English Dub Review: Trese Season One

Based on the Filipino comic series written by Budjette Tan and illustrated by Kajo Baldisimo, Trese (Pronounced “Trey-say”) follows the titular character Alexandra Trese who takes the job of an occult detective who investigates dangerous threats within Filipino folklore while discreetly prowling throughout the bustling capital of Manila, where the mythical creatures of Filipino folklore live in hiding amongst humans, Alexandra Trese finds herself going head to head with a criminal underworld composed of malevolent supernatural beings. Of course, she doesn’t always do it alone since she has occasional backup in the form of a few occult and human allies, and a law enforcement Captain in keeping the city safe while maintaining the balance between both the natural and supernatural worlds.

For research, I actually read volume 1 of the source material in advance before binge-watching all 6 episodes. And while I had no idea what was going to happen next, I can say that at least a portion of this adaptation did cover a few Vol.1 storylines from what I actually read. Netflix has even gone the extra mile in giving this a Filipino, English, Japanese and Spanish dub. But for this review, we will focus on the English Dub as Shay Mitchell voices the titular Alexandra Trese while Other cast members include Steve Blum, Eric Bauza, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jon Jon Briones, Darren Criss, Nicole Scherzinger, and Dante Basco of American Dragon: Jake Long and Avatar: The Last Airbender fame.

Aside from our fearless titular heroine in which Shay’s performance plays completely straight with moments of emotional weight and small cracks of human vulnerability as somebody following the legacy of her respectable and formidable father, Anton. The supporting characters were also quite memorable in different ways. One of the highlights being Crispin and Basilio, Alexandra’s twin mystical bodyguards known as ‘The Kambal’ at times they stole the show, often accompanying Alexandra by providing ass-kicking support while giving the audience occasional comedic moments with their immature dude-bro humor. You almost forget the two are supernaturally enhanced humans because at times, their weirdly expressive masks reminded me of the Stand’s from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure only with guns. Another highlight (who is especially the focus of episode 4) is Captain Guerrero, who assists Alexandra in her sleuthing and vice versa, who turned out to be another well-written and very likable character even if he and Trese’s character interactions felt similar to Batman and Commissioner Gordon’s working-relationship.

In terms of animation quality, and presentation It delivers in spades even if most of it is shot in the dark often with excessive shadowing around characters and sometimes scenery. They do have scenes that take place in daylight, but mostly for scenery shots of Manila to give a sense of atmosphere to the country and culture it’s respectably portraying. The Intro music is very atmospheric, while the credits theme called “Paag” feels calm & soothing even when the episodes often end in cliffhangers. As for the character designs, they felt less like an Anime and more like the 1997 HBO Spawn Animated series which to me is a good thing as that show was also bloody and unapologetically adult with its themes and storytelling. And the quality shows that they cared enough to make something the creators and by extension, the Filipino culture can be proud of. Reportedly, many of these storylines within this season were adapted from the first three volumes of the comics. Originally intended to be standalone by the source material’s creators, but written in such a way, that it “connects the three volumes into one single arc”.

Courtesy: Netflix

With each of the six episodes being 22-30 minutes long, They often come across as your by the numbers crime procedural drama with a “Badguy of the week” structure and often delves into murder mysteries, an underground crime ring investigation, police brutality, and even an episode devoted to an underground street-racing story with a supernatural twist. Most of the pre-intro scenes are flashbacks shot in black & white but at least they surprisingly flesh out specific characters while leading up to a big twist that keeps you guessing until episode’s 5 and 6 that’s incredibly out of left field, with a grand finale and a post-credits scene that raises more questions than answers.

Overall, I highly recommend this series if only for the unraveling mystery, shocking twists, and a new level of respect it gave me to another culture I’m not completely familiar with. Lately, The Philippines have also been dipping their toes into animation themselves by ambitiously wanting to tell their own stories instead of always being outsourced by other companies. And judging from what I’ve read, and seen in combination with another recent work that a different Filipino Animation Team had done called “Hayop-Ka!”, I fully support this and look forward to Season 2 if it ever happens in the future.