"Itasha" literally means "pain car" in Japanese, suggesting that these cars garishly decorated with colorful anime character graphics are embarrassingly painful to look at, or ride in. A bit harsh, perhaps, but there you have it! Another take on the name is that it's riffing on the similar sound of the nickname for Italian cars, also pronounced "Itasha" but with the kana for Italy's "Ita" in place of the kanji for pain (also pronounced "ita" in this combination). "Sha" in both cases means "car."

This nice 1998 Mazda FD3S RX-7 kit features graphics from the popular "Love Plus" anime. The decals for the graphics are particularly well done, featuring image fidelity not often seen in automotive kits. Aside from the decals, this is Aoshima's standard curbside (no engine detail) kit of the FD3S RX-7. Body is molded in white, with chassis in black and interior molded in white. Unpainted white plastic wheels are included (not chrome as shown on the box art), as are self-adhesive, pre-cut templates for the windows. Nice!