Barangay 143

[judasmartel]

An anime collaboration between TV Asahi and Philippine developer Synergy88.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...ppines/.106898

Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei reported on Sunday that Japanese television network TV Asahi is producing a new anime titled Barangay 143, developed specifically to target the Philippines. TV Asahi is collaborating with Philippine animation and game developer Synergy88. The anime will air in 2017, although the report didn't specifically state that the series will air in the Philippines.

TV Asahi is handling character design and direction on the Japanese side, while Synergy88 is writing the scripts and handling production. Barangay 143 will tell the story of basketball players in Manila ("barangay" is an administrative unit of a town or city, usually denoting a clustered community).

The report mentioned that Barangay 143 may be exported later to other Southeast Asian markets. Nikkei further indicated that the anime has a "prime-time" schedule, didn't reveal which television network will air the anime.

As we all know, basketball is the #1 sport in the Philippines, so popular it's pretty much a religion there. If what I am thinking is right, Barangay 143 tries to depict the realities of Philippine amateur basketball, how it starts and develops from street ball.

If you have watched the Philippines in international basketball, especially in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, you could see that the Filipino brand of basketball has some origins from streetball, as some of the local players in the literally started out from the streets, first gaining fame through street ball scrimmages, then through local and inter-school tournaments.

As such, a lot of international teams and fans, especially those who never saw the Philippines play FIBA ball before, are intrigued at the rather unorthodox way Filipino ballers play ball. You have all 5 guys, including the big guy, bringing up the ball on the court at various points in the game, or you have the little guy getting rebounds and faking under the rim over opponents a foot taller than him.

The guys are NOT Bishounen for a change, seeing a lot of Bishounen and traps in anime are getting old for me, but the cover is suspect. It seems to me they are just creating a Filipino version of Kuroko no Basket or something (the female coach/manager in the cover is an obvious give away).

The heights might look awkward but in real life the average Filipino guy (163cm / 5'4") is much smaller than the average Japanese guy (172cm / 5'8"), so they fit given the setting. But what we Filipinos lack in height, we make up for with skill, physicality, and swagger.

Now I am not expecting this to be the next Slam Dunk or Kuroko no Basket or anything, but as a Filipino, I hope this Filipino-Japanese collaboration could usher in a new age of animation in the Philippines and revive the dying voice acting industry in the country.

I have seen several Filipino characters in anime and visual novels as of now, but never an entire anime set in the Philippines.

- Maria Taro Sekiutsu from Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei
- Eileen, Hei's neighbor from Darker than Black
- Shirley, assistant of Kiritsugu's father from Fate Zero
- MC of the visual novel Sampaguita and his love interest
- Anghel the Luzon Bleeding Heart from Hatoful Boyfriend)

[MeoTwister5]

Filipino voice acting isn't exactly up to par than most expectations, be it in English or Tagalog.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Filipino voice acting isn't exactly up to par than most expectations, be it in English or Tagalog.

The talent is there, just not enough support from everyone. And plus, voice directors and script writers seem to not understand the anime medium and still dismiss it as kiddie stuff, even when there are anime that are clearly not for kids. The result is voice acting that sounds awkward, more so if you have been so used to Japanese dubs.

If anything, the only gripe I have about Japanese dubs is that people tend to talk too fast (but given that the Japanese language does sound like they're talking too fast at times...) and the women are too high-pitched to be taken seriously.

It's no wonder when people watch Tagalog dubs, the script is off, people talk too slowly, and even 13-year-old girls sound like they are 30.

[Marcus H.]

That's if they are watching titles voiced by those other than the ones led by the real pros. The voice actors working for HERO TV are the big guns, working for a lot of stuff, from telenovelas to tokusatsu and anime to commercials to actual acting.

Anyway, will keep my expectations low on this one.

[LoweGear]

Huh... when I first saw the title I was thinking "random word pulling by anime", then I saw what it was about and realized it really was going to involve the Philippines in it. Getting basketball as the main subject matter is a very obvious decision to draw in people to it, and at least they understand what'll catch people's attention here - I mean, Slam Dunk is still one of the most beloved anime here.

Though yeah, unless the voice actors they get truly bring their A-game I have low hopes on the voice acting.

[Marcus H.]

^ It's a Filipino word, but I won't blame the anyone if they find it really weird.

Bara-n-gay.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

^ It's a Filipino word, but I won't blame the anyone if they find it really weird.

Bara-n-gay.

Nice word play there, mate.

On a serious note, for people here not familiar with Filipino words, the word "barangay" (NOT the word play above) is basically a clustered community, much like a neighborhood. It came from the word for an ancient ship which can hold 60-90 people in it, back when the Philippine Islands were composed of several kingdoms separate from each other.

[MeoTwister5]

That would actually be Balanghay or something. I forget.

I assume it will actually go for authenticity with people playing in the street wearing tsinelas/slippers? Might as well go all the way.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

That would actually be Balanghay or something. I forget.

I assume it will actually go for authenticity with people playing in the street wearing tsinelas/slippers? Might as well go all the way.

Balanghay would be the ship, whereas Balangay or Barangay would be the tribal kingdom.

