Suikoden 1 Crack Theory

The other night, while me and a co-intern were on our way home, we had this random conversation regarding the game, Suikoden 1 that involves the death of the protagonist, Tir's bestfriend, Ted. We came up with this crack theory on why Ted should die.
So, what if, Ted didn't die in the game?
Here's our crack theory:
(Take note, this is just random sh*ttyness of me and my companion, nothing to take seriously~
Oh, and this contains SPOILERS)


Scenario: Our crack theory begins in the fight where Tir is reunited with his bestfriend, Ted. However, Ted is under the control of the game's antagonist, Windy. Prior to this event, Ted passed on to Tir (or let's say, lent him) his rune, the Soul Eater, one of the 27 True Runes. Going back, Tir now confronts Ted. NOW, this is the part in the game where Ted sacrifices his life for Tir, and thus, enter our crack theory.

1. If Ted was somehow saved, then the Soul Eater would eventually return to him since he is the true owner of the rune. Or let's just say, he would prolly take it back from Tir since he doesn't want his bestfriend to suffer the same hardships he's gone through, given that the Soul Eater is a cursed rune that takes the life of people close to its owner, for the rune to gain more power.
2. Okay, now that Ted has his rune back, everything would be a piece of cake since he's an awfully powerful mage (the strongest mage in Suikoden IV, the game's prequel). Though for some reason, he's reeeeaaally weak in this game (getting killed by a bird in one hit... ouch...) Sooooo after dealing with the issues in the Toran Republic, Tir would probably think that since Ted is a bearer of a True Rune, he stops aging, while he himself doesn't. And after a couple of years he'll grow old and die and leave his bestfriend all alone again, which he doesn't want to happen. Ted would probably think of the same thing too. So they'll set off on a journey along with Gremio (and prolly Clio and Pahn as well) to search for a True Rune for Tir (..and would prolly end up in the Dunan region)
3. They'll arrive in the Dunan region and will most likely find out about the Rune of Beginning, which is composed of the Black Sword Rune and the Bright Shield Rune. Enter Suikoden II events and the Dunan Unification War. Ted would probably be aware that the Bright Shield and Black Sword Runes can cause a conflict between its bearers and thus, he and his companions plot to unite those Runes to obtain the Rune of Beginning. To do that, they "guide" Riou, protagonist of Suikoden II, to the path of the good ending (although Riou is somewhat unaware of this). Fast forward to the union of the two Runes where Riou obtains the Rune of Beginning, Tir and company arrive at the just-ended battle of Riou and his bestfriend, Jowy. Of course, Tir's party has the advantage and he forcefully takes the Rune out of Riou.
4. Because Tir's really desperate to be together forever with his bestbud, he becomes a sort of Rune maniac, kind of a dismay on Ted's side.
5. Now that Tir finally has the Rune of Beginning (after knocking out Riou), he now wants his yaya (Tagalog for maid or helper) Gremio to also be with him forever. And then they'll set off on another journey for another True Rune. Or they'll just beat up Luc this time and take his True Wind Rune =P

And this concludes our Suikoden 1 crack theory.
My apologies on our randomness since we both share the same fandom (though she is a bigger Suikoden fan than me and my fandom is more on Fullmetal Alchemist)

Mars Ravelo's Lastikman

Story and script: Gerry Alanguilan
Art: Arnold Arre
Colors: Edgar Tadeo
Publisher: Mango Comics

Synopsis:
Based on Mars Ravelo's first volume of "Lastik Man" released in 1965, Lastikman is an alien from another planet who crashed on Earth. However, he lost all his memories. He was taken in by Don Rufo and his two children namely Toto and Vinya. Later on, Lastik Man decides to use his powers for good and fight crimes. As the species from Lastikman's planet arrive to take over the world, Lastikman regains his memories and along with the townspeople and Atomika, a fellow alien like him, they must work hand-in-hand to overcome this threat.


Just got a copy of this at PICCA Fest and I'd say, it's a good one-shot komiks. When I saw Gerry Alanguilan's (famed Filipino comic book artist and writer) surname on the cover I thought that this is a must-read. And I was right. It won't disappoint you.
What more can you expect from Gerry Alanguilan? Lastikman has a good story and script that would make you ask for more. And no, it's not a cliche. The usage of the language Taglish (Tagalog-English) didn't go off with the story and setting, unlike other komiks, stories, and movies that are ruined by the misuse of Taglish. The use of Taglish here was actually well-suited to the story's modern-day setting, and in fact, it added up good humor and wits.
The art is very nice and it doesn't look very western. Arnold Arre (famed for his work, "The Mythology Class") did a great job with the drawings, and I really like how well he played with the characters' facial expressions. Edgar Tadeo's (famed Filipino colorist and inker who worked for Marvel Comics and DC comics) coloring worked really well with Arre's drawing style, and it gave the comic book that superhero comic book feel.
(The art actually looked very Filipino to me, with a bit of western influence.)

