Review: GMA’s Amaya – It’s About Time the Philippines Gets Their Sprawling Epic

TYPE OF REVIEW : FIRST IMPRESSION REVIEW
No spoilers.

Korea, Japan, China… they’ve all produced countless period dramas ranging from fantasy and history to romances and drama.

So it is about time the Philippines gets one of their own. GMA Network’s Amaya is finally the sprawling epic Philippine TV has been waiting for.

The expensive new drama series is a welcome arrival on Philippine primetime. The series tells the story of Amaya, a tribal princess born and destined to change a culture and society dominated by men.

Amaya is a mix of fantasy and history, taking advantage of a time and setting rarely seen in any Philippine media, neither television nor film, and of the long held legends of pre-colonization.

Indeed, the series, though a fantasy series at its core, is a fascinating look at the Philippines before the steady wave of Spanish, American and Japanese colonizers. The language, the culture, and the clothing, all a glimpse at a period in the country’s history when legends were made.

Not only that, it is refreshing to see something that isn’t another typical Filipino guns and crime soap. Amaya has the romance, jealousy, and greed of typical soaps, but the setting does more than its share to help make the series fresh and interesting.

The battles, the fights between siblings and between the datus, or tribal chiefs and native monarchs, are unique.

The care and effort put into Amaya is evident. The series’ start shows a well done, big budgeted, and colorful epic with a promising story, and even more promising history lesson.

Marian Rivera, who is no stranger to big projects, has just the right amount of screen presence, charisma and ability to bring Amaya to life. With a strong supporting cast and a so far fast paced, well thought out story, Amaya is definitely a welcome, refreshing and intriguing entry into Philippine primetime television.

40 thoughts on “Review: GMA’s Amaya – It’s About Time the Philippines Gets Their Sprawling Epic

    1. ms. suzette i watch the teleserye and i’ll like it very much. wish ko lang huwag magaya sa iba na maganda ang simula pagdating sa ending … wala na.

      CONGRATS TO ALL OF YOU! YOU DID A GREAT JOB!

    2. congrats po! Proud na proud po ako habang pinanonood ko ang Amaya.Naipapakita nyo ang Napakayamang kultura ng ating mga ninuno lalo ko pong na appreciate ang pagiging pinoy ko .Pati po ang pagkakagawa ng story kapanapanabik! Sana po ipagpatuloy nyo po ito.Hindi po ako mahilig sa paginternet pero ito lang po ang alam kong paraan upang batiin ang bumubuo ng AMAYA sa kanilang mahusay na trabaho. May God Bless u All!

  1. Thank you for this wonderful article. For you to be able to appreciate your future you have to learn your past. To Ms Suzette for her masterpiece story ! to GMA to gamble in this big project thank you, to Direct M.IKAW NA THE BEST KA! and to all the cast and crew thank you we appreciate all your hard work truly AMAZING!

  2. amaya is GREAT!!!WE LOVE IT!!minsan pag pinapanood ko…feeling ko nsa panahon nila ako.napakagaling ng storya,napakaganda ng mga location,napakagaling ng mga gumaganap sa kani kanilang karakter,..godbless po.we love u marian..

  3. once in a lifetime lang mangyayari ito na magkaroon ng isang napakalaking show isang epic..i dont think makakayang gawin ito ng ibang network.im so proud at nagkaroon si Marian ng isang soap na talagang ipagmamalaki niya habang buhay. at bilang artista siya ang kauna unahang gumawa ng isang makasaysayang epicserye in Philippine Television!!!! ang galing! every night para akong laging nanonood ng isang pelikula! malinis ang pagkakagawa…i love it!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE CAST AND CREW OF AMAYA. SANA MAS LALO NIYO PANG PAGANDAHIN ITO!!

  4. AMAYA- SO BEAUTIFUL!!!
    PHILIPPINES BEST PRIMETIME SERIES!!!
    BEST STORY, BEST SCREENPLAY, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, and Marian Rivera, the best choice for the role of Amaya!

  5. i never liked watching tv series, until AMAYA. very entertaining, very good acting, direction is superb, everything is is interesting. i am learning history as well.

    thanks to the whole production staff and GMA7 for this great offering.

  6. Amaya is one teleserye one should not miss. Just the production alone leaves you breathless. The cast and crew are to be applauded. And GMA, thank you for having the guts to do this epic serye. And Marian Rivera is Amaya!!!

  7. love the series as well, the pace is perfect, storyline is beautiful, props are fantastic and the acting is superb. this is one good series to hang on to. my only suggestion is to make the camera angles more dynamic, especially for higlighting action scenes and sweeping landscapes. the camera angles come off a bit predictable and stationary. constructive feedback lang ha! 🙂

  8. AMAYA is the best teleserye na npanood ko, naiiba tlaga xa at bawat episode aabangan tlaga, nkajackpot ang gma d2….galing lahat ng mga artista n gumaganap galing pumili ng cast…CONGRATULATIONSN GMA GOOD JOB…THUMBS UP PO AKO SA INYO….

