Marrying Cartoon Characters in Japan

It’d be easy to read this BBC story about a Japanese man who married a cartoon character and just roll your eyes or chalk it up to “Japan is weird, man.” But the social trends underlying the story — specifically, the changing social expectations between Japanese men and women — aren’t so easily dismissed. And if I’m feeling snarky and facetious, is marrying a cartoon character really any worse than the Tinder-driven hook-up culture that our own society has brought about and encouraged?