Alien and Anime Combine in the OtaKing’s Latest Short

The one-man animation studio channels Ridley Scott’s classic film through an ’80s anime aesthetic.

Nine years have passed since Paul “OtaKing” Johnson graced us with Tie Fighter, a short film inspired by ’80s anime and Star Wars. And now, the one-man animation studio has returned with a new short: Alien: Monday, which channels Ridley Scott’s Alien through Johnson’s trademark anime aesthetic.

Co-directed with Claudia Montealegre, Alien: Monday took Johnson six years to animate — and it’s just really impressive work all around. (Johnson has also posted some “Making of” footage that shows how he created the short.) I love the ’80s anime style, and given that it’s an Alien-inspired title, Alien: Monday is legitimately intense once the facehuggers and xenomorphs show up.

In addition to Alien: Monday and Tie Fighter, Johnson has also created videos inspired by the Street Fighter and R-Type video games. Altogether, this level of artistry and nerdy dedication will always get high marks in my book.

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