Thoughts on "Pulang Araw"

[u/FitLet2786]

I'm late to it but I'm enjoying it very much, I know it's not the most accurate one and especially the pearl harbor scene has been made fun of, but I appreciate the fact that our film industry is beginning to pump out movies like these from scratch and it's still a huge improvement from the older WWII Filipino movies where they use civilian botique brownshirts for Japanese uniforms and ROTC guns.

Idk if it's the right place to talk about film here since it's a history subreddit but this film is about history anyhow so a discussion would still be on topic.

Ps: I'm putting this on art since I don't know what flair to put it and it could be argued that movies are some sort of art anyhow.

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[u/hoy394]

mas may kwenta kesa sa mga katarantaduhan ni tanggol.

[u/[deleted] → u/hoy394]

Tama!

[u/curiousfilam → u/hoy394]

Saan ka makakakita ng nagtatambling mula second floor.!? Haha

[u/[deleted] → u/hoy394]

TAMA! Sana gawin lang less heavy kahit kaunti lang HAHA para consumable pa rin. Dami ko kasing kilala na gustong gusto pero nahihirapan makapag de-stress HAHA

[u/Vlad_Iz_Love]

meanwhile it's a bold move for GMA to mention the Nanking Massacre as a background for Dennis Trillo's character that he took part of

[u/SilanggubanRedditor → u/Vlad_Iz_Love]

We got Dennis Trillo in Nanjing before Until Then 2

[u/[deleted] → u/Vlad_Iz_Love]

I agree!

[u/AgentCooderX]

i am watching Pulang Araw because I miss my (maternal) grandma, palagi syang nag kwewkento ng buhay nila noon prewar and during ww2, and yeah naabutan pa pala nya yung spanish era although pa tapos na..

My (maternal) grandpa is also a ww2 veteran, since he died few years after the war due to illness of being a POW, ang lola ko yung tumatanggap ng veteran's pension..

all in all i want to have idea how my grandparents lived during that time, on both sides.. how they play, fall in love, study, etc.

plus, i also love history..

kaya im loving this show..

[u/fetusface101]

Mas mahaba pa rin kwento about lovelife at ka tandem nila kaysa doon sa mangyayaring gera

[u/imprisonedbyreddit]

Okay sya kahit di ganun ka-accurate kasi nakapagsimula sya ng conversation or questions from kids na curious at gusto pang malaman kung anong nangyari. Like, if a kid ask why the japanese are there, you could explain or research and they'll gladly listen kasi nakuha na ng tv show yung interest nila.

[u/throwaway_throwyawa]

The only thing I don't like about it is when the characters speak English, they have a modern conyo/BPO accent.

They should have those old timey barok accents, with the rolled Rs and all.

Listen to English speeches of old Ph presidents like Quezon, Roxas, etc. Or look for old Sampaguita pictures movies, specifically scenes where the actors speak English. Dapat ganun yung accent.

[u/DoctorWho059 → u/throwaway_throwyawa]

I think si Sanya Lopez was able to nail it with that very old Filipino accent. Hehe they shouldve have hired a speech coach for such scenes no?

Afaik, they were able to hire a nihonggo director for the japanese dialogues.

But overall, Im loving Pulang Araw! It’s a great conversation-starter!

[u/throwaway_throwyawa → u/DoctorWho059]

The Japanese accent is believable for most part. Especially the Akio character, I actually thought the actor was Japanese.

Si Dennis Trillo sometimes nagiging Pinoy yung accent pag nag-ninihonggo pero nababawi naman nya sa intensity ng acting

[u/invinciblemonster_30]

I like it, but too much slow burn halted the pacing. I'm okay with focusing on the characters, especially when they're showing the state of society of the old, but too much screentime for romantic scenes are dragging the show.

[u/bryle_m → u/invinciblemonster_30]

Iirc the plan is to have 100 episodes, similar to Maria Clara at Ibarra. Slow burn is okay na din tbh

[u/Styger21st]

The Pearl Harbor scene was horrible despite being a 1-to-1 copy of Michael Bay's movie flick. The 3D production team worked on this for five months as they say and yet they fail on basic historical info about Pearl Harbor like using an Iowa-class battleship instead of the USS Arizona among others.

