"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."

The Itasha phenomenon has spread to trucks! Dump trucks, no less! An "Ita-Dump," if you will! This nice big dump truck kit features graphics from the popular "Lucky Star" 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 kit of a Hino Profia dump truck. Figures not included!