Maybe it is designed like that in order to snag enemy blades.

The Japanese lamellar armor IS designed to trap blades.

Ah, that explains it then.

I don't know for sure if this was the philosophy, but the katana back then was the big weapon of war and not many people knew how to use it properly. They could however stick peasants in lamellar armor which would disable the samurai's weapon until he could dig it out. At that point, twenty spears could be jabbed into the distracted samurai. Whether the victim survived the attack was inconsequential to the more important purpose of trapping the sword.

Interesting. The overlap pattern of the scales bugged me at first. That's an illuminating bit of info.

A few reasons they overlap. Lamellar is held together by lacing, if they didn't overlap, a cut would cut through the lacing. Also a blow to plates that overlap, spreading out the force. It also means you can't get stabbed by a lucky shot that threads between the plates. Also remember that angles are more protective than flat surfaces. Angles deflect the blows away, whereas a flat surface absorbs it. Not to say there's not flat lamellar but that tends to be easier to make, and therefore earlier or less expensive pieces. Generally you don't wear armour to make it easier for the guys around you to kill the who just killed you. If that happens it's a nice benefit of your death, but generally you put on armor in the hope of keeping yourself alive.

Interesting, she's like an exosuit combat medic.

I don't get the trend to have the "boob plates" in this thread. They are hardly reasonable. They redirect arrows and swords towards the center of the chest and if you fall they're a good way to break your sternum.

And oh has anyone mentioned,