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Oh, Sephiroth's sword was a Masumune? I always had thought it was a tachi, due its sheer immense length.
And one last thought of mine on double-edged vs. single-edged swords: I guess it makes sense that Asian weapons such as the katana would lean more toward curved, single-edged blades whereas European design would lean more toward straight, double-edged due to the kinds of armor they had. As far as I know, (using Japan as an example), I don't know of any samurai who wore a full suit of armor like knights and paladins did in Europe during the middle ages. I suppose that why they never needed to have anything but slashing weapons because samurai wore relatively thin, thus never had the need to develop stabbing/piercing weapons to compensate for opponents with full suits of armor. Good examples of a stabbing weapon specifically meant as a solution to armor would be the stiletto or epee, both not suited for slashing attacks due to their light weight (and the epee has only a point anyway, no blade), but perfect for piercing armor or slipping past it and stabbing joints in the armor. Another sword almost exactly like the epee is the estoc, again having no slashing blade, only a point of stabbing/piercing attacks. Also, neither the epee nor the estoc are really suited to defense, for any well placed blow could easily break the blade clean off (because they are extremely thin, needle-shaped weapons).
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