Chibi Photo Trend: How Anime-Style Miniatures Are Taking Over Social Media:

Suspense Crime, Digital Desk : The new visual craze that the internet has come up with is Chibi-style photos. After the rise in popularity of AI art inspired by Studio Ghibli, it appears that Chibi sculptures are now taking over social media. These are anime style distortions of actual people where the selfie is oversized and childlike which transforms it into a doll styled art, complete with large captivating eyes and heads.

Chibi comes from Japanese pop culture meaning short or small. In anime anime and manga character’s features such as the head, eyes, arms and legs are given rounded edges and wider proportions to make them more appealing. This recent trend of AI Chibi creation takes this style even further with smooth 3D designs that resemble real life people in a figurine form.

Chibi versions are designed with greater detail than the standard anime filters. Many designs display the Chibi figure in a see through capsule replicating gashapon figures that are sold in vending machines. The end result is polished, playful, and ready for social media sharing.

How Chibi Photos Are Created

One design popular with users has a tiny Chibi figure encased in a glass capsule and delicately held between fingers. It is given blurry backgrounds and softened lighting which gives the image a cozy and real atmosphere.

To create a Chibi Photo for yourself, you need:

A frontal photograph in which your face is clearly visible with part of your head, and an outfit on it.

An AI generator tool such as Chat GPT-4o, or another like it.

A custom visual prompt crafted for warmth and emotional resonance.

This is the prompt that has been recommended for optimal results:

“Close-up (‘Portrait’ orientation) photograph of a glass gashapon capsule. Adult fingertips should be shown holding the capsule from behind so that the alteration seam of the capsule is vertically aligned in the middle of the frame. Reflections of light should be visible on the glass surface as well as some scratches and scuff marks.”

“A person-shaped object, referred as ‘3D Chibi-style genre’ is encapsulated inside of the glass capsule. The figure is expected to bear some obvious features of the person it is based on while the face has to be stylized with big sparkling rounded cheeks, round lustrous eyes, a pouty face, and a less defined jawline.

The character should exude a relaxed demeanor and be attired in jeans and T-shirts, hoodies, and sneakers, as well as get captured with a peace sign, shown seated with their legs crossed, or waving cheerfully mid-action., artistically preserving appropriate folds and ripples on the garments.”

“Daylight from the window casts onto the rotunda of the doll, with shallow depth of field focusing on the background blurred further emphasizing warmth and emotion.”

Guidance for achieving the most effective results:

“Make sure to choose the gashapon photo that is sharp with high clarity.”
“Chibi expressions are best achieved with taller and rounded heads/skulls making for better facial angling.”
“Sitting structures and colorful clothes enhance the alterations done to the doll that they were calibrated with.”
“If use of blushing colors alongside the gashapon frame, it makes the figurine more adorable.”

Which Factors Influencing Popularity of Chibi Trend

In case you loved the AI art inspired by Studio Ghibli images, Chibi photos provide a different creative, and androids even cuter, method of altering your selfies. Chibi-style creations are a growing experiment worth trying for AI art lovers due to their adorable, petite charm.