Quite a few discussion forums (especially the techie ones!) have been buzzing recently about the Japanese man who married an anime game character.  Boing Boing reported that “a man named Sal9000 married the love of his life. Her name is Nene Anegasaki, and she lives inside of a Nintendo DS video game called Love Plus.”

See Boing Boing’s recap of it on YouTube:

It’s clear that people are fascinated by this, as this YouTube video received well over 1.5 million hits!

A few months ago, the New York Times had published a telling article about this phenomenon called “Love in 2-D”, describing a thriving subculture of men and women in Japan who indulge in real relationships with imaginary characters.

Featured was a man named Nisan, who fell in love with an anime character (named Nemutan)  printed on a body pillow (pictured below). Says the NY Times reporter who spent a day interviewing him:  ”He treats her the way any decent man would treat a girlfriend — he takes her out on the weekends to sing karaoke or take purikura, photo-booth pictures imprinted on a sheet of tiny stickers.”

There’s a name for the obsessive fandom surrounding the anime, manga and video game culture: Otaku.

Continues the reporter: “It’s impossible to say exactly what portion of otaku are 2-D lovers, because the distinction between the two can be blurry. Like most otaku, the majority of 2-D lovers go to work, pay rent, hang out with friends (some are even married). Unlike most otaku, though, they have real romantic feelings for their toys. The less extreme might have a hidden collection of figurines based on anime characters that they go on “dates” with during off hours. A more serious 2-D lover, like Nisan, actually believes that a lumpy pillow with a drawing of an anime character on it is his girlfriend.

According to many who study the phenomenon, the rise of 2-D love can be attributed in part to the difficulty many young Japanese have in navigating modern romantic life.”

To read the entire fascinating NYtimes article, click here.