Top Twenty AI Art Variants Of Casting Agent Headers

Last year I presented my favorite scenes from Casting Agent, but I forgot to do 1 more post for Anime Month 2024. At first, I was going to post my favorite dialogues but recording the lines would've taken a long time, so I scrapped that idea. So, I decided to generate AI art variants of the 12 headers from each area. Man, this took a lot longer than I thought it would. Don't get me wrong, these came out good, but I thought I was only gonna spend 15 minutes on this.

The main problem I had was if you create a group of people and 1 of them is Black, the AI will make all of them Black even when you state that the other women are White. It's the same problem with hair. If you add dreads to a woman, it gives it to all of them. And that's when it's not adding or subtracting people, putting people in the wrong-colored outfits, ignoring attributes and all sorts of what the fuckery. So yeah, AI ain't replacing artists, at least not the good ones.

As for the list itself, it will be a top 20 list. I haven't done this in a long time since I was sharing Redditors 5 years ago. Since there are 12 areas and I did 180 generations to get the closest to the actual header, I'm gonna make the most out of this. There probably are other free AI art generators out there that would've got this done faster but I didn't feel like signing up for any more past NightCafe and Bing Image Creator. Especially if they don't allow NSFW content.

20. Swimming Pool

I broke up this list into 3 tiers. The top 4 are images that came out how I wanted on NightCafe so I didn't need to do any extra generations. 5-12 are what I felt was the best generation for each area. 13-20 are the images that looked the best but wasn't close enough to the original image intent. So there are some images in the 3rd tier that overall looks better than the 2nd tier images, but it strayed too far from the original to justify placing it any higher on the list.

These porcelain Korean dolls are not one of those images. There were quite a few images where the women straight up looked like dolls. Granted, there are women who use filters to achieve that look and even get surgery to look that way permanently. Anyways, none of the women I came across in Casting Agent appeared to be Asian, so this result was odd. Especially since not only is Jenna(?) Korean, she's also a cop! Looks like she's in the wrong area.

19. Chalet Ski

For some reason, images you create with Bing aren't saved to your Microsoft profile. After 20 generations, the oldest image is removed from the recent sidebar, and you can't go back to it unless you go through your browser history. I for one think that's stupid. Some people may not want to save every image they make one after the other to their computer. They may want to view it on their profile then download it all at once. Talk about an unfriendly user experience.

18. Park

So no, I don't remember the prompt that caused the AI to create a mural. I would've settled for this if Dolly was wearing the camo instead of mixed homegirl here. And why would someone paint a mural for these women anyway? Are they singers? Or are they community activists?

17. Night Club

If Lady Anna had red hair, I would've gone with this in the top 12 instead.

16. Casting Couch

All 4 of them have the same face pretty much but at least it looks like a casting scene.

15. Hotel

This looks like it comes from a JRPG with the 2 on the right being a lesbian couple.

14. School

This looks like a movie poster for a teen drama or a promo ad for a show on The CW.

13. Fast Food

I actually like this image the best. Sure, there are errors like Speedy having 5 fingers but no thumb, Amy (I guess?) holding a cup with an off centered straw, and the usual screwed up text. But this would be a very convincing original drawing instead of it being AI artwork without said errors. Plus, Naomie's outfit is similar to Lark Shasha. For some reason the AI preferred Naomie as boss as it put her in Bambi's outfit 5 times, and she even wore Speedy's racing suit!

12. Chalet Ski

Most of the Chalet Ski images weren't great but this was the closest to the original image.

11. Casting Couch

Same here. As long as Tasty's bunny ears were present, it was passable.

10. Swimming Pool

Here's another one where they all have the same face but it's the closest to the original so eh.

9. Night Club

Bun Bun in a bikini would've set off NSFW flags so she just has to dance in a dress. Meanwhile, April traded her dress for a corset top, Daisy Dukes and fishnet stockings. The AI gave Crystal pink hair instead of blonde but at least her skirt is yellow. And Lady Anna has her guitar and red hair, even though her outfit is all wrong. But on its own, it's a nice neon style picture.

8. Fast Food

Even though Naomie's outfit isn't pink, this still captured the essence of the original header.

7. Park

I was so mesmerized by how good the art is, I didn't notice Dolly has 2 right arms. LOL

6. Hotel

The AI is getting smarter. It knows that it's horrible at depicting fingers accurately on a consistent basis, so it has characters put their hands in their pockets or put them behind their backs to hide them. Yet another reason why I don't see AI replacing (talented) artists anytime soon. What artist would draw their characters with their hands in their pockets all the time? Other than that, and the same faces, this could pass as a Hotel screenshot for a JRPG or Nutaku game too.

5. School

I feel this best captured the essence of the image it was based on. Yes, Lexi and Cindy are wearing the wrong-colored tops and Lexi is wearing Cindy's tie. Yes, Miss Kate is wearing a jumpsuit instead of a 2-piece outfit. I don't care, I was happy how this came out compared to the others. Cindy's top is open, and Bun Bun is in a 2-piece cheerleader outfit so that's what matters.

4. Hospital

For these next 4 images, I gave a general description of the headers and let the AI create a new image using the original as the start image in NightCafe. As you can tell, it flagged the other 8 headers as NSFW so I couldn't use them, which is such bullshit. Instead of every header having the same art style, each of the previous images contain art styles from random people I never heard of. Anyways, Katleen is still a doctor in this reimagining, but Cherry and Natalie are no longer nurses. While Alison is no longer hooked up to the IV bag and has a casual outfit too.

3. Brasserie Chic

In an alternative universe, Elizabeth quit her job and Brianna's bags was turned into signs.

2. Office

It took away Brooke's tools and added people in the background. Overall, not a bad change.

1. Police Station

The Police Station got the biggest change where the background looks sleeker like we're in the future. The visor on Juliet's hat was so low, the AI gave her sunglasses. And Molly looks like a completely different person going from SWAT team to biker chick! Well, this was fun, but I do believe I'm finally done with Casting Agent. This was an experience I will never forget.