Gallery: The Japanese Gamers Who Prefer to Date Videogame Characters
Loulou d’Aki0111-IMG-9252
Tomomi is a 25-year-old secretary and frequent player of Voltage romance simulation games. She poses for a photo in front of a game backdrop at an event.
Loulou d’Aki025-IMG-5982
A *Love Plus* player holds a framed photo of himself and his virtual girlfriend Manaka on vacation.
Loulou d’Aki0343-IMG-7727
Naoki is a 25-year-old Love Plus player who works as a train station guard. He’s wearing a Manaka t-shit and holding a doll made to resemble her.
Loulou d’Aki0448-IMG-7842
*Love Plus* players sit around a table with their consoles during an event in Tokyo.
Loulou d’Aki0520-IMG-5728
Masano has played *Love Plus* since 2009 and chose Rinko as his girlfriend. He brings his console everywhere. Masano says all he really wants is some one who tells him “good morning” when he wakes up and “good night” before he goes to bed.
Loulou d’Aki0647-IMG-8477
Businessmen play games in a pachinko hall after work on a Friday night in the Akihabara district in Tokyo. The area is famous for its many playing halls and vivid *otome* culture.
Loulou d’Aki076-IMG-5895
A 48-year-old gamer started playing *Love Plus* five years ago. He sits in his one-room apartment with the console he uses to chat with his virtual girlfriend, Manaka.
Loulou d’Aki081-IMG-4872
Utano, a frequent player of *otome* games, holds a favorite pin of a game character.
Loulou d’Aki0924-IMG-6440
A doll on display at an adult museum in Atami, Japan. It’s part of the *Love Plus* “program points,” or lists of activities on weekend trips in the game.
Loulou d’Aki1014-IMG-5009
Kosaki puts a handmade pair of glasses on a doll. He used to play *Love Plus*, but stopped when the company quit updating the game for Nintendo DS. “Just like in real love, the story has to evolve, otherwise the relationship has no future,” he says.
Loulou d’Aki1134-IMG-4754
Utano and Prince Sama are frequent players of *otome* games. They stand in front of various gaming paraphernalia at a research presentation about *otome* culture.
Loulou d’Aki1241-IMG-7456
Masano makes sure everything is in order before the doors open to a Love Plus event he coordinated. Users play their games together, and connect consoles to a projector so their virtual girlfriends can appear life size on a wall.
