A Japanese man has enlisted hundreds of people in a campaign to allow marriages between humans and cartoon characters, saying he feels more at ease in the "two-dimensional world."

Comic books are immensely popular in Japan, with some fictional characters becoming celebrities or even sex symbols.

Marriage is meanwhile on the decline as many young Japanese find it difficult to find life partners.

Taichi Takashita launched an online petition aiming for one million signatures to present to the government to establish a law on marriages with cartoon characters.

Within a week he has gathered more than 1,000 signatures through the Internet.

"I am no longer interested in three dimensions. I would even like to become a resident of the two-dimensional world," he wrote.

"However, that seems impossible with present-day technology. Therefore, at the very least, would it be possible to legally authorise marriage with a two-dimensional character?"

Befitting his desire to be two-dimensional, he listed no contact details, making it impossible to reach him for comment to explain if his campaign is serious or tongue-in-cheek.

But some people signing the petition are true believers.

"For a long time I have only been able to fall in love with two-dimensional people and currently I have someone I really love," one person wrote.

"Even if she is fictional, it is still loving someone. I would like to have legal approval for this system at any cost," the person wrote.

Japan only permits marriage between human men and women and gives no legal recognition to same-sex relationships.

Japan's fans of comic books, or "manga," sometimes go to extremes.

Earlier this month, a woman addicted to manga put out an online message seeking to kill her parents for asking her to throw away comic books that filled up three rooms.

Prime Minister Taro Aso is an avid fan of manga and recently complained that he has been too busy to read comic books since taking office.

Hate to think of the condition those comic books are in, pages stuck together and all.

I could do Jessica Rabbit any time woo hoo

Must get out the video and watch her play patty cake

hubba hubba

CB

Before you know it this can happen:

Woman arrested after virtual murder

A woman in Japan has been arrested after she murdered her virtual husband in a computer game.

The 43-year-old piano teacher became so angry about a divorce from her online husband that she logged on to the MapleStory computer game with his password and deleted his digital persona.

It has prompted a debate among online gamers and bloggers about whether virtual offences should be punished in the real world.

The woman was arrested on Wednesday and taken 620 miles from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sapporo, where the man lives, police said.

The two are believed never to have met in the real world and the woman had not plotted any revenge outside cyberspace.

Police quoted her as saying: "I was suddenly divorced - without a word of warning. That made me so angry."

She was arrested on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data.

The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married, and killed the character.

The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar, the name for the characters used by gamers to respresent themselves in virtual worlds, was dead.

She has not yet been formally charged, but could face up to five years in prison or a fine of more than £3,000 if eventually convicted.

Before you know it this can happen:

Woman arrested after virtual murder

A woman in Japan has been arrested after she murdered her virtual husband in a computer game.

The 43-year-old piano teacher became so angry about a divorce from her online husband that she logged on to the MapleStory computer game with his password and deleted his digital persona.

It has prompted a debate among online gamers and bloggers about whether virtual offences should be punished in the real world.

The woman was arrested on Wednesday and taken 620 miles from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sapporo, where the man lives, police said.

The two are believed never to have met in the real world and the woman had not plotted any revenge outside cyberspace.

Police quoted her as saying: "I was suddenly divorced - without a word of warning. That made me so angry."

She was arrested on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data.

The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married, and killed the character.

The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar, the name for the characters used by gamers to respresent themselves in virtual worlds, was dead.

She has not yet been formally charged, but could face up to five years in prison or a fine of more than £3,000 if eventually convicted.

So why don't she get a virtual punishment for a virtual crime ?

That's virtually impossible in the real world

ban her from the gaming world for 5 years & give the poor cow a chance to get a real life. Mind boggling.!!!