By Asher Moses
Fans of a huge Japanese female pop group were shocked to learn that the newest member they were fawning over is in fact a computer-generated composite of the other group members.
AKB48 is an all-female "idol" group – one of many comprising nubile young women who are idolised by Japanese geeks mainly because of their flawless looks.
Computer-generated character ... Aimi Eguchi.
The group produces songs and appears in theatre shows and on TV. It holds the Guinness World Record for being the "pop group with the greatest number of members" – dozens are spread into four teams.
Earlier this month Aimi Eguchi was announced as the newest member. ChannelNewsAsia reported that Eguchi received reams of publicity "because of her flawless looks and her uncanny resemblance to other AKB48 members".
Part of a video showing that Aimi is actually a composite of other group member features.
According to Eguchi's profile, she is a 16-year-old from Saitama, north of Tokyo. The teen featured in the Japanese magazine Weekly Playboy; it is not uncommon in Japan for grown men to fawn over anime characters and pop idols who appear to be teenagers.
Eguchi also appeared in a 15-second television commercial for a Japanese confectionary company, Ezaki Glico, raising suspicions of some die-hard AKB48 fans as usually only the most popular group members – as voted for by fans - star on TV.
Some fans, however, were defending her humanity and AKB48 management continued the ruse by declaring: "She's real!"
Soon, the jig was up – Glico has admitted that Eguchi is fake and released a video showing how she was created. The character is a composite of various features of the existing group members.
Sensors on real humans helped the designers create a lifelike character.
Eguchi has also appeared in an additional video introducing herself in Japanese.
Translated to English she says: "Nice to meet you! I'm Aimi Eguchi, the new member of AKB48. At this time, I'm debuting in an advertisement for Ice no Mi CM (candy balls). I will do my very best, so please give me your support!"
Milking the ruse further, the confectionary maker has published a tool on its website allowing people to create their own AKB48 girls and then share them on Facebook or Twitter.
According to the Daily Yomiuri, AKB48 sell more than 1 million CDs whenever they release a new song and over 1.16 million fans voted in a recent "general election" to determine which member was the most popular.