I haven’t read the komiks created by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, but I’ve been hearing great reviews from my friends and colleagues about Trese. Since the news that Trese will be having an animated series on Netflix, I’ll be surprising myself on what the series has to offer for me.
So last night I watched the first episode of Trese on Netflix! totally worth the wait after netflix released the trailer, the soundtrack and the billboards from all over the metro, and i’d say that we all use the hashtag #PinoyPride on everything on the original animated series from Netflix, and here’s why:

Badass animation! almost close to the much-favored anime series and the scenarios are close to home. action scenes are good too, especially if you are also into horror scenes (but not too gore). poverty scenes and urban scenarios are really close to what is really happening in the metro so it’s also a surprise to see this scenes in the series.
Interesting storyline that got me hooked. I haven’t read ANY of books from Trese so what makes me hooked? if you’re particularly new to the series (like me) you’ll surely be interested on the local folklore and the supernatural that you can only see (and heard) from your grandparents. I also love how they were incorporated in the modern-day scenario, and to inject them in the story. (with that being said, I need to get the complete set of Trese!)
Tagalog dubbing – another thing that took me by surprise is the use of tagalog – it’s the conversational tagalog that we are all used to that is not at all cringey to listen to. the voice actors did pretty well on Trese, IMHO they are all promising for me…
BUT… it’s interesting to watch Trese on other languages. you might like it more to watch the series and listen to their voices in english and Japanese, especially if you’re accustomed to watching cartoons and animes (like me), granted that listening to both the US/Jap take on Trese are more expressive than from our local VAs, but this I think can be improved on later chapters and to the next season.
Character Designs were at par, especially to the characters from the underworld like nuno, the white lady and the monsters from the different world. I expect more from the next series of episodes (will watch this weekend) and on season 2 (manifesting!)
the series OSTs are ok too. love the fact that they also chose Up Dharma Down/UDD’s song Paagi (excuse me/tabi tabi po) as the ending song, it blends well with the series’ aesthetics and the supernatural vibes as well.
Is there anything in the series that ok lang/so-so/meh? there are some parts in the animated series that I think is a bit slow-paced but I think this can be improved, and as I said earlier, some parts of the voice acting needs to be more expressive, especially in the action scenes. Our lovely Liza Soberano’s voice acting is a bit cold but I think she’s manifesting Alexandra Trese’s persona in the series, (?) but this can be improved for later episodes and for the next season right?
so is it worth the hype? definitely! it’s also an effective way to showcase our local talents from the comic creators to the animation to voice acting to OSTs. Thanks for Netflix for giving them the platform for making this amazing comic book series an animated series that is really worth watching.
ok will watch the rest of the episodes this weekend, don’t forget to watch Trese on Netflix!