I'm breaking away from my suspension for a moment to offer my condolences to the family of the young Filipino actor Marky Cielo.
In a day where Filipinos were supposed to be full of victory over Manny Pacquiao's win over Oscar dela Hoya, the 20-year-old actor passed away in his sleep last morning. There was no sign of any sickness prior to that, so his death comes as a shock.
He gained the eye of the public by becoming the winner of the reality star-search competition, "Starstruck" (Season 3) and would go on to star in numerous TV shows in the GMA Network. Some of the roles that I would like to emphasize was that of the Green Zaido in the sentai-based Filipino series, Zaido (which was based on the '70s classic Japanese sentai series, Shaider). He also provided the voice for Ichigo Kurosaki in the Filipino dub of Bleach.
I feel sad for his death because within my unconscious I thought this actor had a wonderful future in showbiz waiting for him. He was developing slowly, and only time would tell how far he would go. Had there been no complications in "Zaido", I really think he could've been a sought-after showbiz personality by now. He was actually planned to be the only main character for what was supposed to be a remake of Shaider until it was turned into a three-man team and became Zaido instead due to a conflict with the Japanese company handling Shaider.
Goodbye, Marky. I didn't really become your fan, but I feel sad you were gone. I had once believed that you would finally find your big break in showbiz. But now, you are no longer with us. May you rest in peace and may the good Lord guide you along the way.
I'll be out of this site for 15 days. That means no posts in any Worlds, and no submissions and comments anywhere. It's part of my penance for the trouble I've caused three days ago. (If you read the last post, you know what I mean.)
Actually, I wish someone would give me a 15-day suspension for my actions. But since things don't work that way, I'll go with the 15-day penance, or "self-suspension" as I'd like to call it.
This also means my Christmas world will be abandoned and probably deleted sometime later. Anyway, you can always celebrate the Christmas spirit in The Watercooler.
Once again, I'm sorry if I made you feel uneasy in the past. And see you in 15 days.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was my response to Miss Anonymous' challenge on The Watercooler. Since I can't help but be proud of how well the essay turned out to be, I decided to make this a fanword. I hope the fandomness doesn't bother you.
It's a no-brainer that my most favorite anime character is Conan Edogawa from the Detective Conan series. (If you prefer to say Case Closed, then be my guest.) From my anime articles that I've posted here in theOtaku to the several references I have made about him, it seems pretty obvious who is the anime character that I love most.
Now comes the question "Why?". Well, allow me to go back to the year 2001, when the series first aired in my country. During that period, I was an 11-year-old geek in my school. I had moments when I felt gloomy and depressed, particularly due to the current events in my society, such as the Philippine political crisis and the September 11 attacks, as well as a drowning accident in which I was fortunate enough to have been saved.
When I came across the anime series for the first time, I didn't really like it yet since I didn't like to be forced to think while watching a TV show. But as I became more exposed to a few more episodes of the series, I started to have a soft spot for the show. It wasn't until my brother told me the plot of the series and how 6-year-old Conan is actually 17-year-old Shinichi Kudo that I became hooked to the series.
The arrival of Conan brought fresh air in my life and gave me a renewed will to live my life. All my moments of depression have now been gone. Since Conan was a geek like me, I became much more motivated to do well in my school so that I can be like him.
It wasn't long before the TV network pulled the plug on Conan that year. I was very sad to "say goodbye" to the character that gave new meaning in my life. But my admiration for Conan and my love for the series never faded away. Seven years later, I have turned into an 18-year-old student of psychology expecting to graduate from college in a couple of years while continuing to get inspiration from Conan Edogawa and other characters that I have encountered in my life.
So why did I admire Conan? First of all, he was a very smart guy. But it's not only that; he was a very smart guy that was cool. During my early years, I had been a kid who had been spending time studying lessons in school and learning facts about history, government, and politics, which is exceptionally odd considering that I was aiming to be a medical doctor then. When I met Conan, I decided that I wanted to be like him. I became more motivated to learn more and use that knowledge to help inform others, which I believe was what made Conan cool. Some people tend to look down on me for being a geek; Conan taught me that it's okay to be a geek and that I can be cool and smart at the same time. No other character or person for that matter has come close to teaching me that.
