Married... to Pikachu?

A friend has alerted me to one of the more quirky ways Pokémon is realized in life. In Japan, you can now apply to have a marriage certificate with Pikachu by filling out a special form. As with any application process, you then would expectedly receive the certificate after the form has been processed. It's quirky because it presents an unusual situation, but it might actually be something that a number of Pokémon fans welcome.

They would welcome this because it plays into the notion of a waifu, a fictional partner that in a way one is romantically attached to. The partner could be human or non-human, which in this case would be the latter. This also reminds me of a Pokémon friend who I have, who has a Pokémon waifu and is proud of it. The only difference is that my friend's waifu is Sylveon rather than Pikachu, which I'm certain doesn't have a marriage application of its own, unlike Pikachu.

To me, this is a playfully official take on the notion, as it lets you be recognized and approved to have a waifu of your own, namely the de facto series mascot. Of course, like actual and real marriages, there's a sense of commitment to be upheld with the official recognition. To have Pikachu as a waifu could be nice, but unless one wants to test commitment, perhaps that should be the limit. I have to say, though, that I'm not well-versed in the realm of the waifu, so you might differ with me on this.

All waifu concerns aside, this is a creative way to celebrate and realize Pikachu and especially Pokémon in real life. If I was in Japan, I might pursue this just for the novelty of showing that I like Pikachu - which I do and don't mind showing. But that's where I'll keep it, just to keep things from "going off the deep end", to put it lightly.