Behold the strongest weapon in vidya
>Modern tsubaNo.
katanafags: real talk this weapon is mostly decoration or when you need to kill someone in one slice right? no fucking way you'd have prolonged blade clashes and fuck up the edge?
>>720971951got me curious what would a modernized version of a katana look like with the best material science we have currently?
>>720972664Probably something like raiden's vibrating golf club thing
>>720972550its for slicing up peasants who are in plain clothes.
>>720972847kek so every media or game that portrays it looks cringey as fuck so to speak.
>>720972550They're overly heavy garbage swords irl, made from shitty quality steel. Muh folding does nothing compared to actual craftsmanship. A katana, ornate and sharpened, is just polishing a turd.
it has a S rank in dex scaling so its strong
>>720973024For the absolute garbage shit tier iron they had at the time, the katanas were actually pretty good. They were status symbols over weapons though, the little good steel they had and managed to import was better used on important tools and spear heads.
>>720973509Japan is a pretty nice place today, other than the workaholic nature - it's a pleasant place to exist. But I mean this sincerely; that's only because they were nuked to oblivion and forced to adopt a new culture. Japan's history is facinating, because if you compare it where they are now, it's almost poetic to look at their history of being useless fucking barbarians speaking pig-Chinese for thousands of years.The Meiji era is a fucking surreal. A bunch of sword wielding dildos running around shouting 'muh emperor' during the Victorian era is staggering.
>>720972550It's a weapon of tertiary choice, in other words a backup as far as battlefield application goes, it can be different in a duel scenario. Other than that, due to easy of carry it's also for self-defense if you were to be jumped during a stroll through a town or something (it's not like you're gonna walk around town with a yari in hand). As the other anon mentioned it's also just a status symbol.
Real talk here, how was the polearm scene in japan back then?
>>720973797The monkey spear peasant FEARED the halberd chad.
>>720973024what about from the perspective of just shape and ergonomics? did an entire country get memed into adopting banana swords instead of useful straight swords like the rest of civilisation?
>>720971902Katanas suck balls in Castlevanias thoughalbeit
>>720971902The Japanese fetishization of this weapon is astounding. Even Goblin Slayer, a series that is usually extremely grounded and practical when it comes to Medieval combat, couldn't help itself from doing the same.
>>720973631Yeah I've read a bit about Japanese history, they were fucking crazy. You have to remember that these were isolated retarded Islanders who spent their time building ornate temples as a pastime when they weren't busy killing each other over minor disagreements or inconveniences or starving to death.You can't overstate the culture clash visitors experienced during the late Edo period when the average Jap was a vaguely brown goblin running around in a loincloth shitting himself and waving a banana shaped knife. Meanwhile your average richfag keeps insisting that you're a foreign barbarian and don't understand their superior culture and emperor.
>>720973920>>720971902>cont.And just as a simple piece of information - if your oponent is armoured even to an average degree for a Medieval knight, a katana is completely useless. We're not even talking full plate mail, where a samurai might as well be tickling his enemy with a feather.
>>720973631>>720973965Reminder that human sacrifices were performed in their more remote regions up until the early 20th century. If not for the fact that the white piggu really liked fucking their women, and some of their aesthetics, they would be considered the lowest tier of barbaric pagans.
>>720973965>>720974015>cont.It also saved them, for a long time, that the island simply has nothing to offer. No resources, no good land, no technological advancements, no hardy people fit for being serfs/slaves.
im glad i beat that optional boss and they dropped the strongest sword in the game
>>720973848Katanas weren't always so thick and heavy, back when Japan had more war and access to better steel their swords were longer, thinner and lighter. It's functionally a somewhat oversized two handed saber. Great for slashing from horseback.
>>720973797Japanese combatants used polearms more than katana. The Naginata was the primary weapon of choice for both samurai (noble caste) and ashigaru (peasant militia) soldiers. Katana were for formal duels or when your naginata inevitably broke. (Or killing defenseless peasants.)
