Myself

“Do-shi-te, Doo-shi-te”

This is the start of a Jap song that captivated my heart even though I had no idea what it was about.

From the OST of the anime Full Moon wo Sagashite, this dramatic song entitled “Myself” started another mind movie inside my head.

As far as I can remember, this anime is the first anime that made me really cry. Whenever a movie or an animation brings out strong emotions out of me, I never forget the title. I get very inspired.

It has a good plot, a very good combination of sequences and background music. You’ll get attached to characters easily.

There’s this part when the characters sang “Myself. ” The moment I heard it, a mental scene unfolded.

Imagine an almost empty school corridor. It was raining hard outside. Most of the students have gone home. Those who remained were stranded. A group of guys were having a chat inside their classroom.

One of their girl classmates went back to their room to get her umbrella. She accidentally heard their conversation without them knowing.

The boys arrived to a conversation about girlfriends. A guy asked the leader of the pack about his girl. He answered them without really saying who the girl was. Unaware that the girl was hiding behind the classroom door, he talked about how he met her.

He gave her a valentine’s gift that was supposed to be for another girl. Unfortunately, the girl he really likes has the same name with her. When he asked someone else to deliver the gift, it was given to her instead, the “wrong” girl.

But before he could say that he had already fallen in love with the “wrong” girl, they heard a noise. He looked back and saw her with teary eyes. The guys were surprised. She quickly grabbed her umbrella and ran as fast as she can. The cool guy tried to go after her, but she hid somewhere.

It was a sad scene created by the dramatic melody of Myself.

Thus my second webcomic was born – Gift.

My heart jumps every time I hear the song knowing one day, I’ll see that mind movie in a comic book, anime and a movie.

Sadame

"My magical epic fantasy side"

My first ever webcomic (unfinished) is entitled Apocalypse.

Unfinished because I had to do many revisions in character design and plot. Plus, I became quite busy that time and until now. -_-

Anyway, I would like to share how I come up with stories to write and mangas to draw.

I usually get it from music. Very good music.

X TV is one of the best fantasy animes I ever watched. From character design, plot, action sequence and background music, everything was well engineered.

One of its OST music is entitled Sadame (destiny). This one made a very huge impact in my head.

The soundtrack was so epic and dramatic that there was this scene that started playing in my head which until now, I cannot forget.

Okay, here's the point where you have to start tuning up your imagination engines.

Under a flaring bloody sky, the whole city was in chaos. Bolts of fire were thrown down from heaven. Buildings were falling down. The people were panicking.

Amidst the celestial war, I saw the Tokyo Tower firmly standing from afar. A teenage girl was held captive by two demons.

One angel came, whose hair was in shining yellow. He was wearing a golden armor. His wings were wide spread, displaying a glow of pure white. He carried with him a magnificent sword made of refined silver ore. On the blade, angelic alphabets were encrypted.

Black wings started appearing from the demons. With rage and fury, they flew towards the angel. The celestial battle began.

Without the demons knowing, a girl with long black hair sneaked inside the tower. She went up until she reached the captivated girl. She released her from her bondage. By the time they were about to go down, one demon spotted them. The demon flew towards them quickly. The angel tried to go after the devil but the other one was holding him down.

The girls went down as quickly as they could. But the captivated girl was pushed by the rushing demon. The poor girl being pulled down by gravity accepted her fate and closed her eyes. The angel, after beating down the other demon, rushed to save her. But he was too late. Her body broke the moment she hit the ground.

In his anger, the angel held his sword high and stabbed the demon that pushed her down. The demon's body exploded the moment the he pulled out his sword. He shouted loudly until the heavens opened up. A ray of light descended from the heavens. The loud noise created by the chaos piped down.

Thus the idea of Apocalypse was born. Until now, the elements of this vision are unclear. I am still working on how these characters would fit a good fantasy story. This vision is my ideal ending for the story.

Everytime I hear Sadame, it starts playing this "mind movie." The hairs from my body would stand. My heart jumps in excitement.

It might be long before I finish the comics. But I plan this scene to be my demo reel once I finish my 3D animation class. And I want the viewers to feel the same way I did when it was still just a concept.

Love Story Holic

It’s not a guy thing to be a fan of love stories. Although it’s true, I am proud to say that I like love stories very much.

