Anime Addiction

Mospeada, Macross, Transformers, Doraemon, Blue Blink, Hello Kitty, Space Cop Gaban, Masked Rider Black, Flashman, Maskman, Miss Comet, Ultraman 80 etc. were among of my favorite anime of all time. I like cute, brave, attractive and funny characters which were displayed in anime. Yet, this had making me so crazy about it. You can say I am a die hard fan of anime. Until now, this madness is still going strong when I take the big steps transforming myself into one the characters in anime. I feel so satisfy and happy about what I’ve achieve. No doubt, I can see myself as part as Japanese superstar with anime character added to my new style of fashion. That dream I keep for more 20 years. My wish had granted. After all, I had no regret about it, no matter what they said about me. 20 years ago, this dream is only a dream. I was being laughed by people surrounding me. My classmates, my teachers and my neighbors, even strangers. Gosh! I feel so damn angry about them. Why they’d thought my dream is such a ridiculous thing? First of all, I did touch ciggies and drugs, secondly, I don’t break the school rules and third, this is only a hobby and it’s not wrong to build a dream. Come on, people! See how risky the dream that I had before, it’s even hard to make it true. I’m not the one who likes to do extreme sport such as bungee jumping and jumping from plane at 2000ft above the cloud to the earth with the parachute. Of course, I’m afraid but in order to prove what I’ve got I will do it if that what it takes.

In my primary school time, I’m getting bored with black, blonde, brown and grey hair color that had been featured in the arts that I’ve saw in the books and magazines. I’m also bored what I’ve saw in the comic books. Great! There’s nothing new in this cartoon. Suddenly, one day, when I watched an anime called ‘The Three Musketeers’ (adaptation from Alexander Dumas’s famous novel), I found their character is attractive especially the hair. I’m still remembers when I saw Milady’s hair color was deep green. Then, Blue Blink came all the way, when they features more and more attractive hair colors which was 20 years later, everyone had gone for anime style including me. Among my favorite hair colors that caught my eyes were yellow butter, deep blue, deep green, pink, magenta, blue sky and violet. Jem was an American famous rock n’ roll Barbie cartoon was claimed to inspire by Japanese anime had been done the same thing as well. I’m started to follow the trend when I decided to change the hair color of my art drawing into something different. I’m still remembers when Cik Masidah saw my drawing once when I was primary 5. “That’s weird but it’s pretty!” she’d told me that. At least, she the first teacher who stops looking at the thing that I draw is something ridiculous. I’m quite care about others people comments especially I’m trying to fit the new thing to them. I know it’s hard but I’m trying to convince them to accept the new idea.

The others I found, it’s very hard to feed their brain into the new ideas. When I’m trying the new things and show them to someone especially to the teachers, I am so upset. Instead of lifting me up, they look down on me especially Encik Iskandar Abdullah. I don’t know what kind of person is he. Until now, I don’t get his mind even for one second. Some people had told me that he and his wife had move to Kuching. Great, I don’t have to see him anymore. Madam Patricia is another teacher that’s very hard to convince and very hard to tell. She’s always teaching based on the facts and never opens to the new ideas. Sorry to say that, after 10 years, I’m still cannot forget what she’d done. Okay, I admit it’s something personal going on between me and her but that’s no big deal. She seems to put her revenge on me and I feel stay in hell. Well, that’s doesn’t stop me to feed my addiction to anime. I learned to speak Japanese a little bit. I had started to watch Japanese drama and listen to Japanese song. I found it’s simple and tries to adapt those feelings to my drawing over and over again. Did I stop until primary school? Well, the answer is no, I don’t. In fact, I’m trying to sing the Japanese song. ‘Kickers’ is one of Japanese anime that I never missed to watch. I even can sing the theme of that song. I can still remember back in secondary school when I was form 1, I sing that song. Everyone stops laughing because I can sing well in Japanese. Perhaps, they thought I can speak Japanese fluently. I just have to listen over and over again and try to master the language. Simple trick that makes them impress!

