Anime fans rushed to attend the unveiling of the nation’s first-ever itasha — vehicles painted with female anime characters — at the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (KMRT) System on Friday.
The Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) introduced the newest member of the poster icons, known as the KMRT Girls, Nai Nai (耐耐).
The term itasha means “car painting.” People paint their vehicles with predominantly female characters from anime, comics or games, which are usually abbreviated to the term ACG. The practice has been popular in Japan since 2000.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
The KMRT Girls, designed to be iconic representations of animated comics, were introduced at the end of last year.
Following the popular reception of Siao Chung (小穹), the company introduced the conductor, Amelia, and the engineer, Chieh Er (婕兒).
The company said that Nai Nai would be the final member of the KMRT Girls and would, along with all the other members, be accompanying KMRT users in the cars and in the station.
The company said the painted cars would begin operation on the Orange Line and feature three themes using distinct art to invoke the ACG world of the KMRT Girls so passengers can “interact” with them.
The company said it is considering publishing a novella based on the KMRT Girls early this month, as well as creating a game based on the girls.
The company said the newest timetables for the itasha cars will be posted to its Web site and would be updated daily.
KRTC chairperson Hao Chien-sheng (郝建生) said the company sought not only to transport passengers to their destinations, but also aspires to be mobile platforms of cultural creativity.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS