Maria Clara at Ibarra

Maria Clara at Ibarra is a great work of art. Every Filipino must see this movie. It enlightens me on many things. I hope others too. As an educator, I should not waver in educating our youths. I should inspire them to learn and appreciate the bits and pieces of our history . We should be proud of our heritage, our culture, ,our history. Because if we will not, who are we as people? Laud GMA for creating such great project. All the characters are portrayed well by all actors and actresses. I love how the story unfolds from one episode to the next. There should be more creations like this . I am proud being a Filipino.

This series is new and refreshing to Philippines Teleserye. Also a nice way to introduce Jose Rizal's iconic novel, that is a big part why we are enjoying our independence right now. Dialogues are excellent, actors are all amazing, and story telling is nice. But when Klay started to always insist to be part and change the story, it becomes irritating(for me)I know that is their plot twist perhaps, but I wished they went with the actual story as is as it is already a masterpiece. Well, its still a nice 7/10 for me, but the trying hard "modern" Klay Character is annoying and ruined the show for me.

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!

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.