Ichigeki - Vol. 2 Ch. 6 - Casualties

[MangaDex]

 

[Grimmycoffee]

...been thinking this for a while, but why didn't they just use spear? It should be easier to teach than swords, right?

 

[Whinter]

Good point

 

[Golliboy]

@Grimmycoffee I think they want to make it seem like it's a group of trained individuals attacking them rather than peasant militia. While spears are very easy to teach and use, they are not used by higher class soldiers usually. Not only this but they cannot hide spears easily due to their length and spears would make attacking larger groups more difficult because you cannot control the range with fewer troops. Giving them swords and dressing them as samurai hides the fact that they are inexperienced which means their enemy believes they are defending against a much more skillful group and thus lowers their morale. If they were told they are fighting lowly peasant soldiers they will probably become more confident as they are not only better trained but rightfully "better" than the peasants and thus have no reason to be afraid of them.

 

[minsam]

homosexual relationships were common with pubescent males (known as wakushu)