Second, he was a brave guy. No matter the circumstances, Conan is still courageous enough to face the bad guys and fight for justice. In my early years, I was what many people consider a "crybaby" since I tend to cry a lot and be easily hurt. Since I was a boy, many people expect me to be more brave, which I didn't get to be right away. When Conan came, it inspired me to be more courageous and to be brave in facing what I may possibly face in my life. He gave me confidence in myself and determination to accomplish my goals. He also helped convince me to be more careful in myself and to plan things carefully before executing actions.
Third, he was a resourceful guy. In many instances, he has shown ways to solve problems using the resources that he has with him. That helped lead me to be more resourceful with the things around me. As a result, I was able to improvise on a lot of things, mostly on crafts and in using the computer. It proved to be very useful for me, since I had now grown up to be a slightly budget-conscious kind of guy.
Fourth, he was a very fit guy. All throughout my life, I had been a chubby boy. When I saw him, I made it a point to lose some of my excess weight so that I can be like him. However, I never really became as fit as Conan and I am still a bit overweight. Still, I can say that I don't look as fat as I used to be. And I'm still happy for that. Also, the fact that he has been very active in soccer inspired me to be active in some physical activity. That activity would turn out to be walking, and I have been proud to say that I can walk faster than many people.
Fifth, he was the character that helped make me more appreciative of anime. When the anime revolution exploded in 1999, I wasn't as excited as a lot of kids were about it, and so I didn't really become an anime fan right away. It was through him that I liked anime more, and has thus led me to admire more anime characters and have my life be positively influenced by these series.
Sixth, he was a man of goodness. He was on the side of justice and truth. His dedication to what is right inspired me to do good in my life and to be a responsible member of my society. Yes, he has his share of mischiefs, and I also have some of my own mischiefs. But ultimately, he is on the side of good and I am with him on that side.
Seventh, he was a guy that I would have wanted as my friend or my older brother. Maybe because I never had an elder sibling that I really feel like having a cool, smart, and good guy like him as my brother, or at least his friend. I could almost relate to him that I consider him as the best friend I never had or the best big brother I never had.
I probably haven't shared everything that I love about Conan. I write this piece with so much passion that I always feel like there's something missing. Nevertheless, Conan Edogawa has been my most favorite character in my whole life. I admire him so much that I bought the Detective Conan Happy Meals, resisted the bootlegged DVDs of the series, and proudly sported a 270-grade eyeglasses for my nearsighted vision. My intelligence, my goodness, I owe much of it to Conan.
Conan Edogawa was my childhood and teenage hero, and he is still my hero up to this day. Conan is an indispensable part of my life. Without him, I could not imagine my life to be even more brighter.
Arigato gozaimasu, Conan-kun.
- If you've seen me in real life, you'll notice four things: 1.) I often wear eyeglasses; 2.) My hair is short, since I had a haircut last week; 3.) I have some sort of a chin curtain beard that I shave every week (due to university rules); 4.) I have a moustache that's not connected to my beard and used to be shaved every week. Given those facts, I've decided to shave my moustache more regularly while allowing my beard to grow a bit longer, so that I would somehow look like Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- When others notice your work, you know you've succeeded. When me and my colleagues for the student publication suddenly talked about anime and Evangelion, they suddenly compared me to Gendo. When I did the hand position that Gendo usually did, they were laughing and said that I really looked like him. 
- Oh, in case you haven't heard it yet, I became part of the editorial staff of our university's student publication. We haven't started publishing it, though. We still have to campaign in the next weeks for the student referendum on our budget. In that referendum, we would be asking them if they're okay with having an additional PHP 50 in their school fees to fund the publication. If we get at least half of the votes cast, then it's approved.
- Here's our other problem with the student publication. The university wants us to be registered under the student affairs department; that means that whatever we write will be screened by the university. If we write something the school doesn't like, such as scandals and scams in the school or some highly political essays, they might reject it. Generally, we don't like it because it puts the whole point of press freedom and having an independent student publication useless, even though it's what's in the law. Right now, my colleagues are contacting some lawyers to give us some legal support, while others are slowly making a grassroots campaign for the student publication.
- Grassroots campaign...this reminds me. If there was one man who inspired me to once again take on the world of media, it was Ron Paul. When I saw the job search ad for student writers, I decided to take this opportunity so that I can "avenge" Mr. Paul for the unfair treatment the mainstream media has given him in the past year. When things got complicated in the student publication, I lean on to what Mr. Paul has been teaching before: freedom, prosperity, peace, integrity. I hope to let these lessons guide me in my job.
- And that ends today's post. Hopefully, I can post more in the near future. For some reason, I feel like I still have lots to say. Anyway, HAVE A NICE DAY!
