One of the more popular and professionally portrayed killers in Kill Bill (the movie) was Oren Ishii, the vengeful orphan girl who rose to boss level in the Yakusa with the help of her Snowflake Shirasaya katana. Lucy Liu did a wonderful job in that role and still reminds me terribly, horribly, of my ex (who fortunately did not know anything about swordplay).
Hanzo Steel has tried to go beyond aesthetic reproduction with this recreation of the Snowflake and to actually make a functional katana in that same image, evidence of which can be seen in video on www.hanzoswords.com. The 40 1/2 inch blade is full tang high carbon forged steel and sharp enough to slice through a rolled up tatami mat five times. That’s more testing than most combat sword makers do these days. The average replica sword would probably be in several pieces at the end of that exercise, and the tatami mat would be undamaged, but in this demonstration the Hanzo Snowflake rules.
Attention to detail continues in the silver inlay snowflakes that decorate the wooden scabbard, all of them carefully lacquered into place. The sword comes wrapped in a protective fabric sheath and the set includes a simple but functional display stand.
One concession to pricing issues is the etched hamon, the border between the tougher, low temper steel back and high carbon / high temper cutting edge. The etching only simulates the old process but is a nice artistic touch and an affordable compromise.
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