Because knights are traditionally white.
And according to Ubisoft, Samurai are traditionally black.
And black people are cooler and have more swag than whites.
A bit off topic but I was a member on a movie forum when "The Last Samurai" came out.
I started a thread with the title "How can Tom Cruise be the last samurai? He doesn't even look Korean".
Hilarity & outrage ensued for 20 pages.
A master stroke of trolling.A bit off topic but I was a member on a movie forum when "The Last Samurai" came out.
I started a thread with the title "How can Tom Cruise be the last samurai? He doesn't even look Korean".
Hilarity & outrage ensued for 20 pages.
What makes a longsword more effective than a katana?As for who would win in a fight between the two? If you picture classic plate armor knight with a longsword vs Sengoku period Samurai with a katana then the knight basically wins all the time. The result can vary depending on the weapons and armor each is equipped with.
What makes a longsword more effective than a katana?
Don't Japanese swords have better build quality?
Longsword were not considered especially useful weapons in Europe, as they fell out of use before Katana did. Especially with the arms race of armour technology, Longswords were not seen as having enough ability to penetrate steel or hit hard enough. But the high craftsmanship of Katana is probably a later thing, not contemporary with longswords, as they became status symbols for the Samurai class.What makes a longsword more effective than a katana?
Don't Japanese swords have better build quality?
With great hair.I like samurai when they doesn't wear amour, maybe just wear shoulder armour not full set.
In reality samurai spent all day doing calligraphy, drinking tea and having sex with eachother.
A well crafted longsword and a well crafted katana will have similar build quality. Katana has that whole folding metal thing going for it but the reason for that is that the quality of iron found in the Japanese isles was quite bad so the folding steel method was developed to address that that.What makes a longsword more effective than a katana?
Don't Japanese swords have better build quality?
And he was a native African who never even knew about the new world and listened to hip-hop too. According to UbiSoft and the DEI consultants.That's not at all what that's about and you know it. Yasuke was an actual person in history and a FRIEND Oda Nobunaga... Japan has had art, shows, STATUES of Yasuke FOR DECADES... He's as much a part of their history as John Henry is of the US's (yes, there was a real John Henry)
That's not at all what that's about and you know it. Yasuke was an actual person in history and a FRIEND Oda Nobunaga... Japan has had art, shows, STATUES of Yasuke FOR DECADES... He's as much a part of their history as John Henry is of the US's (yes, there was a real John Henry)
This was always one of my favorite supplements. Probably send the blue hairs screeching about cultural appropriation today.I think it just comes down to a fascination with foreign cultures. They seem cooler to us because they’ve more exotic and most of us didn’t learn about Samurai Culture and Feudal Japan in school unless we were history majors. Look at nearly every classic JRPG and still many new ones being based on the western medieval period and mythology. It goes both ways.
What makes a longsword more effective than a katana?
Don't Japanese swords have better build quality?
A well crafted longsword and a well crafted katana will have similar build quality. Katana has that whole folding metal thing going for it but the reason for that is that the quality of iron found in the Japanese isles was quite bad so the folding steel method was developed to address that that.
As for fighting opponents in plate armor both are quite bad at it, but the longsword has the advantage of using the pommel quite well, as well as having two cutting sides. It can also be effective in thrusting, which a katana is not great at.
Regarding quality, on the high-end, build quality for katanas and longswords are similar.
But for the mid-low end, katanas are worse. This is because Europe has better sources of iron, than Japan.
This means it takes more work to treat and clean iron in Japan.
The longsword has several advantages, over the katana.
One is reach, which is a big facto in sword fights. The longsword is around 10-15 cm longer, than a katana.
Another significant advantage is the crossguard on the longsword. As it offers much greater protection for the hands, than the tsuba.
Remember that your hands are the closest thing to your opponent, so hat makes them a prime target. If your hands get hit, you lose the fight immediately.
The longsword has 2 cutting edges. The katana only has one. This means that the katana user has to be constantly realigning the blade, according to the movement of the katana.
For example, on a longsword, a knight can do a downward cut, followed immediately by an upward cut, without any change.
A samurai will have to rotate the blade or shift hand position, to do the same 2 movements.
The longsword is a better trusting weapon, because it has a straight blade. And because it tappers towards the end, it also has a lighter, faster tip.
Trusting hits are more likely to kill, than cutting. So this is also a significant advantage.
The katana is built using 2 different hardening values, for the back and for the edge.
The edge is usually around 60 Rockwell of hardness. While the back is around 40.
A longsword is around 50 Rockwell. And it uses spring steel.
