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CATCH OF THE DAY #002 - KUROMII (TILARNY'S IMPREZZA)

When most people think about Kuromi, they think of the character from the My Melody universe of the Hello Kitty franchise—the edgy, emo-aesthetic rabbit, known for her mischievous nature, love of the color purple, and fondness for food. When I hear the name Kuromi, however, Tilarny's 2007 Subaru Impreza is what comes to mind. I've followed this car on Instagram for a while now. Back when Miso Coupe was just an idea, before the merch drop, and before the growth of the community, I’ve always admired this purple Hawkeye. When I reached out to the community to help me name this series, it was actually Til who came up with "Catch of the Day," so it only seemed fitting to have her as the first guest write-up. We met up a couple of weekends ago at one of the most iconic car photography spots south of the Swan River. Without further ado, welcome to the Kitchen, Kuromii.

Tell me a bit about your history with cars. What got you into them?

T: My dad loved Fords. When I was growing up, he was a Range Rover mechanic in his youth. From then on, I’ve loved them ever since. I was his only child for about ten years before my brother came onto the scene, which meant for ten years, he had to share that love of cars with his little girl. I didn’t care much until I got my license, then it all hit me at once that this was going to be a VERY expensive hobby for me.

What drew you to Imprezas specifically?

T: I went to high school with someone who'd done up their '99 Impreza, and it drew me to it straight away. I love that it’s casual, easy to learn, and reliable.

Based on the sparkly purple paint, I'd hazard a guess that it's your favorite color. Is that why you called it Kuromii?

T: My favorite color is actually red, but there are so many red cars on the road, so purple was a close second favorite, teehee. I thought the color scheme of the car fit Kuromi perfectly!

How do you and/or your car relate to the beloved Sanrio character?

T: Kuromi is a Sanrio character, created as the antagonist to the sweet, kind-hearted My Melody. Kuromi's spooky, bossy, and sassy—all wonderful traits if you ask me.

What would you say is your favorite and least favorite thing about your build?

T: I love the attention to detail I’ve put into Kuromii. The sparkles in the paint, the Kuromi stickers in the window—but I don’t love the visible damage. It’s been a long road for Kuromii, and sometimes fixing little dings wasn’t an option financially.

Most car enthusiasts will relate when I say, "there's always something on the to-do list." What's on your agenda?

T: Honestly, just little things. It needs some fixing: the little dings, a thorough service, and some TLC. Nothing huge; I’m still studying and working part-time, so I can’t afford a wicked turbo kit (sorry, everyone).

What's been done to it so far?

T: Paint first, then the plates. The body kit was put on shortly after. The front lip was ripped off too many times for me to count, so it stays off now. I did the suspension, put some Rotas on, and then I installed my headlights—they were a total pain in the ass. There's also a cat-back exhaust, which was added by the last owner. My mechanic father helped me out a lot with the headlights. In fact, all of my car friends and family have helped me out with this car; it feels like it’s everyone’s passion project sometimes, and I love them very much for it.

Your car has inspired me to get more stickers for mine (thanks for the Midnight Moon one, BTW). Do you have a favorite sticker or one that stands out to you the most?

T: You’re very welcome <3. I love my Darlingful banner at the front. I love all my nibblets stickers, and my Sukeban tramp stamp on the car’s spine. I love all my stickers very much—stickers make me so happy.

What's one thing you love about the car scene in Perth, and perhaps something you'd wish would change?

T: I love how close-knit everyone is, especially here in Perth. I met my boyfriend through cars and found out we had a lot of mutual friends. Kuromii actually belonged to a schoolmate of his, and by chance, it fell into my hands. I wish I could change how people treat one another, but as I’ve gotten older, I know that my issue is more with society as a whole, rather than just our car family.

Who else do you want to see on Catch of the Day?

T: I’d love to see my car twin (Asha's "Blossom" Hawkeye WRX)! She’s absolutely AMAZING!! Such a wonderful person. I’d also love to see Curby and her crew—Beth is a beautiful human, along with the people she drives around with. I think it’s important that our car girls get some love—they’re just as valid as the boys ;)

Oh yeah, one last thing, how did you come up with the name Catch of the Day?

T: I called it Catch of the Day because Miso Coupe gives me sushi restaurant vibes. In these restaurants, they usually have fish they caught that morning or from the market, that they put in their sushi. I thought it was cute.

Makes sense ha-ha.

Thank you for allowing me to share your story with the world.

