Now hear me out, bit of a psychological experiment here. I want you to imagine your favourite fictional character of your sexual orientation, Key or otherwise, and imagine if they were a real person in your life. Would you want to date them? If so, what kind of relationship would you imagine you’d have? If not, why not?
Just a random thought I had today that might yield to some interesting answers. Standard spoiler rules apply.
``> Implying people only have one waifu
I think there’s a bit of a distinction to make on how people use the terms. For some, waifu/husbando is a joking thing they don’t really think about. For some, it is actually serious. For some, it is a mix of the two.
Personally I never even use the term waifu, not my kind of thing. I’d put that down partially to not getting the humor of it, and also because there’s no anime character I’d think of in the way I think of a girlfriend or partner.
You do however specify “favorite fictional character” and I have one of those, so I’ll go with that. Tomoko Fujinami from Canvas 2, the Visual Novel (not the anime, it’s ugly.) Tomoko is a weird favorite character to have. I never talk about her unless there’s a discussion on a topic that includes her (such as this one) and I rarely ever think about her, I don’t even like the VN she comes from, but while reading about her, I love her more than any fictional thing.
Tomoko is kind of the opposite of a girlfriend. At least from my experience, a girlfriend is someone I think about a lot when I miss them, but in the moment of being with them it seems fairly relaxed and forgettable. It’s only until the parting moments and beyond where I start smiling and reminiscing.
Conversely I hardly smile or reminisce in regards to Tomoko’s story, yet in the moment it feels like a marvel of a life. If I had to guess, I’d put this strange opposition down to the fact that Tomoko is a character with very limited lines. While Tomoko only exists for a brief repeatably livable moment, a real person exists for a much longer moment (you’d hope) and your moments spent with them will be as fleeting as all real experiences are.
The allure of Tomoko, that small moment of forgettable wonderment that only comes to mind in rare thoughts, is somewhat comparable to (as a common western example) the act of cheating. That’s probably in the design, though closer to the many weird ways you can find false companionship for money in Japan. In that way I think I’d understand someone who falls for such bait, though I wouldn’t agree with trading a life for a moment.
As Chobits once said:
“They can be prettier than the real thing. They can be smarter than the real thing. They can be whatever people want them to be… They were created to make people happy, but are people truly happy being with them?”
Nevertheless, if that small moment somehow transformed into a malleable lifetime, if that fictional person became real, and there was no distinction, it’d be hard to deny the temptation. I dunno if the fictional charm would transfer to reality, or if it would bring happiness, but I’d give it a try.
Oh, and I almost forgot. The PCP did a podcast episode on waifus. I don’t know if I remember it clearly anymore, but I’m pretty sure they all say they wouldn’t go out with their waifus in real life, but would be good friends with them in a way that fits their character. For example one would go out drinking with his waifus that love drinking.
This is me. That said there are some characters that if they were real I probably would date them (or at least want to).
I’d include “someone you’d marry or seek to marry if they were real” as a basic definition of the term, and that’s why I use it sarcastically 99% of the time. The only character I’ve ever thought of in that way is Miyamori Aoi from Shirobako. And not to downplay Aoi or anything, but that’s largely due to me being at least 5 years older than most anime characters. Aoi can drink, drive (not at the same time), and she handles one of the worst jobs possible like a boss. As for what kind of relationship, the manga Alcohol is for Married Couples is a nice frame of reference though replacing cocktails with doughnuts.
Should probably clarify there… Since most of us are over the legal age to date teens, there’s a presupposition that the character has grown up to fit your age bracket. They ARE real people in this hypothetical scenario, after all.
Also I only used the word waifu/husbando as a catchy topic title. Disregard all connotations of those terms, I’m looking for your favourite fictional characters that match your sexual orientation.
I’ll just go with a list of anime characters that I personally find attractive.
Outside of Key, there’s like Edward from FMA (manga), whom I’d totally date. He’s a little on the tsundere side, which will take a while to work lol, but he’s a sweetie who’d eventually come to care about others’ feelings. Princess Yona? Totally yes. Jae-Ha? He’s attractive and an enjoyable character, but in real life, I don’t think he’ll be my type. Asuma Mutsumi? Would anyone even say no? Dude is too nice to be even real (well he ain’t)! XD
PS: It really depends. There are characters who I just realllyyyy like because they’re fun to follow and really likeable and compelling, but I highly doubt I’d like them if they were real. But there are also those that I’d like either way.
