Sheath of the Stranger

Here’s a commission I recently finished, featuring Nanashi and Kotaro from a film called “Sword of the Stranger”. The basic set-up of the film is a pretty popular one in Japan, with a mysterious badass ronin (Nanashi, or “No Name”) taking on and protecting a cute kid (Kotaro) and his dog (Tobimaru). The idea for this pic was to have Nanashi and Kotaro keep each other warm on a snowy night with body heat.

I saw bits and pieces of this film while doing my research for the pic. It’s pretty violent and dark at points, but I think fans of samurai films will probably really enjoy it. The non-action parts with Nanashi and Kotaro are pretty cute, too. Kotaro’s adorable, I’m not sure this pic does him justice. If you guys like this one, the client’s hinted at a desire to commission more of these two in other settings, so it’s possible they’ll crop up around here again.