Since Malaysian television had shut Japanese drama after they’d showed the last drama called Tokyo Love Story (starring Emi Wakui) in 1994, I’m still grateful when they didn’t shut down Japanese anime. Lots of Japanese anime shown on local TV and although we had two channels, I feel much great when they showed a lot of glimpsed on the future because I know someday I’ll be a manga artist. That’s what I thought at the first place until I found the new direction of my future. Anime brought me to the road of success when I was chosen in the top 30 of the National Day Inter-State Art Competition. My parent was very happy for my success. But that doesn’t really stop my mum from complaining me with my manga. However, her perception towards my hobby was absolutely changed. I know my mum doesn’t want me to be manga artist. Oh well, I never seriously wanted to become manga artist. Instead of manga artist, astronomy scientist would be better. Of course, I thought it will stop the bully against me. But it seems like, bullying hasn’t stop at me. For one good thing, I have drawing book, colors and pencil to sketch the person that I face everyday. Therefore, I did not feel stressed. I draw every boys and girls in my school that always bullied me and named it with the different character and so the person that nice to me. I put them like a criminal book photograph record while the nice one I put it on the wall, so I can see their face everyday. Like for example, I named one of my bully classmates, Lady Clean-Z. She’s always lecturing me about the window pane every morning in front of me. Like she’d nothing better to do, I thought! My good friends, I put them like a rock and roll band like Jem And The Hologram which I name their band called The Starlight. I’m quite crazy over Jem. Well, at least, it saves me over and over again.

Sulastrie and Dahliawaty always came into me whenever they need something cheesy to light up their life. Well, the best thing that I can do is draw some anime for them. Dahliawaty also had told me that somehow, I have a future in this art industry but it seems like around that time, when I reach the final year of my secondary school, I didn’t look at it anymore. I was ready for gear the new strategy for the war against the bully in my school. While Sulastrie, always had told me that I will marry to Japanese guy. “Someday, somehow, you’ll see”, she said. But I never took it personally because I know they’re only joking around. As for Mohd Haidar, he’d always depicted himself becoming a superhero and I tried to sketch what was in his mind. Everyday he was up to different character. I wish both of us acted in the drama or movie. He was a very good actor anyway. I never ever forget that. A little kid around the neighborhood like Tania, Dorothy, Viviana, Subang, Cynthia and Diana had always come to me when they also need an art advice. They’re young kids and I’m always hoping they’ll replace me to pursue this manga dreams. As I said at the first place, it’s not that very easy to convince people to prove this dream to becomes true. What if it’s meant they do not like you? It’s all matters in some cases because they have power to against your dream. I have struggle a lot for years and I never been regret even for once to have this dream. It brings me a lot of luck especially to my art subject which I get very good great in my SPM. People had stop laughing at me when they thought I was about to lose everything when some of my subject aren’t very cheesy to save me on the SPM forecast exam. Now, I thought, who’s get the last laugh now?!

I left school a year later and had gone to college and later, to campus. When I had a chance to draw manga again, my friends told me I’ll become a manga artist if Japanese manga talent agency knows that I can draws well. That’s when, I’m started to tell them how hard it was to keep this dream. Nobody ever believes my school life was quite bad. They could never believe some teachers tend to against this dream. Nobody gets their mind either and not even me. After 10 years later, I found it still become part of me. That because I can’t stop this Japanese madness which is influence by anime. As I said earlier, I just started to fancy their technology products, dramas, songs and movies. Everything about Japanese is beginning to spread in my body like some kind of disease. I’m even transforms myself in every bit of anime character and even the famous Japanese pop stars. I was transforms myself like Ryoko Hirosue, Ayumi Hamasaki and Kyoko Fukada. I’m even trying my skills to sing a Japanese song by Hikaru Utada. Gosh, I found myself I was really mad about it. My parent can’t stop me. Just because I was started to work, I did not color my hair like Ayumi anymore. I’m transform myself into someone else like Rena Tanaka and Takako Matsu. But the other skills, I am never ever erased it. I’m even started to collect the wallpapers about anime, DVD and VCD movies, songs and even Japanese idols. About 10 years, when my schoolmates meet me again, they were definitely gone surprise meeting me. I’m just wanted them to bring this news to my bully classmates. I know it sounds revenge but at least, they get the message, don’t ever cross the line. A person like me will work for it and I will satisfy even if I get the glimpsed of the dreams. Therefore, the moral is just go for the dream even if you wanted to bungee jumping 100 ft storey buildings don’t ever giving up over it. Just like they told you always, you’ll feel very satisfy with the outcomes if you work for the dreams.