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Hey this is my version of The Masamune that i made on my computer. I know it's not really art but hey i can't do any better. Anyway i'd like to see what you think.

http://img277.echo.cx/my.php?image=masamune8kh.png

yeah i image thing was acting up.

Not bad, actually! The sheath looked a little under-detailed, but the sword looks nice.

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The island bathes in the sun's bright rays
Distant hills wear a shroud of grey
A lonely breeze whispers in the trees
Sole witness to history

ICO-You were there-

you should zoom in and take a closer look

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"You know that feeling you get when you're on a merry go 'round, and you want to jump off to make the spinning stop, but you know it'll suck when you land? I feel like that all the time"- Keno

"I stab my girl until I fall down"
-Yukari
Do you like Horny Bunnies?

Its not bad at all! The detail you placed in it was good, and consistant. Although, like Spiffy said the sheath can use some work.

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Its not denial. I'm just very selective about the reality i accept. ~Calvin and Hobbes

Yah, i dont post much if you havent noticed. I'm not used to large fourms so i usally lurk and post every now and then..

What it's plain like a real scabbard. I know it looks like one or two colors but it's four.

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"You know that feeling you get when you're on a merry go 'round, and you want to jump off to make the spinning stop, but you know it'll suck when you land? I feel like that all the time"- Keno

"I stab my girl until I fall down"
-Yukari
Do you like Horny Bunnies?

I 3rd the comment on the sheath, but i think the blade looks lovely! overall, very cool.
(although I have a feeling this should belong in 'your creations' !)

This post has been edited by Nekki on 30th June 2005 21:09

Next, maybe you should go for the Atma Weapon? If you use that detail then it can look pretty sweet!

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Its not denial. I'm just very selective about the reality i accept. ~Calvin and Hobbes

Yah, i dont post much if you havent noticed. I'm not used to large fourms so i usally lurk and post every now and then..

Quote (Nekki @ 30th June 2005 16:09)

I 3rd the comment on the sheath, but i think the blade looks lovely! overall, very cool.
(although I have a feeling this should belong in 'your creations' !)

Well i'm not sure how to put it there i tried to make it a IMG but i didn't work so i made a http:// so yeah that why it's not in ''your creations''

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"You know that feeling you get when you're on a merry go 'round, and you want to jump off to make the spinning stop, but you know it'll suck when you land? I feel like that all the time"- Keno

"I stab my girl until I fall down"
-Yukari
Do you like Horny Bunnies?

Just so I can be nitpicky, that there is a ninja blade. The masamune was in fact a katana (with curvature and all), it was a highly sought after style of blade created by a swordsmith way back when. There was some crazy legend about the Masamune and Murasame swords. Also it was actually as big as the one Sephiroth uses.

This thing is just a ninja blade with the wannabe phallic symbolism.

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Now the story's played out like this. Just like a paperback novel. Let's rewrite an ending that fits.

To be fair, Cyan's Masamune ("Aura" in FF3US) also lacks the curve distinguishing katanas. Also, from the pic (and a good one at that. Nice!) you can't really compare its length, so who's to say the size is off?

Edit

Forgot to say: The Masamune also hasn't appeared strictly as a katana in all the games. It's obvious Square just slaps the name onto a few weapons as a reference, not 'cause it's supposed to physically reflect the sword in the legend. Same could be said for the Murasame.

This post has been edited by SilverFork on 1st July 2005 03:01

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Words of Wisdom:

If something can go wrong, it will.

If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. - Murphy’s Law

Boing! Zoom! - Mr. Saturn

Ya but he drew the Masamune from FFVI, in which if you recall, WAS that type of blade^, it was just named after the Masamune on account of that's what they ALWAYS name the most-powerful sword. Well it wasn't the most powerful in this case, but it was PRETTY powerful.

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The island bathes in the sun's bright rays
Distant hills wear a shroud of grey
A lonely breeze whispers in the trees
Sole witness to history

ICO-You were there-

Quote (Mike @ 30th June 2005 21:35)

There was some crazy legend about the Masamune and Murasame swords.

Yep, but it's actually the Masamune and the Muramasa. I think Square just screwed up and called the Muramasa the Murasame, or maybe they changed it intentionally.

The sword styles are named after their respective swordsmiths, who actually existed in Japan. The history is a little sketchy though.