I consider Rin Tohsaka my waifu - I adopted the term for her after scorning the idea for a long while because it ended up being a good way to express my the disproportionate affection I feel towards her and her character design. I don’t think I would actually be a good match for her though, she needs someone more strong headed and stubborn to keep up with her and to keep her interested. Rin will always be my waifu, though I have given other titles to some other favorite anime females - but by separating the idea from waifu it also separates them from the idea of romantic/physical those relationships and delegates it more to an idolization.
I am weird with husbando labels. Rei Ryugazaki was kind of my “if I had to pick” for a long time, but the Persona 5 MC has the label for me now. I think if they were real I would probably be willing to try going out with them. It is hard to say what kind of relationship would really come of that though.
I honestly don’t know.
I have way too many waifus to count
Though, to be honest, I’m polyamorous so I’d probably end up dating all of them
Given the fact my waifu chart, if I ever did make one, would be filled with so many that they’d look like a Magic Eye test, I would probably say dating polyamorously would be a big issue. Here are some ones that come to mind off the top of my head that I find attractive/would likely be romantically interested in had they existed in real life:
As for compatibility, I think they might work out, but two of those come from games with silent protagonists so maybe not. In any case, It’d be a monogomous relationship with whichever I chose (probably Futaba, honestly). Still, there is a very important lesson to consider in all this:
Huh, I didn’t even think about that. Funny thing, most of my favorite characters were a good 5 or so years older than me when I started liking them, and now I’m older than them… Weird thought.[quote=“botanSenpai, post:9, topic:4259”]
Still, there is a very important lesson to consider in all this:
[/quote]
To be honest, my use of the word “waifu” has always carried a weird mixture of truth and exaggeration. Do I love Komari, more than any other character? Yes. Are those feelings actually romantic? Not necessarily. That said, I would probably want to date her if she was real. I can imagine going on dates and eating sweets together pretty clearly, and it’s a nice thought, one that I have pretty often. It’s because she’s NOT real that I feel like I CAN entertain those thoughts, though-- I can do it from a distance, so it’s safe. I’mnot really sure how to put it into words, but it’s not quite a real relationship, but not quite fake, either.
If it’s matching our orientation, then I should pick a guy, too… The closest thing I have to a husbando is Zelos Wilder from Tales of Symphonia, and honestly, I would not date that boy in 100 years. I don’t have the same connection with him that I do with Komari. Well, I guess that’s what it means to be faithful. 
…It’s definitely not because I ship him with someone else. Not at all.
If you wouldn’t date your waifu, then she isn’t really your waifu. Datability should be a requirement for waifus.
Pssst, read more than the title.
My answer still mostly applies to the extra details given past the title. It’s just that I take my waifu more seriously than most people, and it will get weird if I actually try to talk about it more in depth.
Hmm makes me think of
Thread so far could burst some of the stereotypes about gamers!
Seeing as almost all the characters are 1/3 of my age, I don’t really think of any one of them as a Waifu, but if I were much, much younger then I think these would be interesting or very pleasant dates (bearing in mind I’ve read few VNs):
Nagisa Furakawa
Yukine Miyazawa
Kyou Fujibayashi ( at least from After Story where she seems to have settled down a bit!)
Makise Kurisu
Shiina Mayuri ( yes, I know but she has such a good and pure heart that I want to protect her LOL)
Faris NyanNyan for laughs
But most realistically given my age there is only one! (image spoilered to create suspense only)
Silly question if you ask me. There is just too much distance between reality and a fictional character. Just placing a fictional character into the real world would change them a lot. Take Erika Furudo for example. How would you even begin to write that character into the real world? First question what does she do for a living? Is she in prison because she is a complete psycho? Or is she raking in the big bucks because she is an absurdly good detective? 2nd question what does she even look like? If she has a fictional hair color. Also knowing erika she would probably make a very good first impression on you, but does this matter because you have already read her story? The characters change based on the story.
