Pacific Rim Jaeger Niten-Ichi

Just saw Pacific Rim this weekend and HOLY SHIT IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME! I'm a HUGE fan of mecha anime like Gundam, Evangelion, and Gurren Lagann as well as video games like Zone of the Enders and Armored Core, so seeing this movie was an absolute joy. If you haven't seen it yet, go see it! It's fucking awesome!

Anyway, I figured I'd get on the "build your own Jaeger" fad going on right now (found on the official Pacific Rim website: [link], so here's my Jaeger, Niten-Ichi.

Niten Ichi (二天一) is Japanese for "two heavens as one", and is a nod to the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi, who founded the two-handed kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship) style of Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū (兵法二天一流), which loosely translates to "the school of the strategy of two heavens as one". It focuses on dual wielding techniques with the katana and the smaller blade, the wakizashi. These techniques are referred to as Niten Ichi or Nitō Ichi (二刀一, "two swords as one"). [link]

I didn't name the Jaeger Niten-Ichi simply because it has one long blade and one short blade. I also felt that the "two heavens as one" motto really tied into the way the Jaeger is piloted, with two pilots neurally synchronized together to pilot the powerful Jaegers. The idea of two forces (the pilots) working together and combining into one powerful force (the Jaeger) REALLY reminded me of Musashi's Niten Ichi-ryū style so it was fun building a Jaeger to embody this philosophy.

If you're interested more about Musashi, I'd recommend you read Takehiko Inoue's "Vagabond", a manga series that loosely tells the story of Musashi's life.

Anyway, I hope you guys like it. Once again, if you haven't seen Pacific Rim, GO SEE IT. IT'S AWESOME.