The mighty Masamune and Murasame. One or both of these swords has appeared in every Final Fantasy game of the series. If you ever wondered about where they came from, here is the myth.

A long time ago, there were two sword makers, Masamune and Murasame. They why were both very skilled in there work and made swords that were strong and true to their owners. There remained one difference in the swords. Swords made by Masamune were seen to be the ultimate embodiment of the soul of a samurai. Whereas swords made by Murasame were blood thirsty and unlucky. There is one test that could tell the difference between the two blades. The sword would be dipped in a leaf filled stream with a slow, gentle current. If the leaves parted and went passed the sword safely down stream, the sword was made by Masamune. If the leaves would be drawn to the sword and cut in half, the sword was created by Murasame.

Also, the Murasame, "Village Rain" in Japanese, is also found in a major Japanese novel. The story is, "The Hakkenden : The Legend of The Dog Warriors". This story was written by Takizawa Bakin (Born 1767, Died 1848). It is considered one of the greatest literary works to emerge from the Edo/Tokugawa Era. The Novel spans 181 chapters, making it the longest Japanese work ever written, and possibly the longest romance novel ever written. "The Hakkenden" took Bakin 30 years to complete, and he wrote the last third of the novel blind. The Murasame was known as the sword that only could be wielded by the true ruler of Kantoo (The area near Tokyo).

They made "The Hakkenden" into an anime movie, back in 1996. The movie consisted of 13 episodes in 8 volumes. I will place a quick summary of the volumes below. I found these on the net and not all the volumes have been posted, but it gives you an idea of the novel.

Volume 1          Volume 2

Volume 3          Volume 4

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