Itasha: Pimped rides, otaku style
This is what happens when otaku start pimping their rides…
See more of these itasha photos at New Akiba, which takes a peek inside Itasha Road 2007, a recently published mook profiling over 150 itasha and their proud owners.
Itasha are cars decorated with decals and paint jobs depicting anime, game and manga characters. The word itasha, which literally means “painful car,” is derived from the kanji for itai (”painful”) and sha (”car”). The word also appears to be a reference to the Italian sportscar, also known as itasha (although the ita for Italian is spelled with katakana instead of kanji), a conventional sort of chick magnet driven by a different sort of guy.
Otaku itasha have been around since the late ’80s, but they have remained relatively rare, perhaps because people have traditionally felt the need to keep their otaku nature to themselves. But as the subculture goes mainstream and otaku develop a greater sense of pride, more itasha are bound to be taking to the streets.
Check out the following sites for more awesome pictures of itasha:
- Yoshimu’s blog (via Danny Choo)
- ASCII 24 p.1, ASCII p.2 (via Japanator)
- Painful Style
[Via: /. Japan]
That doll in the last picture lies a bit on the creepy side.
Pimped Otaku mobiles…
Pink Tentacle posts about Itasha, art cars for otaku. The cars are the subject of a new Japanese mook called Itasha Road 2007. From Pink Tentacle: Itasha are cars decorated with decals and paint jobs depicting anime, game and manga characters. The wor…
Yes, I wonder what the doll is actually for? The mind boggles…
[…] From Pink Tentacle: “Itasha are cars decorated with decals and paint jobs depicting anime, game and manga characters. The word itasha, which literally means ‘painful car,’ is derived from the kanji for itai (’painful’) and sha (’car’). The word also appears to be a reference to the Italian sportscar, also known as itasha (although the ita for Italian is spelled with katakana instead of kanji), a conventional sort of chick magnet driven by a different sort of guy.” […]
The doll is for using the carpool lane, obviously.
That’s what I’ll keep telling myself, at least…
I don’t think that’s a doll. I think that’s the creepy kind of cosplayer who dress up like dolls. What’s worse? Thinking it’s a doll or knowing it’s a person? *shudder*
Completely awesome - I love the doll! Wait… that didn’t come out right…
Very kawaii - I love it! x
If you every have the chance to visit tokyo and go to the manga stores in akihabara you’ll find life sized dolls. Very creepy. But not as disturbing as what you find on the top floors (hentai)
Zirkus’ post started me thinking about how one would bring a more, um, hentai-oriented lifesized doll through Customs… then I realized what sort of road I was peering down. Not that I would ever set one foot down that road, but… but…
I’m sorry, but I think I need to go back to 1975. Good luck with the whole global warming thing, folks. I’ll be investing in houseboat-building companies.
That’s not a doll. That’s a person in a full-body cosplay outfit. They have weird webcam fetish sites for that stuff…
Zirkus
>But not as disturbing as what you find on the top floors (hentai)
Oh NOES.
I’d totally drive that Nanoha car or the Rozen Maiden cars (first two pics) through Tokyo, straight into Akiba, and pick up some of that hentai Zirkus is disturbed by. I could do without the full-body cosplay suit cosplayer though.
WOW
((_)\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\D~
Why are they called ‘painful cars’ ??? Because they are painful to look at?
[…] As for pimping cars… well, you’d just have to see to believe it. All I can say is lawl, Tokyo Drift. […]
Wow, and I thought Mitsubishi Mirages covered in K&N and Sparco stickers were gay. This just takes the cake
[…] From Japan: Itasha, cars decorated with anime art by otaku. (via Boing Boing) […]
There are such cutomes but this is definitely a doll - unless there is actually a kid inside. Just look at its size. If you wonder about its purpose, imagine this: a universe which contains people who have actually a sense of humour. Okay, that’s probably asking too much. In any case, I’ve heard about people from elsewhere in the world driving around with skeletons or dolls - just for fun.
