Man marries fictional bride - and now he says he can’t bond with her

A Japanese man married a fictional computer-generated synthesised pop singer - and now he can’t bond with her.

Akihiko Kondo, 38, was dating Hatsune Miku —who is depicted as a 16-year-old with turquoise hair in pop culture— for a decade before having an unofficial wedding ceremony in 2018.

Kondo is one of the many people who identify as a “fictosexual” or someone who is sexually attracted to fictional characters.

He spent roughly 2 million yen or about $17,300 on the nuptials. His family did not attend, but 39 people did, including strangers and online friends, some of whom are also “fictosexual.”

“There are two reasons why I had a wedding publicly,” he toldBBC. “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.”

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Kondo said that his relationship had faced a blockage after being married for four years.

According to the Japanese newspaper Mainichi, Kondo can no longer communicate with Miku because of a technological obstacle.

Kondo has been in love with her since 2008, after being bullied in the workplace, when he left work and felt isolated and depressed.

“I stayed in my room for 24 hours a day and watched videos of Miku the whole time,” he told Mainichi.

Kondo was finally able to interact with her for the first time in 2017 due to Gatebox.

Kondo was finally able to interact with her for the first time in 2017 due to Gatebox.Asian Boss/YouTube

It is a $1,300 machine that allows device owners to interact with characters via holograms and even unofficially marry them.

In a report from Newshub, the Gamebox software was eliminated, meaning that he could no longer speak with his wife. He insists that his feelings haven’t altered.

“My love for Miku hasn’t changed,” he told Mainichi and noted that he carries around a life-size version of Miku. “I held the wedding ceremony because I thought I could be with her forever.”

Hatsune Miku is familiar to anime fans and Japanese culture. She was created as a “vocaloid” or synthesised voice using Yamaha’s Vocaloid singing synthesiser technology.

She has now been highlighted in human form in merchandise, video games, manga and anime series.

Miku even has a widespread fanbase and went on tour with Lady Gaga for the ARTPOP Ball tour in 2014.

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