Trese () is an anime-influenced television series based on the Filipino comic series of the same name by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo. An international co-production of Singapore and the United States, the series was released on June 10, 2021 on Netflix in the United States, which was followed by a global release the next day.
The series was first announced in November 2018, with Jay Oliva as executive producer and director. Other directors include David Hartman, Mel Zwyer, and Tim Divar. The series is written by Zig Marasigan, Mihk Vergara and Tanya Yuson. Yuson also serves as executive producer for BASE Entertainment with Shanty Harmayn. The series was produced by BASE Entertainment (from Singapore) and Lex+Otis Animation (from the United States) and animated by Tiger Animation (from South Korea). At the Netflix Anime Festival in October 2020, it was revealed that Trese komik artist Kajo Baldisimo and writer Budjette Tan will serve as showrunners.
In 2009, Tanya Yuson was looking for material to adapt for a series or film. She picked up Trese, the graphic novel, following a recommendation. Yuson forwarded the comic to her fellow producer Shanty Harmayn who convinced her that they should pitch the adaptation of Trese into an animated series. They pitched to both production studios within and outside the Philippines; with Netflix Anime agreeing to adapt Trese. In May 2018 Netflix reach out to Jay Oliva, who was based in the United States at the time, to work with a potential Trese animated series. Oliva accepted the role to be Treses director a month later. A copy of the Trese comics was sent to Oliva, who started working on the series while in his flight to Manila from the United States.
Oliva tried to balance out the Trese animated series to satisfy the existing fanbase and those who were not familiar with the original source material. He intended to retain the source material's central theme of "family and duty" which he describe are "universal ideas and very Filipino".
Three separate dubbings for English, Filipino and Japanese were made for Trese. In non-Filipino versions, some Filipino dialogue, such as the phrase "tabi tabi po" were used to retain the series' "Pinoy" flavor and encourage foreigners to learn the Filipino language and culture. Among the three dubbings, English was the dubbing that was done first with the Filipino dubbing had to be based on the English version.
Trese was adapted from the first three volumes of the comics. Originally intended to be standalone by the source material's creators, the series was written in a way that connects the three volumes into one single arc.
Treses marketing promotions have been praised online, including praise for billboards on EDSA and major streets in the Philippines that include a unique design style to make the billboards appear to have been vandalized or torn. This garnered a great deal of attention from Filipinos on social media, Twitter and Facebook. Popular local newspaper The Philippine Star also put Trese on its front page according to their official Twitter account, and business newspaper Business World also put out a major advertisement. Media giant ABS-CBN Corporation also promoted the series by replacing the logo outside their broadcasting headquarters in Quezon City with the logo of Netflix's Trese series counterpart, ABC-ZNN, a fictitious media company used in the series. ABS-CBN also lit up their ELJ Communications Center building in Quezon City with the word Trese written on their facade.
Kevin Kiner's children Sean and Deana Kiner composed the musical score for Trese. The theme song is "Paagi" (translates from Visayan for "excuse me") by Filipino band UDD. The song served as the ending theme song and was written in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Production of the song took place in two phases. Paul Yap, Ean Mayor and Carlos Tanada did the first demo recording at the Wonder Collab Studios after which it was sent to Armi Millare for finalization. Millare revised the "Paagi"'s lyrics and Emil Dela Rosa did the remix and master of the song. Director Oliva characterized the song as "contemporary music but with Filipino instruments".
Trese was made available for viewing on the online platforms starting June 10, 2021 in the United States, followed by Singapore on June 11. The release featured six episodes covering storylines from the comic's first three volumes. The series was released in English, Filipino and Japanese languages, with each version having its own set of cast.
At Netflix's virtual "Geeked Week" livestream on June 9, the first five minutes of Treses episode was previewed.
Trese was in the top 10 TV shows list on Netflix in 19 countries as of June 13, 2021, ranking highest in the following countries: Philippines (#1), Qatar (#3), United Arab Emirates (#4), and Jamaica (#5). Other countries where the show ranked were Austria, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Kuwait, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Serbia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the United States. The series became the highest ranked show on Netflix in the Philippines on the weekend following its premiere date.
Director Jay Oliva was told by Netflix that Trese is "really strong" and reliant on the Philippine market with Oliva expressing possibilities for "multiple seasons" if Trese continues to receive positive reception.
In a review for Rabbit Hole, Shaun Tan wrote that the show "captures the urban grittiness of Manila." He praised the plot, dialogue, animation, and voice acting, calling it "a paranormal Filipino film noir that is both stylish and gripping."
In the online anthropology magazine SAPIENS, Andrea Malaya M. Ragragio and Myfel D. Paluga noted that the show's portrayal of Talagbusao as "a bloodthirsty, male âÂÂgod of warâ whose nature is to wreak havoc and thrive in it" drew largely from American colonial era anthropologist Fay-Cooper Cole's description of him as a âÂÂpatron of the warriors and of people who run amuck,â which dates back to the early 1900s. As a result, they say that " the Talagbusao depicted in Trese barely resembled what Indigenous communities in Mindanao mean when they talk about this entity or its related forms, called busaw." But Ragragio and Paluga also acknowledged that the show likely changed his characterization "simply to tell an enjoyable detective story, with a Filipino folkloric flair."