life
The story was amazing...kudos to Studio Bones for this masterpiece! To find this classic took close to a hour to find and download....the clock tower scene, heck even the massacre of the ronin vs "The Blond Barbarian" at the opening of the movie....🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
That final fight, my god. The shear symbolism alone is amazing. Nanashi is the "Red Devil", he's fighting a dark mirror reflection of himself. At the end, Nanashi and Lang trade swords, he finally slays the monster that wielded that sword that executed the innocent.
I watched this a couple of years ago, the youtube algorithm brought me back. If anyone is thinking of watching this masterpiece, I highly recommend it, probably the best anime movie ever made.
Me too bro, I’m floored at the detailed frame rate, and it’s older, this new stuff is SUCH LAZY ANIMATION (some say, they are underpaid.) but how is that possible when America watches more anime than Japan?!
@@7eamGhast ?? u mocking? Ever heard of kissanime.com ? It generates more views than "crunchyroll" and "funimation" combined. Even with premium membership, some contents are region locked and most vpn's cant override that, So there are lots of ppl who just ignore all that trouble and stream from illegal sites... You'd know if you'd live in one of these countries where online transaction are troublesome
Do you know any wiki about it? I tried my best to find more about the lore, but it seems it is only just this movie and the youtube comment section the best I can find.
This is actually a movie and its actually starting to get pretty old. Its called Sword of the Stranger. Its free in a lot of places I believe its on netflix. Its a super emotional movie and the ending is nearly guaranteed to make you tear up. Ive rewatched it maybe 5 times now lmao.
One thing I feel goes a little underappreciated (or at least I haven't seen anyone mention) is how good the animation is in terms of conveying meaning. For example, I have never watched this show before and this is the only context I have of the show, but when who I assume is the main character here unsheathes his sword, I can still tell that this action is very important to, and likely holds some sort of symbolic meaning to said character (probably hasn't unsheathed his sword for an incredibly long time, perhaps due to a promise made to a friend/mentor or something similar).
Sweet. This really gives great aesthetics into the animation with the chosen environment. I really enjoy how they have the dust and snow are used in the battles to showcase how quickly and impactful they are in their fights
The more I repeat watching this the more I saw how brilliant it is, try to watch the fighting skill of each swordsman and you'll see how amazing those executions are.
This is my second favorite movie in the history of Anime. Akira is obviously my number one, but the music, story, and plot to this was so damn good I cried a few times.
I remember when I worked at a movie theater they showed this movie for one night only. I went with my brothers since it was free for me and family. Anyway, there was this group of weebs who everytime someone was killed or died, they laughed so loud the whole theater was drowned in it. Kind of ruined the experience, especially during the serious parts like this. I get they were awkward 17ish year olds, but I would have been pissed if I spent money.
Bee R ee Oof. That sucks. I hope you got to enjoy the movie at a later date. This movie is golden. I myself watched it on Funimation on my own, so I was able to get completely immersed
Holy shit. I've *heard* of Sword of the Stranger, but this scene is... oh, my God. This has to be one of the best choreographed sword fights in anime. It's mesmerizing to watch. I'm not a huge anime fan - very few catch my interest - but god DAMN, this is 10/10 peak animation, and the score. 🤌
Weird to see these comments like not even a year saying its good and stuff sword of strangers was released more than a decade ago i think cant remember when tho. Hahahah
@Super Simba6 You are wrong in many ways. Have you even watched the stuff Studio Bones is doing right now? This movie is Bones in 2007 (almost too good for its time). But to say that Bones didn't grow is just ignorance.
Most days my recommended is full of random trivial and forgettable junk but every now and then a shining gem appears. I've never heard of this anime but now I need to watch it immediately
uncletigger Yeah. If anyone hasn’t watched the movie yet, don’t read this. It’s quite poetic. He has it tied to the sheath as a pray like you said because he once had to kill two young nobles for his duty as a samurai. Now he finally unsheathes his blade to save a boy of the same age. It’s basically redemption, but unspoken which shows good writing. I love it!
uncletigger I have not. Unfortunately, I haven’t done much reading. I have done a good deal of writing though. Mostly on D&D adventures and a book I’m writing on the side. Me and a friend of mine have actually been working on a huge story for a while. I would share some of it, but that would be a lot of paragraphs and I’d rather just show the first chapter in a video, or something