You don’t have to like that or respect it. That’s called freedom. Some countries have that, others don’t. And even others claim they have freedom whereas they only inhabitated by close-minded, brain-washed, pseudo-christian or pseudo-islamic fundamentalists. Over and out.
[…] http://www.pinktentacle.com/2007/04/itasha-pimped-rides-otaku-style/ […]
You can tell it’s most likely a doll y the unnatural way that the knees bend. They look stiff like stuffed fabric, not articulated like a human. Plus the head looks small to contain another, even smaller head. And the elbow bends in a rather wide arc, not like an articulated limb.
[…] Otaku style pimped rides. Link Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
omg I’d like to the do that to my car some day
[…] [via Pink Tentacle] […]
[…] anime game, decals, japanese sports cars, manga, spots cars Posted April 21st 2007 Permalink | Email this | Comments (0)1 […]
[…] May 7, 2007 12:00 PM Anime & Manga, Plugs, Yaoi and Shounen-ai cars, pictures Feeling: okay Itasha: Pimped rides, otaku style Oh, those look cool. I wonder if I can put a R-18 yaoi graphic on my future car? XD […]
[…] Yes, I admit, this must be the most shocking story on Secret Japan to date. You can see even more monstrosities of geekdom over at Akiba, and here, and here too! Thanks to Pink Tentacle blog for putting me onto this, originally via Japanator and Danny Choo […]
Gimp Your Ride, Japan Style…
Via Secret Japan:
The technical term for these is Ita-Sha. Ita is derived from the kanji for pain, while Sha simply means car. It may also be a little play on words of “Italian car”, but who……
[…] Teneis muchos más ejemplos por la red. […]
[…] digital racers have been in on the fun from the start, turning their virtual rides into magnificent itasha that scream otaku […]
Its kinda scary….
I wached the anime of the first picture figures just 3 secs ago Öö
Wanna have this cars, cause I love the anime >
Itasha - anime-decorated cars…
Itasha are cars decorated with decals and paint jobs depicting anime, game and manga characters. The word itasha, which literally means “painful car,” is derived from the kanji for itai (”painful”) and sha (”car”). The word also appears to…
is there any way to get these decals in the U.S.? I would love to see them in person. If not, does anyone know where I can buy them online?
where do they find the decals that they put on the cars?
i’ve searched all over the net and couldn’t find a clue.
[…] Ich besitze zwar kein (eigendlich schade) , aber.. Naja seht es euch selber an :) Hier zur Seite: http://www.pinktentacle.com/2007/04/itasha-pimped-rides-otaku-style/ […]
wat up bro my nme is tom i m leving u a reply becase i wana pimped up ride
Well… I think that these cars are far away from awesome design, I just like car nr. 1 because it fit’s to the whole car.
But hey, They don’T pimp just in tokyo. I’m from Austria and also costumized my car…
http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs18/f/2007/211/8/f/my_caaaar_by_Laguzinthelake.jpg
[…] http://www.pinktentacle.com/2007/04/itasha-pimped-rides-otaku-style/ […]
[…] http://www.pinktentacle.com/2007/04/itasha-pimped-rides-otaku-style/ […]
[…] Pinktentacle] PUBBLICITÀ PUBBLICITÀ postato da francesca camerino il giovedì 25 ottobre […]
For all the people that have been wondering, that “girl” in the last picture is a real person. Its a hobby called “Kigurumi” which allows you to portray the character more accurately. If you look closely at her leg, you’ll see a line: thats the zipper for the zentai, which is a skin-tight, skin-colored suit used for keeping the skin more accurate (your skin has more imperfections than you think, such as freckles, hairs, skin is too tan, etc.). I was going to get into this hobby, but its kind of expensive, being that its impossible to get a hold of this stuff in the states.
i love anime cuz its like legal child pornography!!!!!!!!! XD
[…] image via Pink Tentacle […]
me wants that Nanoha car ^w^
I am from West Africa in Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire),I have no comment to do. I want to have a stage with you in order to learn skills of pimping rides to practise in my country could you please to give me a positive answer.
anime ricer!!!