Whether asleep or awake, these kids are about to go on some incredible illustrated adventures.

In parents’ eyes, their children are the stars of the show of life. Sure, there are plenty of other people in the world too, but once their baby shows up, Mom and Dad’s spotlight isn’t shining anywhere else.

So really, all Japanese Instagram user Yota (yota7454) is doing is extending that mentality into a visual metaphor the rest of the world can see too. Since 2016, the father of two has been sharing creative artwork of his kids, taken against plain backdrops, to which Yota adds hand-drawn costumes, hairstyling, and other flourishes to transform his children into anime icons.

Naturally, the animated films of Studio Ghibli are regularly featured, like this action-packed scene from Princess Mononoke…

…and a bit of baby-sitting from Spirited Away’s No-Face.

Little witch Kiki (of Delivery Service fame) also shows up in Yota’s portfolio…

…as does extra-little adventurer Arrietty.

Having two kids also allows Yota to let them hang out with Totoro, just like Mei and Satsuki, the most famous pair of Ghibli siblings.

On that note, while Yota has two sons, he’s not in any way averse to using them as models for anime girls, including the most prominent of magical girls, Sailor Moon’s Sailor Senshi.

While he hasn’t drawn the entire sky’s worth of celestial soldiers, Yota has covered the five Inner Senshi: Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus.

▼ Wielding one of Sailor Mars’ Shinto o-fuda talismans

▼ Performing Sailor Venus’ signature attack: Venus Love-Me Chain

Yota’s artwork isn’t limited to human characters, either. For example, here we see one of his sons as a Pokémon that looks like Pikachu, although the “on-screen” text informs us it’s really a “Level 99 Baby that Cries at Night.”

Meanwhile, here comes a Level 99 Fussy Baby, with the intimidating wingspan and flaming tail of Charizard.

And in his most recent creation, Yota turns one of his kids into real-world tennis champion Naomi Osaka.

Yota himself admits that it takes him an extremely long time to think up new ideas and draw them, but with his kids currently aged one and three, we can probably look forward to at least a few more pieces of artwork before they get too busy with school and other stuff to pose for incredibly unique photos.

Source: Instagram/@yota7454 via Baby Calendar
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!