>>720973965>>720974015>>720974078Yeah, Japan is truly a country build in less than a hundred years, because it was a right fucking mess before that.>just put the women on the beaches with spears, the westies won't attack themAnd by god if you look up the other shit they did in WW2 - a culture of animals.
>>720974229That's because in the last 40-50 years they really did manage to convince the world they're not equally soulless bugmen as the Chinese or Korean.Maybe this is even the case nowadays, I wouldn't know.
>>720972550Like every other civilization, the bow, followed by the spear, were the weapons of war for the Japanese. All swords, including katanas, were just richfag larpers.
>>720971951Hollow tungsten carbide blade semi-filled with liquid mercury to grant it a variable center of mass.For poking the weight should be at the hilt, for cutting the weight should be 2/3 near the tip.
>>720972550Other anons talked about the katana in OP already and >>720973724 already went over the practical applications of a battlefield katana, but to touch on the folded steel aspect - it was done because most iron ore sources in Japan were very low quality and their smelting processes were not advanced enough to fix that, so they settled on repeated folding as a solution to work impurities out of the metal and strengthen the blade - a somewhat brute-force solution that let them make actually usable swords when they otherwise couldn't. It worked.Samurai mainly fought with bow and arrow, spears, and polearms, which are less dependant on metal quality. Kanabo were also used which were made out of wood with iron studs, which is actually my favourite medieval(?) weapon, though I don't know how popular they were historically.
>>720974364is there enough space in the handle to fit some sort of shock absorption or resonance transfer?
>>720974190The naginata was more of a flex weapon, it was a curved (wow just like a katana) blade on a stick. It was also considered a "feminine" weapon as women would use it for home defense.Spears (yari) needed less steel and were easier to make unless you did one of those crazy pronged variants. So they along with the bow were the battlefield standard.Don't forget that many Japanese lords cared more about image than human lives though so they'd go into battle with whatever they thought looked the coolest/most traditional which led to hilarious slaughters later on when "villains" like Nobunigga brought guns to a traditional good old fashioned Japanese sword fight.
>>720974552Shock absorption happens both ways and we don't want to lessen the katana's impact too much. A comfy handle and a pair of gloves already lower the the force that can be imparted to the blade. High frequency vibrations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_2FwDQmaqc&t=100s
>>720974621It's kind of an era thing, yari eventually ended up replacing naginata for efficiency's sake as japanese militaries began to industrialize, only to swiftly get replaced as well by muskets. It was about 200 years of favoring yari after about 600 years of favoring naginata.
>>720974364>defeat your opponent>notice liquid mercury chamber damaged and now all over your skinwon but at what cost?
>>720975239True, didn't really consider that. But yes other than flexing your wallet, you'd also flex your traditional samurai spirit when giving your peasant retard squad naginatas towards the end.
>>720972550It's basically a cavalry sabre.
>>720974109I honestly wish I could get a European sword with the approximate size, weight, and handle length of a katana. Such a nice comfy medium. The closest is a bastard/hand-and-a-half sword but that's still too big.
>>720975331In a world of material tolerances, Warriors take no creed and even a blade can bleed.
>>720975825*European straight sword, I should clarify, I know about falchion sabre cutlass rapier etc (none of which have a two-handed grip either).
>>720974352Every culture invents the sword once they have the right metallurgy and it's because they're good, convenient weapons.
>>720971902
>>720976139>Hits a sword literally bolted to a solid table, as hard as possible>Oh no, it broke!Shocker. Now try that with an actual person holding the European sword. You know, by the handle, in the air, preferably in a guard.They weren't THAT shit. God I hate that clip so much. I don't even like katanas.
>>720973920>>720973967Apparently, it's a trope in isekai shit - a big technological advancement that protagonists usually try to introduce is always the fucking katana. Like sure, slightly curved swords are going to revolutionize warfare in late medieval era. It's also funny how everyone in these worlds always swoons over Japanese food. Japanese cuisine is Asian counterpart to Jewish cuisine - all the good stuff is stolen from other countries, and the rest is some horrible poverty stuff. But nooo, nobles cum and squirt when eating fucking seaweed or fermented beans.
