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Gabriel Lebec
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PostPosted: Thu 02 Aug, 2012 8:28 pm    Post subject: Exhibit on Japanese swords and Evangelion (anime) - wild         Reply with quote

Hello myArmoury.

Been a very long time since I've posted. Been trying a long time to get into medical school, and life keeps throwing new obstacles in the way. But I couldn't resist sharing this gem (I apologize if it has been posted, I couldn't find anything through a search).

Traditional Japanese togishi (smiths) collaborated with the Bizen Osafune sword museum to create an extremely non-traditional exhibit on the weapons of Evangelion, a Japanese anime show.

This must be rather shocking from the perspective of the traditional bodies that govern the Japanese sword world. On the other hand, you could argue that it is an effective (apparently, from the number of attendees) way to reach out to a wider crowd and spark interest in the subject. Regardless, the smiths appear to have spared no effort in marrying authentic forms of craftsmanship with sci-fi designs, a challenge to be sure.

Some of the highlights from a sword-student's perspective:



Lance of Longinus - 3.3 m long, 22.8 kg.

This is, apparently, forged entirely of tamahagane - enough for 20 (!) regular swords. I have to point out that this is an exceptional piece of work from a sheer difficulty / labor / expense standpoint.



Note the hada (grain).



Yes, that is a pierced horimono of an... anime girl character. On an otherwise-traditional nihonto. Beyond bizarre.



I don't even know at this point.

There's a lot more insanity where that came from, just go here. My jaw was on the floor the entire time, never in a thousand years would I have bet on something like this happening. I'll reserve any kind of judgment on its appropriateness (not like my opinion matters anyway, right?), but it certainly deserves attention simply for its complete uniqueness – I suspect that you may never see anime recreations of this quality and authenticity again.

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science." - Albert Einstein
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Jean Thibodeau




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PostPosted: Sat 04 Aug, 2012 7:26 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Interesting show of extreme designs and skill. Big Grin Cool

Art pieces and nice to see some of the weird anime type weapons made from good materials executed as " Tour de Force " extreme designs rather than the usual cheap reproduction " sword like objects ".

The handling of that 2 bladed spear is probably very good, in theory, if the person handling it had 10 times normal human strength and endurance. Wink Big Grin

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Einar Drønnesund





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PostPosted: Sun 05 Aug, 2012 7:26 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote



Wow, that is just awesome looking.



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Lafayette C Curtis




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PostPosted: Sun 05 Aug, 2012 2:37 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Holy crap. That Longinus lance really has enough mass to be thrown into Earth orbit. My jaw is still on the floor.
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Jean Thibodeau




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PostPosted: Sun 05 Aug, 2012 9:45 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Good to see more pics of that scary impressive spear. Big Grin Cool
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Jeremy V. Krause




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PostPosted: Mon 06 Aug, 2012 9:13 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Seems pretty strange.
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Matthew G.M. Korenkiewicz




Location: Michigan, USA
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PostPosted: Mon 06 Aug, 2012 4:42 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Jeremy V. Krause wrote:
Seems pretty strange.


... I dunno ...

In my younger days I spent alotta $$$$ on Japanese Animation -- movies, tv series, comics -- before
I found a BETTER way to reduce my funds. I guess its not a stretch to suggest anime has become as
much a part of Japanese society and culture as swordmaking, maybe even moreso today. I can recall
( and please correct me if I'm mistaken ) some anime going a long way to extrapolate on, represent,
or borrow from Japanese history, myth, folklore, and tradition. Perhaps its not much more of a stretch
to suggest some modern traditional Japanese swordsmiths -- if you can forgive THAT oxymoron --
enjoy watching Japanese animation. And so would leap at the opportunity -- okay, maybe not leap -- to
be a part of such an exhibit.

I'd think it says something about their ability or willingness to think outside the box that's inside the box
they're already trying to think outside of ... if you follow me.

