Popular photo sharing app Snapchat has helped ignite Twitter and other social media outlets with the debut of its new Anime filter. The filter uses Snapchat's facial recognition technology to pinpoint any faces on camera, then adapts each face to look like a hand drawn or computer animated character. So far the results have been interesting to say the least.

Anime is derived from the English word animation, and is used to describe a particular style of animated works, especially those originating in Japan. The earliest commercial Japanese animations date back to 1917 and have since become adopted worldwide for their unique look and storytelling. Since the '80s, the medium has seen a huge rise in international success due in part to dubbed and subtitled programming. Popular shows like Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, and Pokémon have all found decades of success and relevance throughout the world. As of 2016, anime accounted for 60-percent of all the world's animated television shows.

Related: One Piece Live-Action Show Writer Explains How The Anime Saved His Life

In spite of only having recently been released, Snapchat's anime filter has gone viral, and not only on its own app. People are using the proprietary anime filter in Snapchat, then posting their photos and videos to Twitter, Instagram, and particularly TikTok. This has helped the anime filter go viral across nearly all of social media, not something that happens very often. While many people have used the filter on photos of K-Pop stars and themselves to minimal excitement, there have been a select few whose creativity... and coincidental misfortune, have led to some amazing pseudo-anime content thus far.

The Best (And Not So Best) Of The Anime Filter

sailor moon anime

Below are some of the more recent and interesting posts using Snapchat's anime filter. While many found success and were even impressed with the anime version of themselves, others were not so lucky. Furthermore, a large group of people turned the camera lens from themselves and pointed it out toward to world with some very unique results. For example, there are those who applied the filter to world renowned faces:

Others took the opportunity to anime style their pets with dogs proving particularly popular, albeit with varying results:

Babies were another area where the results could vary:

Then there were those who thought they looked cute once the anime filter has been applied:

Others weren't as pleased with the results:

One guy in particular brought a healthy dose of self-deprecation to the viral party:

As one could bet, the internet pulled through and provided this inevitable gem:

This is still a very young filter that has continued to gain steam since its recent debut and there are already more creative uses popping up across all social media platforms. With that said, like all viral trends online, this filter is bound to have a limited shelf life, so enjoy it while it lasts, whether on Snapchat, Twitter, TikTok or anywhere else the Anime Style Lens makes its way to.

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