Aoshima has announced a collaboration model kit that brings together two Japanese icons: a 1/24-scale Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) wearing "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" graphics, marking 20 years since the anime first aired.
The kit — item IT-SP01 in Aoshima's The☆Tuned Car series, labeled FD3S RX-7 '02 — is priced at ¥5,720 including Japanese tax; it went up for pre-order in Japan on September 3 and is scheduled for release in January 2027. Character-art water-transfer decals and stickers handle the itasha side of the equation.
The chassis is the interesting part
Its standout feature is an adjustable chassis: even after assembly, builders can alter the ride height, camber angle and steering angle of the finished model, which rolls on rubber tires. The feature lets a builder give the completed RX-7 an aggressive, show-car stance instead of locking it into a single setup. The finished model runs about 180 mm long.
Why an anime FD3S makes perfect sense in 2026
The pairing connects a 1990s Japanese performance icon with an anime series that became a defining title of the following decade — and the character-livery treatment places the kit squarely in itasha territory, the tradition of wrapping real cars in anime art. Two decades on from the show's 2006 debut, the overlap between JDM enthusiasm and anime fandom is a real, addressable market, and this collaboration is aimed straight at it.
For ¥5,720, it offers an accessible miniature take on a heavily stanced FD3S — a car whose real-world examples have long since stopped being casual purchases.