With breathtaking animation that keeps you at the edge of your seat, this classic tale from studio bones is a hidden gem of its time. Set in feudal era japan, a young boy named kotaro and his faithful dog tobimaru are caught in the turmoil of a grim prophecy. At the request of the ming dynasty's aging emperor, the boy is pursued by a band of formidable chinese assassins. After escaping the destruction of the temple that took him in, he runs into a mysterious stranger who gets pulled into the chase. When kotaro's dog is poisoned, the nameless stranger reluctantly accepts payment to escort them to a temple in shirato. The unlikely companions form a bond over saving tobimaru's life, but unrest is brewing all around them. The chinese assassins clash with the local lord as they build a religious tower, and a blond haired, bloodthirsty swordsman among them seeks a worthy opponent. Chaos erupts when the assassins find kotaro, and the stranger must face his past before a horrible fate is met again. Contains the film on blu ray with both the english dub and the original japanese track with english subtitles.