RESTON, VA – While we’ve all been busy picking up the dry-cleaning and taking the kids to soccer practice, two disparate trends in popular culture have been stealthily weaving themselves into the fabric of American society.

On one hand, there’s a distinct subset of the population that has become enamored with all things Japanese, from the highly stylized cartoons known as animé to the controlled-mayhem motorsport known as drifting. On the other, there’s a broader segment of the post-9/11 American population for whom flag-waving patriotism has reached a fever pitch.

Both these trends come together in the all new 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse, a sporty coupe that hopes to play up both its Japanese roots and its made-in-the-USA construction. The result is a car that has an awful lot to offer no matter which side of that pop culture divide you find yourself on.