Because the katana has a softer back, it requires it to be thicker. So more material has to be used there, to maintain structural integrity.
This is why the katana is shorter, despite having similar weight to a longsword.
The advantage of the katana is that it's edge is harder and sharper than a longsword. Along with the thicker edge and the slight curve of the blade, this makes the katana a better cutting weapon.
The disadvantage is that a harder edge, is also more brittle. This is why samurai tend not to block with the edge of the blade, and more with the side. And why knights tend to block with the edge of the blade.
This is also why the crossguard on a longsword has the same alignment as the blade.
Because the longsword uses spring steel, the blade can bend close to 80º and still go back to it's original shape and keep on fighting.
If the blade of a katana is forced to bend, which happens a lot in when in armored fights, the hard edge will break much faster. And the softer back, will not return to it's original shape.
This means it is easier to put a katana out of a fight, than a longsword.
Another advantage of the longsword, is that it's easier and cheaper to repair, because it only has one hardness.
If the edge of a katana is chipped it might require to redo the whole sword. The same thing, it the back is bent.
But one thing to consider is that a sword, be it for the knight or the samurai, is a backup weapon. It's not the primary, not even the secondary weapon.
So although the katana and longswords are cool, their importance in a battlefield, is relatively small.
Amazingly informative posts.Just a small addition.
The folding method for removing impurities in steel was used all around the world. Not just in Japan.
Because Japan, had poorer sources of iron, that meant that the folding process was very important.
But folding metal has a disadvantage, as it creates sheets or layers of metal. This reduces the strength of the blade and makes it easier to chip in the direction of the folds.
This is why Damascus steel was praised all around the world, as it managed to be more effective at removing impurities and not creating such folds.
It's also why the Iberian kilns of the XVI century were such a big step in making steel, because they could fully melt iron, separating the impurities without requiring folding.
But if we want the top of the line on folding processes, than the most advanced were made by the Vikings (Nords)
Not only did they fold the iron, like the Japanese, but they also, rotated it length wise, creating more folds and removing more impurities.
Viking pattern welding is rather beautiful.
I've been reading "Samurai Swords: A collectors guide" and it describes how earlier katanas were longer and often thicker, but as samurai stopped fighting "for real" and entered a long period of peace, it became shorter and more directed towards show cutting and personal conflict than open warfare.The longsword has several advantages, over the katana.
One is reach, which is a big facto in sword fights. The longsword is around 10-15 cm longer, than a katana.
I've been reading "Samurai Swords: A collectors guide" and it describes how earlier katanas were longer and often thicker, but as samurai stopped fighting "for real" and entered a long period of peace, it became shorter and more directed towards show cutting and personal conflict than open warfare.
I've little doubt that the Japanese would VERY quickly adapt if they were on the verge of a portugese or english invasion, in fact we saw them modernize aggressively in the 1900s. So seeing them lose to the lunge-thrust with a long rapier isn't surprising as that would be a very surprising tactic in an era of rituals.
Another aspect is just the sheer aesthetic beauty of japanese stuff made in the times where they could devote efforts to quality rather than pure function and speed of manufacture. I think they were able to achieve some STUNNING works of art that go far beyond what we usually see depicted in western stuff, though of course there are ornamented and decorated weapons and armor in europe as well.
Knight stop being cool for me once I found out most fight using mace and hammer instead of swords, it made sense since everyone are wearing full plate armors, but still.... Swords are cooler.
It was no different with Samurai except they were primarily archers or spearmen in battle. Swords were a weapon for self-defence like a pistol. They were expected to know how to use them, and carrying them was part of their status, but when they were armored up it was the bow and spear which were their main weapons. Although that is one period and later on they used guns, even if some moron Samurai would charge people with guns, with nothing but a silk robe and a sword, like you would see in a film.Knight stop being cool for me once I found out most fight using mace and hammer instead of swords, it made sense since everyone are wearing full plate armors, but still.... Swords are cooler.
Say what you will, that is some bad ass looking kit.Templar Knights mog everyone
Europe history is unparalleled yet its media depiction is, mostly, very dogshit.
On the other hand, japanese media popularized samurais.
A bit off topic but I was a member on a movie forum when "The Last Samurai" came out.
I started a thread with the title "How can Tom Cruise be the last samurai? He doesn't even look Korean".
Hilarity & outrage ensued for 20 pages.
Yeah, you get loads around Tintagel, especially.Japanese seem to be as interested in knights as the weebs are obsessed with samurai. Probably because they both have a very alien, but bold and powerful aesthetic to eachother. Cornwall was full of Japanese tourists when I went years ago.