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JAPANESE GIRL SENSATION: VIRTUAL BOYFRIENDS
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demondestiny
889
demondestiny
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CloseIn Japan, girls are crazy over virtual boyfriends. Webkare (Web Boyfriend in Japanese), a mix between a social network and dating simulation site, is Nippon's newest web sensation. Geared exclusively towards girls, the site attracted over 10,000 members just 5 days after its release on September 10, racking up 3.5 million page views in the same time frame.
The site is a huge hit over here. Girls sign up and become members of a social network but also users of a dating simulation in cartoon style. They have to try to hook up with one of four male Anime characters (who are the “stars†of the site) through “conversations†and must collaborate with other Webkare members in order to move on in the game. Eventually they conquer the heart of the chosen cartoon boy.
It's pretty weird but clever. Dating simulations have been popular in Japan for quite a while now, but Webkare marks the first time the concept has been brought online and combined with social networking functionality.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/20/webkare-a-girls-only-combination-of-social-network-and-dating-game-from-japan/
I am pretty much speechless. ::)
I'll say this; if this is just in all fun and games, sure, this is fine. It's just for fun, right?
But if this is along the same line as shit like people having those real sex dolls in place of actual mates and whatnot...then this is a sad, sad, yet poignant example of one of Japan's biggest cultural problems. Pretty soon, they're going to die out, man. Dead serious, Japanese officials are freaking out about the possibility of their population circling the drain.
But if this is along the same line as shit like people having those real sex dolls in place of actual mates and whatnot...then this is a sad, sad, yet poignant example of one of Japan's biggest cultural problems. Pretty soon, they're going to die out, man. Dead serious, Japanese officials are freaking out about the possibility of their population circling the drain.
Canuck
0
It's an online dating sim that 0.05% of girls in Japan play.
I don't see what's so shocking, how it's a sensation or how it's having a virtual boyfriend.
I don't see what's so shocking, how it's a sensation or how it's having a virtual boyfriend.
No, there's nothing too bad about it fundamentally, but when you add in all of the other sexually bizarre Japanese trends, it doesn't look good for them at all!
This is very low on the list of bizarre shit going on in Japan.
This. Also...I mean, this is the culture that created Dead Or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball, another placebo for loneliness, only one directed at guys. So none of this surprises me, really.
Euphorian
80
It is true though that Japan's population pyramid is upside down (more elderly than youth). However, this is kind of a brilliant idea, if what it says about need to collaborate with other members is true. In that sense, it's kind of like an MMORPG, except... MMODatingSim?
Neok
3602
Well, Kaoru Souma's pretty dashing, but Shun Aiba has that young reckless boy thing going on, so I dunno! What do you guys think?
author=Neok link=topic=2049.msg34113#msg34113 date=1222406008
Well, Kaoru Souma's pretty dashing, but Shun Aiba has that young reckless boy thing going on, so I dunno! What do you guys think?
Good God, he's become one of them! (shotgun blast)
It's all cultural relativism. What's weird to you could be normal to others, and vice-versa.
No, fuck that, the Japanese are weird on some absolute, objectivist level, I firmly believe this.
If I were looking at the western world through the eyes of an outsider, I'd think gay pride parades and the like were pretty ridiculous.
Well, on the other hand, when your sexual habits/preferences/cultural things are causing your population to plummet and the risk of your race being eradicated from the earth, not only is it weird, but it goes against the most basic tenet of human nature that there is.
If everyone suddenly started "coming out", guess what would happen...
I'd say Japan is going through the same "release of sexual barriers" stuff, but at a highly accelerated level for some reason.
EDIT: Next up: sex-robots.
I'd say Japan is going through the same "release of sexual barriers" stuff, but at a highly accelerated level for some reason.
EDIT: Next up: sex-robots.
If everyone suddenly started "coming out", guess what would happen...
One extreme is as bad as the other, but it's better than dying out.
I'd say Japan is going through the same "release of sexual barriers" stuff, but at a highly accelerated level for some reason.
If that was the case, their population level wouldn't be plummeting.
Yeah, they're doing everything but having sex.
If I were looking at the western world through the eyes of an outsider, I'd think gay pride parades and the like were pretty ridiculous.
I think they're pretty ridiculous too, and I've lived in America all my life.
If that was the case, their population level wouldn't be plummeting.But there's a difference between sex and "sex". What the Japanese think of "sex" may b- actually screw it, this IS silly.
Yeah, they're doing everything but having sex.
EDIT: I thought Japan was a bit over-populated, so in a way this is sort of a good thing?