>>720974352no
>>720975825Lucky for you, European swords lack a unified standard and you can definitely find some kind of long sword with the specifications you want.
>>720973024>shitty quality steelThe quality of the steel is fine. It's the iron that was shit before it's turned into steel.>Muh folding does nothingYes it does. Europe used to do it too>compared to actual craftsmanshipMetallurgy and engineering, dumbass. The craftsmanship on katanas is exquisite, but the metal, size, weight and shape are functionally not great.
qrd on buying a decent katana?
>>720978754A properly hand forged katana costs thousands.Best you can probably afford is some CNC machined shit that's been cosmetically etched to look like it was forged.
>>720971902That katana is hideous mall crap>>720972550Modern reproduction katana are more durable but the (proper) way you use katana in general shouldn't really do serious damage to the blade>>720972664T10 bainite katana are pretty close.You can swing them at a steel drum and they go in a bit without damage to the blade.Too bad they cost over 1kAlthough that's nothing compared to the price of genuine (but more fragile) nihonto made of shitty but cool tamahagane.>>720973024They certainly aren't heavy, even to a stick figure like myself but I won't argue that the traditional materials and the general design are worse than European swords from that same era.Katana look so much better though, aesthetically, in my opinion.
>>720978754Real authentic Katana made by Japanese smiths? You're looking at around $4k minimum and around $30k++ by master wordsmiths.https://tozandoshop.com/pages/shinsakuto-a-new-made-to-order-katana
>>720978754Romance of Men makes decent katana and tachi, not super amazing or anything and not historically accurate but good enuff and can hold up to abuse without breaking the bank. They also make weebshit like in OP's picrel if that's more your style, I assume the quality on those is fine too.
>>720978754Don't listen to the people telling you to pay tens of thousands for a katana.There are plenty of fun, affordable, backyard cutters in the $150 dollar range.I bought mine nearly a decade ago for $160 and it's holding up strong.Kult of Athena is a good web merchant.Look to the sword buyers guide website for some useful info and precautions for avoiding wallhanger shit that will snap or fly out from the handle.You can go cheaper but I find the ones in the $150 range are a sweet spot of quality/affordability.I've abused the fuck out of mine and it's fine.The shit you can pay $$$$$ for is licensed, traditionally made stuff from Japanese forges or some antiques with historical value.That said, there are custom order reproduction katana you can get for under 1k, you basically pick from different options of tsuba, tsuka/saya color, etcLastly, fuck acid/wire etched hamon.
>meleefagslmaobehold, the strongest weapon
>>720975825A kriegsmesser?
>>720980587Based German naming conventions.>Knife>Big knife>War knife
>>720973631>it's a pleasant place to existNot really.
Sometimes I wonder what Japanese history would be like if they had a plentiful supply of decent quality iron.
>>720980880Shot to death and colonized
>>720980757I think it's more about how it's constructed as a full tang knife, and something about how it was illegal to make swords if you weren't affiliated with the swordsmithing guild. So you see officer, it's a knife, not a sword :^)
>>720972550Katana is like the handgun of the soldier. If you're using it, you're having a very bad time right now.
>>720980587>Mihawk, I knew you painted that sword"
I just bought a huawei swords katana bros I heard they were good
>>720980987>pulls you off your horse and stabs you to death with spearsIt's that simple!
>>720980981Those guilds were such fucking bullshit.>only hired Germans or if you paid massive premium to allow anyone from your family an apprenticeship>forbade locals to trade and practice their traditional crafts, in some cases entirely, in other cases, only if you paid them duesFucking merchants all act the same way no matter what species they are.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWISsk0cy74
>>720971902ftfy
>>720980880They wound up getting enough to make shitloads of guns. Not an infinite supply, but enough. That's basically what already happened.
>>720976258you're retarded
>>720976258The heat of the wind cuts the evropean sword...
>erm katanas are actually bad wea-ACK
>>720971902looked like a halo ring from the thumbnail. would've been correct, if so
