Rena's Cleaver

[Rectifier]

So I was really bored today and stumbled upon some images of a European farming tool called a billhook.

I realized that they looked very similar to Rena's cleaver in basic design features (top heavy, large handle, medium length blade) and did a more precise google search.

Sure enough one of them was almost an exact match to rena's cleaver.

Spoiler! :

Then I got thinking,

A: How did a European farm tool manage to find its way into rural Japan when they already have other tools?
B: How did it end up in a junkyard when it clearly is in good condition? (normally I dismiss this question, but i decided to bring it up)
C: I find it interesting that a foreign farm tool, in good condition, winds up in a junkyard that a girl...with questionable psychological stability...just so happens to find. Is every scene with the billhook/cleaver just a delusion?

Am I bringing up anything interesting or is this just beating a dead horse?

[Kaisos Erranon]

It IS a billhook, yeah, the cleaver.

I always thought it was used for chopping fish, for some reason.

[Beware the talking cat]

Maybe she repaired it?

Take one rusty European farm tool, add one mostly insane Japanese schoolgirl, and end up with a nice, shiny, good-as-new European farm tool.

[Rectifier]

Maybe she repaired it?

Take one rusty European farm tool, add one mostly insane Japanese schoolgirl, and end up with a nice, shiny, good-as-new European farm tool.

That's a cop-out.

[Beware the talking cat]

No, it would have been a cop-out if it had been Oishi who fixed the cleaver(key drums).

[Rectifier]

That's...



Well played sir, well played.

[Setherzam]

well actually she found it in the shed in the manga which seems a bit more plausible

[Rectifier]

That does seem more plausible than finding a non-rusty tool in a junkyard unless they did that in the anime to imply the other dismemberments were from that billhook. (Can't recall the exact context in how/when she found it)

I'm actually a little bemused at how the original author(s) knew what a billhook was.

[Setherzam]

these are the same people who had micro receivers in 1983. I don't think they did much if any research.

[Rectifier]

these are the same people who had micro receivers in 1983. I don't think they did much if any research.

lol, point taken.

[HolyCow]

IIRC Rena's cleaver does not exist. The billhook is the closest you'll ever come close it it, I remember reading somewhere that someone who wanted to do a Rena cosplay ended up having the Cleaver custom made from a toolsmith or something.

[Umiman]

It makes sense too. A large straight knife is kinda stupid and pointless with a giant hook at one end. Billhooks were prominently curved for a reason, the straighter ones being not very popular. Can you imagine trying to cut meat with a knife that had a giant hook on its tip? It'll get stuck constantly, making the sharp blade redundant.

It looks cool, but it isn't very practical.

[Rectifier]

I imagine that would happen if you were dumb/desperate enough to slice at someone's torso with it; since a billhook essentially functions like a machete, it should be primarily used for dismembering or decapitation in a fight/murder.

[Umiman]

Yeah, because all it takes is one good swing and that head just comes flying clean off like in the movies. Who cares if the spinal cord is in the way, or if human skin is incredibly tough, or that it usually requires intense amounts of hacking or a good motorized saw to decapitate someone cleanly. When you're in the heat of battle, only a billhook can dismember your opponent.

Billhooks are primarily used as agricultural tools and as an all-purpose large knife for farming because well, that's what it's supposed to do. In times of war, billhooks were attached to poles to essentially become a poor-man's halberd to fight down cavalry and armoured foes. I'm not doubting it's killing power, just that as a jack of all trades, it's not your best bet depending on what you want to do.

[Rectifier]

Yeah, because all it takes is one good swing and that head just comes flying clean off like in the movies. Who cares if the spinal cord is in the way, or if human skin is incredibly tough, or that it usually requires intense amounts of hacking or a good motorized saw to decapitate someone cleanly. When you're in the heat of battle, only a billhook can dismember your opponent.

Billhooks are primarily used as agricultural tools and as an all-purpose large knife for farming because well, that's what it's supposed to do. In times of war, billhooks were attached to poles to essentially become a poor-man's halberd to fight down cavalry and armoured foes. I'm not doubting it's killing power, just that as a jack of all trades, it's not your best bet depending on what you want to do.

Oh I definitely agree, I'm just putting it into the unrealistic context of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.