About
In April 2025, while ChatGPT's ability to render photos in Studio Ghibli style became a fad, I was re-watching the 1985 animé series Robotech. As shown in the prompts, I began to wonder what these characters would look like if Robotech was a live-action series instead of animé.
Instead of turning photos into animé I wanted to see if I could turn animé into photos.
Robotech Macross Saga
Robotech amalgamated three different Japanese animé shows into one dubbed English series, with each series known within the Robotech story as 'sagas'. The first Robotech saga was that of Macross (an adaption of Super Dimension Fortress Macross) and the second was know as The Masters (which adapted Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross). For this reason, the Robotech character names are provided along with the original Japanese character names.
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| Rick Hunter & Lisa Hayes | Hikaru Ichijyo & Misa Hayase. ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-13, with prompt:I'm curious about how these people would look if they were real, Can you "reverse anime" them and render them realistically? |
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| Lynn Minmay. ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-14, with prompt:
I'm curious about how these people would look if they were real, Can you "reverse anime" them and render them realistically? |
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| Lisa Hayes | Misa Hayase. ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-14, with prompt:
I'm curious about how these people would look if they were real, Can you "reverse anime" them and render them realistically? |
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| Lisa Hayes (Misa Hayase), Captain Gloval (Bruno J. Global), and Exedore (Exsedole Folmo) • ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-15, with prompt:
I'm curious about how these people would look if they were real, Can you "reverse anime" them and render them realistically? |
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| Lisa Hayes | Misa Hayase. ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-15, with prompt:
Can you reverse anime this one |
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| Lynn Minmay. ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-15, with prompt:
Can you do this one as well? |
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| Lynn Minmay. ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-15, with prompt:
I'm curious about how these people would look if they were real, Can you "reverse anime" them and render them realistically? |
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BONUS.
Lisa Hayes (Misa Hayase), Captain Gloval (Bruno J. Global), Lynn Minmay, and Exedore (Exsedole Folmo) • In an attempt to render images in a batch, I uploaded this group and prompted: I'm curious about how these people would look if they were real, Can you "reverse anime" them and render them realistically? and it produced the group image. ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-15. |
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The Sterling Family • ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-17, with prompt:
I'm curious about how these people would look if they were real, Can you "reverse anime" them and render them realistically? |
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Lisa Hayes | Misa Hayase. • ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-21, with prompt:
I'm curious about how this person would look if they were real, Can you "reverse anime" them and render them realistically? |
Robotech The Masters Saga
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Dana Sterling | Jeanne Francaix • ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-21, with prompt:I'm curious about how this person would look if they were real, Can you "reverse anime" them and render them realistically? |
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Dana Sterling | Jeanne Francaix • ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-21, with prompt:Can you also reverse anime this one? |
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Southern Cross HQ • ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-22, with prompt:Now can you reverse anime this architectural rendering |
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Marie Crystal | Marie Angel • ChatGPT generated on 2025-05-07, with prompt:Now can you reverse anime this architectural rendering |
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Marie Crystal | Marie Angel • ChatGPT generated on 2025-05-07, with prompt:Can you do the same for this pne? |
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Marie Crystal | Marie Angel • ChatGPT generated on 2025-05-07, with prompt:Can you do the same for this one? |
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VERSION 2 • Marie Crystal | Marie Angel • ChatGPT generated on 2025-05-12, with prompt:Can you reverse anime this character and show me what they'd look like if they were real? |
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VERSION 1 • Marie Crystal | Marie Angel • ChatGPT generated on 2025-05-12, with prompt:Can you reverse anime this character and show me what they'd look like if they were real? |
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Nova Satori | Lana Isavia • ChatGPT generated on 2025-05-07, with prompt:Can you do the same for this one, a different character |
Civitas Londinum "Agas" Map of London
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Section of the Civitas Londinum map of 1633 • ChatGPT generated on 2025-04-17, with prompt:This is an old map of London UK. Can you transform it into a realistic rendering? |
Emperor Augustus
After reading in Tom Holland's translation of Suetonius' The Lives of the Caesars.
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Octavian Caesar Augustus • ChatGPT generated on 2025-05-07, with prompt: "Give me a realistic image of an old Emperor Augustus, aged about 70, based on this portrait statue. I am reading a biography of him and want to imagine him realistically and not just base my image on the statues, which I understand were idealized |
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Octavian Caesar Augustus • ChatGPT generated on 2025-05-07, with prompt: "That's pretty good, Now to compare, render a young version based on this statue. Also use this physical description: "his hair was slightly curly and inclined to golden;[v] his eyebrows met. His ears were of moderate size, and his nose projected a little at the top and then bent ever so slightly inward. His complexion was between dark and fair." Light brown hair |
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Octavian Caesar Augustus • ChatGPT generated on 2025-05-07, with prompt:Ok great. I like this second image. Can you now age it forward to about age 70, so I can compare it with your first version? |
