Japan, where most marriages between people and fictitious characters occur, has upped their game once more. While no one in the world – and rightly so – actually sees virtual marriages as legally binding, one Japanese tech research company does.
Gatebox Lab – perhaps looking to hire talented staff who are a tad on the nerdy, antisocial side – were hiring recruits who may actually prefer 2D characters to real life ones. In fact, it looks like they actually prefer those who have married one.
Of course, virtual spouses include 2D and 3D characters, ranging from non-human characters like elves and beasts to big googly-eyed moe characters and ikemen (handsome men). Same-sex marriages are also OK. The only thing not allowed are multiple spouses (hooray for this?).
According to Nico Nico News, Gatebox Lab will even pay a stipend of 5,000 yen to ‘support’ their virtual married life. But that’s not all – employees can also get a day off for their virtual spouse’s birthday!
To qualify for this perk, employees simply fill up marriage registration forms on its website, which asks personal details like when they met, memories they’ve made, and how the marriage proposal happened.
Ironically, the company doesn’t reward real life marriages, and as such, won’t recognise marriages with real people living in the 3D world (ie. Afterlife).
If you’re married to a fictional character, then Gatebox Lab may be the ideal place to work. While it may sound like a publicity stunt, we all know that some of these married-to-2D-character employees will probably make very dedicated workers.