Love stories can bring out almost all known human emotions. No wonder love stories never fade and never will. It may have different techniques of narration, but the meaning is always the same.

I desire to see people react to something I created. I consider it a victory if I see my audience overflowed with emotions. In my own terms, I call it feeling manipulation. Sounds evil. But it is how I want it to be named.

So I decided to write love stories of my own. Like my style, it started from an inspiring anime entitled Marmalade Boy.

The plot itself is revolutionary during its time. It's not the normal girl- falls-in-love-with-a-guy-she-doesn't-know kind of story. The author put sensible twists that made the story really interesting.

Kilig. Lungkot. Saya. Tawa. Alala. Gulat. Kaba. Galit. Inis. All of which came out from me when I watched it. Even when I read the manga version, it never failed to bring out such emotions.

From watching/reading Marmalade Boy, I continued with more love stories both in manga and anime. This drawing style I also adopted, specifically the hair and body built.

I realized that being a fan of love story is an everybody's thing. Why? We live because of love. Love is something every person alive can relate no matter what the circumstances are.

I have millions of ideas for a love story. I will do what it takes to make them materialize.

And my heart jumps for joy everytime I see the anime that made me lovestory-holic.

Manga Style Origin

Tracing back to where I first learned how to draw manga, I will always recall this anime that you see beside.

Fushigi Yuugi, fyi, is the origin of my manga style. Yes, I draw manga. And it all began by drawing them.

Eight years ago, I was still studying at St. Joseph's Academy where I first discovered my drawing skills.

There were key persons behind this wonderful discovery. First is Arvin Razon who started with his simple drawing of humans (specifically girls). Because of him, I tried drawing. I tried to draw the way he did. I was good at copying. I was able to copy his style.

Next is John Revo Occampo who became my friend when I was in Grade 3. Revo helped me improve my drawing. He's more like my critic. He taught me what he knew and my drawing did improve.

The hardcore fan of Fushigi Yuugi, Virnaliz Fajardo, became my first real guru in anime drawing. Ate V was very good at copying Fushigi Yuugi poses. I bet she can copy this picture here in a breeze. She was the best during our time.

Like with Arvin, I tried drawing Fushigi Yuugi. It wasn't as easy as I thought. But as expected, I was able to copy her style of copying. First the eyes, nose, then mouth. Complete the face then draw the neck. And it goes on. Believe it or not, this is the way I draw until now. But I wasn't able to beat her at all. She was an expert.

So I tried hard. I copied and copied and copied. And guess what...I became good at it. I became so good that the style of Fushigi Yuugi has become my foundational style in manga drawing.

In this anime I discovered how beautiful characters can be drawn. From guys to girls, all can be drawn elegantly and beautifully. I was attracted by their cuteness. I desired to make my own characters possessing such features.

Thus started the manga drawing that from a hobby became more like a breath every second.

And every time I see Fushigi Yuugi pics, my heart jumps looking at the root of my inner mangaka. =3

Where it will all begin

This kind of pictures never fails to make my heart jump.

Although this is not the ultimate dream, this is where it will all begin.

My land of dreams --- Japan.

A certified animeholic. Yup, that's me. Since childhood, anime has captivated my life. Ghost Fighter. Flame of Recca. Voltes Five. Daimos. Mojacko. Akazukin Chacha. Samurai-X. Fortune Quest. Jester, the adventurer. Lupin the third. Those are some of the few animes I have watched a long long time ago.

Without these animes, I am not who I am today.

My dream is to visit this country someday. This is probably the dream of most animeholics as well. But I'm not yet finished.

My dream is to visit Japan someday and study their animation craft. To the land of the famous anime! That's where I'm heading.

People often mistaken me for this seemingly impossible goal. I am pretty much aware that life is not an anime. Anime is mostly fantasy. I know my soon-to-be life in Japan won't be the same as the "life" I watch in animes. Just to be clear, I am not going there to feel that I'm in an anime!

I am not willing to spend for that low reason, for crying out loud! I wanna learn and produce an anime here in my home country. That's the ultimate dream.

Well-crafted animes bring out a lot of emotions to its viewers. I desire to see viewers' emotions because of MY anime. =3

That's why everytime I see a cherry blossom picture , it makes my heart rejoice because it reminds me of the place where it will all begin.

Now here's the thing. I am now fully convinced that I'm going there sooner not later. Verified by: The God of all Heavens.