This is my response to theJanuary fan challenge. Hopefully, this can still make it.
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Hey aniki! This is me in my school uniform in Hokuei.
Dear aniki,
Hey there, bro! How are you doing right now? How's your girlfriend and her father? Hehehe...
I'm doing fine here in Hokuei. My classmates are very nice, and I managed to be the top student in the class...again. And I have you to thank for my accomplishments, aniki.
Ever since we've met each other there, I've always admired your intelligence and wit. It's odd that we even got a chance to be friends since I was just a junior high school student while you were already a high school student. Who would've thought that the moment that we saw each other at the public library a couple of years ago, we would end up becoming very good friends. You would share me stories about the great fictional detective while I would give you a lecture on Philippine history. I guess geeks are destined to be friends with his fellow geeks. Hehehe...
Between the two of us, you were definitely the smarter and more athletic one. In fact, you were such an amazing genius. You were so cool there in your high school, being a genius and a soccer player and all that. On that one instance where I saw you solve a murder case on the spot, I couldn't help but feel thrilled and be proud of you. From that point on, I told myself that I wanted to be just like you. Cool, smart, good...that's the kind of guy that I wanna be in my life.
I'm planning to take up a Psychology course later on, after which I plan to take up History and Secondary Education. I know, it ain't exactly a course for detectives. But who knows, with the knowledge I get from my courses, I might be able to work with you as your sidekick, in the same way Sherlock Holmes had Dr. Watson. I kinda like the sound of that: me as the sidekick of the great high school detective of the West.
Man, if only I hadn't transferred to Hokuei, I could've talked to you more often. Maybe you and your girlfriend should come here to Hokuei. You could bring the others along, too. I'll tour you here, and I'll let you have a taste at the delicious watermelons here. Just don't bring a murder case with you as well, okay?
Anyway, how's life as a little kid? I know it's hard to go back once again in your childhood years even though you have the mind of an adult. But the last letter you've given me showed that you're adjusting well to it already. That's good to here. I still hope that you can go back to your old self soon. I miss my aniki already.
How's your girlfriend doing? I know, I know. She's not your girlfriend...yet. But how's she doing already? Last time I met her was one year ago, when I was visiting your high school. You still haven't told her about your true identity, right? Don't worry, I won't tell anything to her. Oh, and if ever you and her decide to...you know, get married, don't forget to invite me, okay?
How about her father? Are you still helping him out in solving cases? Man, if only they knew the secret behind his sleepiness whenever he solves a case.
Speaking of sleepiness, could you ask our good friend, the doctor-inventor, if he can make me one of those tranquilizer watches that you often use? I'd like to use it to defend myself, especially in these times. I promise, I won't do bad things with it.
By the way, could I also borrow some of those mystery books stacked inside your house? There are times when I get bored and have nothing to do in my house, and I'd like to spend my time reading the books that you used to read. Aside from my history books, of course.
I guess that's about it. Please send my regards to onee-chan, or your girlfriend. Send my regards also to her father, to the doctor-inventor, to your parents, and to everyone else out there.
'Till next time, aniki. Talk to you later. And as you tend to say: Shinjitsu wa itsumo hitotsu!
The brother you never had,
Kooji
- It's been a while since I last posted here. So how's it been. It seems things are quite silent around here.
- I got my hands of the book Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination, which is a selection of short stories by Edogawa Rampo translated in English. At first, I checked it out in the university library simply because the name Conan Edogawa was partly derived from Edogawa Rampo. After reading the first story (The Human Chair), I was hooked. The stories were so imaginative, so creative, and so full of suspense. Just last morning, I finished reading the last story. This has now become one of my favorite books and I really recommend this for your reading pleasure.
- I'll be pretty busy by this month until March. Mostly because I've got an achievement test to construct and administer, alongside other school projects. Also, the student publication is now gearing up in its campaign, although honestly I tend to lose some of my energy and interest for this due to academic work. And then, there's midterms next week.
- I just realized that I never told you that I had already lost my anime convention virginity. Yippee! 
The anime convention I'm referring to is the UP Cebu Otaku Fest 2.0, which was held at the University of the Philippines - Cebu campus last December 13 '08. I might post my pics of it here, but for now you can go check their site to see what happened.
- I'm interested in joining this fan challenge by Sangome and Miss Anonymous. The rules are simple: write a letter to your favorite fictional character without mentioning who he/she/it is. You can go click the link for more details. As for me, I'll start producing my own writeup.
- I've started to compare my style of commenting from other theOtaku members. Here's what I noticed: I seem to talk too formal. 
Is that a good sign or a bad sign? I don't blame Shin for this (unlike the rest of you), but I blame SomeGuy and the Particracy game for this.
- And that's all for today. Have a nice day!
So it's finally 2009. How was your New Year's Day? Did you jump with joy? Or showered yourself with confetti and coins? Or, I don't know, blew yourself up with some firecrackers?
Well, ours was a simple old dinner filled with salad, baked spaghetti, chocolates, seedless grapes, cupcakes, and macaroons. Yeah, it's pretty nice. I also took time to write a list of my resolutions in a piece of paper and placed it inside my wallet right after 2009 began. I got that idea after reading Adam's post here.
