We’ve seen how the streets of Manila would look like in the DC comic book universe, but what about anime? Thanks to 22-year-old college student Ralph Justin G. Ulep, we now have an idea of what that will be like.
His illustrations of an anime-style Manila were shared all over social media this week after an anime enthusiast shared them on Tuesday. The album now has 27,000 reactions, more than 17,000 shares, and 1,400 comments.
Ulep told Coconuts Manila that he was shocked when he found out that his work went viral; he first shared the illustrations on his personal Facebook page earlier this month.
“I found out that the photos went viral when I look (sic) at my phone and there was like 99+ notifications on my FB account,” he said. “I’m shocked that the photo/illustration went viral because I only do this every time I’m bored.”
Ulep said that he was curious to see what Manila would look like as an anime and was inspired by films by Japanese animator Makoto Shinkai like the critically acclaimed Kimi no Na wa (Your Name) and Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru (5 Centimeters per Second).
Some Manila landmarks Ulep reimagined were EDSA, his school Adamson University, and the LRT.
He created them by finding real photos of the city and digitally painting over them.
“I used Photoshop to paint over the photo to make it more like anime, so basically it is a combination of digital painting and photomanipulation,” Ulep said.
And believe it or not, he only started painting digitally last year.
“I started drawing when I was a kid like stick drawings and all but we’re talking about digital painting and photo editing, I just started last July 2017,” he said.
His next project? Ulep said he’s thinking of turning Manila’s Morayta St. into something inspired by Tokyo’s Shibuya crossing.
To see more of his illustrations, you can follow his page JustinArt on Facebook.
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