Guillermo del Toro's love of Japanese culture seen in "Pacific Rim". “KAIJU” and robots with thorough attention to detail

"Pacific Rim" synopsis

“KAIJU” is a huge and ferocious Alien that suddenly appears from the deep sea. It was the beginning of a war that would last for years and cost millions of lives and drain humanity's resources. Humanity develops special weapons to fight the giant KAIJU. The giant humanoid weapon, named "Jaeger", is operated by two pilots at the same time. Before piloting, they go through a process called ``drift,'' which synchronizes their brains with each other through a neural bridge, before entering combat mode. At first, the Jaegers had the upper hand, but KAIJU's power increased with each appearance, and humanity became unable to fight back against its merciless attacks. The world is finally on the brink of extinction, and those desperately protecting humanity have only one option left. A man who once quit being a pilot due to exhaustion (Charlie Hunnam) and a newcomer with no actual combat experience (Rinko Kikuchi), an unlikely pair, form an unlikely duo and decide to fight in an old Jaeger. They confront KAIJU as humanity's last hope to stop the impending destruction.

Index

• An otaku director happily working on the production
• From 100 candidates, it took over a year to design every detail.
• Sympathy towards monsters among Mexicans, which also overlaps with professional wrestling

An otaku director happily working on the production

Like Michael Doherty, director of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Gareth Edwards, director of the previous film Godzilla (14), they were fascinated by Japanese monsters and applied that love to their own work. There are creators who have made it explode, but the originator is probably Guillermo del Toro. Guillermo won the Academy Award for Best Director for ` `The Shape of Water '' (2017) and is now a ``world master'', but everyone knows that at his core he is the ultimate otaku.

Of course, Guillermo's love for monsters exploded in ``Pacific Rim'' (13). A story in which the countries of the Pacific Rim fight against giant lifeforms that have emerged from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, using giant robotic weapons called "Jaegers" developed by humans. What surprised the Japanese at the time of its release was that the life forms it was dealing with were collectively called "KAIJU." It's not a monster, it's just a KAIJU. Guillermo del Toro's love for monsters came through.

"Pacific Rim" (c) 2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Legendary. All rights reserved.

Pacific Rim was released in the summer of 2013, but in April of the same year, Guillermo del Toro was setting up his production office in a corner of Warner Bros. studios in Los Angeles, putting the finishing touches on the film. .

The walls of Guillermo's office are covered in concept art. Both Jaeger and KAIJU are, of course, visualized using CG, but the attention to detail in their designs seems to be exceptional, and despite the rapid pace of work leading up to their release, Guillermo's explanation is unusual. It was full of joy and excitement.

First up is Gypsy Danger, the main character of Jaeger. The ability to unleash attacks reminiscent of breast fire and rocket punches seems like a rip-off of Mazinger Z, but here's Guillermo's explanation.

"Pacific Rim" (c) 2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Legendary. All rights reserved.

"The initial design for Gypsy Danger was based on the image of a gunfighter in a Western movie played by John Wayne. Since it is an American robot, we also used the architectural designs of New York skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building."

From 100 candidates, it took over a year to design every detail.