On other stuff, I've submitted a Major e-card in theOtaku recently. I did this in order for Major to become a category here in the site anytime soon. Through this, I hope it would help publicize an ongoing anime that I think is really very good but is slightly underrated overseas.
Also, I attended a little "coming-back" party of my friend who's studying in the United States. (Note: I live in the Philippines, so it's distant for me.) Aside from the fact that she gave me and my brother a bar of delectable Cadbury chocolate (which would probably cause you to salivate right about now), my friend asked me who was my first kiss. When I told her I never had one yet as far I can recall, she asked me about my "girlfriend" (who's currently my friend in myOtaku). When I told her that we're not even dating, they were totally shocked. All these years, they thought that we were actually dating each other and that we're set to become husband and wife. Heh, I guess I can succeed in deceiving people.
This weekend, I'll be going to my aunt/dentist to have a dental restoration on my teeth, since I had a bit of a tooth decay problem. I'll also be busy with some assignments due next week, when we go back once again to school after the Christmas vacation.
And that's all for today. HAVE A NICE DAY!
And now for the annual "last post of the year" ceremony in The Mask's Cafe. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the manager of the cafe, The Mask.
Ehh...yeah. Thanks for the epic intro, mysterious announcer voice.
Anyway, hello there everyone. So it's finally the last day of the year 2008. In a few hours, it will be 2009. Hmm...this makes me sentimental
Well, a lot has happened this year. There were scandals concerning broadbands and fertilizers in my country. The US had a President-elect Barack Obama, and Sarah Palin simply wowed and gave anime-like sweatdrops to many people. China held what has to be one of the most spectacular opening ceremonies ever in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, yet still had its glory tarnished with melamine-contaminated milk products. M/V Princess of the Stars sinks in the middle of a storm in the Philippines, and becomes much more irritating since the ship owner has a long record for sinking ships, not to mention the withheld information and the leaking toxic chemicals. (This tragedy was just so sad.) The world economy undergoes a crisis because of the greed of a few elite people. And Version Vibrant in theOtaku came to town.
And then there were deaths. In foreign showbiz, we had Heath Ledger and Bernie Mac; for local showbiz we had Rudy Fernandez, Marky Cielo, and Didith Reyes. There was also Arthur Clarke, and Killer Kowalski. And then there were those who died in the different tragedies, especially in the M/V Princess of the Stars sinking. May their souls rest in peace.
In my life, I was introduced to Death Note, a series that has significantly influenced my life in more or less the same way the Detective Conan and Rurouni Kenshin influenced my life. And then there was also Evangelion (still at Ep. 1) and Darker than Black (still at Ep. 2). And of course, there was Detective Conan, and the Happy Meals that truly made me happy as a grownup fan of the series.
Well, that was 2008. And now we're about to enter 2009, one could only hope that it would turn out be a good year for us. Although the economic crisis seems to waiting for us next year, I hope its impact will be minimized and we'll be able to make 2009 a wonderful. After all, we control our destiny in this world. No matter what happens, ultimately we're still the ones who decide what our future will be.
For 2009, I hope to do well in my studies and to be successful with my upcoming thesis. Here in theOtaku, I hope I will finally achieve the Otaku Legend title in the near future.
On another note, theOtaku now has an Otaku of the Year for 2008. Do check it out before the year ends.
And that ends this year-end post for me. Kinda simple, unlike the ones I used to make. Here's to a great and cool 2009. HAVE A NICE 2009 EVERYONE. ENJOY THE FIREWORKS!
- I'm currently holding a little event in theOtaku entitled The Otaku of the Year. It's basically a spin-off on Time Magazine's Person of the Year but those who would be featured will be a certain member here in theOtaku. I encourage you to cast your vote on who deserves this title. Click here to know more.
- This I find sad. The response to my Anime Christmas Carols fanword didn't turn out the way I expected it to be. Very few read the lyrics and enjoyed it. I blame it on timing. If I had submitted it much earlier like I did before, more members would've been able to enjoy it in time for the season. The fact that today's audience is different might have been another factor. After all, this is basically a repost of my article back in 2005, with an added bonus. On the bright side, at least people would now be able to look back at this work of mine.
- Sigh...as much as I'd like to really rest and relax this vacation, I still have the burden of school work to do. Well, here's to getting it accomplished soon and not grow lazy despite the vacation temptations.
- Recently checked out the latest on The Otaku of the Year. So far, the response is wonderful, with 13 comments already. I really hope it can reach a higher number for better representation of the members in the site. After all, the deadline is Monday at 11:59pm (theO time), so it's possible.
- Last Thursday, I was eating some of my mom's baked macaroni while surfing the Net. Then something hit me: why don't I research on what the color of one's stool signifies? (It's a topic that's been bugging me for some time now, in a medical kind of way.) As I was about to click a link, I realized that I might see actual stool pictures while eating the macaroni. Feeling a little bit sick, I cancelled the search. MORAL LESSON: You do not want to think of stool while eating something.
- And that ends my post. Time for me to get some shut eye. Take care, enjoy your coffee (or your non-coffee beverage), and HAVE A NICE DAY!
