This is why I read Salon. I can read the hard hitting news, and then when I need a break from the depressing reality of our country's constitutional crisis I can come over here and get a good laugh.

Thanks for helping take some of the edge off.

Ms. Hepola, don't you get the irony of attempting to be all snarky about this silly, 15-inch thingy? There are few things lonely, lusty women love more than their.....that's right......vibrators. Mechanical, loving vibrators. So next time you're going to try making men look like such pathetic saps for wanting a 15-inch love toy of their own why don't you try looking in your panty drawer to remind yourself of your own fetish for inanimate love.

I am not UGLY, indeed I do get some attention from women, more than I expect to get, really.

But I myself am very picky, preferring to be alone rather than to be with some girl just to stave off loneliness.

So, I have spent long stretches girlfriendless. Those who know me know I have found someone whom I have been engaged to for a little while.

But, back to the point. During those stretches when I was alone, pining for my soul mate, I noticed what I missed was not the sex per se, but AFFECTION, CARING, someone who was there to give me a hug or kiss when the day did not go so well. Someone who liked me for me, rather than for what I can DO for them.

It is weird really. Aren't we guys supposed to be the always hard mega sex gods women want us to be? Aren't we supposed to run from displays of affection?

maybe it's just me.

Anyway, I would not be surprised if the legendary Japanese girls, who all smirk, all 40 million in unison, at the idea of a married life and kids with some guy, are impoverishing Japanese men and making them long for some sweet, old fashioned affection.

This may be just a plastic toy, but OBVIOUSLY, someone at corporate understood that this toy just might make a pretty penny.

Then again, maybe it is just a gimmick. Like a bobble head doll.

For sure EMA is cute in Incredible-Shrink-Woman-With-Breast-That-No-Shrink-So-Much kind way, but move her little bit too jerky and hand is too much like lobster claw for take serious as sex object.

Think Svutlana that maybe EMA stand for Eternal Man-Child Actualization.

Meaning that Verne Troyer can now purchase a fembot his size to love and, um, "luvvvv" for all eternity!

Naturally, he will call her Mini-She.

That has to be the cutest thing I've ever seen!!!

She's not like a sex bot, more like those dogs that you can put your Ipod into...If they made an Emma like that...and she gave cute kisses like now(Theres really nothing provocative about her.) I would totally invest in one.

And I'm a female consumer under the age of 20.

The mini robot is hilarious. It's not going to grab its target demo, which has already been hijacked by the Love Doll (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_doll), which Salon has covered in an old archived article.

This might become one of those objects from Japan that will get co-opted by us for its kitsch value.

Can someone explain what the Broadsheet obsession with dolls is all about ? "Don't get me wrong," but this ground seems to be covered weekly and there is a little more than a feeling of deja vu in the comments.

"Someone who liked me for me, rather than for what I can DO for them."

I think that is the sweetest thing I've ever read in a long time.

And I'm a sucker for romance novels.

It's true though.....She can't provide men sexual satisfaction, She is simply there to provide that comfort we need when we are alone and depressed and wished someone was there when you came home.

and lonelywolf, Verne Troyer prefers regular sized women. And do not doubt that he gets them....Money....and some women just have strange fetishes I will never understand.

You're honestly comparing this thing to a vibrator? That's pretty funny.

A vibrator isn't trying to emulate a real person. It is what it is and it gets the job done, and then it goes back in the nightstand.

I'm not sure what need this little robot is supposed to be fulfilling.

" "She's very lovable and though she's not human, she can act like a real girlfriend."

Suuure. A real girlfriend for leprechauns maybe. "

All they claimed was she "can act" like a real girlfriend. What size does one have to be in order to act that way? Is there a lower limit? Tread carefully.

The robot could be 5'2", eyes of blue, and still not measure up imo. As Marvin Gaye sang, ain't nothing like the real thing baby.

... not so totally bizarre in japan. if you read/watch any manga or anime at all, you might be more familiar with the concept of robotic companions. for a crash course, try watching a few episodes of "chobits." in fact, there is a small personal robot (persocom) named sumomo in that series who is a companion but not a sexual companion.

this little companion robot in your post reminds me of sumomo -- they're even almost the same size. "chobits" and other manga & anime with similar themes has been around a pretty long time so i doubt the concept even registers as unusual at all in japan. instead of an odd innovation, it is probably more of an obvious eventuality.

here is an interesting sidebar worthy of a broadsheet mention: even though all the members of the studio that created "chobits" are female (CLAMP), the series' treatment of female roles is breathtakingly subservient and a little pervvy-feeling. i'm sure a lot of broadsheeters would be apoplectic.

i recently visited tokyo for the first time and it gave me a lot of insight into japanese cultural quirks (in comparison with the US, anyway). i've loved anime and japansese culture in general since i was a child, i was amazed at how the animated stuff i've watched watched for years was not as exaggerated in real life as i would have thought. this tiny robot makes perfect sense to me.