Encantadia 2016-2017: The Final Verdict (Part 2)
Part 1 here: http://iris-sistibly.tumblr.com/post/160857700329/encantadia-2016-2017-the-final-verdict-part-1
Characters and Cast Members
These are the characters and cast members who has the best development/biggest improvements in terms of narrative, performance and characterization:
1. Alena (Gabbi Garcia)- her character definitely has the biggest development throughout the entire series. Her development was probably the slowest I must say yet it was so, so worth the wait! I was disappointed at how bad her characterization was in the first book (plus Gabbiās pabebe acting that time), but like I mentioned earlier, Book one was all about perfect timing. By the time Alena chose to let go I was like, āFINALLY!ā at laaast! Encantadia did not stick to the norms of the first love never dies rule of the Filipino romance genre. Her character continued to shine for the rest of the series and I couldnāt be more proud especially at Gabbi who was my least favorite cast member of the first book. Compared to the rest of the cast, Gabbiās performance isnāt up there, but for a lesser experienced actress like her, it was more than enough to impress me, I have seen her evolve from a pabebe actress to a more mature, serious performer. One of the few things I would rave about the showās 10-month run is Alena being crowned as queen of Lireo. Her original counterpartās narrative focused on romance but, I love how they changed Alenaās story in the most drastic yet exciting way possible and they turned her into a strong, independent, confidently beautiful woman with a heart. She is the perfect queen for Lireo, very much like Mine-a I must say. And yes, surprise surprise, despite of me being an Amihan fanatic, Alena is my top pick in this category.
2. Amihan (Kylie Padilla)- if you have been following the 4Rās series I have mentioned so many times before how disappointed I was at Kylie for literally bringing my favorite sangāgre down. But just like Alena, Kylieās Amihan had her own time to shine. And ever since the Amihanās fall arc, Kylie has been nailing her character scene after scene after scene. Never in my whole fan girl existence did I imagine that she would nail a character such as Amihan, a mother, a queen, a warrior, a woman. She and Gabbi were clearly the dark horses of the show. What I really love about Amihanās narrative and Kylieās portrayal was that, they made me look deeper into Amihan not just as a character but as a woman in general which is why I appreciated Amihan more than ever now. I guess my only disappointment is Kylie leaving the show because of her pregnancy but still, until her last scene, Kylie has proven that even though she can no longer be a part of the show anymore, she is and will always be Amihan 2016.
3. Ybarro/Ybrahim (Ruru Madrid)- when I first saw him, my first impression was: āhmā¦heās cute, but heās too young to play the character.ā BUT, I ate every word I said. For me, Ruru and his character has one of the most beautiful transition from being Ybarro, a childish mandirigma to Ybrahim, Rehav and eventually Rama of Sapiro. I must say, his team up with Kylie really helped him become more mature and serious actor (same goes for Kylie). His closeness with Mikee helped him nail his role as a father which again, I never thought heād nail. And I became more drawn to his character and appreciate Ruru as an actor for being consistently excellent with his performance despite of his ridiculous character narrative in book 2. Sad that his story did not focus more on him being a King of Sapiro and what will he do to rebuild his kingdom, he was ripped into pieces when his daughter died but you know, there was no clear development on how the pain of losing his loved ones turned him into a wiser and stronger persona like Alena. He became too dependent in Lireo and he babied Lira way too much and while I understand that she is his everything, I never saw his development from being an overly protective dad to a more understanding typeāunderstanding enough to realize that Lira is no longer a little girl (pff! As if Lira matured š), I wish they added some sort of conflict between father and daughter that will pave way to the maturity of both characters. Anyhoo, this guy deserves an award, this guy deserves more projects, this guy deserves to be praised. He maybe young, but when I look at Ruru, I always forget that heās only 19 years old, I see Ybrahim, King of Sapiro, Lira and Kahlilās dad, and Amihanās beloved. For that, I already consider him in line with the countryās elite actors like John Lloyd Cruz, Dingdong Dantes, Piolo Pascual and so much more.
Rating: 10 out of 10šs
Characters who has the most complex personality and interesting narrative.
Cast Members who were consistently excellent in terms of performance.
