a little context because it’s impossible to explain without, muramasa blades of course reguarded to be cursed sucking their owner’s blood and any wielder being prone to madness supposedly because of muramasa sengo himself “infusing the blade with his own bloodthirst”
of course, none of it is the truth and only a fabrication, a mixture of fearmongering and fascination
tokugawa ieyasu’s grandfather, his father, himself and his son were all killed or injured by muramasa blades, blades who had the misfortune of having exceptional sharpness and being extremely popular at the time, they were simply used by everyone! it’s said that due to the paranoia caused he ordered that the works of muramasa “should disappear from the face of earth once and for all” effectively banning them
(will come back to it later but the purpose of having him undress also ties into how absolutely lusted after were the blades, even more in a time where they were forbidden, morbid curiosity or sign of rebellion against the shogunate)
and he succeeded, muramasa blades are almost non-existent and close to none have made it to our time, not only where they systematically destroyed but if they weren’t it was common practice to escape it by…hammering the signature out, carrying on a change of chiselling, characters changed, the name of muramasa erased (also plays into how sengo’s sense of identity is pretty much non-existent since even when he had one, he was made to simply cease to have a name, jumping ahead here but yes, he is One yet Many)
despite muramasa being famous, his name is expelled from lists of famous swordsmiths and none of the blades are qualified as national treasure, all but one considered an important artwork…the blade that our sengo supposedlyis based on, because sengo does not recognize himself as this precise blade in his kiwame letters, confirming that he is a collective consciousness shouldering the curse of the muramasa blades
myoho muramasa, “muramasa of the sublime dharma”, a blade with an inscription dedicated to the lotus sutra and the date of death of the founder of nichiren buddhism! muramasa was actually assumed to be a monk dedicating the blade, far away from the “bloodthirsty swordsmith” rumors and where the actual truth resides (to note that the wielder of this blade was himself victim of lies and rumors after having saved his clan by making a last-minute alliance to the tokugawa, everyone branding him as a traitor, this very clan were the only to recognize the beauty of muramasa blades and actively taking on swordsmithing to keep them from fading from existence out of love for them, the reason why sengo was naturally drawn to this province…the only place where he would have known love)
the lotus sutra, the potential of all beings, even cursed swords, to overcome their fate and attain enlightenment and in doing so, helping and teaching others do the same out of compassion, “ The lotus symbolizes the bodhisattva who is rooted in the earthly mud and yet flowers above the water in the open air of enlightenment.“ transcending everything that makes his own spirit, all the ressentment the hatred the bloodshed, the desire for vengeance inherent to muramasa blades and their wielders turning into unending compassion toward all things, even the one who shaped his cursed existence (the stageplay has sengo being afraid to touch a baby ieyasu fearing to harm, being unsure but feeling “neither love nor hatred, i simply do not understand this person” with tonbokiri the “blessed” muramasa/(masazane is muramasa’s student) reassuring him into neither shouldering the curse nor running away from ieyasu)
this reply is already super long so i won’t dwell more on it extensively but! his crest and hand position and critical hit lines are also very important! his crest is made up of mudra, karana mudra, to expel demons (the way he holds his sword) and most importantly the varada mudra, bestowing compassion, a direct reference to the compassionate bodhisattva that he names in his kiwame critical line!!
“Avalokiteśvara, describing him as a compassionate bodhisattva who hears the cries of sentient beings, and rescues those who call upon his name. “
instead of a sword cursing, sengo has chosen to be a sword dedicated to the salvation of all beings
AND FINALLY ! to answer the “let me strip!” it’s not only a way to appear non-threatening, to dispell the apprehension of his presence just being mentioned, who would be afraid of a joke?
to strip, is to “bare the blade” revealing his own true self without wearing the expectations and rumors he is infused with, his most authentic self, the one he himself crafted out of his own hand, reclaiming not only his fate but an existence separate from his own history, the legend he wants to pass on (and to add on it being his gimmick he actually gets completely embarassed and at loss of words when nikkari jokingly tells him to go on and show him in the musical, nikkari being another cursed sword fully understanding the meaning)
so it comes down to sengo having no sense of self and wanting everyone to accept him by the fastest way which is, being a joke instead of being a bloodthirsty beast! (his eyes turn gold instead of red in his kiwame..this level of detailing) and not even having the strenght to fabricate one until he is given the chance
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