I love hand drawn animation and I love R-Type, so when they combine I am suitably excited. R-Type was released by Irem in the arcades in 1987 and when I first played it at Heathrow Airport it held me in awe. The huge sprites, detailed Giger-esque enemies and wonderfully realised alien environments made other shmups of the time look dated. R-Type still stands the test of time well and I play it occasionally on my Master System.
Paul Johnson, an artist and animator, must have been a huge fan too as he has made a R-Type animation in the Japanese anime style. It is not finished yet but what has been made is impressive. Check out the video and keep up with his progress at his Twitter page (linked below)