Virtual reality technology, already a staple of science fiction literature, continues to be a popular theme in manga and anime. Works like Accel World or Sword Art Online are good examples. However, reality has partly caught up with fiction. With the advent of commercial VR headsets in the last few years, along with social communities like VRChat, a growing number of people are exploring virtual worlds as avatars, meeting other people, spending time together, making new friends, and sometimes more. This, in turn, has inspired new work.

The manga 「VRおじさんの初恋」VR Ojisan no Hatsukoi: A Love Story in Virtual Reality by Violence Tomoko 暴力とも子 has become a viral hit in Japan. The protagonist, ナオキ Naoki, is the titular VR ojisan (a middle-aged man who uses VR) of the story. Single, 40 years old, balding, and a temp worker, he enjoys virtual reality with the avatar of a schoolgirl. Disillusioned and not comfortable socializing in the real world, he goes to VR "to be alone." His most recent haunt is a beautifully designed world on the verge of closure due to failed monetization. This is where he meets ホナミ Honami, whose avatar is a tall and beautiful girl who acts playful and innocent. In reality, Honami is an older man who has had a successful life. Married but now separated from his wife, he is well-traveled and socially adept. His grandson Aoi 葵 taught him how to use VR and he was just beginning to use it when he met Naoki. Thus begins a bittersweet love story that bridges virtual reality and the real world.

VR Ojisan no Hatsukoi: A Love Story in Virtual Reality was initially serialized on the smartphone manga service マンガコネクト Manga Connect between 2018 and 2019, and then published on the author's note blog (available here) between December 29th, 2019 and January 3rd, 2020. In March 2020, it was recognized with the BuzzFeed Award in the 2020年代の未来予想図 (2020 future forecast) contest co-organized by note and withnews, BuzzFeed Japan, Business Insider Japan, and BLOGOS.

In August, 2020, it was then published on Ichijinsha's Zero Sum Online. The second part, exploring the relationship between Naoki and Honami in the real world and introducing Honami's grandson Aoi, made its debut there in September 2020, and the completed work was finally compiled and published as a hard copy manga by Ichijinsha in February 2021. (Available at Amazon.co.jp). For its unique subject, its touching story, the way it examines the evolving nature of romance in a technologically mediated world, and for its serious and ultimately un-science-fictiony focus on the love between Naoki and Honami, the manga quickly gained attention on social media.

We interviewed Violence Tomoko to learn more about this fascinating work. This is followed by a mini-interview with independent Vtuber and VR researcher バーチャル美少女ねむ Virtual Bishōjo Nem who shares her insights on the state of actual romantic relationships in VR.

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Interview with Violence Tomoko

Please note that this interview contains heavy spoilers.

grape Japan (Ben K):
This story is set against the backdrop of Japan's unique socio-economic history. Naoki is from the ロスジェネ rosujene, the "lost generation" born in the '70s who faced limited job prospects after the bursting of the bubble economy in Japan in the '90s. In your afterword, you explicitly express your hope that the story will reach this generation. But what if VR Ojisan no Hatsu-koi: A Love Story in Virtual Reality becomes available in translation? The Lehman Shock of 2008 did not have much of an impact on employment in Japan, whereas in the U.S., for example, its impact was profound. American readers born in the '90s may be more capable of imagining the hardships Naoki went through in those days but they may have to use their imagination to account for the feeling of resignation towards society that Naoki experienced later in life. The U.S. is just an example, but what do you think about the fact that your work may be read by foreigners who are unfamiliar with Japan's "lost generation"?

Violence Tomoko:
As you said, there is a similarity between (Japan's) lost generation and the Lehman Shock in the sense that it caused economic damage to the lives of many ordinary people, but I think they are too different to talk about them on the same axis. In particular, I believe that the feeling of resignation experienced by the lost generation is rooted in the self-reflective nature of the Japanese people, so it would be difficult for foreigners to understand that feeling as it is.

However, as a narrative structure, I believe that the relationship between Honami and Naoki is a simple story of "the successful and the socially vulnerable" that fully stands on its own without requiring deep consideration of the historical background. Depictions of poverty differ from country to country. Some people may think that Naoki is not so poor since he owns VR equipment. However, I also portrayed other facets such as Naoki's poor reputation at work, or his status at the bottom of the clique hierarchy when he was a student. I hope that people will be able to get some sense of it.

