custom cars

Angel Beats! itasha auction wraps up for unexpected sum

Japanese marketing ploys of using popular characters to sell everything under the sun isn’t a new concept by any means, but when it comes to itasha, they’re almost always custom works created by otaku for otaku.

However, as part of a game-changing move, publisher VisualArt’s recently announced it would be auctioning off a BMW with an official Angel Beats! wrap job, posing the question of just how high fans of the series would go to purchase a one-of-a-kind, official item from their favorite series. The result, however, probably wasn’t what anyone was expecting.  Read More

Mr. Sato goes to Tokyo Auto Salon 2015, forgets to take photos of the cars…

While Japan makes some rather unique cars, itasha aren’t the only custom cars in the country. From oni-kyan wheels for drifting to Chibatman, it sometimes seems like half of the vehicles in the country have been modified to extremes. But to get an idea of just how popular custom cars are in Japan, you’d need to head to Tokyo Auto Salon, which saw nearly 300,000 attendees last year!

This year, not wanting to miss out on all the fun, our brave Mr. Sato donned his most garish, chinpira outfit and headed down to look at some cars…and the women who get paid to stand next to them.

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