Kanshou and Bakuya: Gan Jiang and Mo Ye (干将・莫耶, Kanshō - Bakuya?) are "married" twin swords representing yin and yangWP, encountered by Archer at some point during his lifetime and added to the numerous weapons recorded and stored in Unlimited Blade Works. They are his favored weapons to project, having become his symbols after wielding them all his life. He and Shirou Emiya find the craftsmanship of the blades, rather than what they represent, to be extremely captivating and beautiful, and the swords suit their natural style of fighting. Despite not having a wielder in the legends, they are still Noble Phantasms crafted by the blacksmith Gān JiàngWP, Kanshou, of Wu during the Spring and Autumn PeriodWP of China. They were crafted more for the sake of crafting, as if questioning the meaning of the swordsmith, than for any real idea behind their creation. They were created without vanity, and lack a sense of purpose found in other swords. They contain no fighting spirit to defeat others or competitive spirit to beat other weapons, and they contain neither the desire to be famous nor the faith to accomplish great deeds.
Upon receiving orders from King of Wu to forge the imperial sword, Kanshou could not think of ways to forge swords that fit such orders. While he was extremely frustrated and desperate, his wife Mò YéWP, Bakuya, upon seeing this situation, decided to gamble her own life. The sacrificing of human lives is absolutely necessary in order to forge items reaching the realm of Gods, so Bakuya hurled herself into the furnace in front of the husband she loved and used her own life to help the Essence of Five Mountains and the Metal of Six Heroes meld. Kanshou forged the two swords in grief.[1] He kept the Yang sword, named "Gān Jiàng", and he only handed over the Yin Sword, "Mò Yé", to the king when it came time to present them. The king was furious upon discovering the deception, and the king had him killed.[2]
Their quality and ability as swords is high due to being made with the best materials and a human sacrifice, and they have shamanistic and ritual aspects as enchanted weapons. The quality of the grips is more important in the practical use of the swords than the ornamental value, and they are noted as being quite big and heavy.[3] They are identical in shape with the only difference being their color. Kanshou, the black Yang sword, is covered in a hexagonal pattern, and Bakuya, the white Yin sword, has less of the shine of a polished metal in its ore than it has the haze of a cloud. Though the story of their creation has survived into the modern day, there is no mention of the kind of swords they were or their shape, and it is only an assumption that they were cast swords common to the time period. The only known description was that Kanshou had a black tortoise shell pattern and Bakuya had a white wave pattern.[4]
They are rather low ranking compared to other Noble Phantasms, but the dual-wielding style, their experience, and their tracing time makes them very reliable. The main ability of the swords is their strong bond with each other, which not only allows them to attract each other, but it is also said they will return to their owner even if events cause them to be lost. If one is thrown while the other is held, the thrown sword will return to the wielder much like a boomerang. This works well with projection, allowing an already projected sword to identify a new projection as its partner sword. When both are wielded, Magic Resistance and physical resistance improve, and their rank as both weapons and Noble Phantasms increases. The original versions of the swords that reached the realm of the Gods due to human sacrifice, rather than the imperfect projected versions, also have a strong affinity against monsters, allowing them to easily cut down creatures like the Gorgon form of Medusa and the extradimensional evil god summoned by Caster in a single strike.[5]
EMIYA also utilizes reinforcement to modify the swords into longswords, referred to as Kanshou and Bakuya Overedge (干将·莫耶オーバーエッジ, Kanshō-Bakuya Ōbāejji?).[4] It is unknown exactly what effects are provided through the reinforcement, but he did utilize them at some point during the battle with Berserker in the Fate route of the visual novel.[4]
Triple-Linked Crane Wings
Triple-Linked Crane Wings (鶴翼三連, Kakuyoku Sanren?) is an "exquisite technique" utilized by EMIYA, the culmination of his usage of the swords and the "true meaning behind Kanshou and Bakuya."[6][7] It is said to be a "fatal attack" used to get him through his numerous battles, relying on the married swords' attraction to one another, consecutive projection, and keeping the basic technique, symbolized by the chanted poem.[7] The user projects three sets of Kanshou and Bakuya, executing an unavoidable combination through throwing and slashing maneuvers.[6] Each blade is lethal and the multiple attacks are meant to prohibit escape or defense.[8]
Spirit and technique, flawless and firm
Our strength rips the mountains
Our swords split the water
Our names reach the imperial villa
The two of us cannot hold the heavens together.
Shingi, muketsu ni shite banjaku
Chikara, yama wo nuki
Tsurugi, mizu wo wakatsu
Seimei, rikyuu ni todoki
Warera, tomo ni ten wo idakazu
鶴翼欠落不
心技泰山至
心技黄河渡
唯名別天納
両雄共命別
Crane wings (Spirit and technique), without opening (flawless and firm)
Spirit and technique (Strength), reaching the mountain (pierce the mountain)
Spirit and technique (Sword), crossing the Yellow River (split the water)
Name (Fame), ending in a different heaven (reaching the imperial villa)
Two rivals / Two great men (We), sharing a life (cannot embrace heavens together)
In Archer's version, the first pair is thrown at the enemy with the purpose of being deflected, while the second is prepared for close range combat. While the enemy is off guard, he slashes with the second pair, and the thrown pair returns and hits the enemy from behind. Finally, the third pair is modified into Overedge and he performs the final strike with them.
No Name's version begins with a pair of thrown swords that strike the enemy, followed by an overhead slash, and finished with a dashing slash double-slash.
In Extella, No Name's version involves throwing a pair at the opponent that then returns the same way back to him, after which he throws them again with another pair so that there are altogether four swords followed by a jumping attack with Overedge.
