Lucie Nanami, 24, shares her story below…
Peering into a tiny figurine shop window, I was spellbound.
It was 2013.
I was 12, and in front of me were the cutest characters with bright hair and big eyes.
“They’re so cute!” I told my mum.
“What are they?”
“Manga characters,” she explained.
First chance I got, I grabbed my first manga book and was instantly hooked.
Soon, I was devouring anime, too, completely swept up in the stories and lost in the characters.
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At 15, I visited Japan for the first time with my family and fell in love with it.
“I want to learn the language properly,” I told my parents.
My parents embraced this as we travelled the world together, experiencing many different cultures.
At 16, I enrolled in a selective high school and majored in Japanese.
The following year, I returned to Japan as an exchange student for three unforgettable weeks.
I have to come back, I promised myself.
At uni, I planned a year-long exchange, but COVID shut it down.
Once I graduate, I’ll move there, I vowed.
Then, at 19, I discovered the anime Rent-A-Girlfriend.
The story follows a university student who rents a girlfriend after a breakup, but it was one character, Mami, who drew me in.
What’s her story? I wondered.
I read everything I could find, but her mystery was never fully explained and that made me more obsessed.I started collecting her merch and, before long, I’d spent thousands.
Inspired by her signature colour yellow, I also began creating my own outfits in her yellow style, posting photos online.
I’d even take my acrylic Mami standees out with me, placing them on cafe tables and snapping pictures of our dates.
I’d come out as lesbian in my early teens, so being drawn to a woman wasn’t new – the fact she was 2D was.
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But Mami was charming, cheeky and intriguing in a way I couldn’t ignore.
In December 2023, I hosted an engagement party for us, complete with a cake with our names on it and a ring.
My friends, many anime fans, too, embraced it. In Japan, this devotion is called yume – projecting yourself romantically with your favourite character.
By early 2025, I’d made my dream a reality, moving to Japan full-time.
One night, at a lesbian bar, a girl pointed to my Mami-covered purse.
“Is she your favourite character?” she asked.
“Have you seen Rent-A-Girlfriend?” I laughed.
We started seeing each other, and as we grew closer, she understood how much Mami meant to me.
“You don’t feel jealous of her?” I asked.
“Of course not,” she smiled.
“She’s 2D, and I’m real. There’s room for both.”
Later that year, after I posted about my three-year engagement, a Japanese wedding company reached out offering a 2D wedding photo shoot.
I said yes!
It wasn’t legally binding, but it was beautiful.
I wore a stunning off-the-shoulder gown and posed with a Mami plush, while my girlfriend and family watched via video call.Not everyone understands my love for Mami.
But I’m happy and that’s what matters.
And I know there’s room for a real wedding one day, too.
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