Another point is you can’t ask the character simple questions. Like rin natsume has a bunch of cats…wow that is so cute seeing all those cats in fiction but if you had to live with that many cats… and is she going to get more? who is to say she doesn’t turn into the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons in 30 years. The only way to know is asking her questions. Also is rin still rin without all the interactions and development with the rest of the cast? Like how do you even write her past when it was all fiction?
Going back to the question, sure why not? but at the same time it may not be the same at all. The fictional boundary is a strong one.
The concept of “waifu” and its meaning is vague in nature, since there’s no official definition to it, more often than not it’ll depend entirely on the speaker to apply it specifically to themselves… and to top it off I doubt that most people are crazy enough to take the connotation of it sounding like you’re married/want to marry that character, which makes it even more confusing (lol).
Most of the time a waifu appeals to me aesthetically, so the virtues of character design is often taken over the likes of characterization and personalities; if the character appeals to me it’ll be a case similar to that of “love at first sight”… right, that’s probably my standard to calling a character a waifu… one that appeals to what I value the most, with heavy empathize on appearance instead of the internal mind.
That’s weird though, sounds like a sex-buddy thing of sort… like “hey you (appearance) appeal to every possible areas of my preference and interest, let’s smash (bro)”
It doesn’t quite feel like the case here though?
I’ve long since given up on (oh here it comes) 3D girls, even without experiencing the idea of romantically or sexually being in love, I guess it’s not so much of “ahh 3D girls are the worse, they _____ and _____” but more of the feeling that it doesn’t feel to be worth my time, even though those are excuses that I’ve used, I guess what I desire more with someone of my opposite gender is to just be close friends… though that’s probably to save the hassle of being involved in a different way…
Point is that, disregarding the logistic of how it even works (the realm of 2D and 3D) if they were a real life person, by my method of identifying a waifu, naturally, I would date them… It’d be more interesting if we’re just really good friend though, like a soulmate, but isn’t a romantic partner? I don’t know, maybe my idea of a waifu dictates that thought itself, maybe seeing too much of the things that I’m bias towards equates in seeing too much of myself? Maybe it’s just the idea of having an individual that share your ideals, your thoughts, mayhaps even your action make it feel like the two are better off being really close friends instead of being in an intimate relationship…
Of course this is talking about the existence of a “real person”… If said waifu still exists in the 2D world, then no, because that would mean I’d have to be on some level of insanity to believe that I’m legitimately dating and communicating with them tulpa intensifies
Actually, the way that I use waifu represents a notch above best girl… even when they can be use interchangeably, a best girl would be someone who I identify from the crowd of a cast of an anime and point “That is the best one out of all of them”… So yeah, there is definitely some level of affection put into the notion of “waifu”, I think dating them would be of natural process too…?
tfw most of the content here centers on identifying wtf is a waifu and aspi said he used it as a catchy title :lucky:
I saw “waifu” in the title and thought “I bet @MAEBATAME wrote an essay in the replies.”
Was not disappointed.
Well want an interesting post I chose to make my presence known since I’m back here.
Let’s start with this it is pretty obvious and many others had pointed out before, there is no way anyone would just have one waifu xd.
Next of course, if somebody get to have one waifu or husbando or whatever I’m not sure if that certain someone would actually date him/her that depends on some factors, like in what circumstances the choice was made, people never or hardly ever make clear decisions, so yeah they probably would change their choice of waifu/husbando.
Then, now let’s think about it from a different perspective, if the waifu/husbando was real why would she/he would date that person? Maybe their personalities are not compatible, or the waifu/husbando is already in love with somebody else, you should consider the way of thinking of the waifu/husbando too.
Finally answering the question personally, yeah maybe i will try to ask her out (my waifu), but i know her so yeah she would try me in order to know if i’m worthy of her. So the outcome will depends if i match her specific expections or not, being specific she would test me in something i had no idea what result i would get xd. So yeah weird answer, but that’s all i can say. I’m not lying I will really like to know if i would be able to date her, but thinking clearly maybe i won’t be able to make it. I guess just one person can and yeah of course she is already with him.
I believe that if I did, the kind of relationship would not be like how I dream it to be (you know like the ones in the anime because no matter how non fictional a story may seem, the dramatic elements of the story is not very likely to happen in real life. Despite this, I would still want to date the character if it was one of the following : Konohana Lucia from Rewrite,
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