Sword of the Stranger Pilot

What qualifies a man as good or evil? Is it the amount of political power one attains, the quality of his swordsmanship, or how well he serves his lord? With the fall of the second shogunate Japan has sunk into a state of disarray historians now call the Sengoku period, or the era of Warring States. Civil wars rage on throughout the many feudal holdings, where a man may raise his station in life simply by killing his superior. Whilst wandering this war-torn countryside a nameless ronin stumbles upon a young boy by the name of Kotarou, his dog, and the many Chinese assassins dispatched to claim the boy in some strange ritual for immortality. Seeing something of his own past within the child, the nameless swordsman chooses to act as his bodyguard, but can he truly keep Kotarou from the clutches of the Ming and their bloodthirsty blonde mercenary, Luo-Lang?

Kamiyashiro Chikage was raised as a fighter of Shumisen, a secret society to seal mononke demons using special spirits called "In". When he was small, his father was killed by traitors to Shumisen and the trauma had made him withdraw into himself. Some years later, he gains the skill of "In" and is assigned an undercover mission to execute the traitors in the society.

Shurannosuke Sakaki is a masterless samurai with a razor-sharp katana and a cold-hearted personality. Whenever you see the mark of two crossed scythes on his back, death is sure to follow. Because of his exceptional swordsmanship, Shurannosuke is hired by the Nakura Clan to rescue Princess Mayu from the Seki Ninja. In this mission, he must use his full potential to survive the Seki Ninja's notorious henchmen.

Shinjuro may be a little young to be the master of a swordsmanship school, but fate didn't give him a choice. Now his position and martial arts skill land him in the middle of serious trouble when the rogue samurai Mikage faces off against the Tokugawa government, and Shinjuro and the small group of swordsmen who train at the school must now protect the town from harm. However, the group won't be challenged until the Tokugawa house calls in a favor, and the young swordsman is forced to duel Mikage himself.