Bonus points if they play shirtless and barefooted.

[belatkuro]

What would be the language of this then? Filipino or Japanese? Since this will be in the Philippines, I assume it'll be Tagalog dubbed. But the quality of the dubs that I sometimes see nowadays isn't as good as before. The 90's were the glory days of the anime dubbing with Slam Dunk and Yu Yu Hakusho for example, though maybe I was just young back then and thought they were already good. So I'm with the others in keeping a low expectation in the voice acting. I have medium expectations on the other aspects like the story and the character design. Mostly because having an anime setting on the Philippines and in collaboration with a developer from there is amusing me so much.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by belatkuro

What would be the language of this then? Filipino or Japanese? Since this will be in the Philippines, I assume it'll be Tagalog dubbed. But the quality of the dubs that I sometimes see nowadays isn't as good as before. The 90's were the glory days of the anime dubbing with Slam Dunk and Yu Yu Hakusho for example, though maybe I was just young back then and thought they were already good. So I'm with the others in keeping a low expectation in the voice acting. I have medium expectations on the other aspects like the story and the character design. Mostly because having an anime setting on the Philippines and in collaboration with a developer from there is amusing me so much.

I am kind of hoping for either Japanese or mixed (just not in full Tagalog, because we all know the Filipino dub scene kind of sucks), but whatever language may be used, I am hoping for the best, but it's not very likely that the dubbing would be very good at this point.

Who knows? This show could actually usher in a new era of Philippine animation and save the dying voice acting industry in the country.

[jasper222]

So what, is this anime set in Manila only?

And I don't like how the title basically means Barangay LOVE.

Also, from left to right:

Sol Mercado, Raymond Almazan, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Jared Dillinger, Apple David, Terrence Romeo, don't know a long haired glasses dude in the PBA, Beau Belga, Cyrus Baguio.

Props to whoever recognizes the names lol.

[Marcus H.]

The 90's were the glory days of the anime dubbing with Slam Dunk and Yu Yu Hakusho for example, though maybe I was just young back then and thought they were already good.

The guys who are behind the voices in both Slam Dunk and Yu Yu Hakusho (the local dub, just to clarify) are still active either as voice talents for other shows or mentors for younger recruits.

And I don't like how the title basically means Barangay LOVE.

It's a wordplay of sorts. 143 does mean "I love you", but it can also mean the love of the barangay (e.g., the community) or a reference to how some barangays in the city of Manila have numerical designations.

[jasper222]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

It's a wordplay of sorts. 143 does mean "I love you", but it can also mean the love of the barangay (e.g., the community) or a reference to how some barangays in the city of Manila have numerical designations.

Or it could mean another generic love triangle

No pinoy show is complete without it

[MeoTwister5]

Or Yaoi bait. Not like in this country despite the... growing fandom.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Or Yaoi bait. Not like in this country despite the... growing fandom.

Or bara bait considering the character designs.

[LoweGear]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

^ It's a Filipino word, but I won't blame the anyone if they find it really weird.

Bara-n-gay.

I was more thinking along the lines of them taking any random word from any culture they can find, in this case the Philippines, and applying that as an anime title, much like how anime sometimes uses random German or English. Glad to see that isn't the case.

[jasper222]

It's being worked on for 9 months with Japanese and Filipino animators working together.
It will not only focus on basketball, but the life and problems outside of it in the streets of Manila.

So it's what I feared. Manila-centric and has tropes that every Pinoy will easily recognize...and they're gunning for world recognition?

Btw the blonde guy is Japeth Aguilar it seems.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by jasper222

It's being worked on for 9 months with Japanese and Filipino animators working together.
It will not only focus on basketball, but the life and problems outside of it in the streets of Manila.

So it's what I feared. Manila-centric and has tropes that every Pinoy will easily recognize...and they're gunning for world recognition?

Btw the blonde guy is Japeth Aguilar it seems.

Well, most Philippine shows are Manila-centric. Nothing new there. As for the tropes, well, I'll just say give the show a try first before judging it as cliche or something. Keep in mind that it will also be shown in Japan, so it might give a bit of fresh air to Japanese audiences, as they also have pet peeve tropes of their own.

Poverty porn has been winning a lot of international film festivals, so I don't see anything bad about that asides the fact that it's getting old to Filipino audiences.

I can understand if people just want the creative minds of Philippine entertainment to try something risky and different, but you got to remember that this is the entertainment business; it's easier to use a tried and tested formula that will guarantee revenue than a novel idea which is just as likely to flop as it is likely to sell.

[LoweGear]

Originally Posted by jasper222

It's being worked on for 9 months with Japanese and Filipino animators working together.
It will not only focus on basketball, but the life and problems outside of it in the streets of Manila.

So it's what I feared. Manila-centric and has tropes that every Pinoy will easily recognize...and they're gunning for world recognition?

Btw the blonde guy is Japeth Aguilar it seems.

Why is the story being Manila-centric a bad thing? We don't call out most anime for being "Tokyo-centric", or American movies for being "America-centric". Manila being the capital of the Philippines makes sense for being the setting of this particular endeavor, as opposed to trying to do a place that's less well recognized.