In 2018, 38-year-old Akihiko Kondo married a 16-year-old anime character in the form of a hologram. Kondo identifies as a fictosexual – someone who is sexually attracted to fictional characters rather than real people. Four years into their marriage, however, he has hit a roadblock. Her technology has been eliminated, making it impossible for him to communicate with her.
Man With Hologram Wife Can No Longer Talk To Her
Four years ago Kondo married a hologram of the fictional anime character Miku. He spent over $17000 on the ceremony and everything. He says he always knew that he could never be with a real human being because of his intense attraction to anime characters. (1)
Kondu first “met” his future wife in 2008. Two women at his work were bullying him terribly. He became deeply depressed. Eventually, he quit his job and was so depressed he couldn’t leave his room. That’s when he first encountered Miku.
“I stayed in my room for 24 hours a day, and watched videos of Miku the whole time,” he said.
His relationship with Miku then became possible in 2017 thanks to Gatebox. They created a hologram of the character with which Kondu could interact. In 2018, he married the hologram in a public ceremony. He invited family and coworkers, however, none of them came. Strangers and internet friends, however, did attend – 39 to be exact. (1)
“There are two reasons why I had a wedding publicly,” he told the BBC. “The first one is to prove my love to Miku. The second one is there are many young otaku (Japanese for nerd or geek) people like me falling in love with anime characters. I want to show the world that I support them.” (3)
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His Version of Happy
His relationship and subsequent marriage allowed him to break free of his depression and reenter society. Kondu spent nearly two years in his room in his parents’ house. Though he received a lot of hate after his public marriage, he also received a lot of positive messages. Many others like him messaged their support and thanked him for being so open about who he is. Bolstered by their positivity, Kondu was able to go out, get another job, his own apartment, and live life at least somewhat normally.
“In this society there’s a template of what makes one happy – get married, have children, form a family. But that shouldn’t be the only way. I don’t fall into that template,” he said. “We have to consider all kinds of love and all kinds of happiness.”
バズったら宣伝して良いそうなので書きます。我が家の大きなミクさんの写真を下記のブログにまとめています。可愛いので是非ご覧ください。m(_ _)m
— 近藤 顕彦【 ⋈ 】ミクさん大好き (@akihikokondosk) April 30, 2022
【↓ブログ】https://t.co/s0YbPOcCuC pic.twitter.com/ILPFYun9dM
The Communication Problem
Until now, he was able to talk to Miku and she could respond. Kondo would tell her that he loved her. He couldn’t touch her or hold her hand, but he has been hopeful that the technology will continue to advance and one day he will be able to. For now, however, he has a different problem.
The Gatebox software that was responsible for creating and animating the hologram has been terminated. This means that Kondu is no longer able to talk to or interact with his wife. Naturally, this has been quite devastating for him. Kondu is not deterred, however, and says that his love for his holographic wife is steadfast.
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“My love for Miku hasn’t changed. I held the wedding ceremony because I thought I could be with her forever.” he said. (4)
Kondu’s relationship with Miku has opened many doors for him. He has even gone back to school to study law with the hopes of helping people like him. Kondu wants to learn as much as possible and be able to provide others with support and answers. Most importantly, he wants to spread knowledge and awareness about his sexual inclinations and make people feel okay about their own feelings that they may have for fictional characters. (5)
As to what will happen with his hologram wife and whether or not they will be able to solve this technology problem, we will have to wait and see.
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Sources:
- “‘Fictosexual’ man married hologram bride, but now struggles to bond with her.” NY Post. Brooke Kato. April 26, 2022.
- “Why I ‘married’ a cartoon character.” BBC. August 17, 2019
- “Japanese man who married fictional character wants to raise awareness for ‘fictosexuals’.” News Hub. Molly Swift. April 26, 2022.
- “What happened to the Japanese man who ‘married’ virtual character Hatsune Miku?” Mainichi. January 11, 2022
