CG image from game Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na
You may or may not have heard of the news about someone in Japan created an online petition for the right to marry 2D characters quite some time ago. Today is the deadline for the petition, and not surprisingly the petition has come short of its supposeded quota.
The petition was created in October 2008 by someone under the name of 高下太一 who claimed that he has no interest towards the 3D world and wants to make marriage with 2D characters legal (which would include but not limited to anime, manga, light novel, and game series I presume). You can find the link to the petition right here.
At the end, there are 3551 signatures on the petition, which account for about 0.35% of the required quota of 1 million signatures. Initially there was no expiration date for the petition, but I think a deadline was eventually put up sometime in 2009. From what I have observed, after the initial hype and the media attention for the first month or so the number pretty much remained in the 3000s and stayed there more or less until the end.
Despite all that, marriage with a 2D character did happen, more specifically someone married a character from an NDS game called Love Plus last November, approximately a year and a month after the 2D character marriage petition was created in October 2008. Heck, even CNN has made a report about it too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-qaMXZ_l70
Well, whether you support this man's wild idea or not, the proposal will not go through. No matter one may like some 2D characters, it's better to stick with a real one afterall. As zenical from zotaku has once commented, "3D girls are more complex, but in reality, you can't expect 3D to be like 2D!"
Well, they say love is blind (^^;). Otakus have otakus' way of life, which may not be understandable by common folks. I don't have any comment about their lifestyle, since everyone can choose his or her own life and partner to be with. I do hope they get in touch with their parents and friends once in a while to keep the relationship with their family and the society.
ReplyDeleteAnother similar otaku across the sea of Japan: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/816601-man-marries-pillow
I am not surprised that survey didn't get anywhere. It's too unreal... Now say if it's like Chobits, a real talking, walking personal computer, then maybe it's more plausible... ^^;
ReplyDeleteI haven't played the game, but wont that virtual girl eventually run out of diverse things to say?
ReplyDeleteIf the petition was to merry giant robots, it would have gone through. I would have moved heaven and earth to make sure it did.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't see why this shouldn't pass. Everyone has their own interests, and as such, everyone has their own orientation towards love as well. If they want to marry some 2d girl, let them! Why be so restrictive, eh?
ReplyDeleteThis is no different than gay couples wanting to get married, really. And you know me - I'm all for yuri action. Right ecchiman?
@ Ngee Khiong:
ReplyDelete"Love is blind" ^^; Such marriages will be quite hard to be accepted by many people, but it is their decisions at the end. But I really do wonder how such things happen and how people will support such "couples".
I did hear someone married a dakimakura before, but didn't know it really was true o_o
@ lightningsabre:
To be honest, I still can't imagine how it could be pulled off if it does succeed. But then such marriages did hapen.
If androids, Chobits, and Persocoms are readily available then I suppose it's more plausible, since the object truly exists and is materialised compared to something that is 2D. It would also make marriages easier to managa I suppose... ?
@ K:
I guess there is a huge amount of scripts for each girl, but yea eventually they would run out of new things to say.
@ Snark:
Man you should have started one for giant robots! I may even support you for that :D
@ radiantdreamer:
True, we should respect everyone's own interest as long as they are not harmful or offensive to particular things. What I am more concerned though is how the legal stuff are sorted when a marriage really does occur. A lot more grey areas are involved for something that doesn't truly exist compared to something that does exist.
lol I do hope "ecchiman" is reading what you've read at the last paragraph... ^^;
Well this is news to me. I guess I'm kinda relieved that it didn't pass. It just gives more reason to give fictional characters human rights and cause more problems with laws being broken with games and ero manga.
ReplyDelete