Opening the floodgates

Of course, who won’t be excited for a Filipino comic book to be adapted into an anime-style series coming from the world’s largest streaming service?

Filipinos (and other foreign fans) went tizzy when the first trailer for the hotly-anticipated Netflix original anime series Trese was revealed, and in different languages to boot.

But of course, people were interested in how will it be done in both Filipino and English versions, more so when it was revealed earlier that ABS-CBN actress Liza Soberano and Hollywood star Shay Mitchell will be voicing both the Filipino and English language audio versions of the series. 

When the trailer was launched, first in Filipino then later in English, people couldn’t help but compare the two language versions, especially when the comparison was brought by the quality of the Filipino and English versions. And people got even MORE excited when they learned about the other cast members for the English dub, with voices such as Manny Jacinto, Eric Bauza, Dante Basco, Nicole Scherzinger, Jon-Jon Briones and Lou Diamond Philips headlining the cast. 

The English voice was so star-studded that IT WAS THE FIRST TO BE GIVEN THE HEADLINE TREATMENT in almost major daily in the country, including our own newspapers and online sites. 

But for the Filipino audio dub? nope, only Soberano was highlighted, and aside from it, no more mention of the other cast members, like Apollo Abraham, Rene Tandoc, Caloy Caling, Nica Rojo, Jo-Anne Chua, Joam Santiago, Christian Velarde, Steven Bontogon and our esteemed voice actors who have lent their voices and their effort to make this one of those rare series from Netflix that featured an esteemed cast of Filipino voice actors.  

Not once they were given recognition, only a few items or paragraphs later they receive a mention in any article and that’s it. Nobody gave a damn about them. 

For other Filipinos, they thought that “ah, we think the English version is already enough, we won’t watch the Filipino one”, and “Eh, di naman sila sikat (they are not that famous), so I’d better watch the English one, or better yet, I’ll watch the Japanese one with English subs”. 

Listen, I know some people have reservations about the casting of Liza Soberano in the Filipino dub, as well as making the dub not really that conversational enough to make it more “modern”, and these are legitimate concerns, but can’t we just stop this overt discrimination against Filipino voice acting and just make this work for starters? 

I mean, it is VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY RARE for Netflix to recognize Filipino voice actors and include them in a project that is as big as Trese. We all know that most of the dubbed anime shows on the streamer are in either English or other language aside from Japanese, and it is also rare for the streamer to have Filipino subs on any of the anime shows in the streamer as well. 

I had been clamoring for a long time for international streaming services to do Filipino language options in some of their programs, especially Anime shows, not because we lack the understanding in English, but because I think putting shows in Filipino will allow more people to subscribe to the streaming services and watch legitimate content on their mobile phones, tablets, or computers. This is the corollary to what I had been pushing, on the other hand, for streamers such as iWantTFC to put their Filipino-dubbed anime library into the service as well. 

Face it, Filipinos LOVE anime that is dubbed in their local language. It is the reason why they wake up in the morning and watch anime on Free-to-air television. It is why HERO TV was loved by every single anime fan in the country and everybody was saddened when ABS-CBN pulled the plug on the channel a good two years before the FTA service was also shut down due to an expired broadcast license. It is also the reason why TV5 became the go-to network of anime aficionados until it was controlled by the Pangilinan group in 2010. 

(Special note: My next post has something to do with Hero TV if it survived 2018, as well as beyond the ABS-CBN shutdown, watch out for it,) 

In short, there is a HUGE UNTAPPED MARKET for anime fans who crave to watching the latest anime in Filipino, and only a large streamer like Netflix can harness that potential.

On the other hand, Trese’s Filipino dub will open the gates for more Filipino-dubbed series from the streamer. If for any instance Netflix sees the metrics of those who watched the Filipino dub as opposed to the English dub in the Philippines (they have that kind of metric for sure), it will not only ensure a second season for the series, but it will also allow the streamer to tap Filipino voice talents and use them to dub more Netflix original anime series, as well as their acquired anime titles. 

in toto, Trese will not only open a gateway for Filipino creators such as Budjette Tan and KaJo Baldisimo to showcase their works to a much larger audience, It will also allow our talented Filipino voice actors, directors, writers, and translators to be recognized by a global streaming service and, hopefully, allow their work to be featured in MORE Netflix titles. 

And if it does happen, Netflix alone will corner most of the streaming market in the country, because it will make more Filipinos access content that they normally watch in English or through subtitling. It will even make their subscription more worthwhile as well. 

So yes, I hope you do support Trese, and its Filipino dub once it bows on the streamer on Independence day. I myself will subscribe to the streamer and binge it in one sitting. I know you have reservations on the dub, but for me, having a good Filipino dub of a Netflix Original Anime series is a far better one than me poring over subtitles while watching anime shows (and that’s coming from me who do watch anime on subs). 

And yes, Trese’s Filipino dub will open the floodgates for more work for our dubbers, and more chances of watching your favorite anime series in Filipino. 

POSTSCRIPT: Will make a review of Trese soon, watch out for it! 

/FSD