Goemon Ishikawa XIII - Skills - Goemon's Sword

Goemon's Sword

Goemon is an incredibly gifted martial artist, both in hand-to-hand and melee combat. However, he is best known and usually employed for his skills in iaidō and the famous katana (in a shirasaya) that he uses. His sword goes by the name of Ryusei シューティングスター ("shooting star") in the manga, but it is better known as its animated incarnation, Zantetsuken (斬鉄剣?) ("iron-cutting sword").

The katana can cut anything and everything: airplanes, cars, tanks, skyscrapers, and even lightning and a meteorite have been sliced apart by the blade. Its keenness has never been so proven than in the surreal moment when Goemon cut the "film" his animated world was drawn upon, effectively slashing his entire universe in twain. Objects cut by Goemon will fall apart a couple of seconds after he rends them, usually after he has snapped Zantetsuken completely into its sheath. Goemon's speed and skill are such that he can block machine gun fire with the blade. To Goemon's distaste, most occasions require Zantetsuken to cut unworthy inanimate objects, rather than his using the sword for its designed purpose, namely in battle against a suitably talented opponent.

Zantetsuken has had a number of origin stories over the years, including having been made from the metal of a fallen meteor, or made from a special alloy passed down through Goemon's clan. In his first TV appearance, the sword is described as being forged from three famous or mystical Japanese swords. A common explanation for its existence is still argued, but its strength and sharpness are constants in every Lupin III incarnation. However, Zantetsuken has also been known to chip or break when applied to a particularly tenacious surface; usually its failure indicates circumstances are the worst possible for Goemon and the rest of Lupin's gang. It is revealed in the second anime series that Zantetsuken has at least one known weakness; it cannot cut konnyaku gel because it keeps getting stuck in it.

The second series also gives Zantetsuken a more mystical ability; on a few occasions, the blade acquires a shadow, showing death lurks nearby for Lupin and his gang. Likewise, when the shadow disappears, it shows that the danger has passed. In one episode the sword lost its cutting power, something that happens every 100 years. The only way to return the power to the sword is to make a kind of wedding celebration with the "female" version of Zantetsuken. This "female" sword is smaller than the "male" one, but with the same cutting power. At the end of the ritual celebration, Zantetsuken regained its power. Unfortunately the female sword fell into a pool of magma.

Zantetsuken is also the source of Goemon's most famous catchphrase, "Once again I have cut a worthless object," which he says whenever he uses Zantetsuken to do something spectacular that he nonetheless considers mundane. This has been referenced many times in other manga and anime, and has become something of a joke within Lupin itself. In Da Capo of Love: Fujiko's Unlucky Days, Lupin even tells Goemon, "No one is better at cutting worthless objects than you!"