1. Pirena (Glaiza de Castro)- itās no surprise that Glaiza is my top pick in this category, from the moment I saw that promotional photo on the internet, I knew Glaiza was the perfect choice for Pirena. From her very first appearance up to the finale, she was consistent, and thatās extremely important for me when I am rooting for a character and an actress. She nailed every side of Pirena, every aspect of her character. Pirena is one of the most complex character and very difficult to portray, but Glaiza was just so freakinā effortless, I saw her passion for acting and Pirenaās fiery character beautifully synced in one persona, she was so snappy at shifting from one emotion to another, and for that, kudos to Glaiza for being one of the first few actors to give justice to such an iconic character like Pirena. Narrative-wise, there is a little bit rant about the part of her story with Azulan but I donāt really mind that much because I know that the second book is rushed and AzPirenās relationship didnāt have the chance to blossom and develop like YbraMihan, but still Glaiza and Marx nailed their team up.
2. Hagorn (John Arcilla)- it was a close fight between him and Glaiza but what made him second is not his performance but his story. Iām so bummed that his character was never redeemed in this version in contrast to his original counterpart, his narrative was so good in the first book but it deteriorated at the second half of the showās long run. There wasnāt even a closure between him, Pirena and Lila Sari for goodnessā sake! John Arcilla is no doubt a good actor, itās like every word of compliment I use to describe him is an understatement, heās beyond excellent and he never failed to wow me every single time he appears on TV.
3. Mira (Kate Valdez)- now this girl is definitely one of the biggest surprise in this show, this Hathorian heiress sure inherited her skills from mommy Piry and grandpa Haggy. Opposite to the original Mira, I am glad that her character played a role during the final war and contributed a lot to the development of the story especially in book 1, although I wish her role was more pivotal in the second book. I still hate the fact that she and Lira didnāt have their moment to shine and will now be forever remembered as Pirenaās baby (just like Lira), there was no transition from being a diwani to a sangāgre level kind of diwata which I am disappointed since they promised character developments for the super twins, and she never had the chance to meet her bio-dad. Stillāgreat job bes!
4. Danaya (Sanya Lopez)- Sanya! How to be you po? Another newbie has proven that she can keep up with the likes of Glaiza and John my ghad! I am glad that the writers made us see Danyās softer and vulnerable side, I love Sanyaās Danaya, ang chaka nga lang that they did not elaborate the DanQuil love story more, although I am happy that they made us see her struggles as queen, I would have appreciated it more if there was this balance between Danayaās narrative as Hara and her narrative as a woman. In this version, it was more on Hara Danaya.
5. Cassiopeia (Solenn Heussaff)- She was the perfect choice for the character, I love how Solenn really made it seem like En-Chan is her mother tongue, and itās really hard to act without talking, for me she has the most difficult role, being the only one who doesnāt talk by mouth most of the time, but I am very proud of Solenn for giving justice to Cassiopeia. BTW, I ship CassRe š
6. Gurna (Vaness Del Moral)- One of the most effective villains in the show! I have to say, Vaness will forever be remembered by her acting prowess, I hope she will be given more projects in the future. GMA 7 DO NOT WASTE THIS PRECIOUS GEM! She deserves to be recognized as one of the networkās A-list actresses.
7. Agane (Rochelle Pangilinan)- Ah, another rave-worthy actress! I remember my grade school self watching her dancing with the Sex Bomb girls in my favorite EB segment Laban o Bawi. Look at her now, still shining in her own way, I love how Aganeās not all baddie and also has her own story to tell which was something new. Hands down to Rochelle for being so freakinā GOOD, her performance as Agane is EVERYTHING.
8. Ether (Janice Hung)- the queen of wushu, I personally donāt like her voice and I would have liked it if she just used her own voice and maybe add some sort of special effects on it to make her sound like a goddess bitch, but wow, just wow. Her martial arts skills is on fire, her portrayal of the character is so good, sheās very effective as a villain, and I hope to see more of her.
Rating: 10 out of 10 šs
Characters with badly written narratives yet were āsavedā by the actors with their impressive performances.
1. Lira (Mikee Quintos)- Disappointed that they did not tell her story in such a way that she will be remembered as Encantadiaās hero/savior, itās a total bummer how she was reduced from being a highly respected princess to being the captain of the YA and DanQuil ship, now donāt get me wrong, I ship both YA and DQ, itās just that I believe Lira can give so much more if they just gave her and Mira a chance. And Mikee, kudos to this girl for saving Liraās character.