If you want to keep up to date with the build, drop her a follow: https://instagram.com/kuromii.jp. If you want to follow the other cars shouted-out, follow: Curby:(https://www.instagram.com/eurmum_curby/) & Blossom: (https://www.instagram.com/hellokitty_assia/).

If you want to be featured on the next episode, send me an email at kamron@misocoupe.com.

Photographed by Kamm, written by Kamm & Tilarny.

[misocoupedotcom]

001 - UNSH!TBOX (KAMM'S EK1)

Since I was a kid, my parents always taught me that honesty is the best policy. With that being said, these photos are from earlier in the year, but the car remains exactly the same, just less shiny (thanks to @madautodetailing). I bought this car at the end of 2021 as a purchase to fill the void during a rather challenging time in my life. It gave me something to focus my time and energy on.

My older brothers and my dad have always been team Toyota. My oldest brother had a couple of Z20 Soarers, his first car was an '80s MR2 with pop-up headlights, and most recently, there’s a Crown Majesta sitting on my dad’s driveway. My middle brother has owned a Z30 Soarer and the coolest car, a Toyota Aerocabin. The Aerocabin is a super rare, two-door Soarer that swaps its rear passenger seats for a hard-top, convertible roof. My dad also had a Celsior. I would sit in the back and press a button in the armrest that would fold the front headrest down and slide the chair forward—it’s safe to say my brothers were not fans of this. You can imagine the response when I said I wanted to get a Honda Civic. I liked the way they looked, and a family friend, Simon (better known online as Joydrive), had a really cool yellow EK, which I hoped to replicate. After many messages to him asking if “this one was good?”, we picked one up for just under $5k, with around 250,000 km on the odometer.

As referenced in Simon’s “Reviewing the Joydrive EK Civic,” I have a bottom-of-the-range, windy-window Honda Civic. It’s the facelift model (made between 1999-2000) and was in pristine condition when we picked it up—something that would change during my ownership. The previous owner had looked after it immaculately, and it was mostly stock, other than an Integra DC5 steering wheel, replica Integra blade wheels, and a Skunk2 shifter knob. It has a D16Y4 engine with an impressive 0-60 time of about thirty seconds, but it ran smoothly and was cheap to run as a daily driver. There were no "beans," a testament to its 88kw/118hp engine*.

I grew up around *Need for Speed ProStreet* and *Initial D*, so I had big plans, and after saving up, I started modifying it. The first thing was EK9 cup holders, as my partner at the time grew tired of holding my drinks between gear changes. I ordered some “angel eye” LED headlights and a rear lip from an online store and found an unpainted front bumper, white front lip, and replica EK9 grille, along with the personalised plates “EK1WA.” It was all starting to come together just as I’d planned—until one drive home from work when I rear-ended a BMW X5.  

I stand by the fact it wasn’t my fault; she was merging in front and stepped on the brakes abruptly. The bonnet bent upwards, and the engine frame was twisted inwards. I went to a wrecker and sourced a new bonnet, front left fender, and a new bumper to match (I had one from before, but it was bogged together, and the wrecker’s one was in better condition). After taking it to a fairly average panel beater, it was presentable again. Thankfully, it was mechanically sound, or I would have cried having it written off. You could say it was restored to factory settings. The old headlights went back on, the front lip wasn’t attached (I still have it—it just needs to be put back on), and it looked almost identical to when I first bought it. This was a hit to my motivation, and for a year, it sat as a daily driver, with the paint fading day by day until I got it detailed. This was the start of what I call the “un-sh!tbox era.” After replacing the previously crinkled number plate (the result of love-tapping a tow ball) and getting it paint corrected and ceramic coated, it looked like I hopped in a time machine and drove it out of the showroom.

I’m in two minds about where we go from here. After seeing builds like @hellokitty_assia’s Hawkeye WRX or @eurmum_kirby’s MX5, part of me still wants to see through the original objective of wrapping it pastel blue and adding the cool headlights, but I’ve grown to learn that less is more. Clean, OEM cars are equally admirable, as I learned from walking around REXNation’s meet last weekend. So for now, I’m 50/50, but I’ve re-found my passion and cannot wait to see where the road takes us (all puns intended). If you want to keep up to date, follow my personal Instagram (https://instagram.com/ek1wa). Again, a huge thank you to MadAutoDetailing, Simon/Joydrive, and a big “eff you” to the lady driving the X5.

Written & photographed by Kamm.