Yeah, it is @oberstleutnant. I was wondering fi there is a legitimate name for her sword at all.
The overall 'blade' profile resembles that of a cleaver, but it has a weird, off-center cutlass-style 'basket' hilt (which really gets into the way of two-handing the weapon). The grip itself resembles that of a Japanese katana. (You can actually sort of see its characteristic squared guard, the "tsuba".)
Seems like it's a Japanese katana slotted into some weird blade 'mounting'. I guess the intent is for it to be some sort of space-age Gundam-esque zanbatou. The anime/fictionland kind of zanbatou that is, like Cloud's Buster Sword, Sanosuke's zanbatou, Ichigo's Zangetsu, and some of those weird swords in Naruto.
(Actual real-life zanbatou are more like oversized katana with long grips, sort of like a hybrid between a nagamaki and a nodachi. [So, no oversized cleaver blade there] They are also primarily showpieces made to showcase a swordsmith's skills, and are highly impractical in combat.)
Yeah, it is @oberstleutnant. I was wondering fi there is a legitimate name for her sword at all.
NNescio said:
The overall 'blade' profile resembles that of a cleaver, but it has a weird, off-center cutlass-style 'basket' hilt (which really gets into the way of two-handing the weapon). The grip itself resembles that of a Japanese katana. (You can actually sort of see its characteristic squared guard, the "tsuba".)
Seems like it's a Japanese katana slotted into some weird blade 'mounting'. I guess the intent is for it to be some sort of space-age Gundam-esque zanbatou. The anime/fictionland kind of zanbatou that is, like Cloud's Buster Sword, Sanosuke's zanbatou, Ichigo's Zangetsu, and some of those weird swords in Naruto.
"giant cleaver with a katana hilt because japan" seems a safe point to stay at... or just "Ayanami's Sword". the designers seem to have just filed it under "cool mecha-themed swiss army sword", given how every other skin shows it doing something new and all. let's see... it's an extendable thing, though she only shows that off in her halloween and wedding skins, and her remodel features her pulling a second copy off it and imitating sword impulse gundam; her chinese newyear skin reveals it to be able to turn into some kind of blaster, too. (also her base and halloween arts give it a more generic handle while the remodel/wedding/CNY art have the katana grip... moreover it seems to be bigger almost every time new art comes along.) and then there's her ROCK'N KISHIN skin where she's traded it out for a simple straight katana in a big bulky gimmick scabbard that doubles as a musical instrument of some kind.
aaas for this pic, the artist's comment suggests zuizui borrowed it.