an aspect of otaku culture

see article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-2DLove-t.html

This is a fascinating article, and I think what it speaks to is consequences of the social attitudes towards dating and sexual mores of modern Japan. The more straight-laced a society - that is, the more socially repressed natural self-expression is made to be - the more unusual the range of alternative outlets.