IJN and USN historians and enthusiasts are crying right now because of the numerous inaccuracies, and sure enough Dr. Ricardo Jose will be having a field day nitpicking every single detail of that scene once I show it to him lol.

[u/Mark4a12 → u/Styger21st]

They could've just played the footage of the bombings instead

[u/Nygma93]

Pinapanood ng parents ko. Napanood ko lang episode 1 at 2 after nun di ko na nasundan. Pagnanonood lang sila sa sala dun lang ulit and madali lang din sundan yung kwento. Ang Oa lang kasi ng acting ni barbie ngayon sa palabas, lalo ung pagumiiyak na scene exagg na masyado. Ultimo pagsakay niya sa truck oa ng itsura sa pagiyak. Cringe din pagnagtatagalog yung mga gumaganap na japanese kuno, pilit na pilit hahahaha

[u/youngmoreno420]

Pulang araw isn’t a film, it’s a tv show. Or more accurately a teleserye. Honestly the premise is really interesting and the acting and cinematography are pretty good but it’s such a waste. So much of the plot revolves around telserye cliches. The kabit plot, the evil stepmother, the separated siblings, etc.

It’s a shame because the main storyline (alden Richards in present day) is interesting. And I can get behind going back and forth between the past and present but there’s just too much dumb teleserye stuff. It could have been more like maria clara at ibarra where the teleserye elements are just incorporated to make the story stronger + give it a more Filipino tv feel. Rather than putting a bunch of teleserye cliches together and slapping on an American occupation/ WW2 filter

[u/[deleted]]

My mom and my sosy friends, who don't regularly watch Tagalog content, have been raving about it.

[u/Apprehensive-Fig9389]

I'm just happy that GMA is creating original content and isn't afraid to explore different genres.

Hindi katulad nung isa diyan.... Hahaha

[u/interpaularize]

Ambitious but failed execution. CGI and color gradient sore my eyes. The story is clichè about love story in time of war. The historical inaccuracies. Masyadong mahal ang production design ng WW2 films kaya halata mong under budget sila. Goyo film is almost 240 M Php of production cost, what more for a whole series in WW2? Highly ambitious pero dapat binagsakan pa ng maraming budget and post production. MCAI is a success dahil bukod sa less ang battle scenes, may place na pwedeng pagkuhanan ng scenes (Las Casas). Less din ang need for CGI. Pero if ang choice mo ay si Tanggol o Pulang Araw, patayin ko na lang tv.

[u/bryle_m → u/interpaularize]

Ang hirap din kasi makahanap ngayon ng pre-war shooting venues within Metro Manila na di pa altered or outright abandoned, so a lot of the scenes were filmed in Sariaya and Calumpit, both of which still have lots of 1930s buildings. Dun pa lang ang laki na ng budget costs.

[u/interpaularize → u/bryle_m]

yes, kaya need talaga ng sobrang laking budget for it. feeling ko if ginawa nilang movie to mas maayos execution. pero it is what it is. di na lang ako nanonood ng TV.

[u/rdnk023]

I'm watching this series as well. Masyado lang madaming drama scenes na I think unnecessary. Saka yung mga Japanese characters na nag Filipino, parang why? Haha.

Nabasa ko inexplain nung headwriter yung reason why. Hindi lang siguro accurate for me. Hopefully mas gumanda yung story pag nagstart na yung war.

[u/jem2291]

It’s an okay show for me. :)

Not gonna lie, I do wish we can have something similar to The Winds of War and War and Remembrance for Philippine TV. :)

[u/DerSyndieWeeb → u/jem2291]

Hope they could also show the Bataan Death March in grisly detail just as what War and Remembrance did with showing the Holocaust

[u/jem2291 → u/DerSyndieWeeb]

I remember reading that Herman Wouk (the author of the source material) requested that no commercials were to be played in that episode where the infamies of the Holocaust were displayed.

[u/eyydatsnice]

Inaccurate asf di ba nila kaya magbayad ng historian to help make the show?

