Imagine a bloody paint brush coming to life and that is what Sword of the Stranger looks like on Blu-ray that is oozing with extraordinary animation and amazing picture quality.

The protagonist of Sword of the Stranger is Kotaro, a young boy on the run from the forces of China with trusty dog Tobimaru. Kotaro is attempting to reach his savoir, Shoan, a monk who assisted him in escaping from China and he believes that he is residing in the Temple of Mangaku.

When Kotaro arrives, Shoan is nowhere to be find, however he does meet a nameless swordsmen and the three soon form a strong bond as Chinese assassins attempt to seize them.

Although steeped in action, the characters are fantastically written in Sword of the Stranger, whether it's the shuffled background of Kotaro or the nameless swordsman who has vowed never to draw his sword again and even Tobimaru has some great scenes in the film, all characters are quite likeable and make for some great story telling.

The strength of the story comes from the challenges that the trio face and whether the nameless swordsman is truly an honourable companion or foe is a mystery because both the Japanese and Chinese have a heavy price on this boy.

Opposed from the thoroughly entertaining action orientated story, Sword of the Stranger contains some of the best stylised animation which simply looks quite spectacular on Blu-ray with vibrant colours, extremely sharp images and choreographed action scenes to die for.

The video quality on Blu-ray is almost perfect with deep levels of black and an impressive colours that is matched with a great Dolby Digital 5.1 track to really transfer this to a home cinematic experience. During certain fight scenes, the surround sound really kicks in that only compliments the story even more.

Fortunately, Sword of the Stranger does not just end with the story and features some engaging extras such as The Making Of, Pilot Film, TV Spots and theatrical trailers. If you need to own one anime Blu-ray this year and want a story that kicks as much ass as the action itself, than Sword of the Stranger should definitely be your pick.

A new standard has been set!

DVD Special Features

Making of featurette
Pilot film
Japan TV commercials
Theatrical spots and trailers