Pashnea! | November 2016



For those not familiar with Philippine Teleseryes (TV Series), I just uttered an Enchan swear word, which means "Animal!". This is what (mostly) adult diwata and encantados (fairies) say when things don't go their way. In Filipino, this translates to "Hayop/Hayop ka!" (You're an animal) which is mostly an expression that means you're not acting like a human or an encantado. The teleserye that I'm talking about is Encantadia, the most ambitious telefantasya (a genre of TV series that deals with fantasy worlds) to date. It was so successful that it had two sequels and a requel. It also has a movie crossover. I'll just link the Encantadia Wikipedia page  if you're interested -- I can go on and on about this an be as biased as I can be.

I am saying this because, Pashnea! Adnes nesa aduwa iva? (Animal! What is the meaning of this?!) The requel (retelling sequel) is totally diverging from the original story line! I have been warned this will happen, but goodness gracious I never expected this much deviation! So far I am enjoying all the new twists and turns, but damn, sometimes my canon heart breaks with every "canon mistake" they make. You see, I grew up watching Encantadia. This is probably the Filipino equivalent of Harry Potter for me. I remember watching it when I was in Grade 2 or 3, and fighting with my parents because I am not allowed to watch it since it was past my bedtime (I eventually won, and my bedtime was moved after the time slot. That was how much I fought for it). I remember role-playing with my friends and fiercely defending it to whoever says anything negative about it. I even re-watched the original series in less than week when I got hospitalized. I'm currently downloading all the series and plan to have a marathon, because, Encantadia.

Halfway through 2016, GMA announced that there will be a remake. I was ecstatic -- I was grinning and telling it to all my friends, even contacting old friends and sharing the news -- Encantadia is back! Ivo live Encantadia! (Long live Encantadia!). The new Sangg'res (Royalty) were announced, along with the rest of the characters -- I was not too pleased with the cast, but they have all proven themselves worthy of their positions.

Encantadia 2016 started out smoothly -- the narration and explanation greatly improved and the special effects definitely upgraded. I did have a few issues with the Diwani (little Sangg're) cast, they didn't have the "Sanggre look" unlike the original Diwani cast, but upon checking their actor profiles and seeing them act, they got my approval (not posting the kids' photos here, please don't be like me and judge by appearance. Try watching them instead). They were indeed cast for a reason. The rest of the episodes kind of felt rushed, but still very well explained and fleshed out. My canon heart was pretty pleased with what was happening -- they were following the original story line and then introducing more details and insights to the back stories and history of the fantasy world. There were slight deviations, but nothing my canon heart couldn't handle.

However, after Pirena's capture of Lireo, I felt like I was the one dethroned of being a fan. So much new twists and turns and new characters and holy shit I didn't even know what would happen next. It still followed the original timeline, but very loosely. My canon heart is so broken I don't know if it can still survive the next episodes. Or maybe I'll just keep it in it's velvet box and grow a new canon heart for Encantadia 2016. It's safe to say that it's a whole new world.

I have so much more to say regarding the whole series, but I feel like I'd like to make a whole new post about it. Maybe a reaction post from the first episode, or for every week, or a general review of the series. I don't really know, but I'll have to work on it the soonest possible time. I'm already four months and 90 episodes behind.

On the plus side, this will be a very busy blog from now on. :D

Disclaimer: All photos grabbed from the official Encantadia Instagram page (@gmaencantadia).

P.S. I definitely feel like I outdid myself on this blog post. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

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