Understanding noun+で見える


> 気がつけば、目の前にそれはいた。 シンはぞっと戦慄を覚える。 同じ顔だった。 遠縁だという青年の顔を、シンは知らないから自分の顔 **で見えた**
> のかもしれないし、本当にそれほど似ていたのかもしれない。フレデリカが何度も重ねてしまうほどに。
>
> 86─エイティシックス─Ep.3 ─ラン・スルー・ザ・バトルフロント─〈下〉

安里アサト

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/S7Rve.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/S7Rve.png)

Could you please explain the bold で? Given the meaning is that シン’s face looks
pretty like that of the 青年, shouldn’t we use に見えた here?




You are right in that に would be more normal. It is an idiosyncratic choice of
the author to use で, which means _by, with_ here.

に見えた would just mean _the face looked **like** his own_. で見えた gives a nuance
that _the visual impression given by the face **was replaced by his own**_ ,
i.e., シン was in the state of looking at a mirror when he saw the guy.

* * *

The closest (more common) usage of で would be "(の声) **で** 再生される". For example

  * 自分の世代は、「僕ドラえもん」は大山のぶ代で再生される。
  * For those of my generation, 僕ドラえもん is played with/by/in the voice of Nobuyo Ohyama

(Note: Oyama is the original voice actress of Doraemon, who was replaced quite
a while ago. The phrase is characteristic of Doraemon, just like オッスおら悟空 for
Goku of Dragonball.).

FYI: A related word (kind of internet slang) is
[脳内再生](https://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E8%84%B3%E5%86%85%E5%86%8D%E7%94%9F).

