A year ago, Acura introduced the world to a new anime car-racing protagonist named Chiaki who featured in a series of shorts called Chiaki’s Journey. The mini films were a celebration of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Japanese anime, the automaker’s fuller Type-S lineup, and the new Acura Integra. A year on, Acura is presenting sponsor and official vehicle at Sundance for the 13th year in a row, so Chiaki’s back with new friends and a new ride. As part of a multi-platform ad campaign called “New World. Same Energy,” the Japanese luxury brand takes viewers on a tour of “the Acura multiverse” of Type S models set to the soundtrack of Motlëy Cruë’s “Live Wire” from 1982.
As with anything set to a Motlëy Cruë song, the video is wall-to-wall fever. Here’s Acura’s quick map of the kaleidoscopic cosmic terrain traversing six worlds:
- Future-verse: The 2023 TLX Type S and the all-new, next-gen 2023 Integra compact sport sedan challenge a hyper-futuristic tech world.
- Joneses-verse: The 2023 MDX Type S accelerates through a world of similarity – it is so much more than keeping up with the Joneses.
- Lunar-verse: The 2023 RDX prepares for launch.
- Anime-verse: Acura’s favorite anime racing hero, Chiaki, and the 2024 Integra Type S charge up a snowy Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
- Racer-verse: Powering through the live-action racing universe is Acura’s new ARX-06 electrified race car that debuts in competition later this month at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
- EV-verse: The campaign’s multiverses converge and their Acura energy culminates in a spark that unlocks the futuristic world of the Acura Precision EV Concept.
Because the Integra Type S in the ad (at 0:38) is a Pikes Peak hill climber, it’s bolted up with some equipment we definitely will not see on the options list when the production version arrives this summer. The Acura Precision EV Concept is treated more like something from this universe, previewing the styling of the 2024 Acura ZDX and ZDX Type S we’re going to meet later this year. Acura says the “New World. Same Energy” campaign will run through March Madness.
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