"Trese" - An Animated Spotlight on the Pinoy Myth and Folklore
Trese is a dark fantasy anime-influenced series based on the award-winning Filipino komiks of the same name created by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo. It was produced by BASE Entertainment and was released on Netflix.
For the Filipino dub, it stars Liza Soberano (Alexandra Trese), Simon dela Cruz (Crispin / Basilio), Apollo Abraham (Captaim Guerrero), Christopher Carlo Caling (Hank), Eugene Adalia (Anton Trese), Cheska Aguiluz (Miranda Trese), Steve dela Cruz (Maliksi), Christian Velarde (Nuno), Jose Amado Santiago (Marco), Rene Tandoc (Mayor Sacho Santamaria), and Bryan Encarnacion (Datu Talagbusao), And for the English dub, Shay Mitchell (Alexandra Trese), Griffin Puatu (Crispin / Basilio / Bantay), Matt Yang King (Captain Guerrero / Dominic), Jon Jon Briones (Hank), Carlos Alazraqui (Anton Trese / Santelmo), Nicole Scherzinger (Miranda Trese), Manny Jacinto (Maliksi), Eric Bauza (Nuno), Darren Criss (Marco), Lou Diamond Philips (Mayor Sancho Santamaria), Steve Blum (Datu Talagbusao / Ibwa), and Dante Basco (Bagyon Kulimlim).
(SPOILER ALERT!!!) (You’ve been warned!)
Trese focuses on Alexandra Trese, a babaylan-mandirigma who serves as the protector of Metro Manila and the one who keeps the balance between our world and the underworld. She acts as a detective that the police runs to whenever crimes take a turn to the supernatural and paranormal.
I started reading Trese back in late 2014, and I got hooked and astounded by it and by what it is about. I just love how it integrates the Filipino folklore and myth into the modern day Metro Manila. So when I heard of the news that Netflix was going to make an animated adaptation of this comic book series, I immediately got excited by that information. And knowing that it’s going to be a Netflix show, I had set a certain expectation from it.
The story, at least for what I can say from the first season, based its writing from the first three volumes of the komiks, but they certainly took a lot of liberty on how the show flowed. They showed stories, cases, and events from the books that readers, such as myself, are familiar with, but definitely changes a lot from it to still serve the show audience a fresh course of meal. Such example of the changes are the Tiyanak incident and Nova Aurora’s story, which was two separate cases in the second book, as well as the whole story revolving the death of the white lady in Balete Drive.
Personally, I prefer how the story went in the komiks as compared to the anime adaptation, and how it was narrated in the komiks. And I also personally would have wanted it if they completely, or at least with some minor changes or added fillers, did write the show as it was in the source material, similar to how a lot of our favorite animes are being written; following the mangas that our favorite animes are based off from. I do understand that animation and production for this show may be really difficult, as well as the budget for this, but imagine this, one case/chapter from the book is equal to one episode. We’ll start the anime from Case 1: At the Intersection of Balete and 13th Street as episode one, and then the first season finale with Case 13: An Act of War, still ending the season with the fight against Talagbusao. That would probably give us at least ten episode for season one.
In some ways, having it in just six episodes felt a bit rushed and compressed, having multiple story events squeezed in this season. This might also lead to viewers, mainly new to Trese, to be confused and have difficulty getting invested with the characters and the storyline.
The character designs captured what an anime style looks like, and the animation is really impressive. But I do feel as if some moments, the animation wasn’t what I’m comfortable with or perhaps it wasn’t just what I’m accustomed with. It felt different from the usual Japanese anime. I also expected it to be like Castlevania or on that level, but I still thought that the whole thing was great and still a level up for the Philippine animation.
What really had me in awe in the visual aspect were the background shots. We get to see fascinating art of Metro Manila; the buildings, the streets, the roads, the city lights. They even felt like real shots that had been spiced up with a bit of anime filters. They truly made a beautiful visual portrayal of Metro Manila.