Overall, it's a very good comic and it's very Filipino. It doesn't look like a rip-off comic, storywise and artwise.
I hope that this will serve as an inspiration to young Filipinos out there who dream to become komikeros or komikeras someday. An inspiration that will show us that Filipinos are talented and are capable of creating good stories and artworks, and not rip-off or "adapt" other published works.
Let's not waste such good works and continue to support the local komiks and art industry. :D


Individual ratings
Art: 10/10 || Story: 10/10

On Fullmetal Alchemist's Scar (again)

An observation last PICCA Fest 2010:
Okay, that time I was doing a coloring demo for the company where I do my OJT/internship. Yeah, I somewhat prepared for this, so earlier that day I made a VERY rough sketch of Scar. It was another FMAB fan art again because I couldn't think of anything else to do and I couldn't draw using a pentab for crying out loud T_T
(I haven't finished that fan art yet, so I'll be posting it soon~ XD)


So yeah, I was doing a demo, coloring Scar, and people who watched or happened to pass by and saw what I was doing were like going "Di ba yan ung sa Fullmetal Alchemist?" ("Hey, isn't that from Fullmetal Alchemist?") and "Si Scar!" ("It's Scar!")
I never thought how popular FMA is among Filipinos, otaku or not. And seeing how popular it is to them got me smirking while I was doing my demo. (They couldn't see my face anyway unless they go in front of me~ heehee~ =p)
On Scar's part, I observed how so many people recognized him, and in fact, I was surprised he's that popular! (LOL)


And this concludes my observation~ XD

Philippine International Cartoons, Comics, and Animation Festival 2010

The second Philippine International Cartoons, Comics, and Animation (PICCA) Festival was held last Oct. 22-24, 2010. The events of the said festival were respectively held at SM North EDSA Annex building, The Block, UP Diliman, and Ateneo de Manila University.
Me and some fellow OJTs were assigned as volunteers for this year's PICCA Fest. And we were also exhibitors for Holy Cow! Animation.

With Kevin manning the Holy Cow! Animation booth 

Holy Cow! Animation booth

Ronell and Kevin doing demos for Holy Cow! Animation

Holy Cow! booth with Holy Cow! peepz (clockwise from left): Audrey, Kevin, DJ, Ronell, Ejeet, Kenneth, Melvin, and AJ (yeah, he's tired :P)

To be honest, PICCA Fest could've been better. The seminars and talks were very interesting. The exhibits were also good. And I also like how well they promote Filipino arts and artists. I like it how they keep the spirit of Filipino komiks and artists alive. However, there are some concerns regarding the event.

Holy Cow! peepz (from left to right) Ejeet, Kenneth, and Kevin at PICCA's Freedom Wall

PICCA's Freedom Wall

I'm NOT left-handed. I just don't have sense of direction~ XP

Keeping the spirit of Filipino Komiks alive

A tribute to Alfredo P. Alcala

"Creation and Production of Anime" talk by Tatsutoshi Nomura and Emi Matsumoto held at Ateneo de Manila University

Uri Fink, one of Israel's leading comic book artists

First off, it's unorganized and the organizers are very unprepared. It's like they don't know what to do. The first day should've been a kick-off blast-off since it's the opening day. But no, it wasn't. The event officially started late.

Second, the venue is very much confusing and the events were held in different places, thus, dividing the people attending the events. Okay, one of the venues was The Block at SM North and far off to the other side of that is the Annex building of SM North where the booths were placed. Now, if you were a normal person passing by either one of the venues, you'll think that that is the actual venue of THE PICCA Fest, hence, you'll be missing the other one unless of course, you'd happen to drop by on the other venue by chance. And if you do find out that the other venue's at the opposite end of a big mall, chances are, you might not go over there because it's a hassle and it would be tiring. Unless of course you really want to check it out.
(btw, SM North EDSA has 3 buildings namely: The Block, the main mall itself, and the Annex building)
The talks and seminars were held at two universities respectively that are far off from each other. And, the talks were held at the same time. It would've been better if PICCA Fest was held in one big place where people don't need to go to different places just to see the event.

Third, work wasn't distributed well to the volunteers. We observed that there are other volunteers in the event besides us.
HOWEVER, these volunteers seem to be very very very lax, unlike us who were running around everywhere at the same time manning two booths (the Holy Cow! Animation booth and the booth where we did some coloring demo using Photoshop and Bamboo Fun)
One of our fellow interns even had her lunch at dinner because she got her hands really full at the front desk.
Seriously, I thought volunteers/exhibitors from Holy Cow! Animation were the ONLY volunteers there, along with a few others.

And lastly, advertising. The event wasn't advertised very well.

