4 hours ago, MaoYoruichi said:Oh yeah, you're absolutely correct here. I hadn't thought of all the different ways to obtain katana in-setting.
Also, it's good to remember that, contrary to european swords, the handle and guard on a katana are very easy to change. Technically speaking, the more wealthy/lucky samurais would have different pomels and guards for different occasions (formal, parade, war,...).
Therefore it's easy to hide the fact that your blades are mismatched.
However newly forged blades would often benefit from more advanced forging techniques and general knowledge (curve of the blade being important to optimize its use, length, tempering, ...). But ancestral blades have more chances to have their spirits awakened and being nemuranai.