I have really been enjoying GMA Network’s Maria Clara at Ibarra. Aside from the top-notch production and performances, I’ve always wanted to see a big budget, fancy adaptation of Jose Rizal’s seminal novel Noli Me Tangere.
Though Noli Me Tangere is required reading for young students in the Philippines (and rightfully so), that’s obviously not the case for me as a Filipino-American going to an American school.
Back in high school for senior year English class, we were assigned a research project where we had to choose an author and then come up with a presentation basically teaching the class about that author. Part of the project was to read one of the author’s works.
With my Filipino pride raging of course, I chose Jose Rizal as my author. I’d read about him since I was young and knew of his importance in Philippine history. But this would be the first time I actually read Noli Me Tangere.
And let’s be clear. Noli Me Tangere isn’t a short novel. Lol And being senior year, my senioritis was already kicking in at this time. So I definitely had to rush through my reading of the novel as we had to actually write paragraph summaries for each chapter. And Noli Me Tangere has A LOT of chapters. Yikes!
Thankfully, I got through it and the eventual presentation well. But 15 years later, I’ve definitely forgotten most of what I read already.
Watching Maria Clara at Ibarra, there’s some basic facts of Noli Me Tangere that I remember. But I’ve been on the edge of my seat so far with every twist and turn from each character. It’s been a lot of fun.
I decided to grab my copy of Noli Me Tangere from the shelf, wondering if I should refresh my memory and perhaps start reading it again.
This reminded me of back in 2017 when I decided I just couldn’t wait a year or more for the next season of the Attack on Titan anime. So I decided to pick-up the manga and continue reading on in the story until I caught up and started eagerly awaiting new chapters every month until the end. (Which I liked!) It’s been a very different, but fun experience watching seasons three and four of Attack on Titan and actually knowing what was ahead in coming episodes. Not to mention knowing how it all ends and wondering if the anime will follow suit.
Perhaps I might do the same with Noli Me Tangere and Maria Clara at Ibarra. But we’ll see! I think it would make watching the series even more fun and exciting. Especially since in Episode 12, Klay mentions she will definitely do what she can to change the story!