At the time you began writing the story, VRChat was not as popular as it is now. Had you experienced VR and did it serve as a reference?

I had experienced VR games through Play Station VR, for example. I remember having a bad case of VR motion sickness. I didn't get around to trying VRChat. But what I do remember was being impressed by the "reality" of being in that world and the simulated feeling of touching something that wasn't real. Also, at the time, celebrities were shown experiencing VR games on Japanese TV. I was interested in observing how people who are not normally familiar with video games would be moved when they experienced them in VR. That was a big hint for me. If anything, the experience of observing the impressions of others when they tried these games may have been more useful than the sensations I felt in my own VR experiences.

Do you think the impact and meaning of your work have changed now that the novel coronavirus pandemic has occurred? If so, how has it affected you?

The novel coronavirus pandemic is a historical event that has fundamentally changed our world, but I don't think it has had a profound impact on the theme of this work. In the epilogue, I depicted (Aoi's) mother, who was working from home, wearing a mask before going out, to make the reader feel that the world of the manga is connected to their reality. However, this is not meant to be more than a gimmick to emphasize that this story could happen in real life. The pandemic is a major disaster, but I didn't want to give too much meaning to it in the story. A disaster is just a disaster.

I suppose you could read it as suggesting the possibility that people who can't meet in reality because of the pandemic will choose to communicate through VR, but I prefer to leave that to the readers' interpretation.

I'd like to ask one more question as an extension of this one. After Honami says goodbye to Naoki at the end of Part One, Naoki can't accept it and goes to see Honami in the real world. It looks like he wants to continue the relationship "whether it's in VR or real life," as Naoki says. But did they meet in real life because Naoki was unable to tell Honami that they should continue to meet in VR, or because meeting in real life was essential for the story you wanted to tell? I'd like to ask this because, as you just indicated, the pandemic has suggested the possibility of a world where you want to meet but can't in reality to maintain social distance.

The reason is that Part One of the story was serialized between late 2018 and early 2019, so at the time of writing, the pandemic had yet to occur. In the story, the pandemic occurred between the last episode (episode 13 of the book) and the epilogue. Therefore, Naoki's actions in Part One are in no way influenced by the pandemic.

However, I'd also like to point out that by the end of Part One, we can see that Naoki's state of mind has gradually changed. At first, Naoki wants to respect Honami's intention to say goodbye. He tries to spend an enjoyable day at the beach, which he has never done before, but then he clearly realizes that what he wants now is not a better life, but to continue to communicate with Honami. Like Peter in Dawn of the Dead, he rejects moral self-sacrifice and tries to be true to his impulses.

However, Honami is no longer logged into VR at that point, so Naoki makes the drastic move of hacking into Honami's account to obtain his personal information and learn his address. The reason why he didn't use e-mail or snail mail is that he thought it would allow Honami to gently refuse Naoki's request to meet him again. In the climax of Part Two, Naoki makes a bold move on Honami by suggesting they get married in VR, but it is also a testament to Naoki's personality that he can take such desperate measures and act with abandon because he is a weak person with nothing to lose in society.

Some people argue that バ美肉 babiniku (short for バーチャル美少女受肉 bācharu bishōjo juniku, literally "virtual girl incarnation," a term referring mostly to men who choose female avatars in VR) is an expression of gender identity. Both Honami and Naoki take the form of girls in VR. In your blog, you said that for Naoki, women are a fantasy, and for Honami, they are an object of respect and esteem. Are you open to the possibility that they are both expressing a female identity in VR?

Even though Naoki uses a female avatar, there is basically no significant change in his mentality. He has never had deep communication with women, so he doesn't really recognize the difference between male and female sensibilities in the first place. For Naoki, using the avatar of a girl means nothing more than simply looking cute and being able to temporarily abandon his normal appearance. It's based on his admiration for the girls in his class when he was a student, but it doesn't go any further than that.

Honami, on the other hand, uses a female avatar to acquire a distinctly female identity. The difference in personality between Honami, as a man in the real world, and Honami, as a female avatar in VR, is not described in detail in the story, but it does exist in the setting for the world I created. Honami, in his female avatar, is more curious than real-world Honami and is more aware of the fact that he has an alluring smile. The biggest change occurs when Honami feels love for Naoki in VR, and this feeling includes a sense of motherly affection that Honami could not have in real life. This segues into feelings of jealousy towards Aoi in Part Two.

