It's finally happened the day when virtual characters are so real they could be passed off as living human beings. Japanese fans were shocked to find out that the newest member of the enormously popular girl group AKB48 isn't even human.

Aimi Eguchi according to her official profile is a 16 year old from Saitama, north of Tokyo with perfect looks and have appealed to legions of fanboys. She's even appeared in the Japanese magazine, Weekly Playboy and an ad for Ezaki Glico's Ice no Mi candy balls. If only she were a real person and not a computer generated composite.

Suspicions were raised when fans pointed out Eguchi's uncanny resemblance to other members. Appearing on the Glico ad also added fuel to fan ire as only the most popular AKB48 members were allowed to appear on television. Glico finally admitted she was fake and released a video showing how the perfect idol was created. The uncanny resemblance to other members was explained because Eguchi was a composite of other members.

Creating virtual idols isn't really new in Japan, there's holographic singer Hatsune Miku and a host of virtual girlfriends for lonely Japanese but this is the first time a company has tried to pass of a virtual person as real.

AKB48 is an all girl "idol" group with a large number of members- it holds a Guinness World Record for this- that rotate into different rosters. The members are spread into four teams that appear in various TV and theater shows. The group sells more than 1 million CDs whenever they release a new song.

Glicko has enjoyed the hoax as the ad has done its job of getting interest in its confectionary. The candy maker has even published a tool on its website that allows people to create their own AKB48 girls.