Aimi Eguchi, Of Japan's AKB48 Pop Idols, Has A Secret: She's Not Human (VIDEO)

She was the latest addition to a Japanese girl group with millions of superfans, who vote each year on which of the group's 61 members is the most popular, with the winner announced in an internationally televised awards ceremony.

So when Aimi Eguchi appeared in a candy commercial soon after joining AKB48, fans were understandably suspicious. Ordinarily, only the most popular girls get to do commercials, and Eguchi was still a "research student"--bottom of the ladder. That's when fans started to suggest something extraordinary: What if Eguchi didn't exist at all?

Well, it turns out the skeptics were right. Eguchi wasn't conceived in the womb, but rather, inside a computer. Ezaki Glico, the candy company that first aired the commercial, revealed that Eguchi is a digital composite combining the physical characteristics of six other members' faces.

According to the Singularity Hub, Eguchi's unveiling shocked those fans who had been defending her humanity. Eguchi, in addition to the ad appearance, also had a profile on the band page, detailing her age, hometown, and hobbies. She had also appeared in a photoshoot in a weekly magazine.

Japan already has at least one virtual pop star: Hatsune Miku, a hologram, performs across the country to screaming fans in sold-out arenas.

Watch a video showing how they made Aimi (below):

Comments

[hattentojou]

04:04 PM on 07/23/2011

Hi, I performed dance”AKB48”　at wedding party.
AKB48 is very famous idol in Asia.
I succeed to please guests.
AKB48 has something attractive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5McGB552Dc
Thank you.

[burittotaconacho]

09:49 AM on 07/01/2011

The fake cute little-girl schtick for grown adults is super gross and not at all cute. The creepy smiles and dead eyes is terrifying (in the humans as well as the fake one). Reminds me why I got the hell outta Japan! What are we, trained poodle lapdogs, experts in girlie harmless cuteness? Gross! The more Japan continues to scare away its own citizens that actually want to do something other than be cute, the more its economy will go down the tubes...wake up, Japan!

[Jolene Oldham]

08:38 PM on 06/29/2011

I love how author William Gibson makes up something, and the world steps up to create it.

[RedFF]

03:47 AM on 06/28/2011

Actually this girl is a CGI version of Yuko.

Yuko is the girl in the beginning and basically they just added the facial features of the other members on her face.

[General Public]

07:45 PM on 06/26/2011

They got most of the face right, but look at the ear... the ear looks like a Photoshop mistake.

[mellerouge2010]

12:13 AM on 06/26/2011

SHE IS PIXEL PERFECT!

[SouthStJo]

04:07 PM on 06/25/2011

That's just so Japan of them

[Barry Weavers]

03:25 PM on 06/25/2011

Interesting, but like Osusuki's comments I prefer Hatsune Miku.

[Osusuki]

02:19 PM on 06/25/2011

So Eguchi is not only a fake but also a fake fake, right? Pretty, but I still prefer Miku, a real fake built from scratch, and with music more to my taste. (I know, I know, I have descended to the depths of otaku madness!) Miku forever!

[Quinxy von Besiex]

07:39 PM on 06/25/2011

don't click that link from that spammer, flag it!

[Quinxy von Besiex]

07:40 PM on 06/25/2011

that link is spam. it should be flagged!

[SiameseTrainer]

06:57 AM on 06/25/2011

There is something very charming about the bizarre fixations of Japanese Culture. From virtual pets to virtual rockstars, robots and uniformed school girls, such enthusiasts!

[arizonabay]

05:38 AM on 06/25/2011

Kinda reminds me of Image Metrics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLiX5d3rC6o&feature=related

[StephenJK]

02:48 AM on 06/25/2011

Japanese women are much more attractive.

[clearthinker2008]

07:14 AM on 06/25/2011

Than whom?

[StephenJK]

07:40 AM on 06/25/2011

CGI "people"

[StephenJK]

02:44 AM on 06/25/2011

That's right. Keep deception up at an all time high so that people are marginalized for believing in such a creation. So they marginalize themselves for ever believing. Keep the deception up so that professional skeptics actually have something good to feel about. So they can keep their opinions of themselves so high while they look at all the small minded people who are so much smaller than they are. Lets all keep deceiving so we can keep the charade going. Because I'll tell you, this won't keep up much longer.

[sevnwolves]

03:21 AM on 06/25/2011

Holy cow, you remind me of that doped up character from Apocalypse Now played by Dennis Hopper - LOL. Why exactly won't it keep up much longer? In various incarnations it's been going on for centuries.

[StephenJK]

06:59 AM on 06/25/2011

LOL I loved Hopper's character in that movie.

Why won't it continue much longer? It's kind of like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". We're starting to wake up to the greater deceptions of big gov't, corporations, the banksters and their mouthpiece, the media. That's what I'm talking about.