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The AI ’90s yearbook trend hits our office, with hilarious results 【Photos】

Oona McGee Oct 20, 2023
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Japanese-style American jocks and honors students are here to brighten your day.

“AI yearbooks” have become all the rage recently, with people around the world using AI apps to find out what they would look like if they posed for high school yearbook photos in the 1990s. As soon as our team of middle-aged male reporters got wind of the trend, they knew they had to try it for themselves, and the results were even more hilarious than expected.

Though there are a number of AI apps you can use for the transformation, our team opted to use EPIK – AI Photo Editing, the app that started the trend. At the time of writing, it costs 500-800 yen (US$3.34-$5.34) to produce 60 images, with the higher price point offering faster image processing times.

Our reporter Masanuki Sunakoma installed the app on his iPhone and selected “AI イヤーブック” (“AI Yearbook”) from the menu.

Then he selected the appropriate payment plan and chose 8-12 photos to submit. Masanuki’s muse, colleague P.K. Sanjun, was the first to take the plunge, with our boss Yoshio and seven others, including Masanuki, following suit.

▼ The app is said to work best with images that show a variety of facial expressions and angles.

Masanuki had registered as a professional user for one year, aiming to make use of the seven-day free trial, which can be cancelled at no cost during that free period. While that means the app is essentially free to download — provided you cancel within seven days — users do have to pay for the AI photos produced, and because the app is trending right now, some services may be unavailable.

That’s what Masanuki found when he was ready to transform his photos, as he wanted to opt for the cheaper plan, which processes the photos within 24 hours rather than two, but it was sold out at the time so he ended up paying 500 yen for each person’s yearbook photos.

Approximately half an hour after submitting the photos, he received the first album — a total of 60 images for each person, spread out over six themes.

▼ Our boss, Yoshio, leads the pack by looking like a teenager with a bright future ahead of him.

Let’s take a closer look at our reporters, and the various themes, below!

Here to show us how the “Basic” theme looks is Go Hatori, who is almost unrecognisable in these images. That’s quite a feat for Go, as we’ve grown used to seeing him play with his looks.

In the “Fashionista” category, we have P.K. Sanjun, who looks like he’s posing for a career in modelling. If only his celebrity crush, actress and singer Kyoko Fukada, could see him like this now — she’d be sure to pay him the attention he wanted when they crossed paths back in 2019.

Our boss Yoshio is the team’s “Honor Student“, looking like the wholesome good guy he really is, and not the guy who tries to win expensive Japanese whisky and keep his crotch dry.

Playing “Sportsman” for us is Takashi Harada, who clearly missed his calling as an American jock. He did compete in Takeshi’s Castle, though, so he does have some athleticism in him.

Fewer people have more “Charisma” than our very own Masanuki Sunakoma, who looks a lot more slick here than the bad boy he attempts to keep buried inside him.

We’ve gotta say, though, one of our absolute favourites is “Musician” Mr Sato, who looks nothing like the bassist he once really was.

While the six collections above made us laugh the most, we’ve got to give props to Takashi, who totally owned this look, proving he’s more suited to the lifestyle of a bad boy than a club host.

Seiji Nakazawa was another nice surprise, seen here channeling his beloved Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, even when he’s not trying to.

Other photos we couldn’t resist sharing were these beauties, with Mr Sato, Masanuki, and Seiji as we’ve never seen them before.

Yuuichiro Wasai commands attention with this image, where he looks about as happy as he did when he wore this fake dress shirt that barely covered his chest.

▼ Other standouts include P.K. Sanjun, playing baseball…with a weird-looking A.I. arm…

▼ …and Go, with a weird-looking A.I. finger.

▼ Yoshio, however, looks picture-perfect.

▼ As does Mr Sato, who looks like butter wouldn’t melt in all his yearbook photos!

▼ What a class, huh? A motley crew of individuals that we’re proud to call our own.

▼ Can you guess who’s who?

▼ Answers to Photo 1 (above) and Photo 2 (below) at the end of the article!

▼ Scroll through for even more looks…and more laughs!

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A post shared by 砂子間正貫 (@sunakoman)

Every photo made our reporters laugh out loud as they imagined living alternate lives as these characters. It was a fun trip down memory lane that reminded them of their own high school years, and the school songs they belted out for us in the office 20-some years after graduating.

Who’s Who Answers: Photo 1 — P.K., Go, Yuuichiro, Takashi; Photo 2 – Masanuki, Mr Sato, Ahiruneko, Yoshio
Related: EPIK – AI photo editing ( iOS / Android )
Images © SoraNews24
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