Since the story is told from Naoki's point of view and Naoki himself is insensitive to the subtleties of other people's feelings, Honami's state of mind is not described much in the story. Honami both enjoys and is confused by the difference between how he feels in reality and how he feels in VR, which leads to his monologue in the final episode (Episode 13 in the book). There are signs in the story that the femininity that Honami has learned through his contact with women in the real world has matured into another personality within Honami through his continued use of the female avatar in VR.

Naoki chose his schoolgirl avatar because he admired the way his female classmates communicated freely and seemed to enjoyed life back in those days. But if Honami respects women, why does he always dress so revealingly? At first, Naoki acts like he doesn't like it, but is he secretly happy about it? In the scene where Honami is trying on virtual clothes, he says wearing revealing outfits "cheers him up." Does he says this from a female viewpoint or is it because he enjoys it from a male gaze?

I think this is a very delicate question. Differences in perceptions of gender issues exist everywhere, and I believe that it is difficult to generalize values. For example, there are differences in the way people perceive gender issues in the U.S. and Japan, just as there are differences in the way Naoki and Honami think about "respect" for women. Basically, this work doesn't label the characters' ideas as superior or inferior. Therefore, the ideas of the characters depicted in this story are not necessarily morally correct.

On that premise, Honami has always been the type of person who considers showing off physical charms as a positive thing, regardless of gender. Therefore, he wears revealing outfits as a way to "show off vitality" and "enjoy youthfulness." Honami is also aware of the sensibilities of people who don't like such outfits, but in the early part of Part One, he is so excited by the fact that he has become a different person. His exuberance and desire to joke around get the better of him. That's why he acts like this towards Naoki. In Episode 3, when Honami is getting used to the physical sensations of a woman, he doesn't try to cling to Naoki as much, but in Episode 4, when he is more aware of his own romantic feelings, he wants physical intimacy with Naoki as a confirmation of his closeness to him.

As for Naoki, he really doesn't like Honami's physical advances in the first two episodes of Part One. He has an aversion to familiarity as well as to outfits that (to Naoki, at least,) show off too much of the female figure. In Episode 4, however, Naoki has already started to develop feelings for Honami, so he accepts his approaches as flirting with someone he has become close to.

Why did Honami's grandson Aoi also choose to take the form of a woman in VR? Did he try out Honami's avatar and mimic it? Or was there another reason?

Aoi's choice of a female avatar does not have such a deep meaning. (It doesn't mean he imitated Honami either.)

To talk about this, it's important to understand that it is not uncommon in Japan for male VR users to use female avatars. (This is true not only for VR but for avatar-based games in general). Some users do so for the somewhat immediate reason of "I want to enjoy looking at a female avatar," while others do so out of a desire to transform themselves into a different gender from their male selves. The reason for the choice is different for each person.

Aoi is 12 or 13 years old and has just started junior high school, but he has a complex about his immaturity compared to his classmates. This is why I chose an avatar that is exceptionally tall and has a unisex look. For him, it's important to look taller and less gendered while maintaining the impression of his normal self. So, actually, there wouldn't have been a problem for the story setting if he had used a male avatar as long as it looked similar to his current avatar and could be customized to his satisfaction.

In Part Two, Honami loses his voice after an operation, presumably due to cancer in his throat. He communicates through an electrolarynx (EL) in the real world and his PC keyboard when he's in VR. The way the onomatopoeic sounds "ga-ga" (for the EL) and "tak-tak" (typing keys) are included in his speech balloons makes this change stand out. With so many diseases in the world, was there a reason why you chose to focus on one that robs the voice?

As with gender issues, the portrayal of illness is also a delicate question.

Honami had been suffering from laryngeal cancer, but the stage of cancer had progressed without him realizing it. Until Episode 5 of Part One, he had coughed and actually vomited blood from time to time in his life, but he was able to speak and had a natural voice.

Why did I choose laryngeal cancer? It was important to me that Honami would lose one of his means of communication, his voice, through surgery, and that the change would be irreversible. Honami feared that the loss of his ability to speak in VR would put pressure on Naoki to constantly pay attention to him. But as it turned out, it was no obstacle for Naoki, because he only wanted Honami to be present. This is also an expression of the difference in thinking between Honami, who wants to show himself to be a good person when dealing with others, and Naoki, who wants to be with the person he loves to become a good person.

