Commentary on certain Japanese blades

[MEversbergII]

So I've noticed over the years that I have seen considerably more "the [iconic Japanese sword] is NOT the best thing ever!" media (videos and texts) than anything that directly asserts that "the [iconic Japanese sword] totally IS the best thing ever!".

That is to say I have seen things that have said "Ah, the [iconic Japanese sword] is superior to the [not], because of [some thing]!" But it is far and away outnumbered by works to the contrary. Additionally, a majority of what I've seen in favor of the [iconic Japanese sword] is rather a bit more subtle than a crass "It's simply better because of X". Maybe a more favorable stat profile in a given game (sometimes justified by the weapon in question actually being better than the standard either due to magic or actually having some kind of above and beyond property).

The only one I can think of that talks about the [iconic Japanese weapon] being overtly better is a short clip wherein it was tested against a "Medieval Braodsword" at the Royal Armoury (we all know the clip, but I don't know what the whole documentary was about). Most documentaries about the sword in question just kind of talk about it in it's own context - Secrets of the Samurai Sword comes to mind.

This could be because of the swordly company I keep. I've been much more entwined with the WMA/European Medieval(ish) History and haven't really seen how the "other half" lives.

Just an observation.

M.

[demoman_chaos]

There are still a LOT of Japanese sword fanatics out there, and they love to spill their dribble. I suspect the more fanatic they are, the less they know about the other types of Japanese swords beyond that one in particular.

However, there is also a growing portion of people who study other sword arts (HEMA for example) and so the media to the contrary has been growing significantly. Do debunking of the myth that Japanese swords are better is a fairly easy topic and because of the sword in question is likely to gain a lot of views and comments from people who won't have their mind changed even with a matter rearrangement ray.

[Gordon H]

This is an area where I can be fairly neutral as I did JSA for just over 15 years and I now do HEMA.

But Matt did a fairly good set of videos which pretty much sums up everything!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnkVlK3B ... cnSnAc2kHV