>> 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