The Desire to Look Like Characters: First Barbie, Now Anime

A. Foley on 10 Oct 2012 at 9:00am

News outlets and blogs - RealSelf included - often chronicle the worldwide obsession to take on another character's appearance. It started with Barbie looks alikes and has now extended further into the fantasy realm.

Anastasiya Shpagina is the latest to transform her image and she's striving to resemble the look of popular Asian anime. The 19 year-old Ukrainian is a makeup artist by trade and spends hours to achieve her doe-eyed look. One day, she says, she would like to have plastic surgery to reshape her eyes and nip in her waist even more drastically (she reportedly tips the scale at 90 lbs as of now). In the forums, RealSelf doctors have several suggestions to achieve a smaller waist, but they are all based on realistic and healthy expectations.

Her talent as a make-up artist is undeniable, but many doctors caution about the desire to mirror a character- or celebrity-inspired appearance. What is interesting is that the "real-life Barbie," Valeria Lukyanova, and Anastasiya both live in Odessa, Ukraine and appear to be friends (via photos in their social media profiles). Though Valeria claims to be the most famous woman on the Russian Internet, Anastasiya may be hot on her tracks. More than 800,000 people have viewed her YouTube Flower Fairy Tutorial.

What do you think - more power to her for expressing herself, or is she taking it too far? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

photo credit: facebook

Comments (4)

evaelizabeth 16 Nov 2012

awesome..inspiring

demonicspawn 22 Oct 2012

I think its very artistic and enchanting like looking at art even if it is otherworldly! I think 90s pounds that is nuts there is no way a grown man can be healthy and 90 pounds. I think every kind of beauty should be embraced, natural beauty should also be just as respected as any other kind. I dont think we should set this as a standard for young girls because for most its unattainable. I can appreciate the unique enchantment of her look, its so cool we just have to keep a reality check on stuff like this.