Masaya Taniguchi has a "heartache" plastered across the hood of his flaming red Audi TT Roadster.
Her name is Mashiro Mito, a teenage character from his favorite computer game with melancholic eyes and pink ribbons in chestnut hair. Taniguchi, 28, is an "otaku," a geek freak for "manga" comic books, "anime" animation movies and video games, plus, in his case, a passion for cars.
"I love cars and I love computer games, and this is a natural way to combine the two," said Taniguchi, who last week attended an otaku gathering in the Odaiba district of Tokyo.