Laryngeal cancer is relatively prone to metastasize to the lymphatic system, and I wanted to make it so that people who are knowledgeable about the disease would be able to foresee the need for continuous examinations and imagine it might have already metastasized. The first part of the story does not have a straightforward happy ending, but since the real world continues, I wanted to create something with a quiet sadness.

In your depiction of the VR world, looking at the way Naoki and Honami move and the poses they take, there seems to be much more freedom of movement than what was actually possible in VR circa 2018. Is that because the setting is in the future, or does the visual depiction reflect Naoki and Honami mutually compensating for any limitations with their imaginations?

In the setting of the story, I tried to create a world in which technology is a few years ahead of the VR of the time. Real life is still the same as it was in 2018, only VR technology is a bit more advanced than it actually was. However, even if you read the story with the setting that Naoki and Honami are compensating with their imagination, it doesn't create any problems for the main storyline, so I think it is better if readers interpret the story in the way they feel comfortable.

There seem to be several references to film and fiction in VR Ojisan no Hatsukoi: A Love Story in Virtual Reality. For example, in Naoki and Honami's journey on a space-faring train headed for the final destination (and end) of the virtual world, I thought I recognized the influence of Kenji Miyazawa's novel Night on the Galactic Railroad as well as Leiji Matsumoto's manga Galaxy Express 999. Aoi is wearing a uniform very similar to that of the conductor in Galaxy Express 999. And just like the conductor, he is tasked with watching over Honami and Naoki's journey (departure?). Come to think of it, there's something of Maetel, with her experience in life and travel, and the young and inexperienced Tetsuro, in Honami and Naoki, isn't there?

I was surprised when you pointed out that Aoi's clothes look like a conductor. You are right. Aoi's role in the story is to see how the relationship between Honami and Naoki will turn out, so that's where I got the idea.

The costume is based on a real Japanese conductor's costume and blended with some old Japanese kimono designs. This is due to the fact that Aoi is inspired by recent Japanese games like Kantai Collection and Touken Ranbu. Aoi is unfamiliar with Galaxy Express 999, but in a meta sense, the conductor of Galaxy Express 999 contributed to his image. The relationship between Naoki and Honami also draws inspiration from the relationship between Tetsuro and Maetel, as well as the relationship between Giovanni and Campanella (from Night on the Galactic Railroad). It's an expression of my respect for those great works of the past.

There was one more thing that caught my attention. The setting of a final trip to the "end of the world," the depiction of a world of experiences which can be shared through the use of "glasses," and the scene at the end of their road trip where we see what looks like Ayers Rock in Australia... Could this be the influence of Wim Wenders' film Until the End of the World? Also, you mentioned Gran Torino in your blog on note. Would you say Honami's face may have a trace of Clint Eastwood in it?

I'm afraid I hadn't seen Until the End of the World. However, some readers said they were reminded of Wim Wenders, so I think there is something in common. I will definitely try to see the movie.

When it comes to science fiction works, there are a few I had in mind. One is Poul Anderson's novel Tau Zero, in which a crew travels to the ends of the universe in an uncontrollable spaceship. In addition, the science fiction films Contact, which spins a love story about the vastness of the universe and human relationships, and Interstellar, which depicts what lies beyond a black hole, greatly influenced my portrayal of "the end of the world."

Honami may have a Clint Eastwood vibe, but this was not an intentional design. Rather, my design for the character was based on the idea of having a face that looked a little foreign to Japanese sensibilities. So it's a coincidence. But perhaps I had imagined it in my unconscious mind.

I also found the "end-of-the-world" image very interesting. At one point, the train seems to run on the rings of Saturn, which in Western astrology means old age, the passage of time, death, and rebirth. The "end-of-the-world" symbol also looks like a simplified version of Saturn. Moreover, when Naoki and Honami see it from a distance, it's a "no sign" {⦸} (with a diagonal line from upper left to lower right) but when they actually arrive at the destination in Episode 11, it has turned into an empty set symbol {∅} (with a diagonal line from upper right to lower left). Was there intentional symbolism in this?

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By - Ben K.