Since his four-year-old marriage to an artificially generated pop diva, the “fictosexual” guy has found himself unable to reach out to his wife, but he still loves her.
It was a decade before Akihiko Kondo, 38, and Hatsune Miku, a 16-year-old with turquoise hair, conducted an unofficial wedding ceremony. Although he spent almost $18,000 on the wedding, Kondo’s whole family did not attend because he is “fictosexual,” or someone who is romantically attracted to imaginary characters.
Kondo, 38, and Miku, 38, have been married for four years and, according to the Japanese daily Mainichi, have reached a snag in their romance because of a technical obstacle.
Despite Kondo’s acknowledgment that Miku isn’t a real person, his affections for her remain the same. The Gatebox, a $1,300 contraption that enables users to engage with holograms of fictional characters and even informally wed them, enabled Kondo, who had been in love with Miku since 2008, to finally meet her in 2017.
As a result of Gatebox software being discontinued, Kondo’s four-year marriage to Miku came to an abrupt halt, according to Newshub. There is no doubt in Kono’s mind that he is still hurting.
When Mainichi asked him about his feelings for Miku, he replied: “My love for Miku hasn’t changed,” and “I held the wedding ceremony because I thought I could be with her forever.”
Kondo’s connection with a character isn’t unique; it’s just one of many. There have been thousands of “fictosexual” relationships in Japan, the Mirror said, using a range of fictional characters.
Kondo’s relationship is more than simply a game to him. For a long time, he said he knew a human spouse was out of the question because of his strong affinity for anime and manga characters like Miku. When Miku was created as a synthetic voice utilizing Yamaha’s Vocaloid technology, the character entered popular culture as a human yet fictitious figure in Mangas, anime series, and video games. At some point in the future, she got well-known enough to join Lady Gaga on her Artpop Ball tour in 2014.
There’s more to Miku than simply fame. Kondo’s depression has also been alleviated by her. Miku was introduced to Kondo in 2008 when he was bullied at work and got despondent. It was hard for him to embrace his sentiments at first, but after being rejected by others, he realized that humans weren’t the proper fit for him.
In an interview with Mainichi, he said “I stayed in my room for 24 hours a day, and watched videos of Miku the whole time.”
His bond with Miku grew in 2017 as a result of Gatebox. Kondo was able to propose to Miku thanks to the machine, and he invited his family and coworkers to the event, but no one attended. In spite of the fact that just 39 individuals showed up for the “fictosexual” event, many of them are also strangers and internet pals.
“There are two reasons why I had a wedding publicly,” he told BBC at the time. “The first one is to prove my love to Miku. The second one is there are many young otaku people like me falling in love with anime characters. I want to show the world that I support them.”