Photography & Digital ArtAPR 28, 2023

I Transformed My Meals Into An Anime Experience (24 Pics)

Food in anime is already a full-fledged genre that gives you special pleasure. Dishes are always exaggerated and overflowing with colors. The characters eating different meals make them look incredibly appetizing, and the variety of foods evokes quite sentimental feelings.

Is it possible to fulfill this fantasy with real food and turn it into anime? I wondered if I could make it work in the opposite direction, so I stylized a collection of photos of things I’ve eaten during my trips with a mobile AI tool and ended up with an entire anime series of food that never existed and an aesthetic that can be enjoyed forever.

#1 Fried Corn In Istanbul

21points

I live and work in Ukraine, and I’m passionate about experimenting with AI tools. I adore traveling, I usually take many photos and videos on the way. I prefer remote and hard-to-reach places like archipelagos, mountains, glaciers, and northern islands. But I’m most impressed by the cold countries, as I’m not good with heat. Besides, knowing that many people will never visit these unique places multiplies the value of each trip.

#2 Don’t Ask What It Was, I Liked It

18points

#3 Swedish Pastries

18points

Honestly, I don't always dare to try the local cuisine and mostly choose traditional dishes (although last year I was treated to a deer heart in the Arctic Circle, that was crazy).

The idea for a restyled anime food series came naturally — I love the anime aesthetic, and I wanted to see how AI could transform the food on my plate, and it worked.

The vegetable section of the grocery store is probably my favorite pic in this series. AI has generated veggies from the future that you definitely want to try because you've never seen them in real life.

#4 Butterfly Treats At The Copenhagen Botanical Garden

18points

#5 Here I Am On A Diet

17points

A couple of years ago, I got addicted to creating content using AI tools. First, for fun, because memes and ridiculous videos make my day. Last year, many breakthrough generative AI tools became available to average users, which blew me away.

#6 I Can’t Even Tell What Those Vegetables Are

17points

#7 This Asian Soup Gets More Interesting Every Time

17points

Now I'm searching for easy-to-use tools for instant content creation. What previously seemed impossible for a person without Photoshop and design skills can now be done in seconds on a smartphone just by choosing a photo from the gallery. For me, it’s a ticket to digital art because I can neither draw nor design. To transform photos of my meals for this material, I used Ghibli and JoJo styles in the Restyle mobile app.

#8 Asian Soup Turned… Borscht??

15points

#9 Fried Tuna With Veggies In Portugal, And A Glass Of Wine

14points

I find looking at ordinary things from the side very special — as if you were immersed in an alternative universe, where everything was familiar to you but simultaneously new.

My gastronomic experiments turned into an anime series; well, that was cool. Next time, I'll feed AI photos of my furniture, selfies with my pet, or some old magazine covers and see what happens. Curiosity drives me.