Boing Boing guest blogger Danny Choo has been posting a lot on life in Japan including, perhaps inevitably given the sheer scale of it in the Japanese culture, comics. Over the weekend he mentioned a petition currently doing the rounds in Japan which hopes to garner a million signatures to persuade the government to bring in a new marriage law. Is this part of the global push for the legal validation of same-sex marriages? Er, no – its fans who want the legal right to marry 2-D characters; in other words they want a legally recognised marriage between themselves and their favourite manga or anime character:
“We don’t have interest in the 3D world. If possible, I want to become the husband of a 2D character. Does not look like this matter can be solved with today’s science and technology so at least make it legal to marry a 2D character. If this law is passed then I want to marry Asahina Mikuru.”
(the SOS Brigade’s over-endowed and frequently sexually harassed Asahina Mikuru)
I’m generally pretty much a libertarian in personal preference matters but this seems to be going past personal enjoyment and into the realms of obsession. Danny remarks that although more than 41, 000 sites and blogs have covered the petition only 3, 170 people have actually signed it, which is, perhaps, something of a relief. I’m sure that from time to time plenty of readers have found themselves thinking a comics character was pretty sexy (hands up how many had a crush on Bolland’s Judge Anderson when younger) but there’s a bit of a difference between enjoying a sexily depicted character and planning to marry them… Somehow I’m flashing back to Red Dwarf where Lister and the Cat get into a conversation about how hot Wilma Flintstone is and if they’d go with Betty Rubble before asking themselves are they really talking about having a romantic relationship with a cartoon character. Yep, you’re right, says Cat, we know she’d never leave Fred…
Interesting; in the West we’re frequently discussing the objectification of unrealistic, exaggerated female physiques in superhero comics and their implications while in Japan they’re thinking, wow, I’d marry her… I wonder if its all male or if girls are involved too? And is it all straight or are there same-sex 3D-2D love trysts in the offing? Is there a young Japanese girl who wants to sign this petition so she can propose to the newly returning Kath Kane Batwoman? Do we actually care?
(Joe has never quite emotionally recovered from being stood up for a date by Halo Jones in his teens)
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