Katana... It's really NOT a Lightsaber y'know!

[Ragnarr]

Why are there so many Z-films that depict at least one character weilding a katana with the skill of a Samurai and severing limbs with each stroke as if it's some kind of Star Wars Lightsaber? (rhetorical Q... I think that I know the answer lol).

A katana would in my opinion actually be one of the more inefficient zombie apocalype weapons to use. No, it will not sever heads and limbs with each chance stroke. It will instead inflict gashes and cuts to flesh with the deeper strikes getting stuck in bone. Hell, KNIVES get easily stuck in bone although axes or hatchets do not.

A bat would be more to my liking. Not the fluttering cave-dwelling kind, but rather the baseball wooden type lolz.

So... WHY ARE THERE ALWAYS KATANA JEDI IN EVERY BLASTED Z-FLICK? WHY????? :mad:

[AcesandEights]

I don't want to get too far into this conversation, due to possible spoilers for both the comic (I still need to catch up on like 18 months of back issues of TWD) and the TV show, but the only thing that really annoyed me about our very special TWD katana wielding character is that she had one of the super serial Unbreakable Katanas™, you know the one that was apparently folded 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times and could probably cut a panzer in half without a scratch.

[Ragnarr]

lol yep bro! Couldn't possibly agree more with you! ;)

I mean if some level of zombie breakout WERE to occur (in theory), I'd advise that survivors grab a tennis racket before reaching for the replica of a katana. Unless of course the survivor is in the mountains of Japan and actually finds a real katana, but even then I'd recommend reaching for a nice club instead of the ancient blade.

Being that I've never read the comic of TWD, I'm assuming that they offer a reasonable explanation why the hooded chick is a killer Samurai. Oh yeah btw, what's with her taking her Walkers our for walkies? Are they named Fido & Spot? My guess is that their rotting odor masks her living one? Or are they merely trophies?

[MoonSylver]

Because Katanas are awesome. And zombies are awesome, Duh! Put the two together & it doesn't get much better. Except for...

http://api.ning.com/files/eauL-IkFq6gXjcmFgW6K-gVFYY0k44B3zbtFabZeOfvaXUTiDsEwnskZjpeKZm1rahfnqAi od0y1nQTf0ONVI9teyvFH-48b/katanachainsawson.jpg?width=595&height=447

[MoonSylver]

Because Katanas are awesome. And zombies are awesome, Duh! Put the two together & it doesn't get much better. Except for...

http://api.ning.com/files/eauL-IkFq6gXjcmFgW6K-gVFYY0k44B3zbtFabZeOfvaXUTiDsEwnskZjpeKZm1rahfnqAi od0y1nQTf0ONVI9teyvFH-48b/katanachainsawson.jpg?width=595&height=447

:lol:

[EvilNed]

I haven't read the comics, but this character they presented in the Season 2 finale might just be something that'll get me off this show. These kind of characters fit into late 80's, early 90's direct-to-video action films. But here? Ridiculous!

It should be noted that I'm seriously fed up with the japanese fanboyism. All these clichés about honorable samurai and super ninjas. It's idiotic and unrealistic. Come on, look at yourself, believing popular crap media like that!

A samurai sword would in no ways be better off than any other sword, and in some ways worse.

If you want blades, get a machete... Not a stupid katana made from brittle japanese steel.

[rongravy]

If you want blades, get a machete... Not a stupid katana made from brittle japanese steel.
Yeah, my wife is from El Salvador. I've seen way too many pics and vids of how easily those things make someone's head look pretty unrecognizable to never ever want to ever come in contact with one...ever.

Unless I'm the one wielding it.

Now I wonder how well a zombie outbreak would fare down there, as everyone seemed to have one on them when I last went.

[shootemindehead]

Um...I can't think of another zombie flick with a katana in it.

I always thought that Michone was a pretty crap character to begin with though. She gets better later on, but the katana rubbish was just comic nerd masturbation TBH.

[Zombie Snack]

Dang, couldn't they figure out how to put a few more unnecessary profanities on this chainsaw Katana advertisement.


lol yep bro! Couldn't possibly agree more with you! ;)

I mean if some level of zombie breakout WERE to occur (in theory), I'd advise that survivors grab a tennis racket before reaching for the replica of a katana. Unless of course the survivor is in the mountains of Japan and actually finds a real katana, but even then I'd recommend reaching for a nice club instead of the ancient blade.

Being that I've never read the comic of TWD, I'm assuming that they offer a reasonable explanation why the hooded chick is a killer Samurai. Oh yeah btw, what's with her taking her Walkers our for walkies? Are they named Fido & Spot? My guess is that their rotting odor masks her living one? Or are they merely trophies?

[Neil]

could probably cut a panzer in half without a scratch.
lol!!

[bassman]

The katana is all anyone focuses on when thinking of Michonne for some reason. She's actually a great character without the sword. Besides, I don't find the katana any less believable than driving a two inch pocket knife through a human skull with ease. There are plenty of unrealistic things in zombie fiction, so I personally don't see how a big sword is any less believable.

