The biggest Filipino drama of 2022! And as a Filipino myself, I couldn't even be more proud to see our country's rich history and culture being appreciated not only in the Philippines, but in other countries as well because of this drama. GMA Network has been the best in making and producing historical/cultural-themed Filipino dramas and movies, beginning with the internationally-acclaimed and award-winning film Jose Rizal (1998), which depicts the life and struggles of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, and then followed by Amaya (2011), which is set during the pre-colonial period, Indio (2013), which is set during the dawn of the Spanish rule in the Philippines, Katipunan (2013), which is set during Philippine Revolution against Spain in 1896, Ilustrado (2014), which is the TV version of the life of Dr. Jose Rizal, and now Maria Clara and Ibarra (2022), which is about a nursing student named Klay, who at the same time, "isekai'ed" (transported into a parallel word) and time travelled back in the late 19th century in the world of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo (novels written by Jose Rizal which expose the evils of Spanish tyranny in the Philippines) where she meets and befriends the main characters of the two novels.

The production team and writers truly worked hard, spent a lot of money, and have made a meticulous research regarding our country's history and culture to make this drama an iconic and worthy masterpiece as it ought to be right now: from the casting to the storyline, cinematography, improved CGI effects, settings, costumes, ancient way of conservation, musical score, improved, and some interesting facts to educate viewers about the daily life of Filipinos during the Spanish colonial rule, and to help understand the Rizal's novels even more. All of the casts are all very talented and professional, and they have portrayed the characters from the novel faithfully. Dennis Trillo and Julie Anne San Jose didn't fail to impress the viewers despite their 13-year gap. Their chemistry worked perfectly and succesfully as expected. They gave life to and immortalized Rizal's famous star-crossed childhood lovers, Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara; as if they came straight right out of his novels. Dennis Trillo gave justice to Ibarra's character: from being a cheerful, kind-hearted man filled with hope and dreams to being the hateful and revengeful Simoun, and also Julie Anne for the portraying the pious, gentle, delicate and soft-spoken Filipina maiden, Maria Clara, who represented our women during the Spanish period.

Meanwhile, Barbie Forteza plays the role of Maria Clara "Klay" Infantes, a savage, strong-willed, open-minded, ambitious and struggling nursing student who was named after the original Maria Clara (played by Julie Anne), and also the modern version of her namesake. These two Maria Claras with opposite personalities will become best friends. Klay will serve as Maria Clara's pillar of strength and confidante in times of trouble; bringing light, hope and meaning to her life. Klay will fall in love with Ibarra's best friend, Fidel (played by David Licauco). Fidel wasn't an original character of Rizal, and only made up by the writers of the show. worked perfectly and undeniably strong. I've been die-hard shipping these two since Ep. 2, where they first met at the "La Cafe Campana" (a restaurant also mentioned in the original Noli novel). Klay and Fidel's relationship will begin as haters because of their opposite personalities and beliefs (Fidel being close-minded and misogynist and Klay being open-minded and progressive), but will eventually become lovers after Fidel gets smitten by her, leading to his impressive character development, from being a red flag man to a green flag one, as the story goes. Klay and Fidel's ship is popularly called here as "FiLay" (Fidel and Klay combined) which coincidentally rhymes with "pilay" (Filipino for lame or having an injured foot/leg), and FiLay fans would humorously refer to themselves as "Saklays" (saklay is Filipino for clutches) to match perfectly with the ship name.

Tirso Cruz III and Juancho Trivino were very effective villains in portraying the two evil and cunning friars, Padre Damaso and Padre Salvi. Andrea Torres' portrayal of Sisa, the abused wife and mother who lost her sanity and have gone mad due to the injustices she experienced and from being separated from her two sons, Basilio and Crispin, have also made a huge impression, and Rocco Nacino was a badass and savage in his portrayal of the bandit Elias.

I hope this drama would lead for more other Filipino dramas to be appreciated not only here in my country, but also in overseas. The big-budget production and the meticulously studied storyline and plot twist is enough to make this drama a big hit, being remembered in the years to come, just like the power and impact K-Drama possesses to us Filipinos. This dramas has been winning a lot of local awards recently, and is still a trending and talked-about topic in social media, especially in Twitter, even almost a month after it has concluded. GMA Network just confirmed that they will put this series on Netflix this coming April 14 for international viewers to watch. I highly recommend this drama to all fans of both historical/sageuk and isekai/time travel genres and if you're also interested to know about the history and the culture of the Philippines. I swear you're gonna enjoy this one and you won't be disappointed! ^_^