I’ve only seen the Tagalog dub, but I had seen both the English and Japanese trailers and some clips from them. I would like to say first that I thought the Japanese, as expected, did a great work with their voice acting. The English was also really good, but the reason I decided to watch the Tagalog dub was because even though the graphic novels were written in mostly English, the Tagalog dub sounded more authentic. It sounded just right hearing Filipino characters in Metro Manila, showing Filipino cultures and things, speaking the native language. But yeah, of course the Filipino cast also did a good job. Even Soberano, who got heavily criticized for her performance, did a good job. She wasn’t perfect, I personally think her voice isn’t what I hear when I read the komiks, but I do think how she delivered was how I think is the way Trese would speak, deadpan and lacking of emotions, which shows calmness and a bit of mystery, which actually fits the character of Alexandra Trese. Personally, I think someone else could have done the voice of Trese better, Soberano could have done it better still, but I also think that she already did a good job.
The theme music were excellent. The intro music, if I’m not mistaken, is an Ifugao folk song, and it brought the proper mystical vibe that tells the culture, the wonder, and the magic of the Filipino folklore that very much is fitting to the show. And UDD, with their song Paagi, was rather a very suitable choice to give us the closing theme music.
There are many differences that the show made as compared to what was in the graphic novels. As I mentioned earlier, there are parts in the story that differed from what the source material. In the komiks, the first two volumes or books are a series of individual cases and it wasn’t until volume three where we would get Talagbusao’s storyline, but in the show, it became a whole Talagbusao arc due to him being the one pulling the strings from the beginning. Talagbusao’s character motivation was different as well, as he wanted to bring forth the apocalypse through the prophecy of the sixth child of the sixth child, whereas in the komiks, he wanted devour his children’s hearts to permanently step foot on the mortal realm to constantly wage endless war and violence.
Certain characters also had their parts rewritten, added, or removed. Significant changes were with Nuno and Hank. Nuno sa Manhole, played as the surprise villain in the show, being an ally/tool of Talagbusao, whereas his komiks role was a recurring character simply aiding Trese with information and wasn’t even in the final confrontation with the war god in the komiks. Hank also received a screen time promotion in the show.
Some key characters and elements were written out or changed, such as Professor Alexander Trese, the grandfather of Alexandra. Alexander’s role was important, as he was an important figure in the story especially when it was about The Agreement and The Diabolical, as well as the person who welcomed Alexandra back after her trial inside the Balete Tree, a role that was placed unto Hank. The Visions of the Seven Seers was incompletely stated in the show as it failed to highlight the significance of the visions about Alexandra’s brothers and also the great upheaval on the sixth child’s 33rd birthday.
The season concluded with Trese defeating Talagbusao by opening a Dragon’s Gate and trapping him inside, as opposed to him being trapped by Trese inside an online game, which I think was one of the good changes the anime did compared to the komiks. And then after that, we got a post-credit scene that features what it appeared to be a Jiangshi, a vampire from the Chinese folklore.
I’m glad that we had a post-credit scene, because I’m considering it as a promise for an another season, though I do believe that I haven’t encountered any Jiangshi in the komiks, so they will probably make another anime-only storyline, but the idea of a crossover between Filipino folklore and Chinese folklore would truly be interesting. And then we may be properly introduced to Alexandra’s kuyas or big brothers next season, especially if they tackle the High Tide at Midnight story arc.
Of course, there are some easter eggs in this show. One that is a very obvious if you know who they are, are the guys that were sacrificed to Bagyon Kulimlim, and they were none other than the creators themselves, Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo. Then the background capturing local brands like Jollibee and Mang Inasal. We also got elements from the story that was based from real life, such as ABS-ZNN is ABS-CBN in real life, Maharlika Electrical Company is Meralco, and Nova Aurora is Nora Aunor. Another noteworthy one was Choc Nut, a local chocolate bar that Pinoys, humans and nunos alike, love to snack on.
Overall, I think that the show was great. It wasn’t as I expected it to be, but it was still good, and it did give us an interesting representation of our folklore and mythology. The action and art delivered excitement. Some aspects of the show could have been improved or done better, but at the end of the day, the Trese anime is something Filipinos can and should be proud of. And hoping this can also help push big and international companies, as well as viewers, to look into other Filipino comics and stories to make an adaptation based off, and can help boost the Filipino komiks, animation, and voice talent industry.
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