Maestro

Well, TIL

So, Debian? Named after Debra and Ian (now divorced though)

True, but swords (including longswords) are largely a backup weapon or ceremonial too. A sword doesn’t do much against maille or plate armour.

I have fought with many kinds of European blades, from longswords to zweihanders to sabres and foils. Some of these can be very light and thin. In fact, the average longsword weighs the same as the average katana: between 1.1 and 1.5 kg. But I’ll take the length, cross guard and double edge of a longsword over a katana every day.

Source: I practice HEMA

No, like the original poster says, the fancy Japanese folding technique is just a way to make a decent blade from shitty impure steel. Once that is done, you have better steel. That’s all it does.

Probably still worse. European swordmaking is also very good. But since the european swords tend to be thicker and harder they will probably still beat katanas, all other things considered equal