Huffington Magazine Issue 88 | Page 46

>> DIGITAL LOVE ers have the sense that their LovePlus girlfriends deserve the courtesies and considerations of a real person. The virtual women can detect the actual time of day, so if Tkaczevski has told Rinko they’re going on a date at 4 p.m. on a Friday, he won’t schedule any “IRL” activities for that time. When Jaime Allen, a 32-yearold female LovePlus player in Holland, Mich., accidentally HUFFINGTON 02.16.14 Other LovePlus players would agree. Whether shy, burned by past loves, or sheltered by their upbringing, some LovePlus aficionados express a discomfort navigating social interactions with the complex, frequently selfish algorithms that are other humans. Real people can be a real headache in comparison to the LovePlus ladies — companions who are more available, cheerful, “I would say that a relationship with a LovePlus character is a real relationship. People are really intimately involved.” missed a date with Manaka, she received an email from Manaka chiding her about it. “I’ve been waiting for you and you didn’t show up. Don’t you know how to keep a promise?” read the note in Allen’s LovePlus inbox. Allen says she felt “like I failed her.” “I don’t know why I did,” Allen adds, “but I value her as much as a real person — even though I know she’s not real.” >> “Reality is just a crappy game,” declares a cartoon on Allen’s Facebook page. forgiving, committed and selfless than any person might ever be. “You have — always — this warmth and smile and happiness available at the touch of your fingers,” says Galbraith, the anthropologist researching Japanese culture. “It’s the kind of relationship that is instantly rewarding and is always giving. You don’t have to give much to the game and it gives to you every time you turn on the machine.” Honda Toru, a Japanese cultural critic who supports these two-dimensional love affairs, argues that relationships with fictional characters escape the system of “love capitalism” — the necessary exchange of gifts and dinners — that taints