As someone else mentioned, what other zombie movie characters carry a katana? I'm drawing a blank on that one....

[krisvds]

The katana is all anyone focuses on when thinking of Michonne for some reason. She's actually a great character without the sword. Besides, I don't find the katana any less believable than driving a two inch pocket knife through a human skull with ease. There are plenty of unrealistic things in zombie fiction, so I personally don't see how a big sword is any less believable.

As someone else mentioned, what other zombie movie characters carry a katana? I'm drawing a blank on that one....

Same here, can't really think of any other katana wielding zombie movie characters either. But i do understand the concerns about how Michonne will play out on tv. I like her character in the comic, especially when she is not using the katana but still: her slaying the undead with that katana, wearing that cape is very pubescent geekish. Could potentially kill what grittiness they regained after that long stretch of too safe 'little house on the prairie' episodes in series two only to replace it with silly videogame stuff. Probably wont be anything that bad (i hope) but that first teaser of her effortlessly slaying those two zombies indoors and that 'swooooosh' sound effect was NOT very encouraging ...

[MoonSylver]

Dang, couldn't they figure out how to put a few more unnecessary profanities on this chainsaw Katana advertisement.

Profanity makes everything better.

Gosh darn it. :p

[MinionZombie]

I'm all-for Michonne in the show, and from the glimpses we've had, she doesn't look comic bookish in the bad sense - she looks pretty scary in a way, but in the sort of way that you'd much prefer to be her cohort, than any shade of enemy to her. Michonne knows the score - she's a true survivalist and acts on instinct - she knows her to handle herself and those around her, but that doesn't mean she's invulnerable (as readers of the comics will recognise from the Prison arc).

I'm looking forward to seeing how they work her character into the show ... she always struck me as a kind of Clint Eastwood (except female) character from the westerns. They speak briefly and only when necessary, they can eye-up a scene and know exactly what to do, there's no faffing about with them - and in the case of Michonne, she's ideally suited to the zombie apocalypse.

[AcesandEights]

The katana is all anyone focuses on when thinking of Michonne for some reason. She's actually a great character without the sword. Besides, I don't find the katana any less believable than driving a two inch pocket knife through a human skull with ease. There are plenty of unrealistic things in zombie fiction, so I personally don't see how a big sword is any less believable.


I actually agree that Michonne is a great character, hell I've even said she was genuinely believable in her emotionally shutdown and compartmentalized approach...appropriate for a survivor who has been through so much trauma and realizes not feeling and just acting is often the key to survival. The sword doesn't bother me either...just its unbreakable status.

[AcesandEights]

Dang, couldn't they figure out how to put a few more unnecessary profanities on this chainsaw Katana advertisement.
:lol: Yeah, I felt like Jay (of Jay and Silent Bob fame) was giving me the sales pitch!

[EvilNed]

Nobody seen Demons!?

That's what I think off when I think of this Michonne.

Anyway, I'll admit to putting to much focus on the katana, but it really turns me off. Reminds me too much of it's comic book origin, because it fits more at home alongside Deadpool or Batman than with this bunch of survivors.

[babomb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmLTr9zFegQ&feature=related

Like they say in the video, swords used to be tested on condemned prisoners and dead bodies to test their effectiveness. And we are talking about dead bodies in this context.
Someone who knows how to use one should have no problem severing the head from a rotted corpse.
I think I noticed in a scene from a youtube video that the pet walkers she has were being used as pack mules. I'm sure that's not the de-facto logic behind their purpose, just a possible added bonus.

[AcesandEights]

From what little I've read, the lifespan of a sword has to do with a couple of factors including where and how it was forged, the material used, the intended purpose and design and the actual circumstances it ends up being used in. That said, I'm pretty sure most swords intended for actual combat were expected to eventually fail and need to be repaired (at blade or hilt) or in the worst case scenario re-purposed.

Forgetting for a moment that cheap knockoff or tourist swords, like the ones most likely to be found in the U.S., would break very easily, I've never read anything credible that would lead me to believe that any high quality medium to thin bodied sword wouldn't eventually break after continued use, though I'm certainly not an authority on the topic.

[EvilNed]

Of course they would. All things do. Wear and tear.

[babomb]

You can't really examine everything in the show that closely and still expect to enjoy it though. Alot of things don't add up in that regard. Like where do all Darryls arrows come from? Arrows don't have infinite lifespans, they do wear out after several impacts. And what about the cables for the crossbow? Those wear out too. He sure uses that crossbow alot, and it's unreasonable to expect that all the arrows are just reiterated time after time and remain effective.
Flashlights for silencers, while a resourceful idea for the show, is not very realistic. Not to mention all the times that these expert marksman are pulling off incredible shots. Like Darryl hitting walkers dead in the head less than 6 inches from someone elses face, and Carl popping walker Shane dead between the eyes from over 50 feet away 3 inches away from Ricks face, with a .45 auto. While an episode or 2 earlier he couldn't hit a bottle from 10 feet away with a .32 revolver. And nobody even gets pissed at anyone for being so haphazard about it.
And when Andrea pops Amy in the head while crouched over with her own head 3 inches away from the muzzle of her own gun, yet still remains able to hear and suffers no ill effects whatsoever.
Many things have to be ignored in order for the show to work, and many things only happen because the show has to keep a certain aesthetic appeal.
A chick with a sword doesn't seem so incredibly outrageous when you consider all the other aspects that are flat out highly improbable, and in some cases outright impossible.