Bottomline is, the event was a chaotic. It would've been a good event if it was well-prepared. Hopefully, event organizers would take these into consideration so as to improve the next event and for this event not to eventually die out, because it would such a waste especially for Filipino artists, to have an event such as this to end.
There were still a lot of good things to it like how Sponge Cola rocked the closing event, the booths, meeting new people and people well-known in the field of arts and animation, getting inspiration from the exhibits, and bonding and having fun with fellow interns. Truly, being volunteers for an event was a new experience for us. It was quite tiring and a bit stressful but we still had lots of fun and laughs.

"Pinoy Geekon" by Andrew Villar.
I really like this one. I remember how I used to draw stuff like this way back in high school

Artwork by Aileen Casis.
LOL at CSI! XD

"Editorial Cartoon" by Esmeraldo Izon

"The Monkey and The Turtle" by Jose Rizal

"Batman/Mother-One" by Whilce Portacio

"High Roads" by Leinil Francis Yu

"Pugad Baboy" by Pol Medina Jr.

Artwork by Steph Bravo
..And I thought she's the Steph Bravo from our school (lol)

Voltar by Alfredo Alcala

Sponge Cola rocking the night away

With Yael Yuzon, Sponge Cola's frontman.
...yeah, I look haggard and I don't look human~ XD

On Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood's Scar

Reposted from my Tumblr account http://mao-maw.tumblr.com/


Okay, my deviantART page was revived recently thanks to this fan art: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFrDPa5ZioyVS3u8Fj6kYRvT2hKItAM3xJBB5uk79JuqT0LM3jZ56KAynAcOLMoN7q6hbtA1OGxxtHPEcESpTjI8O2pcXZhNLLrC8NtWP_Ka1Pvh0GFHQnyu_ToHO0Q_6ffcTlJAWaYOU/s1600/fluffy2.jpg


(which is also posted in my online portfolio: http://mao-mawXD.tumblr.com/)

Yes, this is one product of my “shitty” ideas.

Three seconds right after I posted this in dA, I got instantly bombarded with faves and comments. I went like, “What the heck?! Where did these [comments and faves] come from?!”

So yeah, Scar sold like pancakes… and it still continues~ XD

…Even my sister likes him and this fan art! Hahaha! XDD

And btw, Scar is also one of my fave Fullmetal Alchemist characters! XD

…well, I actually like if not all, almost all characters from the series. But, liking them doesn’t mean that they’re you’re favorite as well~ heehee~ >w<

Oh, and this was reblogged by some dude in Tumblr~ haha~ XD

Short Story: The Nameless Craftsman

This is a story about misery.

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a nameless craftsman. He puts in a lot of effort and passion in his craft, and thus, he creates something that can be called an “art.” But his colleagues can craft better than him. So, he tries again, giving his all, but still his colleagues went ahead of him. So he muttered, “Oh well” and pretended to smile. Day in, day out, he gives it his all. But his passion and determination weren’t enough, for he has no faith in himself and his skill. Such a fool was he. He crafted again, but his efforts went in vain. He pretended to laugh when he grew tired of watching his colleagues and even his closest friend go ahead of him. Despite his failures and wasted efforts, he continued to craft and didn’t want to stop.

One day, he was reunited with his close friend, and along with a skilled yet prideful craftsman, they formed a team to make the best workshop in the land. Many people looked forward to their workshop. But their expectations were crushed when the group failed not once, but twice. At first, they failed because of pride, and on the second because of lack of communication and unity. Thus, they weren’t meant to be a group to begin with. The nameless craftsman left the group and his friend, both of them discarding their friendship. He blamed himself for their broken friendship and second failure, for he believes that such an unskilled craftsman as him, doesn’t belong to a group of skilled and talented craftsmen, and that his passiveness led to their group’s downfall. He pretended to not care about his friend or his former group, and wandered alone. Despite his failure and wasted efforts for the group, he continued to craft and didn’t want to stop.

Weeks have passed and the nameless craftsman decided to seek for a job.  He along with some of his skilled colleagues, got accepted in a big time job. However, they must first undergo a test. Only the ones who shall meet with the high expectations shall be qualified to take the job. The competition was fierce because he’s pitted against more skilled craftsmen than him. So he worked day and night, giving everything he has, not minding his physical condition that’s going bad. His friends cheered him on and believed in him and his skills, but he doubted in himself and his skills. Such a fool he really was. In the end, he along with other colleagues, failed the test. Luck wasn’t on their side and the fates jested on the cruel reality they faced. He pretended to be strong and cheerful as he left… and that was the last that was heard of him. The foolish, failure of a human, nameless craftsman rotted and died alone quietly somewhere, thinking of how stupid he is to continue crafting and giving his all despite having the same result in the end. And the nameless craftsman remained nameless forevermore.

The End.