If necessity is the mother of invention, then boredom must be the mother of viral creation.
When boredom hit new grad Yvonne Abuda on Election Day, she didn’t know that a quick doodle and a click of a button would change her life. A few days later, tens of thousands of strangers online had already seen and shared her work and are eagerly asking for more. Now, with the help of her boyfriend Jefferson de la Pena as writer and her best friend Maria Angela Artienda as editor, they’re taking the fanart to another level and are currently in the process of creating characters and stories for a full-blown “Duriam Chronicles” manga.
Have you created other manga before? What kind of illustrations/stories did you do before (if you did any)?
This would be the first time we created something like this, we didn’t expect it to become this popular or get this much support from the people, it was just out of boredom actually that made Yvonne thought of drawing the first illustration. She created one-shot manga in high school, and also some anime drawings and doodles.
What were you doing before this all blew up?
We’re all just enjoying our summer vacation since we just recently graduated from college.
Did you vote? What are your views/feelings about the latest poll results?
Yes, we voted, except for Yvonne. We are satisfied that the latest election was successful, and hope that the candidates can do their part as we do ours.
What were your plans for your future prior to “Duriam Chronicles”? Have those plans changed since your work has gotten popular?
Yvonne was planning on taking on another course, which was Advertising Arts since she is really into arts rather than continuing her family business. Her parents also support the idea. Jefferson was planning on starting his own
business and take up Law. Angela was planning to proceed to 5th year, and hopefully gain another degree (BS Accountancy).
What other hobbies do you enjoy doing?
Yvonne is into drawing and playing games in Steam, as well as photography and making videos. When she’s bored, she will just take her graphic tablet or pencil and just draw on the laptop or paper. Jeff is into reading and scale modeling. He also loves cars and planes. Angela also loves doodling and photography.
What medium/program do you use in creating the manga? What’s your favorite medium/program?
Software – Paint Tool Sai
Device used – Wacom Intuos Draw
When Yvonne first posted the Duriam cover page, she wrote that she’s “such a weabo”. Do all of you identify as weabo? Would you call yourselves otaku?
She’s just joking about calling herself a “weabo” that time, just her expression. We just really admire Japan’s culture and everything they have given to the world. Maybe when we were younger, but now we don’t consider ourselves otaku. We have other priorities and responsibilities. We just can’t stay at home and read manga all day, haha. As of now, we just consider this as a hobby and an opportunity showcase the art of Yvonne and the Filipino people when it comes to manga.
How did this start? What prompted you to create a manga-nized version of the two presidential candidates?
Out of boredom. Friends started sharing the first drawing, then friends of friends. Suddenly, out of nowhere, strangers started commenting, liking, spreading it even more, encouraging us to actually make it into a full blast manga. The idea of making the manga out of the two presidential candidates was because of the Duriam “love team” that people were talking about. So out of boredom, Yvonne just drew it.
What is it about Duriam that tickled your imagination? Are you a fan of either Digong or Miriam? Did you vote for either of them?
Both of them are well-known and respected. People knew how they respected each other during the campaign, and even the presidential debates, it showed how much they respect each other. Also, it was their fans who made the Duriam love team, and we just rode the wave, but not expecting to get this much attention.
When you came up with the Duriam manga-nized illustration, how did people react? Were you surprised? Do you have a favorite fan reaction?
Yvonne created the illustration, and it just spread like wild fire. We were very shocked, it was just meant to be shared with friends but suddenly, random people were liking, commenting and sharing and encouraging us to make more or to make a light novel or manga. All of the fan reactions were amazing. There was so much “kilig” reaction from them.
Personally, how do you feel about “Duriam”? Are you like a lot of the fans who feel “kilig” toward the tandem?
We were actually very amused when it was first announced after the 1st presidential debates. Who wouldn’t feel “kilig” towards their tandem. It could be seen that both of them has high respect for each other.
How is the story shaping up? Do you now have a solid plot for the manga?
Right now, we are focused on character research and development, then after that we will be planning to release the first few pages soon.
Will all of the presidential and vice presidential candidates have roles in the “Duriam Chronicles?” Do you have a favorite?
Yes, hopefully all of them. But we’ll try to make sure that we won’t offend any of them. This manga is just for fun. Of course, our personal favorite would be Duterte and Miriam, since the story would be about them .
Will the manga characters bear the traits of the candidates they’re based on?
Yes, because that would also add to the fun of the story. But also we will be careful not to offend or discriminate any candidates that would be included in the story.
So far, what traits have you assigned to your characters?
Right now, we are trying to make their characteristics as close as the real person as possible, while also filtering out the ones that aren’t needed so we wouldn’t insult anyone.
Are you planning on publishing the manga into a book? What are your plans for the manga/characters?
Right now we are just focused on building the base of the story and characters so that it won’t become a mediocre manga. If the manga would become successful, it would be an honor to actually make it into a book. But for now, we
still don’t have the capacity to produce it. It would take time, also because we only have one illustrator. We’re taking it one step at a time.
Anything else you’d like to add/say?
We are really thankful for everyone who appreciated
Duriam Chronicles, we really didn’t imagine for it to become something like this. We also want to thank Inquirer and the people behind this for sparing their time to interview us. To everyone who has supported us, we will try our best to make this good. Thank you so much! God bless to all.
