Usagi Yojimbo movie poster - Akira Kurosawa

I created a poster for a movie that doesn't exist, but I wish it had. This one may take some explaining, because this isn't a well known character. Miyamoto Usagi, aka Usagi Yojimbo (Rabbit Bodyguard) was an indie comic book created by Stan Sakai in 1984, coincidentally the same year that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuted in their own comic. He has often crossed over with TMNT in comics and cartoons.
Sakai was partially inspired by the films of Akira Kurosawa and took the name from Kurosawa's film, "Yojimbo." Toshiro Mifune played the title character in that film.
Kurosawa directed his last film in 1993 and Mifune continued acting until 1995, so it's within the real of possibility that this film could have existed. Is it stop-motion animated? Is it actors in animal costumes? I don't know, but it's fun to imagine.
This was a lot of fun to work on. The biggest challenge was finding a photo of a rabbit that was sufficiently angry. I also took some care to make sure the kanji had accurate translations and had fun drawing my drawing my own versions of the characters.
Prints, t-shirts and other merchandise available here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/cwayers/works/70636937-usagi-yojimbo-movie-poster-akira-kurosawa-toshiro-mifune