“The Machine Girl” (片腕マシンガール), Poster printed in 2008, Ultra‑Rare Original Japanese Hisashi Eguchi Illustrated Theatrical B2 Poster, Noboru Iguchi Director‑Signed in 2011, B2 Size (c. 51 × 73 cm) O549

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster for Noboru Iguchi’s splatter‑action cult film The Machine Girl (片腕マシンガール, 2008), featuring exclusive key art by legendary manga illustrator Hisashi Eguchi (江口寿史). Commissioned as part of the film’s domestic promotional campaign, this version replaces the usual photo key art with Eguchi’s pop‑art reinterpretation of heroine Ami Hyūga, and carries the English tagline “A Girl, A Machine Gun, A Revenge.”

Unlike the more common photo posters, the Eguchi illustration B2 was printed in a comparatively small run; Japanese collectors describe it as a “激レアバージョン” with very low print numbers that “hardly ever surfaces on the market.” This example is additionally hand‑signed in silver ink by the legend Noboru Iguchi across the lower right of the image, with a dating inscription reading “2011.10.8” just above the “MACHINE GIRL” title—making it an outstanding crossover piece between Japanese cinema, splatter horror and cult illustration.

Dating and identification

The Machine Girl is a 2008 Japanese action‑horror comedy written and directed by Noboru Iguchi, produced by Fever Dreams and Nikkatsu. The film follows high‑school girl Ami Hyūga (Minase Yashiro), who loses her arm to a ninja‑yakuza clan and returns for revenge with a multi‑barrel machine gun prosthesis, supported by a chainsaw‑wielding ally. Special effects were handled by Yoshihiro Nishimura, later director of Tokyo Gore Police, and the film quickly gained international notoriety as a “gonzo Japanese splatter” cult favourite and a flagship title for Media Blasters’ Tokyo Shock label. 

This illustrated poster is identified as the “Hisashi Eguchi version B2 size poster”, credited in Japanese listings as 「片腕マシンガール The Machine Girl 江口寿史バージョン B2サイズポスター」. Sellers note that the design was handled by Eguchi, that it represents a very low‑run, “激レア” printing, and that it was produced for the first wave of the film’s promotion as part of the “Tokyo Shock” project. 

Eguchi’s artwork for The Machine Girl has been reproduced in his own art‑book collections such as Works and in later poster anthologies, further confirming its status as an official commission rather than fan art. 

Poster design

Set against a flat, blood‑red ground, Eguchi’s heroine dominates the composition: a clean‑lined, long‑legged schoolgirl in sailor fuku uniform, skirt shredded and shirt spattered with small hits of airbrushed gore. Her left arm terminates in an oversized Gatling‑style machine gun rendered with industrial detail and heavy blacks, echoing the film’s practical effects work.

Across the top margin, the tagline screams in bold black caps: “A Girl, A MachineGun, A Revenge.”—a variant on the international campaign line. Down the right side, vertical Japanese copy spells out the title 「片腕マシンガール」 (“One‑Armed Machine Girl”), anchoring the poster firmly in its domestic marketing.

The lower half is occupied by a gigantic black block title “THE MACHINE GIRL”, the heroine’s legs cutting into the letters as if she were standing on the film’s own name. At the bottom right, a small silhouette of Ami with her gun‑arm echoes the main illustration, while the credit block introduces star Minase Yashiro as “THE MACHINE GIRL” alongside co‑stars Asami, Kentarō Shimazu, Honoka and Tarō Suwa, with production credits for Fever Dreams, Nikkatsu and the Tokyo Shock label. 

At bottom left, Iguchi’s printed signature “Iguchi” appears in red against the “GIRL” lettering, and over the central figure your example bears a large, flowing silver‑ink autograph from Iguchi himself, sweeping diagonally from skirt to right margin and accompanied by a hand‑written date “2011.10.8” near the “MACHINE” lettering—classic of his contemporary signing style on prints and art books. 

Why collectors prize this example

• Cult splatter landmark: The Machine Girl is one of the defining titles of the late‑2000s Japanese splatter boom—a hyper‑violent, knowingly trashy revenge fantasy about a one‑armed schoolgirl with a gun arm. Its outrageous gore and “sailor fuku plus heavy weaponry” concept have earned it enduring cult status worldwide. 

• Hisashi Eguchi crossover piece: Eguchi is celebrated as “one of Japan’s most prominent illustrators of female characters,” best‑known for manga like Stop!! Hibari‑kun! and for character‑design work on films such as Roujin Z and the look of Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue. His pop‑art style—clean lines, fashionable girls, bold colour—has a devoted fanbase and strong gallery/print market, making any film collaboration highly sought‑after.

• Ultra‑rare Eguchi poster variant: Japanese secondary‑market descriptions emphasise that this Eguchi B2 is a “極少ロットの激レアバージョン”—a very low‑run, extremely rare edition—compared to the standard photo posters. 

• Director‑signed example: Iguchi’s hand‑signed materials (books, pamphlets and posters, t-shirts) routinely command a premium among collectors, with auction records showing significant demand for his autograph and girl illustrations. An on‑poster silver signature, especially on one of his most recognisable movie pieces, is uncommon and highly desirable.

• Perfect fusion of cult cinema and pop‑art manga: The image distils the film’s entire appeal—sailor uniform, prosthetic heavy weapon, blood spatter—through Eguchi’s polished, fashion‑aware lens, embodying what one Japanese design blogger calls the production’s embrace of “the fetishism of sailor uniforms and firearms,” with Eguchi himself described as “a representative figure of that kind of fetishism.” 

Condition

Excellent condition. The sheet is clean and bright with no writing, tape or pinholes; corners are sharp and edges remain crisp. Colours very bright as issued. Iguchi’s large silver autograph is bold and legible, with only slight breakup in the dated “2011.10.8” inscription as shown in the photos.

Please review the photos, which show the exact item for sale.
It is an original Japanese theatrical B2 printing, not a modern reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.