  9. wow ang husay mo sumulat ng review 🙂

    meron din ako review ng Amaya pero mas maganda talaga itong sinulat mo

    tsaka tama Good job talaga GMA7

    cheers!

  10. GRave!! until now padami ng padami ang nanonod ng Amaya. Sobrang Ganda! Sa Cast and crew ng Amaya ! congratulations! Amaya nag laging number 1…

  11. Amaya is exceptionally of true entertainment value – walang pa-hard-try ang mga acting ng bawat isa – walang sapawan, ang bawat character ay matalinong nagagampanan ng bawat isa, simple, suabe, pero malalim at masustansiya – sobrang kaiba talaga – my wish is that tv viewers would follow each episode – para makita nila na mayroong uri ng kultura ang mga pinoy na puede pa rin nating ipagmalaki – it also promotes good values that foster respect, honesty, justice, and several others. Kudos to everyone that made this historical fiction a reality.

  12. I love watching AMAYA! kahit di ko napanood sa tv dahil sa trabaho sinisigurado ko nasusubaybayan ko ito sa internet. AMAYA is all about our culture and tradition. Let us be proud of it. I love how to the story goes. Philippine TV should do more teleserye/movies like this…something original…yung may lalim…something that talks about being a Filipino 🙂 Students should watch this, its very educating. Kudos to the people behind the scene!

  13. I mostly agree with the things nasabi ng mga nagcomment dito. Yes its epic, yes its base sa mayaman nating culture….Pero..sana hinango na rin sa makatotohanan na pagka Pilipino ang teleserye na ito. Ano ang ibig kong sabihin? Ang tunay na pinoy ay kayumangi. Ok fictional ang teleserye kasi may mga mahika, pero ang d katanggap tangap na bagay dun e ang mga tisoy at tisay na mga artista. sana man lana nagpahid sila ng make up na lumabas ang pagka pinoy TUNAY na pinoy.

    1. Yeah, that would be great. But the reality is most artistas these days are tisoy and for some reason, being kayumanggi is a strike against you in showbiz. 🙁 Kailangan maputi and may halong ibang lahi para maging sikat. 🙁

      1. Hello,
        Dahil hindi makaabot ng tech. sa ibang bansa, sana maganda ang ending ang Amaya. Kung may magrely kay Ms. Doctolero na kung sa totoo ay tragic ang byhay nina Amaya at Bagani gawin na lang happy ending.

    2. Hmmm dapat si Bea Padilla na lang and naging Amaya mas mukha siyang pinay at mahusay naman siyang umarte.Gardo Versoza , Raymond Batasing are perfect for their roles. Mukha talaga silang Pinoy. Love it!!!

  14. amaya..is such a very entertaining yet educational primetime movie….you can just be able to recop our past but definitely we are proud to become a filipino..living in our own heritage…

  15. Korea, Japan and China, you can’t compare for their craftsmanship. Amaya is nothing but a crap. They hired historians, but sad to say they fail.

    1. Sure, but in terms of resources, Korea, Japan and China have a much more access and capabilities to have the highest quality “craftsmanship.” For the limited resources of a Philippine network, I think Amaya is just fine. We can’t expect to really “level up” in terms of production to the big guns in our Asian neighbors, but I do think the writing and acting makes up for maybe the subdued production.

    2. Amaya is not a CRAP!!! It just shows the culture of the PHilippines during the Ancient times. PS. do not annoy the culture of the Philippines! Korea, Japan and China are diffrent from the Philippines!

  16. Amaya is best ever. I hope Ms Doctolera will end the epic as happy ending, if the real story is tragic one, at least to satisfy the viewers expectation. Pigil hinigha ako baka tragedy na naman.

    1. Parang mas magaling si Binayaan makipaglaban. Medyo soft kasi mga galaw ni Marian. Mas super ako na susurprise kapag si Binayaan ang may hawak ng espada. Ang kanyang tindig at galaw ng paa ay kahanga hanga!

  17. I loved Amaya. I watched it daily without fail after work via the internet. This is the first time that I watch Pinoy teleserye in Canada. I got hooked that every night my husband and myself do not go to bed without watching each episode. Thanks for uploading each series. I love Marian and all the characters. All are awesome. Thanks for the great epic story. Very entertaining. Dian Lamitan stood out in all episodes. Gina has portrayed a very so real character that I hated her so much. I watched the concluding series and I am happy for the happy ending. The Magellan portion was a bit funny. I thought that Lapu-lapu will come out. Excellent, the best so far. great story, superb execution. No comparison to other teleserye. Congratulations GMA! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!!!

    PS. I was surprised why Uray Hilway was a different person in the end. I prefer the original Uray Hilway.

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