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The 'Girl Staring At You, Saying Sweet Things' App

November 15, 2012 / companionship, depressing, different strokes for different folks, girlfriend, have you met my girlfriend? SHE'S AN APP, i just don't have time for a real girlfriend right now -- suuuuure that's the reason buddy, japan, not the worst use of a buck I can think of, sadness, there's an (overwhelmingly depressing) app for that, wow

girl-watching-app-sadness.jpg

'Watching Cute Girl' is a depressing Japanese iPhone app that features a girl in over 180 pre-recorded videos where she just stares at you and says sweet things that nobody else ever will. It really makes me sad people use things like this instead of signing up for one of those nudie webcam sites and getting a REAL girlfriend. "Those are not real girlfriends." Right?! Now tell my roommate -- he thinks he's dating like ten chicks.

Hit the jump for a commercial featuring a Japanese comic.

Thanks to Sazz, who just Facetimes friends and demands they say something nice.

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There are Comments
  • quatro

    JAAAAAAAPAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!

  • HajimeOwari

    They tried to explain it in such a way that it isn't weird. In the video, he basically said "No, I don't think this is weird. Aren't there times when you're alone and you want someone to cheer you on or cheer you up? Like when you're eating? or working? That's what I think this application is for."

    Considering salarymen here in Japan work as much as 40 hours of unpaid overtime per week, which means they're stuck eating crap for dinner since everything is closed. Then they rinse and repeat. Some are also practically forced to go drinking with their boss and/or colleagues 3-5 times a week to advance their careers. So, some young and middle-aged men are still single and have little time to go out and meet women. And, trust me, they're not complaining. It's the cultural state of mind here to work hard for your company because you want to. So, if you put it in perspective, an app like this might be helpful for those depressed salarymen out there.

    Btw, the guy in the video is a small TV celebrity in Japan and not the developer.

  • lorobird

    Yeah it sounds like a brilliant freaking idea. Looks like mental health in Japan is going fantastic. No need for systemic change, no need for political change, no need for organisation. Just some apps to solve the act that human beings are doing 40 hours of unpaid work. The Victorians would have loved this world we live in.

  • Annnd three months later, lorobird is still angry about...anything.

  • HektikLyfe

    I wonder if Magibon had any influence in this app's creation.

  • LOL LOVE JAPAN

  • This is so sad that I can't even make a joke about it.

  • p_shep

    Why does Japan continually come up with these terribly sad inventions? How does the country survive with such wide-spread depression?

  • taran420

    They don't. They have the second highest suicide rate of any country in the world and they have a birthrate of 1.23. They have been forced to close down elementary schools (and turn them into shopping areas or office buildings) because of the lack of children. The country has more elderly people than young ones. It's really sad.

  • lorobird

    Also: the perpetual culture of dehumanizing women into bots and pleasure-givers for men also colludes with the fact that domestic abuse and gender violence are incredibly high in Japan. Domestic abuse is not prosecuted by law and there is a country-wide cover-up custom where women just put up with it and are never encouraged to speak out and seek help. This should not be such a surprise coming from a country that practically trades in rape fantasies, hentai being only one manifestation of it. A relatively recent study shows that 33% of married women are victims of domestic abuse. Considering the secrecy culture that often accompanies this fact, the actual numbers may be much higher.

    Furthermore, workers in Japan have no rights and are made to internalize some bizarre loyalty to the death for their exploitative companies and bosses. The competition culture is exaggerated, that's partly why the depression rates are so high.

    It's also quite a racist culture. South-east Asians tend to be the poor immigrant section of the population and are openly discriminated against.

    It's basically Western (US) capitalist patriarchal culture, but even worse.

  • NI MEN HAO-DY TRAMPOLINA

    SPOT ON. +1

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