Yoji Shinkawa, the artist best known for his work on the Metal Gear and Zone of the Enders game franchises, drew a poster for the Japanese RealD 3D release of Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim film. The illustration depicts the American Jaeger mecha Gipsy Danger posing over the crumpled body of the Kaiju (monster) Knifehead in Shinkawa's signature ink-brush style.

Del Toro ( Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy ) personally asked Shinkawa to draw the poster, and the director commented that it is an honor to be to able to work with such an eminent Japanese artist and illustrator.

The creator of the Metal Gear and Zone of the Enders franchises himself, Hideo Kojima, photographed del Toro and Shinkawa together. Kojima gave his thoughts on the film last week:

I have never imagined that I would be fortunate enough to see a film like this in my life. The emotional rush I had inside me was the same kind I had when I felt the outer space via "2001: A Space Odyssey" and when I had touched the dinosaur in "Jurassic Park". Animation and special effects movies and shows that I loved in my childhood days - they all truly exist in the screen. Director Guillermo del Toro offers this spectacular vision of massive kaijus and robots in PACIFIC RIM. This film is not simply a film to be respected, but most importantly, it let us dream the future of entertainment movies. Pacific Rim is the ultimate otaku film that all of us had always been waiting for. Who are you, if you are Japanese and won't watch this? I hope you would accept this inspirational love letter that had traveled across the Pacific, written by Director Guillermo del Toro.

Manga and anime pioneer Go Nagai (Mazinger Z, Devilman, Cutey Honey) said, "I was overwhelmed by the intense kaijū vs. giant robot action. It was fun!" Evangelion character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto compared the film to a huge, satisfying feast with the best prime cuts from Japanese tokusatsu (special-effects) and anime works.

Game designer Fumito Ueda ( Ico, Shadow of the Colossus ) remarked that Japanese tokusatsu films burned an indelible mark on his impressionable mind when he saw them as a child. Years later, he said that this film has battle scenes that surpass those images etched into his nostalgic memories.

The Pacific Rim film is about a futuristic war between humans and beasts called “Kaiju” (Japanese for monster) that rose from a portal in the Pacific Ocean and have killed millions of lives. The humans then create robots called Jaegers (German for hunter) as a counter-measure to the threat.

Warner Brothers hired many familiar names for the Japanese dub cast of the film:

Tomokazu Sugita as Raleigh Becket (played by Charlie Hunnam)

Megumi Hayashibara as Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi)

Tesshô Genda as Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba)

Tohru Furuya as Dr. Newton Geizler (Charlie Day)

Yuji Mitsuya as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb (Burn Gorman)

Shuuichi Ikeda as Herc Hansen (Max Martini)

Shigeru Chiba as Tendo Choi (Clifton Collins Jr.)

Daisuke Namikawa as Chuck Hansen (Robert Kazinsky)

The film will open in American theaters on Friday, and in Japanese theaters on August 8.

Del Toro is developing a live-action television adaptation of Naoki Urasawa's suspense manga Monster, and he already outlined the first season's episodes so Urasawa can review it before giving permission.

Source: Mainchi Shimbun's Mantan Web via Kotaku, Hachima Kikō

Update: The poster will also be available in the United States at Regal Cinemas showing the film in RealD 3D. Thanks, Trunks