Shirou
Shirou's version used to defeat Saber Alter begins with a thrown pair aimed at the neck, coinciding with the first line of the chant, that is deflected by the enemy, and then closes in for close combat with a second pair. The thrown Bakuya returns from behind to attack the enemy and he immediately strikes with the Kanshou in his hand. Directly afterward, the thrown Kanshou returns and he uses the Bakuya in his hands to attack as well, coinciding with the second and third lines. Saber managed to block all four attacks, but the result left her defenses completely open. He then projects the final pair without any reinforcement to slash the enemy's open defense in a downward X-motion, coinciding with the final two lines. It is essentially a methodical strategy at rendering the opponent defenseless.
Kuro
EnglishEnglish | JapaneseJapanese
« I'll show you what I’ve been holding back!" "Twin wings that overcome mountains, part seas, and never fall… 'Threefold Crane Wings'! »
Kuro's version begins with her throwing two pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya that encircle the enemy. She then makes use of her teleportation in conjunction with the technique, making her attack difficult to predict even with Mind's Eye.[6] During Grand Order and against Bazett, she teleports behind the enemy and slashes with a regular pair of swords, while she teleports under the platform Angelica is standing on and pierces through it with a pair of Overedge swords when using the technique in conjunction with Shirou's own Triple-Linked Crane Wings.[8][9] Bazett manages to take the slashes from the thrown swords head-on with minor injury, counterattacking against Kuro.[9] Angelica is caught off-guard and struck, allowing Shirou to defeat her.[8]
Shirou (Prisma Illya)
Shirou's version begins with two thrown pairs that surround the opponent. He then creates an Overedge pair and performs an overhead downward slash. Upon combining the technique with Kuro against Angelica, all of their attacks are rendered useless by Flash Air, but Kuro manages to surprise her from below.[8]
First Lady (Black Bird Scissorhands)
Black Bird Scissorhands: Fallen Triple-Linked Crane Wings (堕・鶴翼三連, Kakuyoku Sanren?) is the name of the variation utilized by First Lady when inside Chloe von Einzbern's body. It does not differ visibly from Chloe's normal version.
Development
The design for Overedge comes from the animated version of the fight between Archer and Berserker, and was created by the art director of the anime, Koyama Toshihisa. Nasu Kinoko fell in love with the dangerous look of the swords, and applied them to Archer's version of the attack in reference material.[10]
Gan Jiang and Mo Ye [Noble Phantasms]
Kansho-Byakuya.
The Yin-Yang paired swords which Archer favoured.
The swords forged by the famed swords smith Kansho of Wu, during the Spring Autumn period of China.
Kansho received orders from the King of Wu to forge the imperial sword, however, he could not think of ways to forge swords that fit such orders. He was really frustrated and desperate.
Seeing this situation, his wife Byakuya decided to gamble her own life.
In order to forge items reaching the realm of Gods, sacrificing of human lives is absolutely necessary.
Thus Byakua hurled herself into the furnace in front of the husband she loved, using her own life to help the Essence of Five Mountains and the Metal of Six Heroes meld.
Kansho forged the two swords in grief.
These are Kansho and Byakuya, a pair of twin swords that reflect Yin and Yang.
Since they were forged with the best materials and human life, their abilities as swords are great. In addition, they also have aspects as magical weapons used in Witchcraft and Rituals.
It is unknown why Archer chose to carve what seems to be spells of warding all over the swords."
User: Archer
Twin short swords wielded by Archer. When both are equipped at the same time, they enhance the user’s anti-magic and anti-physical attributes, and their own rank as both weapons and Noble Phantasms increases. Further, warding texts are inscribed on the swords’ blades.
Historically, the swords are purported to have been created during China’s Spring and Autumn Period. The swordsmith Gan Jiang was commissioned by the king of the time to make him a wonderful pair of swords. However, the swordsmith’s furnace was unable to even melt the metal. Worried about her husband, the swordsmith’s wife Mo Ye willingly threw herself into the furnace, and the heat of her sacrifice allowed the swords to be completed. The Yang sword was named “Ganjiang”, and the Yin sword “Moye”, after the married couple. However, when it came time to present his handiwork to the king, Gan Jiang handed over only the Moye sword, keeping the Ganjiang sword for himself. The king was furious when he discovered this deception, and had Gan Jiang killed.
[v] Fate/side material - Weapons: Gan Jiang (Kansho) • Mo Ye (Byakuya), p.083
Gan Jiang (Kansho) • Mo Ye (Byakuya)
Their shape is absolutely identical. The black blade is (somehow) the Yang sword Kanshou, and the white is the Yin sword Bakuya. The ore of the white has less of the shine of a polished metal than it has the haze of a cloud. The black one is covered in a hexagonal pattern. As for the practical use, the quality of the grip is more important than the ornamental value. But it's quite big and heavy.
User: Archer
A version of Kanshou & Bakuya used by Archer in the undescribed battle against Berserker in Fate route. Using reinforcement magecraft, the blades have been completely transformed into long swords.
By the way, while the story of Ganjiang and Moye has survived to this day, there is no mention of what kind of swords they actually were. The assumption is that they were cast swords, as was common in that time period. Even their shape is a mystery, as the only known description of the swords simply says that Ganjiang had a black tortoise shell pattern and Moye had a white wave pattern.
Q: If the original Kansho and Bakuya take the stage in the Holy Grail War, as the twin swords reaching the realm of Gods due to the sacrifice of human lives, will they possess powers as Noble Phantasms? Or, since they did not have wielders in the legend, thus cannot become Noble Phantasms?
A: Absolutely without a doubt that they will be true Noble Phantasms. They will be extremely strong anti-monster Noble Phantasms. Rider's ultimate form--Gorgon Lv100, or the extra-dimensional evil god summoned by Gilles, will all be cut down in a single strike.
