ditto to western smither are better than japanese one. even in armor, western breast plate has triple thin layer to gave wearer protection against musket shot in oppose to samurai armor, which basically will just pierce thru n kill the wearer.

n broadsword is not a flail/mace. its still for slashing n slicing.
u can say katana is like western sword while broadsword is like nodachi (or maybe Odaichi level only)

wat i mean is
Japanese - Western
Katana - Sword
Odaichi (/nodachi?) - Broadsword
Yari - Spear
Kodachi - Short sword

n dun get personal into Claymore/zeihander stuff though.

the lesser the armor coverage, the better the armor rating still apply there.

the manga character design seem superior than anime. n also her breast plate arent that odd looking compare to the anime.

he met with CC long time ago, n he got this geass power that allow him to do the forging. (go watch the forging scene again).