The legend goes that a leaf places in a stream will flow into a Muramasa blade and be cleanly cut in half, while a leaf flowing into a Masamune blade will actually bend around it and pass unharmed. The point being that Muramasa blades are symbolic of bloodthirstiness, while Masamune blades are supposed to be symbolic of peaceful warriors who draw blood only when necessary. So it kind of makes sense that Frog used the Masamune, but I suppose Sephiroth should have used the Muramasa (or Murasame).

Also, thanks for clearing that up Silverfork. I didn't remember there being a Masamune in FFVI. In keeping with the above, it makes sense for a noble warrior like Cyan to use that blade, but IIRC Edge uses both in FFIV. That, combined with Sephiroth using the Masamune in FFVII, leads me to believe that you are correct, and Square did not place much emphasis on the legend when naming the blades.

Quote (MetroidMorphBall @ 30th June 2005 22:16)

So it kind of makes sense that Frog used the Masamune, but I suppose Sephiroth should have used the Muramasa (or Murasame).

I think it should be pointed out that Frog's weapon in CT was actually called "Granleon". My theory is since Woolsey changed its name it FFVI, he decided to restore it in CT. Yeah, it's outlandish and clearly not the real reason, but ya never know...

I actually didn't know 'bout Murasame's correct spelling being Muramasa. Everywhere I've read the legend dealing with the swords, the author's used the "Square-idized" name. Understandable, I suppose.

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Words of Wisdom:

If something can go wrong, it will.

If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. - Murphy’s Law

Boing! Zoom! - Mr. Saturn

Quote (MetroidMorphBall @ 30th June 2005 22:16)

Yep, but it's actually the Masamune and the Muramasa.  I think Square just screwed up and called the Muramasa the Murasame, or maybe they changed it intentionally.

that is, in fact, incorrect. the japanese legend about the river and leaves does actually deal with a katana made by masamune and one forged by murasame. muramasa's katanas are different (you'll note murasame is not a "screw up" of muramasa as all three blade names make an appearance in fft, at least); as legend has it (though in reality, he lived a good 300 or some years after masamune), muramasa was a student of　masamune's who sought to achieve the unparalled perfection found in his master's blades. however, he did not grasp the fundamental concept of the balance of 殺人剣、活人剣 [satuzinken, katuzinken] -- "the sword that takes life, the sword that gives life." the idea is that perfect katana, in their nobility are truly forged as an instrument for *promoting* life -- yes, they are weapons to kill, but a samurai should only be killing to protect another life. muramasa's focus was only on satuzinken -- that is to say, he only forged swords for the purpose of killing. as such, he could never forge a katana irreproachable as those of his "master." the legend of muramasa's katana contains another often-overlooked but fantastically delicious particular: the katana forgted by muramasa, once drawn, could not be sheathed again until they had drawn blood. in your defence, tehre is quite a bit of faulty information on the english-language internet that pits masamune's katana against muramasa's in the test of the leaves.

to attempt to salvage the post, i'm no art critic, but it looks fairly good to my eyes, if not perhaps a bit rigid and lifeless.

edit: explained the premise of 殺人剣、活人剣.

edit2: "ken" in "katuzinken" was wrong. ime kicks ass.

This post has been edited by gozaru~ on 1st July 2005 04:22

Quote (gozaru~ @ 30th June 2005 23:05)

to attempt to salvage the post, i'm no art critic, but it looks fairly good to my eyes, if not perhaps a bit rigid and lifeless.

I apologize for taking the thread off-topic. My original criticism was going to be based on Sephiroth's sword, since I thought you posted in FFVI by accident. My criticism became irrelevant after SilverFork cleared that up, and I got sidetracked.

I'll PM gozaru~ so that this isn't taken further off topic.

Edit

Sorry to take this off topic again, but gozaru~ actually took the time to search the Japanese language internet for an answer, so I felt I should clarify for anyone who's interested. It turns out we were both partially correct. There is a sword named the Murasame, but it's not the sword in the test of the leaves--that sword is, in fact, a Muramasa blade. Since goz researched this, and was kind enough to PM me the details, I'll edit in his PM since he said I could do just that:

after searching a japanese folktale site, i found this:

村雨 南総里見八犬伝
江戸時代に曲停馬琴の書いた小説「南総里見八犬伝」に登場する妖刀。里見の宝刀で、抜けば玉露散る霊剣である。なんで抜くたびにいちいち玉露が散ってしまうのかよく判らない。「考」の犬士、犬塚信乃の愛刀である。

村正と勘違いして、実在するものだと思ってる人もけっこういる。たしかに名前は似てるけどね。

which explains that the sword "murasame" actually comes from the book "南総里見八犬伝" [nansousatomihakkenden --a wildly popular early 19th century fantasy tale] -- and the last sentance says explicitly that people often confuse the murasame with muramasa (the author explains he believes the reason stems from their similarity in name; they both use the same strareting kanzi).
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Whether Square intentionally named the Murasame after the sword in the folk tale, or confused it with the Muramasa, who knows? But I'll leave it at that, and apologize again for this off-topic edit.

