This blade is 3 ply hinoki used by Satoshi Aida. I got it because I have been playing mostly double inverted defense, and love Satoshi's style.
The blade is very high quality, and the smell of Hinoki permeates the box when you first open it (ahhhh)
The blade plays brilliantly for both looping and chopping, and has plenty of speed without being too out of control for defense. I used Aida's exact setup, Rakza 7 on the FH and Rising Dragon on the BH, both in 2.0.
The blade is shorter in length compared to most chopping blades and is the same height as most conventional attacking blades, however it is still oversized and made for chopping as it is wide. This makes it safe for chopping but more handy than most chopping blades for offense or quick movement strokes like flicks and emergency chops.
My only issue with the blade is that it seems to be considerably less spinny on serves than my other blades. I don't know what the issue is. I have the same rubbers on my VKM and CWX, but I cannot generate nearly the same spin. Could be the stiffness, could be the new rubbers are not broken in, I dunno. But the blade plays beautifully in every other way so I am trying to work through the service issue.
Speed wise, I'd say it's faster than a VKM, but slower than a JSH. It's lighter than both (at least mine was).
I highly recommend.
