Pulang Araw – Episodes 41-45 Thoughts (Week 9)

Definitely the strongest week of Pulang Araw yet. Obviously not perfect still. But this week’s episodes definitely delivered what I think many (myself included) came into the series for.

It’s very engaging to watch the start of the Filipino resistance. And I think a very good way to transition into that was through Eduardo and Tasyo being captured and tortured.

Now, like I’ve mentioned in previous weeks, reducing the Japanese motivation for war to wanting a woman is just so teleserye-coded. It’s a bit laughable even if on one hand, you can chalk it up to one of the many flimsy justifications for the Japanese brutality during the war.

Still, I actually think the story of Mario (played by Aidan Veneracion) though was the perfect way to illustrate this moment of the war. That of course includes the unjust imprisonment of Filipino men. Yanking them from their lives and torturing them for, again, flimsy or even nonexistent reasons.

And that’s more so than Eduardo and Tasyo who have gotten bogged down in the soapy storylines rather than the more visceral and heavier approaches like with a Mario. This young boy who just wants to get home to his Nanang and Tatang. (Uy! Ilocanos spotted! hehe)

But I think Mario’s story is a bit more relatable to the greater public than having to focus on some soapy love story. Then again, I might not be the typical audience for a Filipino teleserye. So while the more character-driven story like that of a Mario is more appealing and interesting to me, the love story between Eduardo and Teresita (or Adelina and Hiroshi) might be more attention-grabbing for the regular teleserye viewer.

I don’t know. I can only speak to what intrigues me about the series. And this week definitely delivered more moments than in previous ones.

First, it’s certainly different to read about the Japanese brutality during the war versus actually seeing a live action depiction of it as we saw with Tasyo and Mario getting tortured and beaten. It’s hard to think about how what we saw in these episodes even pales in comparison to what happened in real life.

If I could change something in this week’s episodes to lead up to Episode 45, I would have liked to have seen more instances of the Japanese treatment of everyday Filipinos. I think we saw more of Filipinos merely bowing down (even literally) to the Japanese occupiers rather than actually seeing how Filipinos were being brutalized. Or simply oppressed. How more harassing of Filipinos just selling vegetables or something. Or people scared to walk around on the street. Things like that.

The quick scenes of torture for Tasyo and Mario and rogue resistance fighters in the dark forest and last week’s inference of the rampant raping of Filipino women are few and far between. And I think maybe leading up to Episode 45, seeing more of the Japanese brutality alongside the actually thrilling escape scenes would make Eduardo’s pronouncement much more impactful.

I don’t know if that makes any sense. But I guess with Episode 45 which focused on the reunion of the Core4 and Eduardo declaring he was fighting for his country and his peoples, it kind of felt like it was just in a box so to speak. Like, it felt disconnected to the greater fight of their fellow Filipinos. Which, I think if they had done more with showing other people’s struggles and suffering in the build up to this week’s climax, it would’ve provoked a more “YEAH! Let’s go!” reaction. In the way where you the viewer are ready to take up arms and fight alongside Eduardo too.

My persistent (annoying?) complaint is always going to be how the typical soapy tropes will hold back the stronger aspects of the story. And the scenes of the fighting Borromeos and even Hiroshi talking about how he nobly gave Teresita up because of their friendship and stuff like that; it all comes across as trivial in the grander scheme of things. And diminishes the gravity of the situation. That and the snail’s pace too.

So focusing most of Episode 45 on rehashing all of those soapy elements took away from what should be a heavy and emotional encounter for the Core4. For me.

But again, the highlight for me this week was definitely the escape. Really wonderful and exciting scenes filmed at Fort Santiago and Intramuros. Of course we’re not going to see endless bloodshed and gore on this series. But those scenes in the middle of the week really reminded all of us that yes, this is a series about World War II in the Philippines. And not just some typical teleserye with a quirky setting.

The next strongest highlight from the week were all the scenes between Mr. Tanaka and Hiroshi (away from the Borromeos lol). Those scenes are the kind of character-driven moments that are very interesting, especially for the “other side”. So to see their multi-faceted characters really develop through the series is very engaging.

We are nearing the midpoint of the series. And we’re still in the early days of the war. So it will be interesting how the pacing will (hopefully) pick up or (hopefully not) stall as we have reached this pivot point with Eduardo joining the resistance. I can’t imagine the pacing slowing down than what we’ve gotten so far. But never say never I guess lol

Anyway, a mostly strong week. And definitely the strongest of the series so far on the back of the excellent scenes of the prisoners’ escape and Mario’s reunion with his parents.