The BATMAN KIA OPTIMA and CHAR AZNABLE TOYOTA AURIS

When we’re not talking about comics, movies, games and the other geek stuff, us geeks find a way to babble on something else – like gadgets, concerts, the latest street food, our favorite celebrity crush and even our favorite politicians.

No matter what our topics of discussion are, we always find a way to link or mix them with our geekiness. For now we’ll talk about CARS. No we’re not going to talk about the Disney movie which features those talking automobiles. Inside my head there’s someone screaming — “We all deserved The Incredibles 2!!!” But now let’s move on to better and much cooler things.

Two automobile manufacturers namely TOYOTA and KIA, ventured out of their usual work in pleasing and capturing the hearts and minds of normal average people and are now here to make zombies out of us as they offer us these projects which involve popular popculture characters.

More than a month ago at the C3x Chara Hobby Show 2012, TOYOTA showcased  the MS-186H-CH “Auris Char Aznable”  – a Toyota Auris with markings and color themes inspired by Char Aznable’s Mobile Suits.

If you’re clueless about who Char is, and so that you won’t be caught up in some embarrassing conversation with your friends in which you’ll go — “I SHOULD’VE BEEN INFORMED!”

Don’t fret noob! err… my young padawan! Thou shall be informed!

If you know Western popculture icons such as  Spock (“Live long and prosper”) and Darth Vader (* asthma ..Luke, I am your father… *asthma), Char Aznable is very much the same way when it comes to Japanese pop culture! Char also known as the “Red Comet” is the main antagonist of the Gundam franchise – Mobile Suit Gundam. He is also known as the archenemy of main protagonist Amuro Ray – who also holds the same japanese cultural significance like Char. Read more about Char here.

Toyota, a top Japanese multinational automaker really did a superb job in selecting Char – an iconic character. Now go drool on this hatchback that will surely blow away all those perfect grade model kits!

Lastly, here are a few questions left for Char’s TOYOTA hatchback  — “Can it go 3x faster like almost all of Char’s mobile suits?? Does it come with a replica of Char’s helmet and mask ?!”

Now let’s move on to the CHALLENGER!!!

Lately KIA has gone the same direction and chose this character  for starters. Constantly pitted against other characters — humans or superhumans, they say he can beat them all (with all those preparation and other explanations people give) , its THE GODDAMN BATMAN!

If you do not know Batman, I will not explain it to you (see here hehe) but if you are really interested in the character I recommend you watch the ultimate Batman movie — Batman & Robin featuring George Clooney.

DC Entertainment and KIA motors (a korean automaker) has teamed up to raise awareness for DC’s “We Can Be Heroes” campaign; a relief effort which aims to fight hunger in Africa (www.WeCanBeHeroes.org). Last October 10, they revealed the BATMAN-themed KIA Optima at the Time Warner Center.

And in the middle of it all is fan-favorite comics artist Jim Lee, who rose to fame with his work on X-Men especially on Batman: Hush.

In the comics world, Jim Lee together with Geoff Johns, spearheaded the DC Comics reboot (New 52) in which a lot of character and costume re-designs were done by Jim Lee. Although I’m not a fan of his recent designs, his design on the Optima SX Limited, even though it looks a bit cheesy for me, is actually cool.

It looks dark, bullet-proof and offers enough space for most of the bat-family to fit in. But for the Batman KIA Optima, one question remains – “Does it come in bla… oh it already does!”

Surely other DC Comics KIA Optima models will be out there since we have yet to see Superman, Green Lantern and hopefully the rest of the DC’s big seven. And I just  hope the FLASH Optima looks awesome! And it’s not bad to wish for an AMURO RAY counterpart for Char’s hatchback right??

So what do you guys think of these type of cars? Which would you prefer – Char’s Auris or Batman’s Optima? Let us know!

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SOURCES: gundam guy, star motoring, ny daily news