A very good looking Frankenstein, though. Meet Aimi Eguchi. She’s the newest member in the Japanese Idol Group AKB48… well, she’s actually kind of like the newest “members.” She’s not a clone, well, sort of. She’s a hybrid of the “best features” of six current AKB48 members. She’s made up of a mouth, a head shape, a nose, eyes, eyebrows, and hair, all from different people. Oh, and did I mention that until today people thought she was real?
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXFfh2nJ5nY']
When she was added as the newest member, this story got some news. Some people care about this kind of thing, though Tofugu isn’t really interested in it, I’d say. The part we like was how it turned out she was fake. The technology behind it is also interesting. After being added to the group, Eguchi appeared in a Glico Commercial (seriously, you know you’ve hit it big once you’ve been in a Glico commercial).
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnWFbh69Hzg']
Then, people found out she wasn’t actually real… All the otaku who fell in love with her were crushed and heartbroken. Not even putting together that Gundam figurine could make them happy again :(
I don’t think the story here is so much that she’s fake (though that’s pretty cool), I think the interesting part is the technology that went into making someone fake. Normally, when you put together a bunch of random things from a bunch of different people, it doesn’t turn out too good. I think Conan O’Brien’s “If They Mated” sketch proves this.
The “Making Of” video isn’t particularly illuminating, but it does have some info as to what they did to create Aimi Eguchi. Looks like they recorded the six idols, did some CG magic, then combined the individual face features into one fake AKB48 idol.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIpYpRobez4']
I’d say some of her pictures / videos are pretty good, though every once in a while you come across one where you’re like “ooh, she looks funny,” though I wonder if I’d notice any of this if I didn’t know she was fake.
The really interesting part, I’d say, is figuring out what will happen with her a year or so from now. Will she still exist? Will there still be rabid fans of her? If Hatsune Miku (A computer generated singer) can be super popular and have a ton of fans, why not Aimi Eguchi?
Personally, though, if I were AKB48, I’d see how long I could keep this hoax going. Start a betting pool inside the company, or something. I’d bet they could keep it secret for about a month before anyone figured it out, though you’d need to come up with all kinds of excuses why she never appears anywhere in person…
Create Your Own Idol!
This is just a little extra, but has a “Create Your Own Idol” kind of website where you can take different pieces of different AKB48 idols to make your own Frankenstein.
See what you can come up with. It’s actually pretty hard to make something that’s too terrifying, though I have faith in all of you Tofugu readers to come up with something amazing. You can’t beat this one, though.
Go ahead, create your own idols! Show us in the comments what you’ve come up with.
P.S. Steve Buscemi is a baller of an actor. If you agree, you should Follow Tofugu On Twitter.
P.P.S. If you don’t agree with the previous statement, perhaps you’re more of a Facebook type of person?