Maria Clara at Ibarra

MCIA is a fantastic show that mainstream Philippine television desperately needs and deserves! The story is based on José Rizal's novel 'Noli Me Tanghere,' a dark and disturbing book about the powerful Catholic church during the Spanish Colonial Era. The plot's execution is effective because of one character: Klay, a 2022 student who time-traveled to the 1880s-but not in reality-inside she's in a book.

They perfectly blended fantasy, drama, comedy, cliche, and new unconventional ideas, so the people who worked on this show deserve all of the credit! The cinematography is impressive, the production design is on point, the costumes are accurate, some VFX scenes could be improved, but they are still good, and the scriptwriters consulted historians.

The plot itself is interesting. It's like Midnight at the Pera Palace meets Bridgerton - time travel and period 'dramedy'.

Acting-wise, I only found Chai Fonacier as believable. I get transported to 1884. The worst offenders are Dennis Trillo and Tirso Cruz III. Their poor grasp of how people at the time actually speak shows lack of research and preparation for their roles. As for Barbie Forteza, she has moments that are quite funny and is convincing as a true-blooded Gen Z'er. I truly enjoyed her scenes. With Julie Anne San Jose, I wish she would have enunciated more. At times, I couldn't understand her dialogue. Her singing voice though was amazing.

Production is relatively good given that there's always limited budget for shows coming from the Philippines. I also appreciated them bringing Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo to the small screen, especially for the younger viewers to know more about Rizal's works.

This is a casual watch.

Edit 10/29/2022: I noticed many people bombing this series with 1 stars which is completely unreasonable, as a kapamilya this series is a solid recreation of the book but with a twist; therefore I am updating my rating to 10, Shame on you, bots and people who voted one which is completely unreasonable unless you've slept through your filipino Noli Me Tangere class or couldn't care less about filipino Heritage, Go read the original book if you dont want the time travelling stuff, thank you.

Original Review: Honestly, I am surprised and thrilled about this series, It is a new and unique way of promoting the book. It offers a topic that haven't yet explored in Philippine teleserye history quite extensively, time travel. This show provides this in a quite humorous yet interesting way in which you might ask yourself what will you do or what would happen if you, yourself time travelled to the 1880's in this fictional world. As someone who love history so much, it is an interesting take on the traditional portrayal of Noli Me Tangere. I am highly invested on the story and I hope GMA wouldn't disappoint, with the coming episodes.

I'm one of those guilty Pinoys who had never clearly understood "Noli" (and "Fili") during HS days. Thanks GMA7 for shedding light on what this novel is all about (despite of obvious twists and turns, which I don't mind at all).

The fusion of the present and the past made this magnificent Obra compelling and effective, needless to say the quality of the production and cinematography, plus the immense characterization of each and every actor were superb.

For now, I am curious to know how far they will go with the story, since I remember "Noli" has an open ending. Anyway, this is World Class..

I haven't seen any "teledrama" made in the Philippines for a long time. I have always thought most series from the Philippines are unnecessarily long, repetitive and boring. I decided to give this title a shot after hearing about it on Social Media, and boy I'm glad I did!

The script is well-written, funny, witty, and relatable. The characters are mostly likable (except for the villains, of course). The costumes and settings look great (especially considering budgetary constraints of a show produced in a developing country). And most importantly, the story is engaging.

It's amazing how this book was written over 100 years ago (where this series is based on) and still reflects the modern struggles of the Filipino.

My only complaint is how the volume changes from loud to quiet in one episode, and how the music is jarringly cut off from one scene to the next (but that may very well be becasue I'm watching the series online, rather than on local TV).

A recommended watch!