2. Avria (Eula Valdes)- Despite of me knowing the story of Avria (based on the original Etheria), I would have appreciated it if they wrote her character the way they wrote Hagornās. She was an all out baddie but they never narrated why, remember, a baddie will never be a baddie if they didnāt have some shitty past right? They canāt be just some psycho who wants a diwata overkill for no reason, heck even murderers have their own dark past that triggered them to do such thing.
3. Andora (Rochelle Pangilinan)- Ugh, Rochelle what will Andora do without you? They just turned her into a pawn aka Mashna when she is a Heran, HERAN! Sheās supposed to play a pivotal role in this book butā¦sigh.
4. Emre (Zoren Legaspi)- I just feel so bad that Zoren had to work extra hard to make Emre a loveable character when clearly heās not, his story just had too many plot holes that I just canāt appreciate it. And although itās interesting to see a powerless Emre, it was such a failure for me.
5. Aquil (Rocco Nacino)- Man! Mas gusto ko pa āyung na tegi nalang si Aquil, itās another bummer that Rocco didnāt really have the chance to contribute more to the storyās progress despite the fact that he is considered as one of the major characters in the story, he was downgraded into a love sick guy whoās all about Danaya. Dude, what about patriotism? Camaraderie? That is so unlikely of Aquil.
6. Asval (Neil Ryan Sese)- Such a waste character, there was nothing special about him, he is the most stereotype among all the villains. At least the original Asval had the chance to redeem himself in the final war unlike this shit. Thank God Neil Ryan played the character, otherwise, Asval would have been one of my biggest disappointments in the show.
Underrated characters and actors yet so deserving to be recognized
1. Muros (Carlo Gonzales)- Come on! The dude deserves to be recognized and he deserves to be happy!
2. Hitano (Pancho Magno)- I said this once and Iāll say it again, I love Hitano. Heās the kind of guy who will do anything for his beloved and will remain faithful to you until the end, too bad Alena and Lila Sari failed to see how incredible this guy is. Well maybe heās just too good for them.
3. Muyak (Klea Pineda)- I am so annoyed that she died just like that, but I think Klea did a really good job at playing Muyak, her story was insipiring, too bad they focused on āplot twistsā way too much that there was no character build up for her.
4. Manik (Joross Gamboa)- One of the most promising villains ever! If the Ybriana romance worked, I would have rooted for a duel between Ybrahim and Manik.
5. Wantuk (Buboy Villar)- My happy pill, never failed to make me laugh despite of him being a recurring character instead of being Ybrahimās confidante and adviser.
Characters with the worst narrative and cast members with the face-palming performances.
1. Ariana (Arra San Agustin)- WORST NARRATIVE. WORST PERFORMANCE. She will always be my biggest disappointment and I will forever hate the team for choosing her to play the character. But in all fairness naman, she did pretty well in the finale, I wish she showed more of that in the previous episodes, maybe I wonāt be hating on her so much, and people would have appreciated her efforts to continue Amihanās story. It was because of her that the YA love story fucked up big time.
2. Pao Pao (Phytos Ramirez)- Narrative wise, come on, Pao was Amihanās protĆ©gĆ© and he was turned into a completely useless kid? Dude!
3. Deshna (Inah de Belen)- Her story would have been rave worthy, sigh, why the hell did yāall focused on the sarkosi plot?!
4. Juvila (Jinri Park)- I canāt take her seriously as a villain, she clearly struggles at speaking Tagalog and En-Chan that she always sounded like sheās reading the script. Am I the only one who thinks the baddies all have one emotion and thatās hatred? No variety or play of emotions, no story that would make people understand why they act the way the do, writers seriously!
5. Odessa (Sheree)- āWho the hell is she again?ā ļ thatās how unmemorable she is
6. Haliyah (Valeen Montenegro)- most useless character ever.
7. Memfes (Lance Serrano)- ARC FILLERRRRRRR!
Runner-up for Rasberry Awardee: Kahlil (Avery Paraiso)- was expecting so much from him but like Lira and Mira he wasn't never given a chance (in Book 2)
Rating: Do I even have to rate this? Okay fine, 4 out of 10šs
