Dragon King SD35190 Spring Sakura Katana Sword

i bought all four of the Dragon King set, this is hands down my favorite. it is the smallest, but i feel like i am deadly accurate with it. and i have just begun... these are beautiful, well-made swords, the silver bits are a nice touch. out of the 4, this is the only one that came with a piano-finish on the saya (which i have already scratched). i love this thing.

I just received my order. It's a beautiful weapon -- solid construction, no rattle or give while unsheathed, very little rattle while sheathed. Nicely balanced and feels very comfortable in my hands. There's no hamon, which, should be pointed out as the images aren't terribly clear -- I would not drop a star though. The tsuba isn't hand forged, but that's expected with a $300.00 katana.However, the habaki is scuffed and shows signs of some sort of corrosion. VERY disappointed. I'd give this katana a 5 stars otherwise, however, I can only offer up 2 stars -- and the second star is due ONLY to the solid construction and overall quality -- because who would send a brand new battle-ready weapon with scuffs and corrosion on it? I've included an image of the left and right sides of the habaki.I'm uncertain if I want to trust a replacement or if I should get a refund and look elsewhere -- the latter would make me sad as, pristine, it's a lovely, deadly, functional weapon.

Packaging: Was good and adequate enough to protect and secure the saya(scabbard), tsuka(handle), and suba(hand guard) inside without any movement. Both ends of the katana were protected from the box by styrophone while being inside a box packaged in a bigger oneCondition of Item: Sword came in nearly perfect state, there's some parts of it that are objectionable - the saya has a spot of scuffed and blemished coating on the end of it that would be in front of the kissaki(end) of the katana, the hole for the lower mekugi(wooden peg) inside the samegawa panel(rayskin) looked unfinished and wasn't fully drilled unlike the first hole closer to the kashira(end of handle). In addition, the katana wasn't oiled/greased - it could've potentially rusted, fortunately didn't and had no signs of rust.The Sword Itself: The Spring Sakura is a beautiful blade and a treat to see in person. It's lightweight, very nimble, allows for good control over swings, was fairly sharp and able to cut construction paper(thicker than regular), and is overall easy to work with. It won't feel fatiguing after practicing form unlike Cold Steel blades. One big disappointment is that there's NO hamon. The tsuka is far from a typical axe handle on most katanas and is slimmer, lighter, and comfortable to grip. The ito wrap(material over rayskin) is properly tightened, requires a lot of force to move, and the diamond shapes were evenly matching - no deformed shapes. There is a noticeable problem however - the koiguchi(mouth of saya) is very tight, this makes the katana require a lot of force to unsheath from the saya every time. Fortunately, the koiguchi is horned so you don't have to worry about cutting fingers with the saya held on the waist.Overall: This purchase was a solid 4/5 stars. Depending on the shipping and manufacturer, your results can vary as you may be one of the few to get a defective or damaged model, fortunately Amazon's return policy will help, just keep in mind that a defect isn't a representation of the true, intended product as defective models are bound to happen. The sword is a nice piece of work that doubles as a stand-out wall hanger AND a functional katana. Disappointingly, there's no hamon though. It's a well balanced, lightweight blade on the slimmer profile side that is very comfortable and nimble to use. I'd recommend.

I decided try this sword out after seeing Matthew Jensen’s video on it and honestly it’s a pretty solid breakdown of the sword. But in my own experience the geometry is lovely and the blade is very sturdy and relatively well sharpened. The designs and ray skin are also nice. Aesthetically my only complaint is that whatever is added to make the stainless steel tsuba black comes off with usage. The real trouble came when I tried to disassemble it. The pegs would not come out for the life of me, at least not without some less than ideal heavy percussive force. The same can be said for the rest of the fittings which were very hard to remove from the blade. Once removed though, it was even more difficult to reassemble. It took some serious hammering to get all the fittings even and up the blade and it still doesn’t feel like they’re all the way up and fitted right. That being said it’s a beautiful sword and I would recommend it despite that, I just wish it was easier to clean. The saya is also very nice and has a horn piece on top, mine came missing one of the metal pieces on top on the nub that holds the sageo but I don’t really care about that honestly. Anyways 3/5 pretty sword and fittings and good blade for the price but the furniture is annoying to say the least.

There was a small scuff on the blade upon arriving... but I really liked it and decided to keep it since it was well balanced and very sharped... for the price I really have nothing to complaint about... highly recommend!

Very nice katana. Everything fits very nicely, and you can tell that all the parts are custom fitted, not just assembled like Legos out of commonly available parts, like so many other katanas from China. Also, fittings are unique and only available from Dragon King.This is the smallest katana in the series and it feels light and pleasant. I have bigger and smaller katanas, and my hand always reaches for this one for practice. If I had to have only one katana in this price range and even in the higher price range, I would keep this one.

It is a nice sword but for the looks of the sword itself, i do not think it deserves the price that it was given.

Weapon was clean, sharp, well constructed and was packaged very well.