/off-topic

This post has been edited by MetroidMorphBall on 1st July 2005 15:35

Quote (Mike @ 30th June 2005 21:35)

Just so I can be nitpicky, that there is a ninja blade. The masamune was in fact a katana (with curvature and all), it was a highly sought after style of blade created by a swordsmith way back when. There was some crazy legend about the Masamune and Murasame swords. Also it was actually as big as the one Sephiroth uses.

This thing is just a ninja blade with the wannabe phallic symbolism.

Crazy legend my butt! i know tones about japonese history,. And the reason for it being strate is the fact that its freakin hard as hell to make a curved blade that doesn't look like crap with bitmap. So trust me it looks way better strate.

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"You know that feeling you get when you're on a merry go 'round, and you want to jump off to make the spinning stop, but you know it'll suck when you land? I feel like that all the time"- Keno

"I stab my girl until I fall down"
-Yukari
Do you like Horny Bunnies?

Knowing "tones" about something, eh? XD

Anyway, I like it! The hilt's my favorite part! I'm liking the shading.
One piece of criticism is that you seem to not take criticism well by tellin' everyone that you did do it right, etc, etc,. Ligthen up, fella! We're just trying to help. ^.^

All in all, nicely done.

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You're telling me that there's no hope.

I'm telling you you're wrong.

Tons . The E. is too close to the S. XD

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"You know that feeling you get when you're on a merry go 'round, and you want to jump off to make the spinning stop, but you know it'll suck when you land? I feel like that all the time"- Keno

"I stab my girl until I fall down"
-Yukari
Do you like Horny Bunnies?

I love pixel art, and your's is impressive.

Curvature was a refined style. At some point, tachi were made curved instead of straight. The name escapes me right now, but lacking curvature doesn't make the tachi invalid. On a side note, I searched more references on nihonto and found out they are referred to by brand, which is the full name of the smith and school. Yes, you're going to end up with several same-name swords that way, but that's how they're evaluated, recorded, and collected. Why am I saying this? I find it interesting a sword can have a full name as I do.

very nice and the scabbard was done well too. some the most intricate blades had very plain scabards. and about the water and leaves and cutting or not cutting, some blades were made "dull" not so much for not shedding blood but having the ability to literally fold someone in half from the force of the blow dealt by the swords weilder.

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A hero is somone who steps up when everyone else backs down.

Your greatest adversary hides inside your mirror.

Awsome work I think it looks great. Well detailed and all. I liked it alot keep up the good work man. I'd like to see you do some more weapons in the future. But yeah I think the sword was great and the scabbard was good to.

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- The problem isn't relgion, the problem is religious tolerance -

Hmmm.. Needs hella alot of work..

1) The handle looks squared.. A bit of curving would be nice..
2) Handle's too big.
3) Shading on the blade needs work.. The light should be at the top and the dark should be down..

And by the way, straight swords look like crap when viewed from a horizontal or vertical line.. Diagonal is better, I tell ya..

The case needs lots of work aswell.

well, considering all i can do artistically is abstract, im not one to judge, but i liked it on the whole, but the scabbard is very 2d - mayhap a lil shading would bring it out

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why blue? i would have gone with a darker color. good job on the blade though

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ADAEAFADAEAFAGAEAFAGAAAFAGAAABbAGAAAFAGAEAFADAEA
C#ADAAABbGAAAFAGAEAFADAEAC#AFADAEAC#ADAAABbAGAA
AEAFADAGAEAFADAEAC#AD

Thanks everyone! "well exept NeoEx-Death. id like to see you do better" This topic is fun!:)

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"You know that feeling you get when you're on a merry go 'round, and you want to jump off to make the spinning stop, but you know it'll suck when you land? I feel like that all the time"- Keno

"I stab my girl until I fall down"
-Yukari
Do you like Horny Bunnies?