2 weeks ago
Last Updated:November 07, 2024, 23:38 IST
Akihiko Kondo, 41, is "happily married" with Hatsune Miku, a fictional vocaloid in the form of a 16-year-old pop singer with turquoise pigtails.
Kondo fell in love with Hatsune Miku, who was released in 2007 by Crypton Future Media. (Instagram/@akihikokondosk)
The human mind is a complicated maze – we can find love in the strangest of places, from AI chatbots and holograms to robots, abandoning their pursuit of traditional relationships. Such people remain unfazed under the judgmental eye of society and celebrate these unions, taking love to a new level.
We are talking about 41-year-old Akihiko Kondo from Japan, who is ‘happily married’ to fictional vocaloid Hatsune Miku and is eagerly anticipating their sixth marriage anniversary. Kondo expressed his love in an Instagram post, where he shared a receipt for a cake he brought for their anniversary on November 4.
“I like Miku very much. Happy six-year anniversary," read the message on the cake. Kondo said he had been romantically interested in women before secondary school, but the anime and manga-lover faced several rejections and was even bullied for his obsession with fictional characters, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.
Things changed when Hatsune Miku, a Vocaloid software voicebank (singing voice software) in the form of a 16-year-old pop singer with long, turquoise pigtails, was released by Crypton Future Media in 2007. No doubt the character would have entranced many manga and anime lovers, but few as much as Kondo.
A Unique Love Story
In a story that would make you thing, “Is this for real?", Kondo fell in love with Miku soon after the character was released. This obsession caused Kondo to be bullied even at work, after which Kondo was diagnosed with adjustment disorder and took a long sick leave.
However, Kondo says Miku’s “healing" voice helped him reconnect with society and saved his life. He took the next step in the relationship – by proposing to her through a hologram device with simple artificial intelligence that allowed users to interact with the character. As you can expect, ‘she said yes’.
Kondo’s wedding ceremony with Miku in 2018 at a Tokyo chapel cost him around 2 million yen ($13,000). It was around this time that he discovered the term fictosexual, which describes people who are sexually attracted to fictional characters.
How People Reacted To This Relationship
Six years after his marriage to Miku, Kondo says he experienced more acceptance from society towards his sexual orientation and founded an association for fictosexuality with his peers last year to help others like him. However, Kondo could no longer communicate with his ‘wife’ as the software support enabling their interactions is no longer available.
His unusual relationship has attracted both praise and scorn from others. Kondo had a life-size made of Miku made in 2019 and dresses her up, has meals and tea with her and chats with her in his imagination.
“I admire how happy he looks in his marriage. Having such dedicated love for another being, whether it is a human or a fictional character, is honourable," said one online observer.
Location :Tokyo, Japan
First Published:November 07, 2024, 22:59 IST
News viral 'Fictosexual' Japanese Man Celebrates Sixth Marriage Anniversary With Virtual Wife