I've never personally found the imagined weaponry that interesting, but make it real and genuine, and
I suppose functional, and it certainly warrants some looking at ... That Mr. Lebec's -- figuratively speaking --
jaw was on the floor might just suggest how successful the exhibit is / was ... B-)

Art, if one wants to consider this an art exhibit of sorts, should be startling if you ask me.
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Gabriel Lebec
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PostPosted: Mon 06 Aug, 2012 9:49 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Matthew G.M. Korenkiewicz wrote:
... That Mr. Lebec's -- figuratively speaking -- jaw was on the floor might just suggest how successful the exhibit is / was ... B-)

Art, if one wants to consider this an art exhibit of sorts, should be startling if you ask me.


Mr. Lebec is my father. Wink

I didn't mean to make it sound like I have attended this exhibit, forgive my sloppy writing. I meant only that I was astonished by the nature of the event itself as well as that gallery of images I linked to in my original post, which clearly show works made to traditional art-grade standards but following a sensationalistic anime aesthetic.

Successful? The viewership alone is apparently well beyond expectations. Success by any other definition is not for me to say. I would be extremely curious to read any translations of the interviews of the smiths, the promotional materials, the curators' remarks, etc.

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science." - Albert Einstein
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William P




Location: Sydney, Australia
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PostPosted: Tue 07 Aug, 2012 4:48 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Jean Thibodeau wrote:
Interesting show of extreme designs and skill. Big Grin Cool

Art pieces and nice to see some of the weird anime type weapons made from good materials executed as " Tour de Force " extreme designs rather than the usual cheap reproduction " sword like objects ".

The handling of that 2 bladed spear is probably very good, in theory, if the person handling it had 10 times normal human strength and endurance. Wink Big Grin


i would make a wicked anti cavalry weapon.

it also depends on how you hold it i might JUST work in the right circumstances.

and lastly its designed for mecha that are several storeys tall and the lance of longinus is proportionally huge.

but gabriel thank you for showing this, this stuff is without a doubt he most amazing things i have seen. i like actually one example the yellow'ish sheath'd tanto i like how the character of rei ayaname, and her eva (the robot thing she pilots) i is represented hrough the fittings and look of the weapon, like how the scavbbard colour matches her evas yellow, and i has engravings related to her signifcance in the plot...

for those unaware, evangelion is based very heavily around kabbanic and christian symbolism, though the fact the giant steel spear is called the lance of longinus, might have tipped you off to that fact already
heir enemies are called 'angels i involves objects and names such as lilith adam, etc



 Attachment: 34.68 KB
17.jpg


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39.jpg
the tanto, showing the character and eva it represents, this homage is a lot more subtle than the others on display

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40.jpg
another tanto showing the eyes of lilith, a major plot influence..
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Jean Thibodeau




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PostPosted: Tue 07 Aug, 2012 8:19 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Just a thought but the giant spear looks a lot like a giant tuning fork and I would bet that when struck it might emit some sort of distinctive sound: Maybe very high pitch or the other extreme of extremely low frequency humm or buzz ?
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Gabriel Lebec
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PostPosted: Tue 07 Aug, 2012 12:30 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Jean Thibodeau wrote:
Just a thought but the giant spear looks a lot like a giant tuning fork and I would bet that when struck it might emit some sort of distinctive sound: Maybe very high pitch or the other extreme of extremely low frequency humm or buzz ?


If the "tines" are spaced so as to constructively interfere, then it could indeed act as a tuning fork, with a very low frequency (low pitch; f is inversely proportional to the square of the tine length, which in this case is very long). If I wasn't busy I'd create an estimate assuming correct tine spacing and looking up Young's modulus for steel, steel density, estimating dimensions from the photos, etc. But I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader (my favorite line from my textbooks back when I got my math degree, LOL). The varying cross-sections of the tines makes this a lot more complicated and the tone wouldn't be as pure, but as an academic exercise you could approximate them well enough to get a frequency that likely wouldn't be too far off from reality.

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science." - Albert Einstein
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William P




Location: Sydney, Australia
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PostPosted: Wed 08 Aug, 2012 2:58 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

i dout its the case but its indeed plausible that this tuning fork property might als in the context of evangelion be the legendary weapon it is, in evangelion the eva machines can emit 'AT fields kind of like force fields, the lance of longinus can sort of cancel the field out and thus is a anti shield device but its a legendary item. wih very few existing

you need to see the the series to fully understand

there are clips of it being used on youtube but the fight scenes accompanying them are very brutal to say the least..
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