With its combination of colorful graphics, quirky characters, fantastical themes, and vibrant settings, anime often evokes a unique sense of wonder to its audience.

As a fan of the medium, talented Italian photographer and digital artist Davide Sasso decided to capture anime magic through his photos, reminding one of a animated vaporwave aesthetic.

“I love the animation of all kinds, but in particular Japanese animation is the one that is closest to my heart and that surely inspired me as a photographer,” Sasso wrote on BoredPanda.

Currently based in Novara, Italy, Sasso has been wanting to visit Japan to shoot the imagery he has in mind. The self-taught artist specializes in landscaping and traveling, and has developed a style in capturing street and nature photography in saturated colors.

But while he is unable to travel at the moment, he is still able to recreate an vaporwave and anime-inspired collection by taking photos in various places in Italy, such as Florence, Venice, Rome, and Milan.

“These series of photos, taken in various parts of Italy, such as Rome, Florence, and Venice, are inspired by Japanese anime. Both in terms of colors, composition, and mood, Japanese animation was a great inspiration.”

While it is worth noting that numerous anime titles are set outside Japan (some of them in Italy), his favorite anime filmmaker Makoto Shinkai uses Japanese locales as setting for his works. Shinka is best known for directing Your Name, the highest-grossing anime film of all time.

“In particular, I was inspired by the colors of the films by Makoto Shinkai. His films are set in Japan, unfortunately now I do not have the chance to go there so I tried to recreate those colors and that mood here in Italy.”

“I hope I can go to Japan as soon as possible, to be able to do this kind of photography there,” he added.

Feature image via YouTube / (Left): CWFilms | Instagram / (Right): redunchained