JPN 102 - Sword of the Stranger PDF

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Summary

Setsuwa anecdotal tales from The Uji Stories
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Description

JPN 102 Sword of the Stranger (2007) – #6 Sword of the Stranger (2007) is a Japanese anime film directed by Masahiro Ando that follows the bond between Kotaro and Nanashi. Kotaro, a little boy hunted by a group of Ming warriors, hires Nanashi, a nameless samurai with a mysterious past, to protect him. Among the Ming warriors is Luo Lang, a fearless fighter whose only desire is to fight worthy opponents. Near the beginning of the film, Luo Lang suddenly challenges Nanashi to a battle, regardless of their not having any prior connection. In this paper I will identify what prompted Luo Lang to challenge Nanashi to begin with, the parallels between their fight and the fisherman’s struggle on the riverbank, and the significance of the parallels. Considering that Luo Lang’s only desire is to fight worthy opponents, he most likely challenged Nanashi for a battle because he saw Nanashi to be a worthy opponent. Luo Lang saw Nanashi to be a worthy opponent because Nanashi’s sword was tied shut. Before the battle started, the camera zoomed in and concentrated on Nanashi’s sword for a long time. Additionally, after the battle started, Luo Lang asked Nanashi if his sword was just for decoration because Nanashi refused to draw it. These point to the fact that Luo Lang showed particular interest in his sword. Additionally, Luo Lang saw Nanashi to be a worthy opponent because of the way Nanashi walked past him and his group. Previously, everyone in the village was fascinated by the Ming warriors, particularly Luo Lang, because of his blonde hair and blue eyes. However, Nanashi had his face tilted downward and avoided eye contact when walking past Luo Lang and his group. Nanashi’s unexpected reaction intrigued Luo Lang. Through these scenes, we can surmise that Nanashi’s sword and attitude prompted Luo Lang to challenge him.

While depicting the battle between Nanashi and Luo Lang, the film also captures a scene in which a fisherman fishing at the riverbank shares many parallel factors with the battle above. In the beginning, Luo Lang challenges Nanashi by suddenly throwing a shuriken at him. Luo Long then treads toward Nanashi with his sword and a battle starts. At the same time, the fisherman hooks a big fish and all of a sudden his battle with the fish starts. In the end, Luo Lang is interrupted by his colleague and the battle ends abruptly with no clear winner. Similarly, the fisherman’s fishing line breaks and his battle with the fish ends with him letting the fish go. Based on these parallel factors, we can ascertain that Luo Lang is the fisherman and Nanashi is the big fish that Luo Lang is trying to get. This parallel is particularly important because it normalizes the battle between Nanashi and Luo Lang. Since the audience is not from a time when battles are a normal part of daily life, the parallel allows the audience to see the normalcy of fighting through fishing. Through this, the audience can better grasp how constant fighting was normal for samurai and swordsmen in the Sengoku period. In other words, just as fishing is normal for fishermen so too was fighting normal for soldiers....