Toyota has launched an anime miniseries to promote its Gazoo Racing lineup of sports cars. It’s called GRip: A Toyota Story, and its first two letters cleverly match the prefix in the series’ three star cars, the GR Corolla, GR Supra, and GR86. GRip takes place in a dystopian future where automated cars have taken over most of the streets and human-driven cars have to stick together.
So far only one episode has dropped. In the short chapter our protagonist is the lone human pilot on a highway full of identical autonomous cars called Synths. It recalls, ironically, the chase scene in Minority Report in which Tom Cruise hijacks a self-driving car that turns out to be a Lexus. Suddenly, some of the Synths turn on their red angry eyes and start to surround the hero’s GR Corolla, not unlike the scene in I, Robot where AI commands machines to attack Will Smith’s Audi.
In this case, a savior appears out of the blue in a GR Supra and creates an opening for the GR Corolla to escape. The two drivers meet in a remote parking lot, foreshadowing big things to come. So far, there’s no sign of the GR86. Toyota will release four more episodes in the coming weeks, but it looks like this is just the first season.
Apparently anime is how the youths like to be marketed to these days. GRip follows on the heels of Acura’s Chiaki’s Journey, as well as efforts by Subaru and several other ads by Toyota. Hopefully there will be other Toyotas entering the fray later in the series. We wouldn’t mind seeing a GRacia wagon but please, no GRand Highlanders.
It’s far from an absurd plot line. If we know EVs aren’t more ecologically sound, why are they being pushed on the grounds that they are?
Toyoda san is a based individual.
Reminds me of éX-Driver in a way.
Toyota being their arrogant selves. Dancing on a knife edge: ICE for a diminishing market, Prius (including EV) and BZ4X for the shit-munching masses.
Apparently, Toyota EVs aren’t anonymous like “stupid metal sheep” EVs. Seems like a dig at Tesla, what with that character on the billboard. Which is ironic, given their relaxed attitude to ubiquity when it comes to beige-mobiles such as the Corolla.
What hypocrites!
So Prius EV and BZ4X are…? Not metal sheep?
What hypocrites!
Ummm….The Prius is a Hybrid, not an EV
Prius is still a hybrid.
Uhh, that’s why I specified “Prius EV”. It was supposed to be an option for those wanting full EV, was it not?