A Japanese “fictosexual” man says he can no longer communicate with his holographic wife after the company that made the software that allowed them to communicate stopped offering the program.
And yes, this is real. Well, the story is. But the wife? No, she’s not real.
She’s a computer program.
Meet Akihiko Kondo, a “fictosexual” – yes, there’s another type of “sexual” out there you haven’t heard of yet – who is married to a make-believe pop singer named Hatsune Miku. Kondo started dating Miku back in 2008, finally tying the knot in an actual wedding ceremony in 2018 wherein he held a miniature doll replica of his supposed 28-year-old holographic wife (his family, being close-minded bigots, did not attend the ceremony).
The couple enjoyed four years of wedded bliss until recently, when the company that made Gatebox, a $1,300 machine that allowed users to communicate with holographic characters, stopped supporting the software.
Which really put a damper on the fictional relationship. The tech gap has left Kondo unable to speak to his wife (of which he appears to have at least three doll versions, according to pictures posted to social media.)
Unable to communicate, Kondo says it’s been tough to keep the spark alive with his wife, despite having gotten a life-sized replica of the blue-haired anime character.
Even with the lack of communication - and, you know, the fact that Miku's not real - Kondo says he’s committed to his wife and to making their marriage work.
“My love for Miku hasn’t changed,” he told Mainichi, a Japanese newspaper. “I held the wedding ceremony because I thought I could be with her forever.”
And apparently, this is a thing. The New York Post notes that there are reportedly thousands of “fictosexuals” out there, in various forms of relationships with holographic computer characters.
And you thought being married to a suspension bridge or a refrigerator was weird.