What came first: the Zantetsuken or the Zankantou?

[T.G. Oskar]

Alright, this isn't going to make much sense, so I'll have to explain a bit.


This is the animation for one of the most famous Summon Monsters, Odin. His most famous attack is the Zantetsuken, which basically cuts monsters in half. Though you might have known of that.


This, on the other hand, is from another game; namely, the Super Robot Taisen games. The big mech you see there is the Dygenguar, a samurai-themed mecha. With a big sword, aptly named the "Zankantou" (or, literally, "Ship-cutting sword") While the sword and the shape alone are just too similar to Odin, around 2:07 of the video, happens what I am about to discuss...

Is it just me, or one of the most famous attacks in the latter game is just TOO similar to one of the most famous summon animations in the former one? I mean, both versions of Final Fantasy 7 that have summon animations (the original and Crisis Core) have lots of similarities with the second video's greatest attack, the Tatsumaki Zankantou (basically, the "Hurricane Ship-cutting Sword", or simply the Tornado Blade").

So, while it may be easy to determine which was the actual first (Final Fantasy's Odin), the title serves as a reference to the paradox: both moves seem to one-up in each appearance they have. Just try to look at some of the earlier appearances of both Odin and the Dygenguar, and you might have a clue as to what I speak of.

So, the real question(s) would be: are they really that similar? Would such a similar attack serve as a copyright infringement from Banpresto (the second video's game's company) towards Square-Enix? If you want to, which one is better in your opinion?