Shintogo Handmade 1095 Steel Bat / Vampire Koshirae Sword

I have spoken to the seller and I'm going to be candid about this, but it's not just this sword/katana.There is a popular cleaning kit, that a lot of these ship with, and I don't mean just this katana but other brands, it's the cheap cleaning kit that has the small "spray" bottle, that's the only unique way I know to describe. That's bottle always leaks, every single katana I've bought online that has shipped with that kit, has leaked. It has either leaked all the way, or most of the way and it's important to be aware of that, I don't know if this seller will still use that, or if they use that with each shipment but like I said it's a common kit to use and it's really bad and leaks no matter how they pack it. this is NOT a knock on the seller or the manufacturer. The cleaning kit is part of the order so this is rightful to mentionThis katana is beautiful, it isn't too heavy, feels and looks perfectly balanced, and when I performed some cutting tests, it competed with my best katana's and I have ones more than double the price of this one. I had to slow down, because I would swing to hard to cut something and it would go through it like I was just swinging in the air, and I had to watch what was behind me.It comes very sharp. I'm not crazy about the bag design, I wish kept up with the theme, the red, the vampire/bat thing, but the sword is so cool and the saya gives it that look. Super happy with the katana, and i will keep an eye out and would recommend a Shintogo, which I wasn't familiar with before but I did read other positive reviews and this purchase and my testing confirmed it.

I want to like this sword, I have tried to love this sword for years. But I can not, I simply find no enjoyment in this sword. It's too heavy for how short it is. The sword flies out if it's sheath too easy. It's horribly uncomfortable in the hands, the bronze bat menuki dig into your hands, the transition with the fushi, kashira, tsuki. Is just awful and not worth the price. The sword was 600 dollars. Honestly, it's not worth 100 dollars, I can completely understand why shintogo swords can not be bought anymore. They are frankly terrible swords. Too heavy, too short, fittings are sharp, handle is fat and ax handle. It looks nice though.