Wrong on Every Level

I'm beginning the arduous task of getting through the articles I saved on my awesome iPhone NY Times app that I want to share with you. Promise not to get too ridiculous with yesterday's news, but I really hope you guys saw this - I dare you to get through this article without vomiting:

Nisan is part of a thriving subculture of men and women in Japan who indulge in real relationships with imaginary characters. These 2-D lovers, as they are called, are a subset of otaku culture— the obsessive fandom that has surrounded anime, manga and video games in Japan in the last decade... Unlike most otaku, though, they have real romantic feelings for their toys. The less extreme might have a hidden collection of figurines based on anime characters that they go on “dates” with during off hours. A more serious 2-D lover, like Nisan, actually believes that a lumpy pillow with a drawing of a prepubescent anime character on it is his girlfriend.

I don't know what the laws are in Japan, but how is this not child pornography? Or just culturally shunned? How would you feel if you and your children were out at a restaurant and some middle-aged man was romancing a pillow with a naked 13-year-old on it? Dis-gus-ting.