[EvilNed]

To me, as I've stated before, it's more the ridiculousness of the situation. It seemed to me that the show had dispensed with it's comic book roots and tried to tie down more with reality. It's not about examining something close. It's a character. I can't just ignore her.

[AcesandEights]

Very true, Babomb, but...

the indestructible Katana went on (and may still be going on for all I know) for a long time in the comic, so seeing it going on for years of publication is a bit different, for me, than offscreen TV hand-waving for endless ammunition hacks or having to assume bolt foraging for Darryl.

- - - Updated - - -


To me, as I've stated before, it's more the ridiculousness of the situation. It seemed to me that the show had dispensed with it's comic book roots and tried to tie down more with reality. It's not about examining something close. It's a character. I can't just ignore her.

I'd say you might want to wait and see how her character is presented, rather than pre-judging the whole situation...I'd have a melee weapon too were I still living at this point in a zombie apocalypse and I wouldn't turn down any quality of katana that fell in my lap (though I'd probably use something like a lead pipe more often).

[babomb]

Well, tied down to a reality where the dead walk and eat the living. I don't personally like the show as much as I do because of it's overall realism. Quite the opposite. But it's also not as unrealistic as the likes of Rambo or The Expendables, or fast N Furious.
It seems just as possible (or impossible) that Michonne has a secret cache of spare blades somewhere(maybe the same place darryl gets his arrows), or as likely that the group is still using the ammunition that Rick brought from the PD in ep1. Realistically that ammo would've never made it to the season 2 finale. And if by some miracle some of it did, it would've been exhausted within 2 minutes of the barn sequence.
I totally get what you guys are saying. It just seems to me that the whole katana thing doesn't require any more suspension of disbelief than anything else going on in the show. And if you start applying real life logic to 1 single aspect of the show, you have to apply it equally across the board. And then you just ruin what could otherwise be a very enjoyable experience.

So quit hatin on Michonne!!! It's not her fault you guys can't handle the likes of an empowered woman!!!

[AcesandEights]

So quit hatin on Michonne!!! It's not her fault you guys can't handle the likes of an empowered woman!!!

:lol: I like her character, said so in this and previous threads, don't even mind the katana...just don't want an admantium one about :D

[babomb]

Speaking of the realism. It's interesting how the actors look skinnier and more burned out from season to season. Andrea really thinned out in season 2, so did Shane. And carol, I saw her in an interview on youtube and she barely looks like the same person now. I wonder if they're required to do that or if it's something the actors choose to bring to the character on their own. Or maybe it's just that actors become more obsessed with their appearance the more exposure they get.

[AcesandEights]

Speaking of the realism. It's interesting how the actors look skinnier and more burned out from season to season.

Yeah, they do look as though they've been put through the wringer, which is nice to see!

[kidgloves]

Interestingly they are using 3 props for Michonnes katana. A rubber one, an aluminium one and a real one (steel folded 1,000s of times i think the props guy said).

[babomb]

Interestingly they are using 3 props for Michonnes katana. A rubber one, an aluminium one and a real one (steel folded 1,000s of times i think the props guy said). And a digital one...

[LouCipherr]

Wait.

Only 2 pages bitching about an indestructible katana, but mention Herschel taking 30 shots out of a shotgun and suddenly it's World War III on the forums?

Ya'll are adorable.

:lol: :p :D


(sorry, couldn't resist)

[bassman]

....a real one (steel folded 1,000s of times i think the props guy said).

I wonder if that's the one Chris Hardwick damaged....

[AcesandEights]

I wonder if that's the one Chris Hardwick damaged....

See! Indestructible 1,000 folded steel katana meets its match in one rail thin nerd culture enthusiast! :p

[kidgloves]

I wonder if that's the one Chris Hardwick damaged....

Yeah it was the same segment where he took a chunk out of the set

[babomb]

Wait.

Only 2 pages bitching about an indestructible katana, but mention Herschel taking 30 shots out of a shotgun and suddenly it's World War III on the forums?

Ya'll are adorable.

:lol: :p :D


(sorry, couldn't resist) I remember that! That's what i was saying, you can't say that 1 impossibility is more impossible than another and focus only on that 1. Impossible is impossible. And this show has many. But it's great regardless.

[MinionZombie]

Yeah it was the same segment where he took a chunk out of the set

I'd love to see a video of that. :D

/18,500 posts. :D