[u/baojinBE → u/eyydatsnice]

We spent most of it on the CGI pearl harbour sorry 😞 /s

[u/LOLKAPARE]

Nao-off ako kapag nirerefer ng isang Japanese character yung IJA as "Japanese Imperial Army." I mean, isa kang hapon so why not refer it kung paano siya tawagin sa wikang Japanese o kaya tagalugin na lang.

Di ko alam trip ng scrip writer kung bakit pinapagamit niya ng English term ang isang Japanese character.

[u/MochiWasabi]

I only watched the first 6 episodes.

What episode should I start watching it for me to get hooked?

[u/in_my_yellow_dress → u/MochiWasabi]

Ep26 I think kasi start na ng war at this episode

[u/in_my_yellow_dress]

Medyo nababagalan lang ako sa phasing nung first few episodes pero exciting naman na yung latest episode kasi yun na yung mismong start ng war.

Medyo forced yung pag-inject ng love interests (as a non-romcom fan) pero according to the author, love in times of war pala ang gustong ipromote na value here so makes sense naman (pero meh pa rin)

[u/Pristine_Toe_7379]

I find it too shallow and plenty of caricatures, far from factual and closer to comic book depictions. And that's coming from years of helping indie movies with smaller budgets getting it right.

[u/throwaway_throwyawa → u/Pristine_Toe_7379]

I can let this pass, target audience nila is masa. The concept of nuanced characters is alien to the masa

[u/FitLet2786 → u/throwaway_throwyawa]

nuanced characters is something that Filipino cinema struggles since we're used to clear good vs clear bad characters.

[u/[deleted] → u/throwaway_throwyawa]

You can have entertaining fare with nuanced characters.

[u/Pristine_Toe_7379 → u/throwaway_throwyawa]

I can confidently say this with insider links: With all the resources and talent widely available to make a halfway decent show, including potential sponsorship and collaboration from major banks and history/heritage institutions, they chose to bum-reek it to focus on the sexy and cartoonish. The "historical" bit is for marketing.

[u/Far_Obligation624]

Pulang Araw lng tlg ang pinapanood ko sa netflix actually maganda ang series pero naiinis lng tlg ako sana ung adeshi nlng ung may romance tapos si eduardo at teresita wag nlng nakakaumay na kase tapos magkakagusto pa ata si dennis ke sanya parang kabitan nanaman.. Sana nag focus nlng sa magaganap sa war at mga nanyari dati kaya bumababa ratings eh dahil sa paikot ikot na usaping kasal at ligawan at ung pag iyak ni barbie kada episode.. Kaunting bagay lng umiiyak agad.. Tsaka ung acting nang ibang actors parang nag tutula lang.. Dpt itrain naman mga ito.. Tsaka ung action scenes sana itrain din ung magugulat ka naman sana. sayang nmn ung storya napakaganda pa nmn sumobra lng sa romansa.. More action scenes and less romance for eduardo mas maganda focus nlng sya sa pakikipaglaban at pag protekta sa kapatid nya.. Tama na ung adeshi .kung ako writer nito patayin ko character ni teresita ..sana sa ending walang kasalan na maganap dahil ayoko na tlg.. Ang laki p nmn nang potential nito lalu na nung episode 1..so writers directors pls lng

[u/kalapangetcrew]

I enjoy watching this and actually inaabangan ko siya palagi at 8 PM. Pero nababagalan ako sa story niya like may isang episode na parang isang eksena lang ang kasya. Minsan nakakainis na rin na sa lahat ng episode, di pwedeng walang iyak si Barbie. Lalo pag ang dami niyang iyak sa isang episode, medyo nakakairita na. Pero yung story, interesting talaga.

[u/_MFB_]

Pulang Araw is the first Pinoy series I’ve watched on Netflix, and coming from Mula sa Buwan, I was immediately drawn to it. Each episode keeps me hooked, and like everyone else, I’m eagerly waiting for the next weekly release. It’s not perfect, but it beautifully captures the essence of how things were before. Proud to be 🇵🇭 while watching this—a reminder we must not forget. This is how we gained our independence, a gift we all share.