Virtual and real Japanese models collab for makeup commercial – but who’s the real one?

It’s easy to tell once you already know who’s who, but not so much if you don’t.

One of the more interesting trends to hit social media in recent years is the rise of virtual models. Entirely fabricated using CG graphics, these models are often photoshopped onto real-life scenes and have real-life fans.

Two such Japanese virtual models, Imma and Ria, collaborated with real-life “android” model Saori (a human model who portrays an android) to star in one of Kate cosmetic’s latest commercials to promote their Real Cover Liquid foundation. This is actually Imma’s second time working with the brand.

▼ Appropriately, the commercial is titled Real/Unreal.

The 30-second commercial features all three models dressed in black, walking and lounging around the same room. At a glance, it’s hard to tell which of the three models is real.

▼ Warning: spoilers below.

Though the commercial doesn’t outright say that only one of the models exists in real life, you can tell that something is off with at least one of them. While Imma’s movements actually appear quite natural, it’s real-life “android” model Saori, seen on the right in the image directly above, who has stiff movements and a frozen expression, something that’s considered one of her trademarks as a model.

▼ That’s likely to highlight the commercial’s catchphrase: “Is that skin real or unreal?”

As Saori explained in her mini interview with Net Lab on the commercial, smartphone photo editing apps have become the norm and have blurred the lines between real and unreal when it comes to skin and appearance in general. She said that, especially as an android actress, she needs something to make her skin look pore-less and almost like plastic.

▼ It is pretty hard to tell the difference between the real one and the virtual one here.

Commercial or not, Saori says that Kate’s Real Cover Liquid foundation does a good job of doing just that. It certainly helps her blend in with her alternate-dimensional co-stars, and in a world where virtual YouTubers can have their own bar, maybe it’s not so out of the ordinary.

Sources: YouTube via Net Lab
Images: YouTube
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