Living Doll

Kid Various is not freaked out by much. But this story flashes red on the creepmeter.

Tokyo: As Japan produces fewer children and more retirees, toymakers are designing new dolls designed not for the young but for the lonely elderly -- companions which can sleep next to them and offer caring words they may never hear otherwise.

"There has been demand for dolls which can 'heal' you but toys available on the market were mostly for daytime," said Kiriseko.

"I thought that you need to enjoy the night together if you really hope to live with a doll."

That's it. Society has officially collapsed.

Ugh! Is this our future? To spend our last days rocketing toward the grave with Chucky & friends?

The doll can be programmed to "sleep" or "wake up" in accordance with the owner's pattern, saying "good morning" with open eyes at due time or inviting the elderly to sleep with the doll's eyelids drooping.

"I feel so good, g-o-o-d n-i-g-h-t," the doll says before falling asleep if the owner pats it on the chest gently.

Or Yumel may ask, "Aren't you pushing yourself too hard?" when it judges the owner has been going to bed too irregularly or not spending enough time playing with it.

"If you lead an orderly life, Yumel will be in a good mood, singing songs or pleading with you to do something like buying him toys," Kiriseko said.

Or it just might say "Hello, my name is talking Tina and you are a very bad man. I'm going to kill you!"


Oh yeah, Kid Various has seen enough episodes of the Twilight Zone to know to stay the hellz away from freaky life like dolls. And believe you him, he's going to punch his ticket like Hunter S. Thompson before he reduced to this...

"Thank you for giving me a heart-warming baby. I'm no longer alone," an 82-year-old woman wrote while another senior woman said she was raising the doll "as my own child".

*Shudder*