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.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be
RSS