Samuel in Albany, CA brings up a good topic with the influence of Scooters in the hand rendered world. Specifically Samuel mentioned a “Japanese Anime show called FLCL where a Vespa plays a rather large role ( a Silver Pigeon makes a small appearance)”… In it the main character, Nandaba Naota, rides a Yellow Vespa as seen here (purchased as a toy here).
There’s also You’re Under Arrest, which features Natsumi Tsujimoto riding a Honda Motocompo seen here, but can be purchased as a toy too.
Don’t forget Scooter Girl with hip kids on Vespas and Lambrettas.
Then, when you start digging deeper in to the Anime world, you start realizing EVERYBODY rides a scooter… ok, I exaggerate… but there’s lots. Witch Hunter Robin rides a Vespa, Honey and Clover features a Vespa, Gintama Vespa, etc. ad nauseum.
There was one Anime scooter I remember seeing that was not based on a real scooter, but it had a real nice look to it. Would make a nice “real world” scooter. I’ll post it here if I find it again.
Can you think of some more I’m missing here?
28. September 2006 at 3:47 am
The Originals: Graphic novel by Dave Gibbons, published by Vertigo. Story set in a retro future with hover scooters.
http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/data/media/270/originals.jpg
Blue Monday: by the same author/artist as Scooter Girl, published by Oni Press.
http://comicfanpage.de/rezensionsarchiv/ehapa/bluemonday2_gr.jpg
Mastermind Excello: published by Marvel, written by Greg Pak, art by Takeshi Miyazawa. The main character rides a Vespa. http://www.pakbuzz.com/pix/mme.jpg
28. September 2006 at 5:59 am
woohoo Loki! That’s what I’m talking about.
+3 to the list of animations / comics with scooters
28. September 2006 at 3:45 pm
geek alert. You have a factual error, sir, the pink haired girl on the yellow Vespa is Haruhara Haruko. The closing credits feature her doing stunts on the Vespa and then the Vespa goes off by itself to chat up other girls on the street. The character you refer to, Nandaba Naota, is a boy who does not in fact have a scooter.
ALthough not scooters, the machines depicted in the feature length “Akira” are still pretty cool. wikipedia it!!
28. September 2006 at 4:28 pm
AHH! I’ve been exposed!
Thanks for the corrections honorable Otaku. As you can easily see, I know nothing about Anime.
That’s what I get for relying on Google. My cartoon tastes haven’t reached that level or refinement or sophistication. I’m still stuck on Ren & Stimpy and South Park.
I DO know about the Akira scooter bike thing… and I like it, but not enough to have purchased the fiberglass body kit to stick on my Honda Helix.
Cheers!
PS> Someone had mentioned the ‘some kinda twins’, I forget their name, and said they ride scooters, but my google image search just came up with images that made me feel like a dirty old man… so I left them out.
28. September 2006 at 6:15 pm
Beast Boy from the “Teen Titans” was really stoked about accquiring Mad Mod’s scoot on one episode!
29. September 2006 at 12:21 am
The best refrenece for Anime bikes/Scooters is the brillaint “Anime bike book”..Its full of wild desings and great fun if your a geek-or not.
http://en.bemmu.com/manga/category3.php?id=58
…glad I turned you on to such a fun topic!
Cheers!
Samuel
29. September 2006 at 2:36 am
Wow! There’s a book for this stuff? Anime is a scooter featuring category of its own.
29. September 2006 at 2:56 am
In Japan Vespa lover’s favorit is “Motor Rock” by Nanasino Yotarou,
http://www.parentado.com/yt/
Clik “Comix” >Clik left upper side UP and DOWN botton,
His many commic came from his scooter life with very fine drawing,
And one more,
In Japan girl like Vespa not honda, Many time movie took vespa
Classic model for girl’s item,
http://www.strawberryshortcakes.net/introduction/index.html
29. September 2006 at 5:30 am
There are a lot of scooters in Anime, it just that not many play a big role as the vespa in FLCL or the Motocompo in YUA. (That twin one you’re talking about is probably “Ongai twins”, which the scooter is just a simple prop)
Now if anyone is interested owning FLCL, there’s a new box ste coming out November. Most places are selling it for about 50-60, but cduniverse has it for 42 shipped.
It is a bit high compared to western shows, but anime priceing is like that. FLCL is worth the money though.
I do belive I have some crazy scooter pictures in anime style saved. So if anyone is interested, I can probably upload it to somewhere.
29. September 2006 at 5:35 am
I’m sorry, it’s 42 shipped after google checkout coupon.
2. October 2006 at 4:40 pm
a few months ago we were chatting about anime and scooters on a forum that I frequent. I posted pics in the thread:
link
-Franky