Trese

Alexandra Trese was a young woman who was called on to investigate crimes attributed to supernatural causes. Armed with her trusty kris dagger Sinag, she was called in by the police to track mysterious events which involved such creatures of Filipino mythology like man-eating aswangs, half-horse tikbalang, and baby-like tiyanak. Other beings also seen include the white lady of Balete Drive, the Nuno, the duwende, lightning beings, wind sprites, zombies, werewolves and the main antagonist Datu Talagbusao, the god of war.

Alexandra was the daughter of Anton Trese, the lakan who forged an alliance between the human and supernatural world, and his wife Miranda, a babaylan or folk shaman. Her current team include twin brothers named Crispin and Basilio (after Sisa's sons in Jose Rizal's "Noli Me Tangere"), her two dapper demigod sidekicks; and Hank (who looks exactly like Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao), bartender of the Trese family nightclub called the Diabolical. She also had a personal fire spirit Santelmo, who lived in her Nokia 3210 cellphone.

The opening scene of Episode 1 already showcased the spectacular artwork with a glittering nighttime scene of the city with its skyscrapers lit up by bright incandescent light bulbs and neon billboards. The next scene of an MRT train stalling on its tracks and the passengers alighting to walk to the nearest station was only the first of many places in Metro Manila that Filipinos will recognize and smile about through out the series, like Camp Crame, Quiapo, the New Bilibid Prison, the ABS-CBN building and the Meralco building.

There was also several scenes with social commentary. In Episode 1, there was a statement against corrupt megalomaniac politicians like Mayor Sancho Santamaria. In Episode 4, there was a statement against abusive policemen who use "fighting back" ("nanlaban" of EJK notoriety) as an excuse for their brutish behavior, like Officer Reyes. Other episodes highlight other activities going on around the city, like rich kids drag racing along Ortigas, fans fawning over movie stars or gamers grumbling slow internet speed.

Aside from effectively using Filipino folklore as the foundation of a solid story, "Trese" will surely delight Filipinos over its references to Choc-Nut or the Novanians. The Filipino dialogue was more authentic with the slang and profanity, but the English voice cast did try to give a Filipino flavor to their accents. At only six episodes and more or less 30 minutes per episode, this is a very quick and easy binge. Hopefully, international viewers will appreciate Filipino culture and talent more after this significant exposure on the Netflix platform. 9/10.

Overall the show would of benefitted with another 2 episodes that would of fleshed out the characters a bit more as it felt a little rushed and I wish they started off with the backstory of the characters instead of showing inconsistent flashbacks throughout the episodes but overall not a bad show reminded me of Castlevania with a mixture of supernatural 7.5 for me.

As other reviewers have said, the artsyle is highly reminiscent of DC animated projects. For a story that "Trese" has, the artsyle fits like a glove. Character designs are unique and captures the eeriness of the supernatural beings. Casting a female lead instead of the stereotypical male "bridge-between-two-worlds" lead was an excellent move.

Excellent vocal performance, including the Japanese dub. The Filipino dub however, particulary that of Alexandra's, leaves much to be desired.

"Trese" suffers greatly from flaws that bring the animation's quality down. To name a few, these are the abundant presence of plot holes, filler scenes, unexplained events and devices that the show expects the viewers would have prior knowledge about, unnecessary scenic shots, and "info-dumps"

A cookie-cutter style of storytelling with a rushed plot development hampers the potential "Trese" could have reached.

Comprehensively, "Trese" is a show that would keep you entertained throughout; provided that you would be viewing it at a superficial level to ignore its faults. It has a generic concept that was made interesting by its setting and characters. Nonetheless, I am optimistic that if a second season was to be made, it would fix its preceding deficiencies and deliver an excellent show than its predecessor.

The quality of anime was great!!! Great backgrounds and art. The voice actors were top notch.

The dialogue felt a bit rushed at times, although a great story overall. Still many unanswered questions which could prompt another season or concluding film.

Dubbing is not the main issue for me anymore, Liza Soberano may have sounded quite flat but my concern is more about the content... the details and subtleties. I have not yet read the comic book, ergo my comments are solely based on the anime. I understand how Trese as a comic book and an anime represents our pop culture. But for me, it lacked a lot of the folkloric elements as it geared towards appeasing what's pop or trendy as of the moment. Like how the creators could have explored that more, the juxtaposition of the folkloric and modern-day elements. Trese is a Lakan. She's the guardian in between two worlds. She could have an arsenal of tools and weapons that transcends from north to south of the Philippines at her disposal. Trese could have garlic ampoules or bullets drenched in garlic juice , a buntot-pagi or stingray tail lasso also known to ward off aswangs and other mythical creatures, sacred oil potions like the lana. The possibility of showcasing a part of our pre-hispanic culture and beliefs is endless. Though it reminds me of the following...Constantine, the K-drama Haunted House for Sale, and the manga and anime Mushishi. Overall, it is an ambitious take on the renaissance of Pinoy comics and a leap towards the reinvention of our animation, a far cry from the then Disney sandbox we've been trying hard to emulate.