this is my senior project when I was at Rochester Institute of Technology. it took me 9 months, planning, story board, sound recording, drawing every frame (800+), clean up, background, and coloring... one man production.

This was a true duel that happened in Japan. Back in the days of the ronins. The ronins (wandering samurais) all want to show off their swordsmanship in order to impress the lords for employment. At the time, Musashi was the most famous, and arguably the best swordsman if the day. The up and comer, Kojiro wants to challenge him for the title of the best swordsman. they met, and arranged to duel in a year's time.

Many speculated that Kojiro was actually technically superior to Musashi. However, there is more to swordsmanship than techniques alone. Musashi scoped out the duel location ahead of time. He knew where to stand so Kojiro will face the setting sun making it hard for him to see. He knew of where the rock would be, so he can jump up high to deliver the final blow.
Musashi was also great at psychological manipulations. He intentionally arrived late, a big insult to Kojiro. In order to compensate for Kojiro's famous long sword, Musashi carved out the oar as his weapon. He insulted Kojiro by saying "all I needed to defeat you is this stick."
This piece is entirely in Japanese, because it is what animation means to me. Growing up watching anime, when someone mention animation, I do not think of Mickey Mouse, think of Saint Seiya. When someone say super hero, I do not think of Superman, I think of Kinnikuman. This piece is my ideal version of what animation should be - A fight between the samurais, with the winner being the one who thinks beyond just the fight alone.