Japanimation, Manga and old doodles

My story with Anime and Manga started since I was born and it’s never ended. When I was a teen, it became my full time hobby, to watch and draw Anime. I was no professional though, I only doodled on school notebooks, school tables, doors, walls, toilets whenever I got a detention. School course books, uniforms and windows weren’t spared either. At home, I doodled on walls, my notebooks and paper. My favourite Animes back then were: Wolf’s rain, Lady Oscar, Trigun, Robin Witch hunter, One Piece, Little Maroko, Lovely Complex. Elfen Lied, Fruit Basket, Yoyohakusho, Saiyuki, Ayashi No Ceres, Touch (Tachi), Ranma ½, Ryosaiba, Sailor moon, Maison Ikkoku and of course DBZ. 

My top favourite now are definitely GTO, , Vision of Escaflown and Miyazaki’s work.

My dream was to participate in cartoon film making; either dub, draw, colour, add effects, or edit themes. Having a change to work in a cartoon studio meant a lot for me. I applied for courses at university, but then, I had a sudden chance of heart. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I thought more about the job market and opportunities and I had a feeling that being involved in cartoon making wasn’t going to open many doors for me. Competition was great and I didnt feel ready to take up the challenge. So, I changed career path then.

I still love cartoons, I draw less often now and the internet is pretty slow for videos to load. So, I got myself busy with doll making instead. Drawing is something that’s brought me closer to many people in my life; people who appreciate Arts of course. Most of my best friends love drawing and are good at it. Those friends who can’t draw, have a great sense of appreciation and admiration for other peoples doodles.

I‘ve always been fascinated by the Japanese; their culture, mentality and lifestyle. Unlike many other countries that prefer to get humans to role play and act in movies, Japanese love to draw. For me they are more hard working. They don’t reach for the closest piece of cake. They sweat and spend sleepless nights trying to make a piece of art. That is something about dedication and perseverance. I’m not saying that movie making is a piece of cake, but I definitely and passionately emphasise on the fact that making an Anime or a Manga is a harder job. That’s what attracts the most. THAT is a higher level of creativity.

I tried to make my own Manga once as a teenager. I had so many stories in my mind and couldn’t fit them all in pieces of paper and notebooks as it was all overwhelming, The only story I once made was about two teens ( a boy and a girl) who were both members of a Martial Arts club. They were jealous of each other’s talent and fought a lot to prove who was the strongest. The girl had a crush on the boy but refused to admit it. Consequently, she acted very aggressively towards him, but had severe jealousy fits whenever his popularity increased among the girls. This twisted complex made the relationship very intense. 

The Japanese Anime and Manga have taught me one main thing; If we roll our sleeves up to do something, we better do one heck of a job or it ain't worth it. One must give it his/her best, gather our motivation, dedication and get ready for hard work. I fail to do it sometimes but when I remember that 'if the Japanese didn't give it their best and didn't work with resilience and persistence', we would never have had the chance to watch great cartoons with great morals for kids, teens and adults alike.

What I love most about Animes and Mangas are the lessons and wisdom behind the stories. They are full of life righteous attitudes and manners. They aren't just there to entertain, on the contrary, they are there to educate and send messages and lessons. 

I shall give some examples of my top favourite Animes below:  

Dragon Ball: teaches a lot about great spirits of competition and acceptance of defeat when the adversary is truly stronger. having said that, the real moral isn't to just accept defeat and sit back, rather, it's to work harder and hope for the best but prepare for the worst for the next combats and tournaments. It, also, teaching lessons on keeping promises, helping the less fortunate and sacrificing oneself for the sake of good. Futhermore, one of the lessons I loved the most was about how the most outrageous enemies can become your best friends sometimes in life; how things turn around and those who have a conscience and feel guilty and repent won't doom and perish rotten. 

This Anime also spread a few beliefs on how one should use the energy within oneself for the best. The main enemy that's depicted throughout the anime is greed and the love of power. The real battle is within oneself, and not others. When one overcomes his/her own evil desires, that only is the real victory and the ultimate glory. 

Ranma 1/2: Teaches many lessons on how we shouldn't judge others unless we are able to be in their shoes and do better than them. In Addition, it teacher that no gender is better or superior than the other. 

Vision of Escaflown: Teaches a lot about the effects of travelling and how it broadens the mind. Also, how one's negative energy can affect one and others; how our fears and worries can reflect on our actions and how influencing it can be on the people who surround us. One of the lessons that this Anime taught me was how we should value and appreciate our homeland, as once gone, one would have no place to call real home; and how sometimes the people around us can be our 'home', too. Therefore, we should value and treat them as best as we possibly could. and we ought to miss no chance to do good and show love to our beloved ones. 

Ryosaiba: One could get many lessons from this great Anime as it shows the story of how hard it is to take care of an orphan and how much it can take us to protect those we loves. 

Wolf's rain: was a big reminder for me on how we ought to have goals in life and not live like stray dogs. During the journey of life, heading towards Rakuen (paradise), KIba, the main character, meets a lot of friends and followers whom he gets attached to eventually. His guide (the maiden flower) is all he followed, was it worth it? that's the question this Anime teaches. :) 

Ayashi No Ceres: is also a great Anime that gives many lessons on how love can be both a beautiful feeling and a destructive one at the same time, depending on how it's guided. A man who loved a woman so madly to a point where he got blinded by his jealousy. He locked her indoors, got aggressive with the children whenever they gave her a hard time, and took everything she had for fear of losing her. This possessive aggressive love made his very fears come true, and ended up in him destroying her, himself and their family.

Trigun: has a huge number of morals to get. It focuses mainly on how we shouldn't be selfish and greedy. The value of human life (as well as all the living creatures) is also greatly highlighted through the Anime. There is also a lesson about how rumours can affect people and lead them to terribly misjudge a person. 

GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka): Is my #1 favourite Anime. it goes hand in hand with my career path and it's a great reminder on what makes a great teacher. I think that says it all. 

Cheerios <3 

A few picture of my old doodles: highschool + university.