Atsumu's sword-drawing technique in Ghost of the Yotsuba may look impossibly cool, but according to Japanese martial arts experts, it's (sort of) feasible in real life
Blog Andrew Joseph 13 Oct , 2025 0

The Ghost of Mount Yotei A variety of traditional Japanese weapons are available for the revenge-seeking protagonist Atsu, including bows, swords, and spears. Last week, however, a Japanese-speaking user on X questioned whether it was realistic, or even possible, for Atsu to pull a very long sword from his back, sparking a flood of comments on the video from practitioners of Japan's traditional martial arts.
In Soul of the Yotei, you will pick up an Odachi (literally “big sword”) in the mission “The Way of the Odachi” (check out our walkthrough) here). It's a useful addition to Atsu's arsenal, especially when facing larger enemies (Barbarians). It allows her to block fierce attacks and then counterattack with devastating slices on her opponent.
Since she already had two swords on her hip, Atsu opted to strap Odachi onto her back, but X user ikazombie questioned how on earth you could accomplish that without dislocating anything. After slowing down the clip, they realized you could theoretically pull it out over the left shoulder and lasso it, but seemed unconvinced how that would work in real life.
I originally thought how could I unsheath such a big sword on my back, but due to an unexpected movement, I unsheathed the sword without any problem, haha.#ghost plant #魔帝之soul pic.twitter.com/j31VjGpgDk
— Jet Ryo (@ikazombie) October 5, 2025
Video review by a Japanese martial artist. User Harima_mekkai (a member of the Tenjin Ryū faction) decided to try out Atsu's way of wearing and drawing the Odachi. She posted a video in which she successfully pulled a 1m long sword weighing 1.5kg from her left shoulder. This shows that the painting portion of Atsu's Odachi technique is actually possible, although it requires effort and training to complete successfully.
I tried to carry the Demon Emperor's Soul's Odachi.
The blade of this sword is 3 feet long and weighs about 1.5 kilograms.#魔帝之soul pic.twitter.com/9j46eq80G7
— Mako’s birthday celebration on November 29th 🎂 (@harima_mekkai) October 7, 2025
Another user named Lornplum responded to a video of himself drawing and sheathing a sword, describing the way Atsu handled the length by holding the blade while drawing the sword, calling it a “brilliant touch of realism.”
Refined reality as a way to hold the knife and add length
If you did this in real life, this would behttps://t.co/X3PqwBcMOq— lornplum (@lornplum) October 5, 2025
Sucker Punch did have members of the Celestial Dragon Faction perform motion capture for the sword fights and poses in Ghost of the Rampant. Tenjinryu is a traditional Japanese martial art that dates back to the 1600s and encompasses a variety of weapon arts, including spears, swords, and chain scythes. PlayStation Japan recently released a side-by-side video showing footage from Yotei Ghost and a fight scene performed by members of Tenjin Ryu.
We asked swordsmen to recreate the real-life battle scenes in “Yatho no Oni” ⚔️
He will be played by the god Ryu Hyoho, who also provided motion capture for the sword fights in this game.@tenshinryu) to everyone.
Starring in Tenshin-ryu Art of War
Yoshimura Rensai
Ide Yanai
(Supervision: Masayun Kuwai)#ghost plant #魔帝之soul pic.twitter.com/RnfU4pXa4N— PlayStation Official (@PlayStation_jp) October 9, 2025
However, there's still a bit of video game cool here that trumps realism. Clips of real-life pro players show them moving their sheaths more up and over their shoulders (even around their body) to make it easier to draw and sheathe the weapon. This is especially noticeable when the sword is sheathed. It looks like Atsu's Odaichi sheath has less movement, which may make the draw and reload of the weapon smoother and more responsive for players.
Starring Lorne Plum commented Harima_Mekkai demonstrates how to draw Odaichi Atsu style: “As you can see, with some effort, anyone can draw it, but wrapping it (like Atsu does) is nearly impossible.”
While they look cool in the game, it goes without saying that in real life a sword on your back is more inaccessible than one hanging on your hip. Last year, a Link cosplayer discovered it It's impossible to pull out the sword from behind Breath of the Wild style. However, they got some unexpected advice from Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai, who explained that they were making Link's sword skills more realistic in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate by having Link move the scabbard.
IGN Review of Soul of the Goat Return 8/10. We said: “A predictable but well-executed story will take you through the gorgeous landscapes and satisfyingly fluid action of Ghost of the Tomb Raider – it may not revolutionize open-world gaming, but it's a great distillation of the samurai fantasy.”
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Verity Townsend is a Japanese freelance writer who worked as an editor, writer, and translator for the gaming news website Automaton West. She also writes about Japanese culture and film for various publications.