Trese Part 1 Episodes 1-3

Alexandra Trese walks a fine line between two worlds in the city of Manila.  Though she is Human, she is also a Protector and Mediator for those who live in the supernatural realms within the city.  When the police receive word of grizzly murders they cant explain, that’s when Trese is called in.  But keeping the peace between Humans and Monsters is no small task and rumors are spreading that the truce that has kept open war from consuming Manila is on the brink.  If Trese can’t find out what’s stirring up trouble, it wont just mean the end of Manila, but the entire world as well.

 
Coming as a request from a friend, we’ll be spending the next couple of reviews in a different part of the Anime world with a dark and exciting new realm to explore.  Based on the Filipino Comic by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, Trese carries on in the tradition of Anime inspired project like Castlevania, bringing a gory and wondrous mythology to the rest of the world.  I may have my gripes about the lead heroine herself but overall, I’m having a blast in these first three episodes just watching the world and creatures around her. 
 
Filipono mythology and folklore is a subject of fantasy that hasn’t really been explored in visual media.  I’m sure it’s out there and can be found with a simple Google search but I don’t think it’s been brought quite to the forefront like this before, using Anime as its medium of storytelling.  The world of Trese, set in the city of Manila, feels like a mesh between Blade Runner and Avatar: The Last Airbender.  It’s a modern day city but humans and creatures of myth seem to co-exist, kind of, or at least humans are well aware of the existence of the latter.  From creatures that roam under the Earth to powerful entities that channel dangerous elements like Fire and Lightning, a lot of the Trese’s many mystical characters are all fierce and dangerous and need to be handled with the greatest of care.  One small step out of line could leave ones innards arranged in various disgusting fashions.  Still, seeing Trese talk with Spirits, Horse Overloards and tiny little Fungal Sprites is never dull and each interaction has its own unique flavor, even if that means the monsters themselves never sound the same while Trese has one mode and one mode only.
 
Yeah, I’m not saying we don’t need a super tough, super bad ass, super serious female lead for a series of any kind.  But Alexandra Trese is all business, all the time.  I like her character design, her insights into the underworld of mystical creatures and that she does get in on the action.  I just think she’s kind of stiff, hardly cracking a joke or a smile and having a pure management demeanor with her support team.  Said “support team” picks up the slack with the levity.  The gun toting masked twins, Crispin and Basilio, need more screentime as they have great banter.  Episode 3 highlighted Trese’s driver and housekeeper Hank with his fanboy obsession with a popular actress and his intense care for his car.  Even the sewer dwelling Nuno has more personality to him than Trese.  Like I said, I’m not knocking the super bad ass heroine type, I love that kind of character.  I just wish Trese was a bit more engaging.  Probably the most I really liked her fully was at the end of Episode 3 when she chastised a spirit for trying to play off a terrible crime that resulted in meaningless deaths.
 
As I said above, Trese seems to be a mix of Blade Runner and Avatar: The Last Airbender but with much more gore and horror elements.  The creatures I’ve been talking about can be very nasty and they tend to leave a pretty unsettling mess whenever hapless humans get in the way.  Much like Castlevania, the animators don’t sugar coat or skimp on the gore.  There are a lot of mangled and disfigured bodies to go along with the hacked off limbs and other dismemberments.  Horror and gore fans will be pleased.  But why bring up Blade Runner and Avatar?  Well, Trese is very much a detective in the vein of Rick Deckard, hunting down and eliminating mystical threats if the need calls for it, either with magic or her trusty knife.  The Avatar angle comes from Trese being the bridge between the worlds of Humans and Demons.  She interacts with both in equal measure and seems to be the latest in a long line of peace keepers who have kept things steady between the two worlds for a long time.  However, there are a few who mention across these three episodes that the peace is about the break and each warning is more cryptic than the last.  Somehow, I have no doubt that Trese isn’t worried…cause if she did there’d have to be an emotion coming out of her, but I digress.
 
There’s still time for Trese to turn things around in the lead heroines favor though.  We’ve seen three very interesting and very different stand alone episodes in this first half.  Next time, we’ll get to see the big reveal about these warnings Trese and her squad have been getting about a fragile peace.  Looking forward to the showdown and the other amazing fantastical features I’ll be introduced to from Filipino lore next time over at the Gundam Anime Corner.