The Hatsune Miku Affair
A wife suspected her husband of adultery and hired an agency to snoop around
The warning signs were there, her husband would disappear on his days off, he would spend long periods of time in the bath looking at his phone, he would get home late and he rented a locked storage space.
But the agency didn’t find evidence of adultery, Instead, he was just an otaku who was pursuing his fandom
He was a massive Hatsune Miku fan and was looking forward to the Magical Mirai concert featuring the virtual Vocaloid idol.
On those days off when he was mysteriously absent he was actually going to karaoke by himself or searching for merchandise.
In the bath, he was listening to his favorite songs (not messaging a lover) and in the storage space he was simply hiding his merchandise.
The agency brought photographs to the wife showing her husband enjoying karaoke alone, playing a UFO Catcher crane game to get Miku merch, clutching a piece of merch from a Hatsune Miku collaboration with a convenience store, and changing into a happi jacket in a parking lot near the Magical Mirai venue.
So not the kind of offense that it going to result in a payoff for the wife, though it might still be bad enough for a woman to divorce her husband.
Fortunately this wife was understanding of her husband’s fandom and the two apparently remain married. We suspect the situation is helped by the fact that the otaku in question paid his wife’s (not insignificant) bill from the detective agency and treated her to a stay at Disneyland.
the husband went on Twitter to explain himself
This is how my wife found out that I'm an otaku:
- My mood suddenly started to improve in mid-July (probably due to the proximity of the Magical Mirai event).
- He often left the house without saying where he was going. (I was getting excited as Magical Mirai approached, so I started going out for karaoke and buying merchandise.)
- I would take my phone into the bathroom and even my showers lasted a lot longer than usual (while bathing, listening to my favorite songs and time passed).
- I was late from work (I was looking for Miku merchandise, and I was spending time at karaoke practicing songs).
- I got myself a trunk that I locked up and kept in my room (I kept my otaku stuff there, because I didn't want them to know about my hobbies).
- It seems that my wife decided to request the services of a private investigator because she thought she was having an affair. And as a result, her investigation report explained the following activities of her husband: a) Her husband pays for sessions only at karaoke venues; b) Her husband bought a happi (Japanese traditional outfit to support idols at concerts) in the vicinity of a concert venue; c) Her husband has been using Hatsune Miku gacha machines; and d) Her husband has bought some tickets for a lottery of Hatsune Miku products at Lawson stores.
also just a small disclaimer, the pictures of the guy in the article aren't from the husband in story but from the guy that married Hatsune Miku