This one might be impossible to show in a single frame, since we need to clearly see a sheathed sword, and then it coming out and slicing in a single move.

Agreed. At any rate, the current pic needs to go.

Motion to pull

JAFAAC

Seconded.

Support.

Zatoichi? This shows Ichi fighting while his sword is still partway in its sheath.

1◊

Ryuma from Romance Dawn has the re-sheathing part down, although this resembles Single-Stroke Battle.

2◊

Sequential pictures may be the only way.

edited 13th Dec '11 11:02:49 PM by Scardoll

Yeah, sequential is definitely the way to go.

The Mortal Draw might work, if you get a shot of the context-sensitive thing where he has his hand on the sword, and has it an inch out of the sheath, followed by a shot of him carving up a monster with it.

Alternatively, there's Jin from the opening credits of Samurai Champloo, where he goes from seiza to the lunging slash.

Another vote for pulling. Trope is about sword-wielders who attack at the same time they unsheath, which the image fails to show. Shouldn't be too hard to find a sequence that properly shows the trope.

Hmm... How about this one◊?

edited 16th Dec '11 6:31:28 PM by Servbot

Perhaps this?

I personally like the action line connecting the sword and sheath. But if that doesn't work as one image, it can be paired with him preparing to draw. Let me see how it looks cropped.

edit: Nice. It seems to scale just fine. The action line is still nice and clear.

edited 16th Dec '11 10:31:21 PM by Enlong

I have got to learn to control my Thread-Slaying Blade techniques.

Still doesn't work, as we can't see the sword is sheathed first.

Doesn't the action line from sheath to swinging blade imply that?

But, if you want it in two parts, two versions of it:

edited 18th Dec '11 7:25:07 PM by Enlong

1. The action line does not clearly go to the sheath.

2. The panels change who is the focus, making it hard to follow the relevant parts of the trope.

Supporting pull. I think the Jin example from Samurai Champloo could work if somebody found a couple pics of it.

I disagree with point 1, but don't know what else to say about it other than to say that I think it's rather clear where the arc goes, even if the panel does chop it off a bit on the right side.

As for point 2, I should think that any confusion over the perspective would be fleeting. I dunno. Perhaps I think the guy's white suit is more distinctive than it is, or maybe I think too highly of the obviousness of the transition from unsheathing blade —> swinging blade.

edited 18th Dec '11 9:05:28 PM by Enlong

I support a new image, perhaps a series of images.

But I oppose the pull, the current image is not bad enough to require a pull before selecting a replacement.

Certain Death Bumping Technique!

I like the single frame in post 10. The sword clearly comes straight from a sheath and makes an attack, I don't understand what's so important about a frame where it's sheathed.

To me, it just looks pretty cluttered, so it's harder to tell what's going on.

I can barely make out the sheath in that picture; there's too much background stuff.

Two versions of the same pic, from Shining Force: [1]◊ [2]◊

"I don't understand what's so important about a frame where it's sheathed."

This trope requires the sword be sheathed first. It's two steps (1. sheathed sword, 2. sword unsheathed and slicing), so the picture needs to be two frames.

I disagree. There's no reason why it shouldn't be clear that a katana has just been unsheathed.

Hmm... how about this one?