The Toyota X Gundam Crossover Is So Ridiculous It's Awesome

In another spectacularly Japan-centric stroke of genius, Toyota has teamed up with Sunrise animation to create this rather bizarre, yet fun crossover starring Char Aznable, an infamous antagonist from the Zeon faction in the Gundam universe. Following a rather graceful dismount from his characteristically red Zaku and a small courting with a sporty Toyota, some ZEONIC TOYOTA DRIFT gets under way. I've got a soft spot for the retro sound treatment and visual flair especially, nothing like a little retro anime nostalgia to sell you on a fictional vehicle...oh wait.

That trailer wasn't kidding! The actual car itself is a pretty badass piece of fan service, slathered with Zeon logos, tech insignias and an uncharacteristically aggressive (For Toyota) Zeon flavored styling, and even an internal assistance system themed to Char's voice, which kind of makes me wish there was a market here for such amazing crossovers. The 'Auris Char's Customize,' released with 19 points of customization will be released in Japan on October 1 as a limited release with a price range of $28,000-$34,000. Ask yourself: How deep do your pockets, and Gundam fandom levels go?

The Kirobo Project - Blasting Robots Into Space

Toyota is taking the first stride towards sending a robot assistant into space as part of their Kibo Robot (Aka Kirobo) project, an initiative to use technology to break down communication barriers in an increasingly individualistic society. The highly emotive, soon to be robo-astronaut will be headed to the International Space Station on August 4 to hold an experimental conversation with astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Aside from some rather welcome resemblances to Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy in his design, Kirobo will also have an identical robotic terrestrial counterpart called Mirata, jokingly referred to as 'Backup crew member.' The robots are outfitted with proprietary voice recognition, natural language processing, a composite speaking voice, facial recognition sensors, a camera, communications equipment and their processing functions and weigh around 2.2 pounds each and are around 13.4 inches tall, making them perfect candidates for mass production if Toyota chooses to go down that route.