CEBU, Philippines — After two years of conceptualization and production, the Philippines finally has an anime series to call its own via “Barangay 143,” which debuted yesterday, 10 a.m. over GMA Network.
Presented by Filipino firm Synergy88, Japan’s TV Asahi, and August Media Holdings from Singapore, “Barangay 143” is designed and produced in Manila with the hand of talented crew from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and the USA.
A feel-good coming-of-age story, “Barangay 143” features a voice cast from the Kapuso stable such as Migo Adecer, Julie Anne San Jose, Ruru Madrid, Kelley Day, with veteran actors Cherie Gil, Alice Dixson, John Arcilla and Edu Manzano giving life to the colorful characters who take the expression “ball is life” a lot more seriously.
Set in Tondo, Manila, the series centers on Bren (Migo), a Korean basketball player whose search for his father brings him to the Philippines. He soon learns about the country and ends up playing for the local basketball team, finding a family in a band of misfits aiming to bring glory to their hometown.
In a press conference Friday at Pen Café and Bistro, Migo, Julie Anne, Ruru, Kelley and Arran talked about their experience voicing the characters.
Migo shared of his role: “He’s a star player sa Korean international basketball team but after a while, there are sudden changes in his life and it forces him to go to the Philippines to find himself and do some soul searching. He goes through different emotions once he’s here and joins Team Pusakal.”
Migo, born in Bacolod but bred in Sydney, Australia, related to his how Bren slowly opens himself to the Philippines.
“Englisero talaga ako before. It’s very true to life. Kapag may bulol na scenes, it’s actually just me trying to speak Tagalog,” the 18-year-old Fil-Aussie said. “Very goal oriented siya [Bren]. Strong minded, and his willpower brings him through anything even though all odds are against him. Just as any main character in any anime, always in his hardest times, it’s his pure will him that brings him to victory.”
Kelley portrays Jinri, a Korean who comes to the Philippines to work things out with ex-boyfriend Bren. The model-actress enjoyed recording although it took a lot to make sure that she and Migo delivered their Korean dialogue well.
“I had to say the formal way of saying good luck,” the Fil-Brit beauty said. “It was really hard. We called Koreans, trying to ask how and they had different ways saying it.”
Julie Anne – who voices Victoria “Vicky” Sebastian, the boyish and soft-hearted daughter of Coach B (John Arcilla), manager of Team Pusakal –said that they tried to dub naturally as much as possible instead of doing different voices.
“We’re very thankful dahil may vocal coaches, directors, and writers din kami na nag-guide sa amin,” the singer-actress said. “Hindi lang po boses yung kailangan i-exaggerate. Kailangan din ng buong katawan kasi yung scenes namin most of the time sa basketball court so maraming movements, takbo, and reactions para mas effective yung delivery namin sa bawat eksena.”
Ruru is Joaquin “Wax” Rivera, a basketball player from the Blue Valley Lions from the richer part of town.
“Nae-excite po kami dahil kakaiba po yung pinagdaanan namin na hirap,” Ruru quipped. “Medyo tricky. Halos walang pinagkaiba sa pag-arte sa TV but this time hindi makikita ng audience yung reaction namin. Bilang artista, minsan hindi kailangan ng dialogue para ipa-feel sa tao kung ano ang dapat mong maramdaman. So this time kabaliktaran. Kailangan yung boses mo or the way mo siya i-deliver yung makakapag-feel sa kanila kung ano ang dapat ma-feel sa eskena,” explained Ruru.
It helped that the voice actors are anime lovers themselves. Ruru and Julie grew up following the anime carried by GMA. They were fans of “Dragon Ball,” “Ghost Fighter,” “Doraemon” and “Slam Dunk.” Migo has finished “Bleach” and “Naruto” and keeps tabs on “One Piece” and “High School of the Dead.” Kelley, meanwhile, enjoys “Death Note.”
For the cast, “Barangay 143” leaves a lot of lessons: the values of sportsmanship and team work, for instance.
“Everytime nanonood tayo ng anime, ang setting is yung bansa kung saan ginagawa,” said Ruru. “This time, makikita natin ang setting sa Tondo, which is ang feeling ko tayong mga Pinoy matagal ng pinapangarap mapanood sa anime yung mga lugar sa Pilipinas. Mangyayari siya ngayon. And of course sa mga mahilig sa basketball. Tumatakbo siya sa basketball pero hindi lang doon. Yung basketball pwede makompara sa mga nangyayari sa buhay natin.”
Julie Anne muses that the show is not only proof of Filipino talent, it also encourages viewers to pursue their dreams no matter what.
A story of love and family set against the action-packed world of street basketball, “Barangay 143,” which is set to become a web comic, is written by Quezon City-based ASI Studios – a joint venture by Synergy88 and August Media Holdings. While Japan’s TV Asahi is responsible for direction and characters, the show was initially produced in Tagalog, and will also feature original music from Filipino singers and musicians.
“Barangay 143” also has a “360 degree concept,” with producers seeing potential for eventual global release. Apart from the TV series, it also has a web show hosted by Arran Sese on Facebook and YouTube.
The show likewise has its own mobile application, a game that was released prior to the anime and contains a prequel touching on Wax’s backstory which takes place four years before the current storyline. Viewers can take part in challenges and win prizes through the web show.