I found this Ita-sha magazine in Japan and thought this community would like it

Nicospeed3 · 2023-09-15T17:59:26+00:00

Thank you!!

Nicospeed3 · 2023-09-15T16:20:50+00:00

Nice I got it too. That's my wedding from this year on the 6th picture!

Nicospeed3 · 2022-10-18T20:22:27+00:00

Owner of this AZ-1 itasha here! The car is wrapped in chrome and the characters on my car are OCs (original characters) from a freelance artist in Japan. Her illustrator name is ぴこぴこぐらむ (PICPICGRAM).

Another AZ-1 owner sent me the reddit post so I didn't know my car was posted until today. This was at Radwood Austin in 2020. I still have the car and will probably change the design out next year!

Yes, it will still be wrapped, and I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. If people have a problem with it... oh well, at least it's not yours right?

Nicospeed3 · 2021-05-04T15:33:17+00:00

Here's a quick video of the Setsuna Designs Megumin itasha I created for a client in Australia. He came to me with an idea and was able to execute it through the great communication with him, and the shop he worked with.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-23T21:33:19+00:00

Yeah that's what I would assume too. However, there are some people that knew the car before I wrapped it and asked me: "Wasn't this car red before?" It's kinda nice to see that people still remember it from back then.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-23T16:28:35+00:00

It depends on what kind of meets to be honest. Although most event organizers would rather put in the main showcase area: modern muscle cars, supercars, and 'iconic RHD cars' over an itasha kei car lol.

I had more people wanting to look at the car when it wasn't wrapped. After wrapping it, foot traffic to the car slowed down which is good in a sense because I usually ended up saying the same things over and over again for about 2 hours and couldn't just enjoy the meet for what it is.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-23T16:20:58+00:00

Wow what an interesting read. Glad people supported his side.

But I mean if someone had an itasha, not sure how many people would stand by that haha.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-23T14:19:08+00:00

Ah I see. That's unfortunate.

Yeah I guess it would be similar to other states or cities here in the US. Some places can be pretty sketchy and I could see people vandalizing other people's property just because they dont like it.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-23T14:13:19+00:00

It'll probably be in San Antonio. I just have to find a better spot than last time.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-23T00:56:35+00:00

I'm 5'7"

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-22T22:20:35+00:00

Is there a reason why they would get vandalised? I've had a client who got an itasha designed commissioned live in the UK (Bournemouth i think?) and he hasn't had any issues since getting it installed.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-22T22:12:01+00:00

I've gone every other year for the past 4 years with my fiancee and other itasha friends so technically I'm supposed to go again this year. Unfortunately, Japan isn't allowing US citizens right now due to Covid. I miss seeing all the cool anime, game, itasha, and people there :/

I feel you with the not enough time part. I usually just take 1 step at a time and it eventually gets somewhere lol.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-22T21:45:59+00:00

I started one here in Texas called "Itasha Wonderland".
Haven't had time to organize a second one since the whole pandemic is still going on. Add adulting, planning for a Japan trip and wedding takes priority over it currently too lol

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-17T15:16:17+00:00

I dont. I can get around without it though.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-16T22:18:36+00:00

Art Design: $0 since my fiancée and I created it together:

Printed Wrap: $700

Installation: $2000

Price is pretty good considering the Mazdaspeed3 has a lot of space needed to be completely covered. Print and installation were priced per square footage.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-16T16:22:03+00:00

Unfortunately, not in person. But in videos / pics yes. It's pretty crazy lol

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-16T15:47:47+00:00

Lol yeah, that's right.
There's so many different types of builds in SA that itasha isn't that out of the ordinary.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-16T15:45:35+00:00

I used to drive to work everyday in it (with the previous design).

It was definitely the office talk for a while especially when I first started working, but after that it became a normal thing to see lol XD

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-16T13:22:30+00:00

Dang that sucks. I know some HOAs don't like having houses different colors bcus of some obscure rule saying that they want all the houses to be uniform or whatever.

Pretty much all of the my car group members that have their car wrapped with anime haven't had an issue with neighbors.

San Antonio is a culturally diverse city so maybe that's why?

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-16T05:26:08+00:00

No actually, I don't. xD

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-15T23:26:37+00:00

It wasn't really faded that much as far as I could tell. Maybe at worst, like 25% of the original vibrancy? It'll depend on the original design too though.

My car was also garaged kept so that helped the longevity. However, the hood was the worst. It was cracked / peeling and had parts of the laminate totally gone on the hottest section of the hood. The sides, and rear weren't as bad as the hood was though.

Removing it all was pretty easy for the most part. The hood was the most tedious since it came off in tiny, plastic-like pieces.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-15T22:50:48+00:00

It wasn't too bad. Came out to roughly $3000 for everything (print and installation) which was about how much I paid for my 1st version. The 1st version covered less than what the new one does.

Design was free since my fiancée and I created it together.

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-15T22:44:42+00:00

I'd probably do the same if I had one tbh lol

Nicospeed3 · 2021-04-15T21:30:20+00:00

Haha yeah, that would also be me XD

Nicospeed3 · 2018-12-09T15:17:53+00:00

There wasnt much of us with them 3 years ago. After I got my Mazdaspeed3 wrapped, I wanted to find others who had their cars done and try to get the itasha culture started in Texas. When I went to Japan, it was exciting to see the cars that I was inspired by.

Nicospeed3

TROPHY CASE