You have a katana?
*Laughs in European-plate and halberd*

@SneekiBreeki Curve on a katana is dependent on the quality of the steel. Pretty underwhelming

I don't own any swords I just watch videos about them and read about them and stuff.

I'd like to own a good reproduction model but holy fuck are they expensive.

It isn't there deliberately to provide a benefit, it's just not worth the extra trouble of forging a straight katana IIRC

And the bend does not tell you how bad good a katana actually is. It is all in the forging skill

^^^

Uksio probably knows more than I do

I am a metallurgy-boo

<:isee:580040138013409280>

I make the claim it requires skill to make both a straight and curved blade, as in either case you have to forge the blade in a certain way to the correct specifications required.

I don't know too much about the sword making as an art, but I was curious enough to learn the truth about katanas

fukken weebs with swords man....

If I were to get any japanese weapon I'd prefer a nagamaki, just because it's more unique and there's no real European equivalent.

I still stand by the naginata.

Big choppy stick

There is plenty of things to admire about katanas
Making a good product out of sub-par metal is an outstanding feat
But they are what they are, not some super-duper-amazing stuff

Yea

Katana aren't bad weapons by any metric, but media in both east and west has propped them up to be far more than what they really are, I guess.

Why bother muckin' about with a katana when you can just beat a motherfucker with a kanabo?

Matchlocks: allow us to introduce ourselves.
Katanas: *autistic screeching*

@Zephyr Blackfish Now do a similar joke but with a nuke.

@Goddess Tyche nukes vs militaries, my dude.

@Zephyr Blackfish Yes, you need skill for both. But when you only have a low quality steel to work with, you absolutely cannot afford to pick the curve of your katana
The issue is that katana is not homogenous - it has softer steel at the back, and hardened steel edge
When you have good steel you can vary that infinitely.
With poor steel you can only do it as the metal allows, hence the curve is being dictated to you.

Odachi are kinda cool but I've heard that they have really bad weight distribution. They can weigh as much as a zweihander but they don't have the same pommel and taper to give them balance, so they're super unwieldy.

It is not good or bad, it is what it is.
And japanese katana craftsmen deserve all the respect for such results in the face of good steel scarcity

A bunch of drunken scandinavians made steel by burning animal bones in a crucible fueled by burning animal crap, while living in a frigid frozen hellscape; I don't feel like people give them enough props for that one either.

@Uksio I would say in that scenario with shitty metal, the metal would dictate the manner of sword to you.
TL;DR ye

>TFW Germanic savages have better steel than Japanese lords.

Japan had a hard time getting good metal right up to WW2

Why didn't the Japanese use shields?

Why do you think they wanted Manchzhuria so badly?

Same reason Apple wants Manchuria so badly.

@fvriovs they did, just not in the way europeans did it

That sweet, sweet chinese bitcoin.