A combination of four pictures shows participants dressed in superhero and heroic fantasy costumes posing during the second edition of the Hero Festival in Marseille, France, November 7, 2015. The festival is dedicated to American superhero comics, Japanese mangas, heroic fantasy characters and video games universes. (Photo by Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)

A man stands in front of a poster created by artist Tomoko Konoike, one of 20 posters officially selected for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Monday, January 6, 2020. The official posters are out for this year's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. The 20 posters have been created by 19 artists in fields ranging from painting, graphic design, and photography. Calligraphy and Japanese manga are also represented. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

“Itasha (痛車), literally “painmobile”, is a Japanese term for an otaku fad of individuals decorating the bodies of their cars with fictional characters of anime, manga, or video games (especially bishōjo game or eroge). These characters are predominately “cute” female. The decorations usually involve paint schemes and stickers. Automobiles are called Itasha, while similar motorcycles and bicycles are called itansha (痛単車) and itachari (痛チャリ), respectively”. – Wikipedia


Photo: A visitor takes pictures of an anime-decorated «Itasha» car displayed during the “Moe Fes in Washimiya” at Washimiya Town Hall on July 18, 2009 in Washimiya, Saitama, Japan. Itasha, a word derived from “itai” (painful) and “sha” (car), are vehicles decorated with mostly female characters from Japanese manga, anime and video games. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)

An actress dressed as Black Cat poses for a photo at the London Super Comic Convention at the ExCeL Centre on February 23, 2013 in London, England. Enthusiasts at the Comic Convention are encouraged to wear a costume of their favourite comic character and flock to the ExCeL to gather all the latest news in the world of comics, manga, anime, film, cosplay, games and cult fiction. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield)

Gaikuo-Captain is a young Chinese student of chemical engineering, and a talented illustrator. His passion for the comic was demonstrated by a series of works that combine drawings with photographs, so that he himself is "immersed" in a fantasy to interact with characters from comic books and manga. His pieces are successful in social networks, particularly in Weibo, Chinese social network where Gaikuo publishes. You can see all his work on his zcool profile.

The eighth annual Nipponbashi Street Festa stamped Osaka March 20, 2012 (Nipponbashi is Osaka’s geek district – much like Akihabara is for Tokyo). Cosplayers turned up in colourful outfits, dressing as characters from their favourite manga, anime, and video games. The street was closed to cars, and otaku flooded the streets, snapping pics, cosplaying, and hanging out.

“Anastasiya Shpagina is one of the famous women who have transformed themselves into looking like human dolls. Hailing from Ukraine, 19-year-old Anastasiya Shpagina always loved Japanese cartoon characters, and has dreamed of becoming a living doll that appears in animes. She transformed her look into something that can be seen in the pages of a manga book”.

Photo: “Human Anime Doll” Anastasiya Shpagina (R) with “Human Barbie Doll” Valeria Lukyanova. (Photo by Anastasiya Shpagina & Valeria Lukyanova)

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese film director, animator, manga artist, producer, and screenwriter. Through a career that has spanned over fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of anime feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli, a film and animation studio. The success of Miyazaki's films has invited comparisons with American animator Walt Disney, British animator Nick Park and American director Robert Zemeckis.