If you are a fan of anime, you would have heard of Bilibili - a highly interactive video community designed to engage its viewers through anime, comics and games.
Founded in 2009, Bilibili also hosts occupationally generated videos from professional animation studios and user-generated content by fans and homegrown creators.
The animation industry is booming and in Malaysia, it is forecast to reach US$519.6 million (RM2.2 billion) by 2028.
With huge success in the cinemas for animated feature films such as ‘Mechamato Movie’ (2022), ‘Ejen Ali: The Movie’ (2019), ‘Boboiboi Movie 2’ (2019) and ‘Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal’ (2019), this is a field that would benefit greatly from good content and talented local animators.
Malaysiakini interviewed two animators who each have distinctive styles and content, and who initially used social media to showcase their work.
Both are now original content creators on Bilibili and are enjoying growing popularity on this platform.
Slice of life
Pop culture and lifestyle animator Mohammad Rizwan, or Wan Animation, was born in Kedah but grew up in Terengganu, and was well on his way to becoming an engineer when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
“I have always loved to draw ever since I was five years old,” he began.
“I was still studying at university when the movement control order (MCO) started. I did not know what to do with myself. There were no assignments and no meetings with friends.
"My university was in Sarawak, and I could not go back home. I had so much free time, I started drawing again. At first, I started drawing on paper, trying 3D effects so that my drawings would pop out,” he said.
“Then I got bored and started digital art. I bought a tablet and started drawing pictures of my friends and anime,” he added.
The 24-year-old has been a huge fan of American cartoonist, animator, author, and voice actor Robert James Rallison, known online as TheOdd1sOut’s animated short City Birds, and watching Rallison’s works gave him the confidence to create animation to post on YouTube.
“I noticed not many people were putting up animation content on YouTube and I saw that as an opportunity," said Wan, who was soon producing and uploading his animated shorts on YouTube.
“During the MCO, Malaysians were stuck at home and wanted entertainment. I guess some of them saw my YouTube channel. That is how I ended up getting over 100,000 subscribers."
Not only does he create content on a full-time basis, but Wan also narrates his videos.
“Before I create a video, I would recall an event in my life. For the YouTube video 'Sikit Lagi Aku Mati', I recalled riding my motorcycle recklessly when I almost got hit by a truck," Wan shared.
From a near-miss accident, the story moves to rates of accidents, insurance claims and studying maths at school.
His stories are also heavily inspired by childhood memories and pop culture, and centred around telling quirky stories that take place in a local setting.
This allows viewers to experience a slice of life told from Wan’s point of view.
To date, he has posted about 30 videos on Bilibili and the response has been good.
"It has benefited me greatly since this platform attracts anime and manga fans,” said Wan who now has over 9,000 subscribers on Bilibili and one of his videos alone received 10,000 views.
He works with two animators and two background artists. It takes two weeks to produce a five-minute video.
Wan posted his first video ‘Ujian Memandu’ on Instagram on Feb 20, 2020, and to date, has created 70 animated videos.
“It has been almost two years since I got my degree in engineering. I don’t think I am going to pursue that field.”
So, why Rallison?
“First, he is hilarious and has a lot of hidden punchlines. That is what attracted me to his work and became my source of inspiration. His background art is so good.
“I also noticed that he tries to improve the quality of his animation from time to time. If you compare his animation work from five years ago, you will notice how much better it is now," he said.
Inspired by his idol, Wan pushes himself to improve all the time.
He tries to post a video a week on Bilibili to not keep his viewers waiting too long. He thinks if he posts all the works in one go, people might get bored.
“Right now, the following on my Instagram has gone crazy. I have over 100,000 followers. So I will try to produce content not only for YouTube and Bilibili but also for Instagram. Maybe I’ll do one-minute videos or maybe I’ll try to diversify my content.”
He also plans to make a full-length animated feature film or a TV series in the future.
“Malaysia is not really into 2D animation. They are more into 3D animation. Maybe one day I will evolve and create 3D animation. It will take time,” he said, adding that he is saving up towards producing his own animated movie.
Horror animation
Juggling a full-time job running his own business and pursuing his love for creating animated content, Fadli Amir stands out because he is one of the few animators out there who creates horror animation.
Fadli is the only Malaysian animator putting up horror-themed content on Bilibili and his tales inspired by folklore and more modern stories are a hit.
“I have loved anime since I was a child. I watched a lot of cartoons on television,” the 35-year-old told Malaysiakini.
He recalled watching anime series such as ‘DragonBall’ and ‘Sailormoon’.
“I watched the local cartoon series ‘Usop Sontorian’ too. I was inspired and wanted to know how the animators did what they did.”
Fadli then decided to create his own animation.
“When I started, I wanted to do comedy, but I realised that did not suit me. After watching TV series like ‘The Walking Dead’ and movies like ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, I decided to stick to horror,” he said.
Fadli has been dabbling in animation for years but only got into it seriously in 2017.
However, in 2007 while he was still studying, he produced an animated short film based on a song and uploaded it. Unfortunately, it is no longer available online.
To date, Fadli has produced over 42 animation shorts and has uploaded 20 of them on Bilibili since last year.
He heard about Bilibili from a friend and decided to post his work on that channel. Since not many animators produce horror, his work stands out.
“For me, the Bilibili channel is a great platform to promote our content. It allows you to upload your content quickly,” said Fadli, who is not only garnering a loyal following but also catching the attention of other animators.
He has yet to get any offers to produce content for TV and film. He is also a one-man show when it comes to producing content.
When asked how long it takes him to produce one animated short film, Fadli said: “It depends on the story. I usually record the background voice first. It usually takes about four days to a week.”
He is happy with the response from Bilibili users.
“A lot of them like what I do and ask me to upload more content. Some even suggested I make scarier stories.
“Previously, I did a lot of horror stories that revolved around bad people. Many fans have suggested I focus on that genre,” Fadli added. - Mkini
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